Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War

by Jake Tapper

Overview

“Not only riveting to read but also shines an essential light on the quest for justice in the modern age of terrorism.” —David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon

In this thrilling true story, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jake Tapper uncovers an investigation—unlike any other in American history—to lock up a dangerous terrorist before he’s set free.

June 2011: The case has been cold for nearly ten years when a terrorist fleeing the Arab Spring turns himself in and confesses to killing American soldiers in Afghanistan. This brazen act sets off an unlikely chain of events that puts the entirety of the American justice system to the test. They have the killer, but no evidence to prove the murders happened.

Determined to deliver justice, a team led by federal prosecutors Dave Bitkower and Shreve Ariail must traverse the globe, uncovering facts across thousands of miles and tracing shocking plots of terror in order to prevent tragedy from striking again.

Through intense reporting and meticulous recreation, Race Against Terror shows a man radicalized to enact violence, courageous soldiers who risked their lives for each other, and the diverse set of men and women who work tirelessly to stay one step ahead of disaster. In this gripping narrative history CNN’s Jake Tapper reveals the true costs of the War on Terror and delivers a salient warning for the increasing threats of extremism we face to this day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781668079461
Publisher:	Atria Books
Publication date:	10/07/2025
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Jake Tapper has written two New York Times bestselling novels, The Hellfire Club and The Devil May Dance, as well as the bestselling nonfiction books The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor and Race Against Terror. He is the lead Washington, DC, anchor and chief correspondent for CNN. A Dartmouth graduate and Philadelphia native, he lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, daughter, and son. 

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One: The Detectives CHAPTER ONE THE DETECTIVES
Brooklyn, New York

I just got this crazy call from Italy,” said the man on the other end of the phone.

Dave Bitkower, assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, had just been contacted by the FBI. It was a steamy Brooklyn summer day as Bitkower listened to Joint Terrorism Task Force Supervisor Ari Mahairas describe some wild scenes on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea. Just shy of thirty—six, wiry and intense, Bitkower was the type of attorney built for the extreme pressures of the Eastern District’s Violent Crimes and Terrorism Section—a runner, studious, even a former Jeopardy! champion. After graduating Harvard Law School, he had decided to serve his country, opting for downtown Brooklyn over a white—shoe law firm across the East River. It was a spartan life with long hours. And although he had a new wife and baby boy at home—a dumpy, unrenovated, third—floor walk—up in Brooklyn Heights—he rarely saw any of the three.

Mahairas explained that the Italian authorities had a man in custody who claimed to be a member of al Qaeda who had killed American soldiers. The man had been detained immediately, in June 2011, for relatively minor infractions and couldn’t be held for very long. If they didn’t act soon, this potential deadly terrorist would be dispatched to a low—security camp among the general refugee population hoping to emigrate to Europe. And Bitkower and Mahairas knew all too well how easy it was to sneak out of one of these camps and slip into Europe without a trace.

“What’s the name?” Bitkower asked.

“Spin Ghul.”

Bitkower knew the name. Ten years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, al Qaeda and its affiliates were more active than ever in plotting against Americans, including on US soil. The FBI, CIA, NSA, military, and even assistant US attorneys had to be on top of their game 24/7. Detainees at Gitmo were talking about Spin Ghul. His name had come up in an investigation into terrorism in Africa. Spin Ghul was one of the terrorists the nation’s counterterrorism investigators had been trying desperately to locate.

Despite the steady threat of terrorism since 9/11, President Barack Obama, in the third year of his first term, was busy trying to shift the tenor of US foreign policy. Giving a speech in Cairo, Obama had talked of “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition.” This stood in stark contrast to the uneasy reality on the ground—terrorists didn’t care about President Obama’s desire to reset America’s standing in the world. Extremists showed little interest in reconciliation.

If anything, the war on terror, including the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, had acted as a tool of recruitment. The new face of terrorism was not extremists coming from abroad, but Americans and green card holders who had become radicalized. In 2009, a Colorado man and two friends had plotted to blow themselves up on three New York City subways, packed during the rush hour. In 2010, an attempt to detonate a car bomb in Times Square was foiled only by chance and the alertness of a souvenir vendor. And earlier in 2011, the Michigan—born Colleen LaRose aka “Jihad Jane” pleaded guilty to terrorism—related charges for plotting to kill a Swedish artist who had drawn an image of the prophet Mohammed.

While law enforcement was supposed to maintain the public face of confidence and composure, the reality was that they, and the American public they protected, often got lucky. Pretty much everyone familiar with these cases admitted as much privately. Bitkower had worked the New York City subway bombing plot and had seen firsthand how close the city had come to disaster. A young man from Queens living in Denver, Najibullah Zazi, and his two friends had planned to blow themselves up on the subway trains as they arrived at the Grand Central and Times Square Stations, potentially taking out hundreds of innocent commuters during rush hour. Law enforcement had known he was planning something and tracked his movements from Colorado to the George Washington Bridge, where he was stopped by Port Authority cops. But somehow Zazi was able to get onto the island of Manhattan and vanish. The only reason no one was hurt was because Zazi panicked and fled back to Colorado before he could do any harm. Bitkower was brought in to help interview Zazi in one of his first jobs running the Violent Crimes and Terrorism Section of the Eastern District.

Bitkower’s primary lesson from his experiences prosecuting and investigating terrorists was therefore far from reassuring. The terrorist threat was unrelenting. Determined young zealots came out of nowhere and focused on the softest targets throughout the world. It was impossible to stop all of them. But it was their job to try.

Upon hearing this latest FBI tip, Bitkower immediately grasped the urgency of the situation. If Italian authorities were holding the real Spin Ghul and ultimately let him go, his intention to commit mass murder would be directed at American and other Western targets. In just the previous few weeks, a suicide bomber on a motorbike had attacked a US consulate vehicle in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing one and wounding ten others; husband and wife suicide bombers had killed ten people at a Kolachi, Pakistan, police station; a bomber with al Qaeda–inspired Boko Haram had killed six in an attack on Nigerian police headquarters; and al Qaeda had announced that Ayman al—Zawahiri would lead al Qaeda, replacing Osama bin Laden, whom Navy SEALs had killed on May 2.

Bitkower walked down to the office of his fellow assistant US attorney Shreve Ariail. Shreve was a tousled—haired, friendly Virginian who had somehow remained buoyant even during what was a terrible year personally: a pipe explosion had destroyed his apartment, a basement walkout on Warren Street near the Brooklyn courthouse, and both his father and father—in—law had died within two months of each other. But Shreve’s generosity and diligent work ethic remained infectious.

Bitkower told Shreve about the case. The men knew each other well. They had worked together in Washington, DC, on Obama’s Guantánamo Review Task Force, where they were charged with the seemingly impossible task of figuring out what to do with the 240 accused terrorists being kept in extralegal detention.

Now they had another terrorist on their hands. They wondered about the circumstances under which Spin Ghul had been detained, why he would have admitted any wrongdoing. They would need to find that out. Bitkower wasn’t surprised that a member of al Qaeda would brag about killing Americans, having worked on a case where an aspiring terrorist, postarrest, kept boasting about his importance to al Qaeda. He couldn’t shut up about it, frankly. It was a theme.

Shreve understood right away what was at stake with Spin Ghul. The obstacles they would face just to get him under US authority would be considerable. First, they would have to fly to Italy and hear the suspect’s claims about having killed American soldiers, assess his credibility, cut through a ton of bureaucratic red tape, and come up with evidence for a possible crime that happened on some remote battlefield. All the while, the clock would be ticking. If they didn’t accomplish this task, and quickly, Spin Ghul would be released, free to plan his next attack of terror on innocent civilians. If they were successful in bringing Spin Ghul in, the job would only get more difficult. Bitkower and Shreve would have to expeditiously build a case tight enough to withstand the toughest New York City court—appointed US defense attorney. They would have to track down clues and evidence that cut across the most dangerous parts of the world, including war zones, and in the darkest corners of the terrorist underworld. They wouldn’t be just lawyers shuffling papers, filing motions and appealing to judges and juries. They would have to sleuth. They would have to become counterterrorism detectives.

Editorial Reviews

“A riveting story with a master's sublime command.  There are moments when this work of non-fiction seems more like a novel.  It is taut, suspenseful, and true.  I couldn't put it down.” —Ken Burns

“It’s no exaggeration to say that Race Against Terror has everything: brilliant detective work, combat scenes, the stunning trial of terrorist Spin Ghul in a Brooklyn courtroom of all unlikely places.” —James Patterson

 “Part legal thriller, part war reportage, Race Against Terror is an extraordinary book—one that is not only riveting to read, but also shines an essential light on the quest for justice in the modern age of terrorism.” —David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wager  

“A masterclass in true-crime storytelling. Jake Tapper delivers a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the only terrorist ever tried and convicted for killing U.S. soldiers overseas...Fascinating, fast-paced, and deeply human, this book reads like an edge-of-your-seat spy novel.” —Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Edge of Honor

“Jake Tapper brings his investigative and narrative talents to bear in weaving the military, legal, political and deeply personal threads of the high-stakes pursuit of the terrorist Spin Ghul. This enthralling history delivers important context for understanding the war on terror in the present day.”—Douglas Brunt, New York Times bestselling author of The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel

“Tapper’s meticulous reporting and narrative flair will keep you engrossed until the thrilling end.” —Craig Whitlock, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Afghanistan Papers

“Skillfully unpacks the investigation and trial of a dangerous terrorist in this exciting and little-known story.” —Library Journal

“[An] evocative dispatch from America’s war on terror…riveting.” —Publishers Weekly

 

"A smart page-turner.” —Kirkus

“A pacey, police procedural-style account of the jihadist’s apprehension and trial…Tapper draws suspense out of the authorities’ rush to gather evidence to indict Harun in a U.S. civilian criminal court.” —The New York Times

From the Publisher

2025-06-25
The unusual prosecution of an avowed terrorist.

The busy CNN host’s second nonfiction title this year unravels the complexities behind a “unique” criminal case against a jihadist who killed American service members. Tapper’s narrative moves at pace, skillfully blending combat scenes, investigative breakthroughs, and courtroom conflict. In June 2011, Ibrahim S. Harun, a passenger on a ship transporting migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, approached an Italian Green Beret and confessed that he was in al-Qaida and had killed American troops in Afghanistan. Italian authorities took Harun, also known as Spin Ghul, into custody but refused to extradite him if the U.S. planned to try Harun by military commission. To Italian leaders, such proceedings upheld illegal interrogation practices employed by the U.S. Fearful that Harun would be released and participate in another attack, federal prosecutors and FBI agents prepared for a criminal trial in civilian court. Investigators used a military database of items recovered from battle sites to place Harun at the scene of a 2003 ambush of U.S. soldiers, two of whom—Jerod Dennis and Raymond Losano—were killed. A Quran found there bore Harun’s fingerprints. Though Tapper occasionally bogs down in the backgrounds of relatively minor figures, he’s sharp on the political considerations that informed the Justice Department and President Obama’s decision to try Harun in federal court in Brooklyn. Harun was convicted of multiple charges in 2017 and later sentenced to life in prison. Tapper carefully unpacks legal precedents, explaining how “the distinction between terrorism and warfare” became “blurred” after 9/11. This helped enable a prosecution that some believe should have remained in the military’s purview. Remarkably, the judge who sentenced Harun, while not doubting his guilt, tells Tapper that the proceeding “felt like a show trial.”

A smart page-turner about the atypical trial of an al-Qaida member.

Kirkus Reviews