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Liddy and Son Fight Back! By Sandra Frazier February 16, 2006 G. Gordon Liddy and son, Cmdr. James G.
Liddy, arrived at Huntington's Book Revue Thursday night looking fit and very
Secret Service-like, both in tailored black suits, perfect military-like posture,
polite and yet firm and direct.
Responding to his introduction, the elder Liddy joked, "It's a
far removal from 'Will the defendant please rise!'" It was the next stop on a book tour that
included Howard Stern on Sirius Satellite Thursday morning to Sean Hannity on
WABC in the afternoon; they were there to promote their new book, "Fight Back:
Tackling Terrorism, Liddy Style" -
utilizing G. Gordon's celebrity and his Navy SEAL son's expertise on
terrorism - a kind of handbook, "how to" guide to help yourself in
the event of a terrorist attack. Learn the Liddy
Way to combat personal, professional, and workplace threats to your security
-- and come out on top. The "G-Man," as he is known,
wasted no time and jumped right into the basics - the mission of the book
that was obviously a labor of love between father and son, between former FBI
agent / Army artillery officer and Navy SEAL / Chief Advisor for Counter-Terrorism.
Citing an Omni article he'd penned years
ago, the elder Liddy stated quite bluntly that he'd predicted we'd be hit;
"unfortunately [my article] was a roadmap for the terrorists," he
chuckled. And then he spelled out in
no uncertain terms just how uncomplicated it is for (the terrorists) to cut
off our communications and hit us where it hurts the most. "These people are dedicated to our
destruction. They want to kill you
and disrupt your community... they don't care if you're a liberal or a
conservative." Liddy beamed proudly, standing tall next to
his son, Cmdr. James G. Liddy (ret.). It was easy to see how close they were, how they inspired each
other, and how they were clearly on a mission: "to contribute to the
national security of our homeland."
Cmdr. Liddy, young and handsome, was a U.S. Navy SEAL and at the time
of his retirement, served as Chief Advisor for Counter-Terrorism for the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity
Conflict. As co-writer of "Fight
Back," he's an expert on the subject, though most of his accomplishments
remain classified. He stated,
"Since '83 terrorism has been growing," and he simplified his role
by saying he was asked to tell the government how to protect its citizens. G. Gordon's confidence in his son was
self-evident. "He volunteered
for the SEALs! They were all volunteers!" He went on to convey to the audience that
it is no small accomplishment to have survived Navy SEALs training. But Gordon is no less a hero himself. A former FBI special agent, having run the
presidential campaign for Nixon, in the Nixon administration,
Mr. Liddy served first as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury,
was then appointed Enforcement Legislative Counsel, and, in 1971, was sent to
the White House as Staff Assistant to the President of the United
States. For his role in Watergate,
and for refusing steadfastly to implicate others, Mr. Liddy was sentenced to
over twenty years in prison. He served nearly five years, many in maximum
security, including 106 days of solitary confinement, before his release by
President Carter "in the interests of justice." AND he served two years as an Army
artillery officer during the Korean War.
But all this was just the tip of the iceberg in the colorful,
complicated life of G. Gordon Liddy. G. Gordon enjoyed telling the story of what
motivated the two to write the book.
When he was invited to his son's retirement ceremony, he was very
impressed. He himself had been in the
Army many years before, but admitted that for most of his son's childhood, he
was "away" and then his son went away for twenty years. "I'd get a call from him and he
couldn't tell us where he was, so I'd try to trick him and ask him what time
it was just to figure out where he was." At the retirement ceremony, it dawned on him: "I have a son
who is retired and I’m still working my butt off! What's wrong with this picture!?" So the idea for "Fight Back" was
sparked. They knew they wanted to teach people to not
just stand by and tremble in fear, but rather to "Know Your Enemy!"
and to learn how to secure themselves on every level. "We literally teach you how to fight
back, to survive." But they realized they alone didn't have all
the answers. They knew they had to
find medical experts, PhDs, engineers and law enforcement to consult. One such consultant was chief advisor to
the government, Dr. Joel Selanikio, director of Emergency Response
Coordination for the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and chief
of operations for the secretary's Emergency Command Center in the aftermath
of the September 11 and anthrax attacks of 2001. And J. Michael Barrett, senior analyst for
the Global War on Terrorism in the Special Operations Division of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, where he helped coordinate multiagency efforts to identify
domestic and international terrorist cells. The audience had many questions about
America's safety and security.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get
you!" Gordon laughed as he stated emphatically just how smart and sophisticated
the terrorists are and that they are not to be underestimated. "A lot is going on that you don't see
because you're not supposed to see it," he assured us all, but
admitted that of thousands of containers coming into our ports daily, a mere 20
percent are screened. "Fight Back" is not a book just
about problems; it's a guide that offers solutions. They tell you the problems and vulnerability, and give
you solutions - practical ways to protect yourself. "The more free you are, the stronger you are... and we all
know the best defense is a good offense," said Liddy. He believes the Patriot Act is very helpful,
but admits there is a serious problem with the borders - that half a million
illegal aliens are coming over every year, "and not just people named Pancho." He emphasized that the government is doing
terribly in this matter and that neither political party wants to do
anything about it because they both have their own reasons for wanting the
illegals in America. Asked how safe it is to fly, Cmdr. Liddy was
very informative: "Terrorists don't like to repeat their modus
operandi," but, he said, screening is still not good and packages can
get through. We are still very
vulnerable. They both laughed when
declaring that the safest airline today is El Al. Gordon told about interviewing the CEO of El Al, who told him,
"In the U.S., you're looking for nail clippers; in Israel we're looking
for terrorists."
"They believe in profiling!" And that's the key. Liddy's no-nonsense approach is more than
familiar to many of us. He has hosted
his nationally syndicated radio program for 14 years, and has been a TV and
movie actor. His radio show is broadcast in more than 150 markets and
is heard on Radio America, Sirius and XM satellite radio and around the world
via Internet streaming. Fast approaching 80, Liddy is a modern man in a
modern world, utilizing technology and information along with his son and
partner, on a mission to arm America with knowledge as its best defense. d
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