He strikes a match to relight his cigar for the umpteenth time, puts the stogie between his lips and puffs, puffs, puffs until a thin wisp of smoke snakes up and into the crisp Colorado afternoon air.

Rich Miniter has just finished attending a two-day seminar sponsored by The Heritage Foundation www.heritage.org and the El Pomar Foundation www.elpomar.org on Defense Transformation of which I was co-host ? we?re both a bit mentally drained and have decided to sit and chat by the beautiful pond on the grounds of Colorado Spring?s Broadmoor Resort.

But it?s a little difficult to chat about the frivolous things of life when you?re with Rich.

As a matter of fact, talking with Rich is a little like spending time with some mythical character that is a delightful combination of Indiana Jones, Sherlock Holmes and Teddy Roosevelt. Rich is part adventurer, part sleuth, part champion of a free world.

He?s also a fantastic storyteller, journalist extraordinaire, and best-selling author.  His newest book, Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush is Winning the War on Terror falls on the heels of his wildly popular bestseller, Losing Bin Laden.  Shadow War is written like a thriller novel, and is meticulously researched and filled with facts and tidbits you just won?t find anywhere else.

Both books are must reading for anyone interested in international intrigue, mystery, or the truth about America?s war on terror.  Miniter, who lives in Brussels, Belgium (when he?s not out chasing warlords or intelligence officials, has delivered terrific literary fare for many years as an editorial page writer for The Wall Street Journal Europe, the American Spectator, Reader?s Digest and in his current weekly column for the Wall Street Journal?s OpinionJournal.com.

After only a few minutes with Rich my hopes for a relaxing afternoon are obliterated ? funny thing is, I don?t even care.  His casual, affable demeanor is an intriguing contrast to the image of a guy who spends time getting shot at by terrorists and warlords.  On this particular afternoon, Rich and I are joined by his dog, Boxer, (named after the Boxer Rebellion when the English defeated the Chinese who had exterminated thousands of the breed ? {sorry, that?s all I remember of that story}) and the dog of another great writer, Joel Mowbray of Townhall.com, who also attended the Heritage/El Pomar seminar. Little did I know when I sat down with Rich that he was actually dog-sitting Joel?s pup for a couple of hours.  Or so he said.

Over the next 90 minutes in between chatting about Egypt, terrorists, Iraq, Malaysia and other international issues and places, I spent time chasing after Joel?s dog (whom Rich had absent-mindedly unleashed during one of his great stories), listening to Rich?s side of a live telephone/radio interview with a West Virginia station, and trying to figure out exactly what makes Rich tick.  (Sometime between discussing Rich?s jaunts to Chad and Malaysia, I chased down Joel?s dog for a second time while Rich placated the bound Boxer.) Continued...