See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism

See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism
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Right Diagnosis Wrong Prescription

Real behind the scenes of how the spy agency worked

Dispatches From the Pre-9/11 War on Terror Front

Useful Stuff

"Why don't they listen to me?"

See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism
Robert Baer
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 140004684X
Release Date: 2003-01-07

Book Description

In his explosive New York Times bestseller, top CIA operative Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides startling evidence of how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA’s efforts to root out the world’s deadliest terrorists, allowing for the rise of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the continued entrenchment of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

A veteran case officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations in the Middle East, Baer witnessed the rise of terrorism first hand and the CIA’s inadequate response to it, leading to the attacks of September 11, 2001. This riveting book is both an indictment of an agency that lost its way and an unprecedented look at the roots of modern terrorism, and includes a new afterword in which Baer speaks out about the American war on terrorism and its profound implications throughout the Middle East.

“Robert Baer was considered perhaps the best on-the-ground field
officer in the Middle East.”
–Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker

From The Preface
This book is a memoir of one foot soldier’s career in the other cold war, the one against terrorist networks. It’s a story about places most Americans will never travel to, about people many Americans would prefer to think we don’t need to do business with.

This memoir, I hope, will show the reader how spying is supposed to work, where the CIA lost its way, and how we can bring it back again. But I hope this book will accomplish one more purpose as well: I hope it will show why I am angry about what happened to the CIA. And I want to show why every American and everyone who cares about the preservation of this country should be angry and alarmed, too.

The CIA was systematically destroyed by political correctness, by petty Beltway wars, by careerism, and much more. At a time when terrorist threats were compounding globally, the agency that should have been monitoring them was being scrubbed clean instead. Americans were making too much money to bother. Life was good. The White House and the National Security Council became cathedrals of commerce where the interests of big business outweighed the interests of protecting American citizens at home and abroad. Defanged and dispirited, the CIA went along for the ride. And then on September 11, 2001, the reckoning for such vast carelessness was presented for all the world to see.

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In See No Evil, one of the CIA's top field officers of the past quarter century recounts his career running agents in the back alleys of the Middle East. In the process, Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides compelling evidence about how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA's efforts to root out the world's deadliest terrorists.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the world witnessed the terrible result of that intelligence failure with the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the wake of those attacks, Americans were left wondering how such an obviously long-term, globally coordinated plot could have escaped detection by the CIA and taken the nation by surprise. Robert Baer was not surprised. A twenty-one-year veteran of the CIA's Directorate of Operations who had left the agency in 1997, Baer observed firsthand how an increasingly bureaucratic CIA lost its way in the post-cold war world and refused to adequately acknowledge and neutralize the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalist terror in the Middle East and elsewhere.

A throwback to the days when CIA operatives got results by getting their hands dirty and running covert operations, Baer spent his career chasing down leads on suspected terrorists in the world's most volatile hot spots. As he and his agents risked their lives gathering intelligence, he watched as the CIA reduced drastically its operations overseas, failed to put in place people who knew local languages and customs, and rewarded workers who knew how to play the political games of the agency's suburban Washington headquarters but not how to recruit agents on the ground.

See No Evil is not only a candid memoir of the education and disillusionment of an intelligence operative but also an unprecedented look at the roots of modern terrorism. Baer reveals some of the disturbing details he uncovered in his work, including:

In 1996, Osama bin Laden established a strategic alliance with Iran to coordinate terrorist attacks against the United States.
In 1995, the National Security Council intentionally aborted a military coup d'etat against Saddam Hussein, forgoing the last opportunity to get rid of him.
In 1991, the CIA intentionally shut down its operations in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, and ignored fundamentalists operating there.

When Baer left the agency in 1997 he received the Career Intelligence Medal, with a citation that says, "He repeatedly put himself in personal danger, working the hardest targets, in service to his country."

See No Evil is Baer's frank assessment of an agency that forgot that "service to country" must transcend politics and is a forceful plea for the CIA to return to its original mission -- the preservation of our national sovereignty and the American way of life.

"Robert Baer was considered perhaps the best on-the-ground field officer in the Middle East."
   SEYMOUR M. HERSH, THE NEW YORKER

"Robert Baer [was] one of the most talented Middle East case officers of the past twenty years."
   REUEL MARC GERECHT, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY

Customer Reviews:

Right Diagnosis Wrong Prescription.......2007-10-11

Bauer gives a compelling account of his exploits as a CIA agent. For the "ripping good yarn" three stars.

He also offers his take on the reasons for serious deficiencies by our intelligence services. No argument that there are shortcomings, but no stars for his analysis of the causes.

Why? Some major thematic defects with the book on this score.

First, the underlying genre is a familiar one: the single honest and courageous protagonist fighting against apathy, stupidity and venality. Perhaps, understandable given Mr. Bauer's experience with the Agency's appreciation of his service. But a plot line more suited to fiction than serious analysis.

Is there bureaucracy, stupidity and even venality in the CIA? No argument here. But equally there should be no argument that this condition exists in any human institution. So then the right question becomes one of degree rather than kind. Were these factors so pervasive as to compromise the mission of the Agency? Was Bauer the only dedicated, selfless intelligent operative in the Agency? Or, if not the only one, one of a mere handful of such individuals? All in all this seems a bit far fetched.

The book does shed some light on why our intelligence services may be working at a suboptimal level, particularly in the Middle East, though perhaps not in the way the author intended.

Bauer's career is in some ways a "poster child" for suboptimal behavior.

Intelligence work is a not a particularly glamorous craft. At its heart it's rather mundane meticulous analysis and the routine work of running agents rather than flamboyant action. The heroes of fiction - James Bonds or "Jack" Bauers - are not particularly useful. Grey anonymity - an absence of footprints - is the most desirable operational trait.

Intelligence work requires a cold discipline. Actions in the field are undertaken for concrete objectives. Many of Bauer's missions seem to have been highly visible personal adventures with little apparent (intelligence) utility. They exposed a valuable asset to capture or compromise. No doubt the trips to the Beka'a, the Pamirs or the Yaghob Valley were ripping good fun as was driving T-72s and parachuting with Russian troops. How these advanced US intelligence interests is questionable.

Intelligence is also a team sport, contrary to popular fiction. In this critical game, it's very important that the players let the coach call the plays. Policy is set in Washington not in the field. Bauer's disingenuous actions in Northern Iraq - his attempt to make his own foreign policy - were not appropriate and really didn't serve our national interests well.

Intelligence requires careful discretion. Agents associate with a variety of people, many of whom are rather unsavory. The trick is to use the contact rather than be used. How our national interest benefited from contact with Mr. Tamraz isn't immediately clear to me. There is another danger here: the contact spinning such association as an American imprimatur.

Bauer does highlight some structural and political problems which affect the Agency's performance. That the national interest of the USA is often conflated with business interests, particularly oil, is distressing but not surprising.

However, all these points are at the margin of the central issue.

A more fundamental failure needs to be addressed. It is the same one which dogs the crafting of our foreign policy - a failure to think coldly and rationally about issues.

When we analyze domestic policies, by and large we accept that our government is influenced by popular perceptions with results shaped by the interplay between competing groups. However, when we venture to lands foreign, we abandon this nuanced view for one much more simplistic and simple minded.

We see our own interests as the only legitimate ones. Competitors must then be evildoers. Or, if we are in a charitable mood, suffering from some other serious moral or intellectual defect. The impulse for discovering grand conspiracies follows in train. Often we fail to recognize groups of our antagonists for what they are - temporary tactical alliances of convenience among groups with disparate constituencies and often competing ideologies rather than unitary blocs controlled by some grandmaster of evil who can compel his subordinates to take actions against their own very real interests. Imagine ascribing master/servant relationships and unanimity on all points among the Allies in WWII - the USA the master, or if your politics differ, the servant of the USSR and you'll understand this fallacy.

We also fall prey to the "great man" theory. If only we can remove the wrong man or install the right one, we can engineer a change in policy even if it is contrary to the wishes of the majority of that country. To use a domestic analogy, this is equivalent to believing that Al Franken or Fred Thompson could persuade the NRA to embrace gun control. Or NOW to abandon Roe v. Wade. In some extreme cases we believe we can manufacture leaders and parachute them into power. Delusions of this sort doom our actions and also reflect the poverty of our strategic thinking. As a result, we often associate with leaders who do our cause no good. The choice of the former head of the INC - a man with no discernible political support in Iraq as well as with certain other considerable negatives - as that country's putative Thomas Jefferson is an example of this pathology. No surprise that we fail and wind up being used.

And sadly often we also fail to marry our long term strategic interests to appropriate foreign policy. Foreign policy or intelligence "quick" fixes result in unwelcome blowback as history demonstrates time and time again.

Finally, perhaps an obvious point: a rational foreign policy in the long term interests of the US will promote the work and thus the success of our intelligence services. Rowing against the tides of history while perhaps heroic is at the end of the day rather foolish and so destined for failure. This is really the issue for reflection.

Real behind the scenes of how the spy agency worked.......2007-10-02

Only halfway through, but this book is great. It shows you in depth how the agency worked. Reveals how training was done, how missions worked. Includes real stories not just analysis.

Dispatches From the Pre-9/11 War on Terror Front.......2007-09-30

The stories and experiences of real life are often more gripping than fiction. Given that celebrated novels receive greater fame and publicity, it is rare to come across a book that captures the adventure of a captivating adventure novel and the benefit of a knowledgeable nonfiction author. A medley of suspense, wisdom from years experience, and formidable lessons from around the globe abound in former CIA officer Bob Baer's veracious story from the forefront of the US's struggle against international terrorism.

Baer recounts his professional life in one of the most riveting, true-life spy tales around. His first book is easy to follow and lively; even if you're not a James Bond suspense-novel junkie you'll likely appreciate "See No Evil." Baer's insight on the past and the state of current intelligence operations in a post 9/11 world with admonition for, what he sees as, the most potent gambit in the war against Middle Eastern terrorism, is vital for composing a winning strategy in the region.

The reputability of being the basis for George Clooney's character in the film "Syriana." shouldn't deter readers who actually watched the risible movie. George Clooney's Bob Barnes never amounted to the valorous character we become acquainted with in the book; his pitiful role is a real injustice to the real life Baer. There are no real parallels between the fictional movie`s plot and the book based on Baer's firsthand experiences.

With such a furtive job like a case officer, it is rare for an author to lift the shroud of secrecy for the public to behold some of these highly-speculated operations. An ordinary American youngster, full of guilelessness and vitality, finds himself leading an anything but ordinary life in an abstruse field that eventually takes him to the forefront of the nation`s interests in the Middle East. Ultimately departing an agency hampered by politicalization and putrefied by scandals, Bob holds back nothing in sharing passionate convictions, doubts, and solicitude in an earnest reflection of his entire espionage career. From the young operative's tribulation of his first assignment in India up to senior liaison orchestrating a coup against Saddam His story is gripping, his insight and perception on the challenges we face is indispensable.

Useful Stuff.......2007-08-28

After reading the book one can never be so ignorant!!!
It's pretty sad to watch these guys risk their lives for such dangerous missions and let go in the end...

"Why don't they listen to me?".......2007-07-27

Robert Baer
See No Evil
book review

The first half of this book is a great adventure story. The second reveals a personality.

We are treated to a sampling of the adventures of a vigorous, energetic, productive young case officer's (we learn that a CIA "agent" is the local who does the actual spying, "case officer" being the term for the professional recruiter and manager of agents) experiences during the birth and maturation of his productive years in southern Asia and the Middle East. For those of us interested in espionage procedurals, this part of the book is exhilarating. I couldn't put it down. It is written with vim and a touch of humor.

The second half of the book is in some ways more interesting, as it reveals through a change of style a man who needs rest. Mr. Baer's supervisors should have recognized it and brought him "in from the cold" from time to time, so that he could adjust in a healthy way back to normal life with a normal perspective. I saw this happen more than once in my own law enforcement career. Such seems to me what Robert Baer reveals to us, consciously or not, in the second half of his book.

The transition is marked by a curious re-call, which Robert Baer ("Robert Pope"?) resists vehemently, during which he is investigated as a suspect in a murder for hire. The portrayal of the burned out case officer in the movie Syriana, based on See No Evil, seems to be Robert Baer himself. The fictional character, Wilson, knows too much, or thinks he does. The fictional character in the movie blows up some bad guys, acting on his own authority in secret. The real Robert Baer in See No Evil is accused of plotting to assassinate Saddam Hussein, a weird story in itself. By is own admission, there are things he does not write up in reports.

It is as though he has arrived in the insane hell of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (a movie Mr. Baer refers to in his book). He wonders why "they" back at headquarters don't pay more respect to his on-the-spot reporting. As the fictional character, Captain Willard, says to himself in Apocalypse Now, "They didn't know I wasn't even in their f...ing army anymore."

But, you see, Robert Baer has been in the field so long and left alone to do pretty much as he sees fit, and it begins to tell. When he and his team are sent to northern Iraq, he interprets whole world scenarios through his team's emplacement. The whole course of world history depends on him and his team's mission. He blows their role out of proportion and takes on the role of the representative of the United States. He writes that the local Kurds think of him as the Untied States Ambassador.

He is turning into Colonel Kurtz. It is he whom they rely on, and he tells them lies about what Washington thinks and commitments he thinks they should make. Whether the Kurdish leaders really believe him or not is a matter of speculation. Robert Baer seems to think they do. Everything rests on Robert Baer, and Washington just won't do what he tells them needs to be done. It is time to be brought "in from the cold." He's gone over the edge, out of control, and control is what secret operations rely on most. He needs closer supervision. He needs to be watched. (Cf. the latter career of James J. Angleton.) His bosses order him back to the home office in Washington.

From there we get a phantasmagoria of life in the most unfathomable world imaginable, Washington, D.C. Robert Baer is out of his environment. He admittedly does not understand how it works. He is still "out in the field." He proceeds to engage this strange new world in the context of what he knows how to do. He runs into roadblocks wherever he turns. Why won't they listen to me?

In sum, read this book. Mr. Baer the author is a good writer and deserves a loyal audience for this and the other books he has written. For those interested in good-humored, adventurous spy stories, it is A-number-one. For those interested in the questionable practices and questionable values of unsupervised operators left to assume roles they should not, this is a perfect example of it.

Gary Berntsen, too, in his revelation, Jawbreaker, shows us another example of self-exaggerated importance among field people. Why does the CIA allow these people to publish and appear on television? In other recent histories written about these circumstances, nary a word is mentioned about the Gary Bernstsens' or Robert Baers's exploits. "Why won't they listen to me?" "I could've got Saddam Hussein." "I could've got Osama bin Laden." "If only I had two divisions of men with the will to cut off the arms of inoculated children ...." (Colonel Kurtz)

Maybe the operational side of the CIA should be abandoned. Maybe they are loose cannons. Maybe the CIA should be kept strictly to the business of gathering and analyzing information. Mr. Baer alludes to the establishment of FBI offices overseas. Maybe the CIA or at least its operational side should be folded into the FBI. There are just too many intelligence agencies. There is nothing central about the Central Intelligence Agency. There is not enough control. There are too many Robert Baers and Gary Berntsens out there doing too many things on their own.

I say all of this with all respect due to Robert Baer, Gary Berntsen, and those like them. As young men they enter into an adventurous world and ripen into the most sincere patriots one can find. They work hard and do good things. However, as mature men, they begin to think they know more than they do and that those with other responsibility know less. "Why don't they listen to us?" Why, indeed.

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

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Current history come to life
a fine place to start at understanding 9/11
issues to be informed about......
Unbeliveable history of Afghanistan
Ghost Wars

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
Steve Coll
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143034669

Amazon.com

Steve Coll's Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 offers revealing details of the CIA's involvement in the evolution of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the years before the September 11 attacks. From the beginning, Coll shows how the CIA's on-again, off-again engagement with Afghanistan after the end of the Soviet war left officials at Langley with inadequate resources and intelligence to appreciate the emerging power of the Taliban. He also demonstrates how Afghanistan became a deadly playing field for international politics where Soviet, Pakistani, and U.S. agents armed and trained a succession of warring factions. At the same time, the book, though opinionated, is not solely a critique of the agency. Coll balances accounts of CIA failures with the success stories, like the capture of Mir Amal Kasi. Coll, managing editor for the Washington Post, covered Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992. He demonstrates unprecedented access to records of White House meetings and to formerly classified material, and his command of Saudi, Pakistani, and Afghani politics is impressive. He also provides a seeming insider's perspective on personalities like George Tenet, William Casey, and anti-terrorism czar, Richard Clarke ("who seemed to wield enormous power precisely because hardly anyone knew who he was or what exactly he did for a living"). Coll manages to weave his research into a narrative that sometimes has the feel of a Tom Clancy novel yet never crosses into excess. While comprehensive, Coll's book may be hard going for those looking for a direct account of the events leading to the 9-11 attacks. The CIA's 1998 engagement with bin Laden as a target for capture begins a full two-thirds of the way into Ghost Wars, only after a lengthy march through developments during the Carter, Reagan, and early Clinton Presidencies. But this is not a critique of Coll's efforts; just a warning that some stamina is required to keep up. Ghost Wars is a complex study of intelligence operations and an invaluable resource for those seeking a nuanced understanding of how a small band of extremists rose to inflict incalculable damage on American soil. --Patrick O'Kelley

Book Description

To what extent did AmericaÂ's best intelligence analysts grasp the rising threat of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer PrizeÂ-winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupulous research and firsthand accounts by key government, intelligence, and military personnel both foreign and American, Coll details the secret history of the CIAÂ's role in Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of bin Laden, and the failed efforts by U.S. forces to find and assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan.

Customer Reviews:

Current history come to life.......2007-10-11

Steve Coll has done an outstanding job in presenting the history of our relationship with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the Afghan freedom fighters and shows how that history foretells what is occurring in the world today.

Many other books about the rise of Osama Bin Laden are out there but this gives an honest depiction of who he was and is, how he came to power and what he uses to retain that power. It gives the reader a better understanding of the tribal nature of Afghanistan, the machinations of the intelligence services in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and how the Taliban came to rule after the Soviets were chased out. It also shows how the United States in the administration of Bill Clinton dropped the ball numerous times in understanding and dealing with terrorism. From the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 to the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, Clinton did little to forestall further such events. The reader will see what roles Sandy Berger and Richard Clarke played in advising the president and yet the terrorism continued.
A few heroes are introduced- mainly from the CIA and Afghan tribes.

Steve Coll is an excellent writer and captures the reader with his excellent prose and command of the players and facts of the times

a fine place to start at understanding 9/11.......2007-09-30

on 9/12/2001 i figured that i should take a stab at getting a better picture in my head of the political turbulence that storms through the middle east. but i'm a lazy person. and such an undertaking seemed a chore. i have enough chores in my life, so i procrastinated. i bought a small stack of books on the topic over the years, but they only served to make me feel bad, because i really didn't want to read any of them. but this month, about 6 years later than it should have been, i took the plunge. I picked up steve coll's "Ghost Wars," and started reading the thing. well, lo and behold it was not a chore at all. the first 475 pages flew by with ease, pulling me along eagerly. mr coll builds a narrative momentum here, while threading complex strands of people, countries and events into a coherent whole, that is superlative. his portrait of the saudi, afganistan, and pakistani governments, and their interactions with the united states government was particularly well done and fascinating. my only complaint (and the reason i give this book 4 stars instead of 5) is that after the bombing of our warship in yemen by bin laden's group, the narrative suddenly grinds to a halt and becomes bogged down in about a hundred pages of overly detailed description relating to unsuccessful plots to get bin laden himself. since we all know that bin laden was not caught, this long stretch of failed planning simply takes up too much space at the end of the book, and is not all that interesting. that said, by all means read this book for the excitement and enlightenment cast in the first 475 pages or so. i believe this book to be about as good a place to start as any for someone looking to better understand the road that led us to 9/11.

issues to be informed about.............2007-09-23

Interesting. A must read. I hope Mr. Coll writes the next segment of Afghanistan's history from September 11, 2001 onward.

The book covers a lot of ground and is lengthy, but is well written and reads quickly. Coll outlines the people and policies (or, the lack thereof) from the Soviet chapter in Afghanistan until the day before September 11, 2001. Throughout the historical narrative, the book covers and addresses scary amounts of money flowing in and out of Afghanistan, the conflicts between the CIA, the State Dept. and other U.S. agencies/policymakers in addressing issues related to Afghanistan, the Taleban, Al Q, and Bin Laden, and who understood what and when related to Al Q, Bin Laden, et al. Coll also critically addresses the roles of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in U.S. policy considerations, and those countries policies toward Afghanistan/knowledge of Al Q and Bin Laden.

Beyond the headlines, I was not very well informed on the history of Afghanistan. This book will bring the reader up to speed very quickly.

Unbeliveable history of Afghanistan.......2007-08-17

Don't be scared away by the 600+ pages. It flows freely and is really a riviting historical read. It provides quite a narrative on the history of this area and the difficult political and military situations that the US, Pakistan, Soviet Union and other influcencal Middle East countries had in this area of the world..

Ghost Wars.......2007-07-14

Ghost Wars is an account of U.S. assistance to the mujahedin during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and U.S. attempts to curtail Osama bin Laden's influence. Ghost Wars focuses on the CIA but author Steve Coll, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered Afghanistan for the Washington Post between 1989 and 1992, also covers the interagency policy making process in Washington.

The U.S. policy of helping the mujahedin in Afghanistan harass and ultimately defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan was, of course, a success. U.S. officials realized that the contending forces in Afghanistan were unlikely to form a unified national government after the Soviet's departure, but the United States was in Afghanistan to hurt the Soviet Union, not to build a new nation in Afghanistan. U.S. assistance efforts in Afghanistan were advanced by two allies, in particular, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Coll argues that, while the allies' interests coincided in containing Soviet expansion, U.S. interests were hurt by the efforts of Pakistan's intelligence service (the ISI) to strengthen radical Islamists after the Soviet collapse in Afghanistan and by Saudi Arabia's unwillingness to confront radical Islamists at home and in Afghanistan.

Coll criticizes U.S. policy in Afghanistan on several grounds. First, the United States relied heavily on the ISI to deliver assistance to the mujahedin, despite the ISI's preference for radical jihadists. Second, the United States' reliance on Saudi oil made it too hard for the United States to confront its ally over terrorism policies. Third, the United States missed opportunities to engage India as a democratic ally in South Asia. Fourth, the United States failed to develop "a strategy for engagement, democratization, secular education, and economic development among the peaceful but demoralized populations of the Islamic world."

U.S. policy toward bin Laden, in particular, could also be criticized for a lack of coherence. Coll's narrative describes a reluctance to give unambiguous instructions to kill bin Laden, even though capturing him alive would have been nearly impossible. Numerous opportunities arose to attack bin Laden but policymakers always demurred because they were reluctant to offend other governments or risk civilian deaths. At one point, referring to bin Laden, CIA director George Tenet announces that "We are at war," but the resources and single-minded determination that this announcement implies never materialized.

Class 11: Inside the CIA's First Post-9/11 Spy Class

Average customer rating:

Self important but unique
Eh.
Great Insight
TJ Waters makes friends, Wow!!!!!!!!!
not really that fascinating--must've did it for the money

Class 11: Inside the CIA's First Post-9/11 Spy Class
T. J. Waters
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0525949291

Book Description

Written by one of its own graduates, Class 11 is a gripping insiderÂ's look at the first post-9/11 CIA training classÂ—the most elite and secretive espionage training program in the country.

Like all Americans, T. J. Waters was stunned, angry, and griefstricken by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. More than that, he wanted to take action to help prevent such an event from ever happening again.

Waters was not alone. In the weeks following the attacks, the Central Intelligence Agency received over 150,000 resumÃ©s from people wanting to serve their nation as spies. More than one hundred students were admitted to the CIAÂ's Clandestine Service to become Class 11, the first postÂ-9/11 CIA training class. It was the largest and most diverse class in the agencyÂ's history. Joining Waters were a World Trade Center victimÂ's fiancÃ©e, an NFL alumni, a New York City comedian, a college athletics coach, a hostage negotiator, and a single mother. Class 11 is the real story of how this band of everyday Americans joined together to endure the challenge of a lifetime and serve their country. Against the backdrop of Osama bin LadenÂ's videotaped taunts; the Washington, D.C., sniper attacks; and the loss of a CIA field officer in Afghanistan, Waters takes readers behind the scenes, where the trainees learned methods of subterfuge, mastering disguises, withstanding interrogations, and crossing into hostile territory without being detected.

Class 11 is a fascinating and moving portrait of an extraordinary group of Americans with the courage and resolve to make a difference in the war on terror.

Customer Reviews:

Self important but unique.......2007-08-23

The author is someone who seems very full of himself. He often takes time to tell the readers about how his class is the greatest in the Agencies history and likens them to Tom Browkaws "Greatest Generation." One does get the feeling that if he was really that good and that gung-ho that he would not have left the Agency this very quickly and run out, written a book and made a quick buck. That said the fact that I can get this book here at Amazon at a greatly reduced price makes it worth it, because it is along with maybe the book "The Big Breach," one of 2 books that gives a good idea of what the esoteric traing of a intelligence operative in recent times looks like. And so for that reason it is worth buying if you're an aficianado of the spy trade.

Eh........2007-08-18

I read a great deal of intelligence literature prior to reading this book. A college course taught by an old Intelligence professional interested me in the subject, so I sat down and read a few books on it. Perusing through Amazon one night, I came across this book in the "bargain" pile and decided to give it a shot. My response is a definite "eh".

The good first - this book delves a great deal, obviously, into CIA training. It discusses things I had not read in any of the dozen or so other books I had read on the subject. It does discuss the challenges of going through this training with family. The "family day" in particular was interesting to me. There are a few - not many, a few - moments where you might chuckle while reading it. Is it worth picking up at the bargain book price for this alone? Perhaps. I did so more to satisfy a bit of curiosity than anything else.

On to the bad - the writing is absolutely horrible. Childish beyond compare. The author delves into many portions of his personal life that the public could go without knowing and expresses his opinions in such a manner to make one wonder just how much thought - if any - he put into politics before signing up. He is obsessed over a silly t-shirt. His writing speaks of a person desperately trying to convince himself of his own determination when, in fact, we can see from how quickly he left the agency that it is all a façade - or he is no where near as talented as he portrays himself to be. He can scarcely go five pages without reminding the reader of his age. HIs platitudes will send your eyes rolling constantly. There is no sense of humility, no sense that the person we are reading about in all of this is genuine. He thumps his chest constantly, seeking to mix it up with the enemy, but appears to have bailed - or been shown the door - at the first possible opportunity.

The nuggets of information this book provides move it from a 1 to a 2 - but only barely. I constantly wondered how much of what he said here was true, and whether the information on his training was accurate. Still, with its legion of faults, the book is not entirely useless.

Great Insight.......2007-08-16

This book offers a compelling insight into the world's foremost intelligence agency. From a fledgling recruit to graduated case officer, this book examines one man's journey through that process. Class 11 reveals the camaraderie and dedication of the thousands of unsung hero's who answered their nation's call during a time of great trepidation following the Sept. 11 attacks.

TJ Waters makes friends, Wow!!!!!!!!!.......2007-06-29

Do not waste your time and money on the piece of garbage book. The book is filled with chummy sentiment about how close the recruits become, anyone that has served or went through military training/service will likely be annoyed by this theme. I have better stories through 10 years of military service than the a drunk dog-pile, I could barely contain myself.

Keep you money and dont buy.

not really that fascinating--must've did it for the money.......2007-06-10

It starts as a good book. You would think that this guy happens to be an expert or a veteran CIA analyst. When you pass page 80, you'll realize, however, that this man knows about the CIA as much as someone who likes to watch movies like Spy Wars, the Recruit, and Asyriana. Nothing in there was fascinating that makes the book special. It appears that he just got into the agency to brag about it and say the "I used to be in the agency," but decided to leave.
I'm giving two stars because the book could be interesting sometimes. His description of the training could be useful for people interested in working with the agency. I don't recommend the book for researchers, college students, or even high school students. It's just a personal account of his experience and how things worked out with his wife.

First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan

Average customer rating:

Good Inside Look
Disappointingly dull
stellar account
Best CIA book I've ever read
Tip of the Spear

First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan
Gary Schroen
Manufacturer: Presidio Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda
See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism
The American Agent: My Life in the CIA

ASIN: 0891418725
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Book Description

While America held its breath in the days immediately following 9/11, a small but determined group of CIA agents covertly began to change history. This is the riveting first-person account of the treacherous top-secret mission inside Afghanistan to set the stage for the defeat of the Taliban and launch the war on terror.

As thrilling as any novel, First In is a uniquely intimate look at a mission that began the U.S. retaliation against terrorism–and reclaimed the country of Afghanistan for its people.

Customer Reviews:

Good Inside Look.......2007-07-29

This is a great first hand account of what was going on after 9/11. While we were at home wondering what our government was doing, these guys were getting things done.

Disappointingly dull.......2007-06-19

This book is more a lesson in the stifling bureaucracy of the U.S. government -- even when engaged in one of the most important foreign operations in its history. Schroen's book is filled with operational minutiae that, while providing a detailed account of the CIA operation in Afghanistan after 9/11, is bled dry of any context.

I feel for Schroen and his team as time and again, their efforts are hampered by intra-agency turf wars, mistrust and miscommunication with the U.S. military, not to mention the substantial obstacles they had to overcome vis-a-vis their Northern Alliance hosts.

It comes across in Schroen's writing -- he's at the center of the operation, but is largely beholden to other forces, in Washington and in Afghanistan. And you only get a glimpse at his frustration, probably due to the diligence of the CIA editorial oversight. I can't help but think that I'm reading a highly sanitized and watered-down version of what Schroen *really* wanted to say. (Note that unlike Gary Berntsen's "Jawbreaker", this book was published with the CIA's full approval, with nary a redacted line.)

In the end you get the sense that the CIA team were little more than clerks or administrators, doling out the cash to keep Afghan allies, well allied, and making requests for travel, fuel, etc. That's too bad because clearly Schroen and his teammates deserve acknowledgment (and praise) for what they were able to accomplish on the ground, despite being hamstrung and their own operational limitations.

stellar account .......2007-06-02

This book represents a stellar account of the disconnect betwen the policymakers in Washington and those charged with the execution of U.S. foreign policy. Schroen's book also chronicles the insidious influence lobbyists representing foreign nations can have on defense or foreign policy. Pushing forward Pakistan's agenda cost lives of our true allies, those in the Northern Alliance who laid it all on the line to take the fight to the Taliban.

Best CIA book I've ever read.......2007-05-18

Mr. Schroen is the first author coming out of the CIA that I've ever read that has a shred of humility. It was refreshing to read his perspective and look into his amazing paradigm without all the macho horse-crap. This was a very interesting topic to me, and I really enjoyed this author's telling of it. I am into the details and there were a lot of them in this book. It's not a thriller-spy story, but it is a great read in my opinion.

Tip of the Spear.......2006-07-07

Gary Schroen was less that 3 months away from retirement from the CIA on 9/11. He'd had a successful career there in "Operations", the guys who do the actual spying (as opposed to "Analysis", the guys who try and figure out what everything means), mostly dealing with the Middle East, and had wound up a Deputy Division head. For 2 years in the early 90s he was the Station Chief in Kabul, Afghanistan, and later in the decade he'd flown into the Northern Alliance's territory and met Ahmed Shah Masoud, the charismatic leader of that group who was assassinated just before 9/11. He had extensive contacts with various friendly figures in Afghan politics, speaks at least one of the local languages, and of course has lots of experience. As a result, 15 days after 9/11, Schroen was flown into the Northern Alliance's Panshir Valley on a CIA helicopter along with a half dozen other CIA guys, various laptops, satellite phones, and radios, a crate of guns, and $3 million in cash. His orders were to find and kill Osama bin Laden, and topple the Taliban government. This book is his account of the mission, how it went, and the adventures they had along the way.

Schroen was sent into Afghanistan at a time when the army didn't consider it safe to deploy troops (apparently now, if the army can't medivac wounded they won't operate in an area, and since there were no friendly airbases close enough, they were skittish about the idea of committing troops or flying combat missions) so Schroen and his friends were on their own for a considerable time period (about a month). They made friends with the locals (some of whom Schroen already knew) spread around money to buy weapons and supplies, and lobbied for airstrikes, Special Forces teams, and generally support while they watched the Northern Alliance fight the Taliban. As time passed, other CIA teams and Special Forces Operators did appear. At one point in the story, several of the CIA guys participate in a cavalry charge (I keep reading books that recount the "last" cavalry charge in history: believe it or not, this one worked) and there are various other interesting anecdotes. The author, 59 at the time he was inserted into Afghanistan, had terrible intestinal troubles that were never entirely resolved, and one of the other guys had gas (apparently from the altitude). While they didn't get Osama (never even got close, really...they landed on the other side of the country) they were instrumental in tipping the war against the Taliban.

This is an interesting, intelligent book. The accounts of the politics in Washington and the Pentagon are of course frustratingly vague, but of course the author was in Afghanistan when the debates were taking place, so he can only recount what he was hearing over the radio or phone. But for an account of the War on Terror from someone who was on the front lines, this book is just about as good as it gets.

State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration

Average customer rating:

I could not put it down once I started reading it.
Disinformation at its Best !
An expose proven to be true
Useful study of a disastrous, failed state
Unbiased, Well Researched, Informative

State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
James Risen
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
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The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
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Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq

ASIN: 0743270665
Release Date: 2006-01-03

Amazon.com

The winter holidays are usually a quiet time for news, but the December 2005 revelations of the Bush administration's extensive, off-the-books domestic spying program by New York Times reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau made headline after headline, raising criticism from both sides of the aisle and an immediate, unapologetic response from President Bush himself. On the heels of those scoops comes Risen's State of War, which goes beyond his Times stories to provide a wide-ranging, if anecdotal, "secret history" of U.S. intelligence following 9/11.

Risen's description of what he says was called "the Program"--the ongoing eavesdropping operation, done with almost no judicial or congressional oversight, on the phone calls and emails of hundreds of Americans (and potentially millions more)--is only a chapter in his larger tale of the recent missteps and oversteps of U.S. intelligence. His evidence ranges from insider White House accounts of Donald Rumsfeld, "the ultimate turf warrior," outmaneuvering his rivals to make the Defense Department the dominant voice in foreign policy, to on-the-ground reports of the administration's willful ignorance of crucial intelligence on the dormancy of Saddam's weapons programs, Saudi support for al Qaeda, and the startlingly rapid transformation of Afghanistan into a "narco-state" under American authority. Some of the episodes he recounts--Saudi security officials with Osama bin Laden screensavers, an Iraqi scientist who had told the CIA his country had no nuclear program watching Colin Powell testify to the UN that they did--would be comical were the stakes less high.

Risen's loyalties are not with the opposition party--he's sharply critical of Clinton's disinterest in the CIA--but with the career field agents who are his best sources. Those agents and their expertise, he argues, have been cast aside, along with the long centrist tradition of U.S. foreign policy and the basic checks and balances of the American system of government, by the Bush administration's radical politicization and militarization of intelligence. He covers a lot of ground in a book of just over 200 pages, some of it familiar from other accounts, and at times his tradecraft anecdotes can be hard to assess without context. But his specific revelations and his well-sourced, angry overview of the way the battles against terror have been fought make for startling, newsmaking reading. --Tom Nissley

Book Description

With relentless media coverage, breathtaking events, and extraordinary congressional and independent investigations, it is hard to believe that we still might not know some of the most significant facts about the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history -- a series of hidden events that makes a mockery of current debate.

This hidden history involves domestic spying, abuses of power, and outrageous operations. It includes a CIA that became caught in a political cross fire that it could not withstand, and what it did to respond. It includes a Defense Department that made its own foreign policy, even against the wishes of the commander in chief. It features a president who created a sphere of deniability in which his top aides were briefed on matters of the utmost sensitivity -- but the president was carefully kept in ignorance. State of War reveals this hidden history for the first time, including scandals that will redefine the Bush presidency.

James Risen has covered national security for The New York Times for years. Based on extraordinary sources from top to bottom in Washington and around the world, drawn from dozens of interviews with key figures in the national security community, this book exposes an explosive chain of events:

Contrary to law, and with little oversight, the National Security Administration has been engaged in a massive domestic spying program.

On such sensitive issues as the use of torture, the administration created a zone of deniability: the president's top advisors were briefed, but the president himself was not.

The United States actually gave nuclear-bomb designs to Iran.

The CIA had overwhelming evidence that Iraq had no nuclear weapons programs during the run-up to the Iraq war. They kept that information to themselves and didn't tell the president.

While the United States has refused to lift a finger, Afghanistan has become a narco-state, supplying 87 percent of the heroin sold on the global market.

These are just a few of the stories told in State of War. Beyond these shocking specifics, Risen describes troubling patterns: Truth-seekers within the CIA were fired or ignored. Long-standing rules were trampled. Assassination squads were trained; war crimes were proposed. Yet for all the aggressiveness of America's spies, a blind eye was turned toward crucial links between al Qaeda and Saudi Arabia, among other sensitive topics.

Not since the revelations of CIA and FBI abuses in the 1970s have so many scandals in the intelligence community come to light. More broadly, Risen's secret history shows how power really works in George W. Bush's presidency.

Download Description

"With relentless media coverage, breathtaking events, and extraordinary congressional and independent investigations, it is hard to believe that we still might not know some of the most significant facts about the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history -- a series of hidden events that makes a mockery of current debate. James Risen has covered national security for The New York Times for years. Based on extraordinary sources from top to bottom in Washington and around the world, drawn from dozens of interviews with key figures in the national security community, this book exposes an explosive chain of events. Not since the revelations of CIA and FBI abuses in the 1970s have so many scandals in the intelligence community come to light. More broadly, Risen's secret history shows how power really works in George W. Bush's presidency.

Customer Reviews:

I could not put it down once I started reading it........2007-05-29

James Risen describes an institution of the CIA decaying after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the retirement of many long time career CIA officers, the CIA in a politically weak and compromised position.

Former CIA director, George Tenet became entangled in the Bush administration's politics and seemed to be directing the CIA in a manner to save his own job while sacrificing the CIA's credibility by having the CIA produce reports to support the Bush administration's propaganda which was not supported by observable evidence or credible sources. The Bush administration wanted the CIA to manufacture intelligence propaganda to support Bush's claims that the Saddam regime in Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction, WMD, and allied to or supporting terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.

The CIA was able to produce neither credible sources nor evidence to support Bush's claims. In fact, credible sources and evidence produced by the CIA in its investigations contradicted Bush's claims to indicate that the reverse was true. Production of WMDs had been abandoned as a result of America's first war against Iraq. No evidence or credible reasoning was ever discovered to support the claims of any links between Saddam and al Qaeda.

The observation that James Risen points out that I find most fascinating is the contrast with the Bush administration's great expenditure in time, effort and resources to persuade Americans that al Qaeda was somehow linked to the Saddam regime and that Bush continues to portray the war on Iraq as a war on al Qaeda's terrorism despite evidence to the contrary. However, the Bush administration shows no interest at all in following up ample evidence that points out links between Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and high level Saudi officials. On the contrary, such evidence at times has simply disappeared without explanation at the hands of Saudi officials or has been aggressively suppressed by American politicians. There is no American political support for U.S. intelligence services investigating terror evidence that leads back to Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, Saudi official's faster and more direct contacts with politicians in Washington, including Bush have been put to use by Saudis to hinder CIA and FBI investigations about terrorism originating out of Saudi Arabia.

One very ancient principle of war that both the CIA and the pentagon are guilty of neglecting is to know the enemy.

The CIA allowed its intelligence sources in Iraq to wither away without recruiting new intelligence sources in that country after operation desert storm and Saddam's non compliance with the terms of surrender to end the Persian Gulf war and his defiance against U.N. investigators searching for WMD.

The CIA accidently blinded itself in Iran by transmitting data to an Iranian double agent that enabled Iran to identify all CIA intelligence sources in Iran. Even worse, the CIA attempted an extremely dangerous and stupid stunt to get the Iranians to reveal their stage of nuclear weapons development by sending them flawed designs for a nuclear weapon through a former Russian scientist who revealed to the Iranians that the designs were flawed.

George Tenet established communication protocols between himself and high level Saudi officials. But, there was a complaint that George Tenet did not share the intelligence he received with CIA analysts. Saudis continue to ignore CIA requests for intelligence at lower levels and have even shared intelligence provided by the CIA with members of al Qaeda.

The Pentagon was unable to recognize that some hired Afghan allies were sympathizers of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda who took bribes in exchange for allowing them to escape from the Americans. The Pentagon was also unable or unwilling to recognize that some of their drug lord allies were funding the al Qaeda and Taliban which led to the revival of both in 2005.
Recurrent failures of the Bush administration which almost led to reversals of American victories in Afghanistan and Iraq include over optimism while committing minimal numbers of troops to both theaters of war, too trusting of native afghan fighters, drug lords and Iraqi intelligence sources lacking credibility while overly suspicious and suppressive of American military and intelligence sources whose reports contradicted manufactured realities the Bush administration was attempting to project, a lack of coherent planning and communication and cooperation between the administration, the department of defense, the state department and intelligence agencies.

James Risen points out briefly ineffective management and poor leadership characteristics of the Bush administration with which I agree.

Basic Management and leadership functions are planning, organizing, directing and control. Anyone who has been through such training will be able to identify failures of these functions by extracting them from the readings in James Risens book.

I wish that leaders and future leaders would read this book and others I list below so as to able to recognize poor crisis management and leadership and resolve to do better in the future.

Here are some other sources of related material which I recommend:

Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror by Anonymous AKA Michael Scheuer
Al Qaeda's Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail by Philip Smucker
No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah by Bing West
House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties by Craig Unger
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude by Robert Baer
Uncovered - The Whole Truth About the Iraq War by Robert Greenwald
Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by Our Unsecured U.S.-Mexico Border by Jon E. Dougherty
The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills

Disinformation at its Best !.......2007-05-16

Dont waste more than a couple of dollars on this breezy lite read. The real problem I had with this book is that it revolves around and gives creedence to the "Offical Version" or the propaganda we get on the idiot box. Too Verbose and Not Enough Hard Hitting Content. Example : What happened, why didnt the CIA catch 9/11 ? We just dropped the ball !!! HAHAHHAHA what bs. This book is full of diversionary crap like this. Really folks, there are tons of books that give more information than this, I suggest you start with
House of Bush House of Saud and Petrodollar Recycling.

An expose proven to be true.......2007-02-15

I had just finished this book when CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviewed Feith from the State Department, and I became totally convinced (as if I were not already) that the Bush administration has lied its way into war and has no clue as to how to get us out. I was impressed with the following: (1) Charlie Allen contacted 30 families to visit relatives in Iraq to do undercover spying in regard to WMD, and all 30 of them reported that there were no weapons. It was not a surprise that the information was stuffed into a file and forgotten by his superiors. (2) Tenet was a puppet for whatever George and Rumsfeld wanted. (3) The drug trade in Afghanistan was not stopped, and Rumsfeld ordered the military to concentrate only on terrorists and ignore the poppies. It is obvious that we should have finished our job in Afghanistan and stayed out of Iraq.

No wonder we are a laughing stock. The FBI and CIA are incompetent and corrupt. Everyone should read this book before the election hoohaw starts.

Useful study of a disastrous, failed state.......2007-01-25

This useful book explores the conflict within the US state between the CIA and the rest of the Bush administration. Risen's thesis is that a flawed administration has overridden and distorted a trusting and trustworthy CIA. He writes, "It is a cautionary tale, one that shows how the most covert tools of American national security policy have been misused. It involves domestic spying, abuse of power, and outrageous operations." What he actually shows is that the whole US state is corrupt.

He notes of the thirty Iraqi sources on WMD, "All of them - some thirty - had said the same thing. They all reported to the CIA that the scientists had said that Iraq's program to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons had long since been abandoned."

The US state protects its allies in the Saudi autocracy, and thus protects their allies, Al Qa'ida. As Risen notes, "Yet it is still true that, both before and after 9/11, President Bush and his administration have displayed a remarkable lack of interest in aggressively examining the connections between Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and the Saudi power elite. Even as the Bush administration spent enormous time and energy trying in vain to prove connections between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in order to help justify the war in Iraq, the administration was ignoring the far more conclusive ties with Saudi Arabia."

Afghanistan is now a narco-state and a large part of its drug profits goes to Al Qa'ida. "For Afghanistan's drug lords, business was very good under the United States Central Command. Flush with drug money, the insurgency in Afghanistan intensified in the summer of 2005 to its most dangerous levels since the American invasion nearly four years earlier. There were steady reports that the rebels, a confusing mix of Taliban, al Qaeda, and others, were surprisingly well armed and equipped - evidence that they were also well financed. The Bush administration had purchased an illusion of stability in Afghanistan at the price of billions of dollars' worth of heroin that was flooding into the streets of Europe and the United States."

Risen summarises, "The establishment of a series of secret prisons around the world and the widespread use of harsh interrogation tactics against prisoners in American custody has been part of a broader and disquieting pattern by the Bush administration. The White House has interpreted the constitutional powers of the president to fight terrorism in such an expansive way that long-standing rules governing the military and intelligence communities have been skirted or ignored, and secret intelligence activities inside the United States have been approved that may be violating the civil liberties of American citizens. In particular, the technical wizards of the National Security Agency have been engaged in a program of domestic data mining that is so vast, and so unprecedented, that it makes a mockery of long-standing privacy rules."

Unbiased, Well Researched, Informative.......2007-01-15

Mr. Risen presents well-researched data with information coming from many inside resources. He is unbiased and presents the information with no partiality to democrats or republicans, something truly valuable if one wants "real" information. The book covers many current topics, such as wire tapping, prisoner-of-war abuses, the lack of planning for the initial Iraq invasion, as well as the president and his cabinet's refusal to look at the facts indicating we need not go in there, drug profits in Afghanistan, and more. Information is current, spanning perhaps the last 6 years. The book does not go into deeper issues of who is really pulling the strings of those who give the appearance of being in power.

Mr. Risen's style is straight forward, but definitely not as dry as this type of book tends to be. Because of his research and impartiality, I would read further work by him.

Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond

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Beyond is Right- This book it GREAT
Top End Data
awesome!
EXCELLENT
Acid Dreams Review

Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond
Martin A. Lee , and Bruce Shlain
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream
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Your Brain Is God
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ASIN: 0802130623

Book Description

Acid Dreams is the complete social history of LSD and the counterculture it helped to define in the sixties. Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain's exhaustively researched and astonishing account-part of it gleaned from secret government files-tells how the CIA became obsessed with LSD as an espionage weapon during the early l950s and launched a massive covert research program, in which countless unwitting citizens were used as guinea pigs. Though the CIA was intent on keeping the drug to itself, it ultimately couldn't prevent it from spreading into the popular culture; here LSD had a profound impact and helped spawn a political and social upheaval that changed the face of America. From the clandestine operations of the government to the escapades of Timothy Leary, Abbie Hoffman, Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, Allen Ginsberg, and many others, Acid Dreams provides an important and entertaining account that goes to the heart of a turbulent period in our history. "Engaging throughout . . . at once entertaining and disturbing." - Andrew Weil, M.D., The Nation; "Marvelously detailed . . . loaded with startling revelations." - Los Angeles Daily News; "An engrossing account of a period . . . when a tiny psychoactive molecule affected almost every aspect of Western life." - William S. Burroughs; "An important historical synthesis of the spread and effects of a drug that served as a central metaphor for an era." - John Sayles.

Customer Reviews:

Beyond is Right- This book it GREAT.......2007-09-20

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NWFN612DXX3 My video review of Acid Dream. Really great bookAcid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond. ***** 5 stars =)

Top End Data.......2007-06-27

Yhis book belongs on the bookshelf of all those interested in the early days of psychedelic research and it's social ramifications. One word for it: Excellent!

awesome!.......2007-02-07

Can't think of a more informative and interesting way of describing this period of time. I loved this book. Big thanks to the authors!

EXCELLENT.......2006-12-13

This book is perfect - It offered everything I was hoping for when I first purchased it. It covered from the end of the 50's and the Beat generation and how their influence lead into the hippie generation, and it ended in the early 70's tying in the beginning of rock and punk. It is a true spectrum of the 1960's counterculture generation.

It's a large book but its facinating to learn about the history and the culture. Like previous reviewers said, it really ties up everyhting and clearly shows the correalation between the drug counterculture and the govn't & society during that time period. I was born in the 80's and this book really showed me alot about the 60's counterculture and the attitudes towards drug use and young people during that time. I can see alot of correalations between that era with Vietnam as the war that they were protesting versus todays war in Iraq and the amount of US citizens that are against it.

The author also goes into government policies at the time and conspiricys and covert CIA and classified documents. I was amazed by the actions of the CIA and thetesting of LSD on unsuspecting American citizens. It is like the stuff movies are made of but it really happened! Truly and amazing and interesting book - I could not put it down. I reccomend it to everyone, regardless of your view on LSD or drug counterculture - a true wealth of information on 1960's America.

Acid Dreams Review.......2006-11-10

This was a great book. It was an easy read and a fast read, while at the same time being very informative and interesting. It was everything I was hoping it would be and I would refer it to anyone whom was interested in the topic or anyone whom just wants to be more informed in general. There is a lot of great information is in this book. (I myself am a college student and I would say that this is a great book for my peers but also those who are a bit older.)

Average customer rating:

The C Word
Amazing Book
Mr. Reed nails it between the uprights!
A great book inspite of:
Terry Reed vs. Criminals In Action

Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA
Terry Reed , and John Cummings
Manufacturer: S.P.I. Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1561712493

Book Description

Compromised is the true story of Bill Clinton's political sell-out to the CIA.

Clinton's unbridled political ambitions and his campaign pledge to create "jobs for Arkansans" led him to compromise his ideals in exchange for CIA support in his bid for the Presidency.

He permitted the "Agency" to use Arkansas factories to make untraceable weapons and he allowed CIA contract agents to train Contra pilots on rural airstrips in support of the war in Nicaragua - effectively evading the Congressional ban on military aid to the Contras.

This expose unfolds through the eyewitness account of Terry Reed, a former CIA asset whose patriotism transformed him into a liability when he refused to turn a blind eye to the Agency's drug trafficking. While helping the CIA set up its secret "black" operations, he unwittingly compromised his family's safety, ultimately forcing them to become fugitives. Realizing that Reed witnessed the making of a counterfeit President and knew too much about its drug operations, the Agency set out to destroy him and his family.

This Arkansas-CIA connection became Clinton's darkest secret - a secret he shared by then Vice-President Bush, who himself was compromised by his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal. Their shared guilt kept them silent and tied their hands as they faced off in the 1992 Presidential election with neither mentioning Iran-Contra.

The Justice Departments of Reagan, Bush - and now Clinton - have orchestrated an ongoing cover-up of the Arkansas-CIA connection, which has gone undetected for eight years with Bill Clinton its major beneficiary. Clinton's reward for this Faustian pact? The White House.

Reed puts Clinton directly in the "Iran-Contra loop". Both attended a secret meeting where CIA arms arrangements, illegal Contra training and money laundering were discussed. Involved with Clinton in this cabal were Colonel Oliver North, William Barr (George Bush's attorney general), Felix Rodriguez (Bay of Pigs veteran and George Bush's CIA contact) and CIA contract agent Barry Seal, who used the cover of a high-profile drug trafficker to carry out his missions.

"Compromised" reveals the details and names of all who were involved, including these faceless power brokers now in positions of public prominence in Washington, D.C.

When the CIA learned Reed had more patriotism than they bargained for, forces within President Bush's Justice Department, the CIA and the State of Arkansas decided he had to be neutralized. People close to Clinton conspired to set Reed up on false federal criminal charges, forcing him and his family into hiding. But Reed was acquitted, and now wages a one-man legal war to bring those who framed him to justice.

Found innocent by a court of law, Reed was then convicted by TIME Magazine, which aligned itself with a Clinton campaign consumed with protecting its candidate from scandals.

Why did Terry Reed, who performed intelligence services for the US Air Force, FBI, and CIA, come forward with these revelations now? - to set the record straight and to clear his name.

"Compromised" reveals one of the most clandestine operations in recent U.S. history. It also offers behind-the-scenes insights into the sordid world of intelligence, where things are seldom what they seem and powerful people disguise greed and ambition behind the convenient mask of national security.

Customer Reviews:

The C Word.......2007-07-27

This is a great book detailing one man's experience in the Contra operation. It has high officials and low, but it is written a bit rough. Particularly the absurd repetition of "Compromised" to the point I was hoping someone would lay a beatdown on the writer. Still, if you care for the genre it is an element of something.

Amazing Book.......2007-01-10

This book is simply amazing. It details the life of a CIA asset, pilot and businessman as he falls further and further into the rabbit hole and learns the truth about the CIA and its control of the government. In the book we find that Bill Clinton, George HW Bush and many other politicians are "compromised" and beholden to the secret government known as the CIA. If you think that there is a difference between political parties, prepare to experience a paradigm shift.

Mr. Reed nails it between the uprights!.......2006-10-03

I still have a cassette tape of Mr.
Reed on Dr. Stan's fine Radio Liberty
show discussing how the alphabet soup
lettered agencies came at him with
both barrels blazing under the overused
guies of (get this!) 'National Security.'
Get this book Mr. & Mrs. America!!!!!!

A great book inspite of:.......2006-01-14

A great book but about 200 too many pages and horrible typography. I have first hand knowledge of many events described and they are acurate. A must read even though a hard read.
This book should be read by every US citizen. However, it will be read by too few, because of the way the book was produced. I suspect that the book was sabotaged by agent/s provocateur at the production level.
This only proves just how bad our "elite" don't want us to know the truth. Learn the truth in spite of them!

Terry Reed vs. Criminals In Action.......2005-11-11

"This book could topple the President," is the quote from the London Sunday Telegraph on the back cover. Well, ten years on and Bill Clinton seems to be a respected elder statesman and I don't think he comes out of this book with his reputation too badly damaged as at least he invested some of the drug money into regenerating Arkansas. It seems that back in 1992 when Mr Reed went public about his experiences that he wasn't taken seriously because it would have meant that Clinton, who had been a vocal critic of aid to the Contras, would have been performing "risky favors" (as Time magazine put it) for the Reagan administration. And why would he do that? Money! The CIA supposedly judged Arkansas to be a kind of banana republic with very poor accounting standards and used it as a base to manufacture weapons to be used in Nicaragua and the CIA paid Clinton for the privilege. However, it seems that Clinton got greedy and creamed off too much of the CIA's hard-earned drug money and the operation was moved to Mexico.

Terry Reed was involved in the business of training Contra pilots and in the manufacture of the weapons. I liked the way he was open about his motives. An Vietnam veteran, he wanted to defeat the "Commies" properly, not like in Vietnam, where, as he puts it, soldiers were left at times unable to do their job properly because of people like Kissinger, who was judged to be more interested in eating gourmet food in Paris and talking about "detente" with China. He also says he wanted to be a millionaire by the time he was 40 and to have more adrenalin flowing in his life.

Well, the CIA certainly seems to have delivered in getting the adrenalin flowing in Mr Reed and his family. The way he tells it, it sounds like he was set up, along with his friend Barry Seal. Seal sounds a bit of a charismatic fellow, a bit like the James Woods character in the movie "Salvador" and he's almost the star of the show in the first couple of hundred pages of the book. (He comes to a sticky fate shortly after bragging about possessing footage of a certain vice-president's sons engaged in a cocaine deal.)

This book is one that should probably be read twice, as some of the protagonists are not all that they seem and there is some double-crossing and maybe triple-crossing going on. It sort of made me think of the movie The Usual Suspects.

Only the Contra aspect of Iran-Contra is covered. For the Iran aspect, I would recommend reading Trail of the Octopus (Amazon UK has lots of used copies). That book is mostly about the Lockerbie cover-up, but contains lots about Oliver North and Iran-Contra from a Defense Intelligence Agency perspective. In that book, former DIA operative Lester Coleman states that it was the Pentagon and the DIA who blew the whistle on Oliver North! Coleman also refers to "Oliver North's ragtag army of conmen, yahoos and armchair mercenaries", which presumably included Mr Reed!?

Overall, I think this is a great book, recommended especially for students of geopolitics and international relations.

Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II

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The Best Reference Out
Worthless Left-Wing Propaganda
Essential Reference, Some Warts
What every American should know about reality
The giant should remain strong no matter what.

Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II
William Blum
Manufacturer: Common Courage Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Rogue State: A Guide to the Worlds Only Superpower
Freeing The World To Death: Essays On The American Empire
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

ASIN: 1567512526

Book Description

Is the United States a force for democracy? In this classic and unique volume that answers this question, William Blum serves up a forensic overview of U.S. foreign policy spanning sixty years. Remarks from the previous edition: "Far and away the best book on the topic."-Noam Chomsky "A valuable reference for anyone interested in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy."- Choice "I enjoyed it immensely."-Gore Vidal "The single most useful summary of CIA history."-John Stockwell "Each chapter I read makes me more and more angry."-Helen Caldicott "A very useful piece of work, daunting in scope, important."-Thomas Powers, author and Pulitzer Prize--winning journalist "A very valuable book. The research and organization are extremely impressive."-A.J. Langguth, author and former New York Times bureau chief For those who want the details on our most famous -actions (Chile, Cuba, Vietnam, to name a few), and for those who want to learn about our lesser-known efforts (France, China, Bolivia, Brazil, for example), this book provides a window on what our foreign policy goals really are. William Blum is the author of Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower .

Customer Reviews:

The Best Reference Out.......2007-08-13

The book does a great job showing the irony in the double-standards the US has used in its foreign policy since WWII, as State department officials confessed to (shown in the last chapter). This also makes for a more entertaining read than most other books on the topic. All together though, the book's use of these contradictions are just used to propel a central idea the author has, as stated in his introduction - that the communist threat was largely imagined, either intenionally at times or unintentionally, and that the US media failed to rationalize the discrepancies of state doctrines. So, if you believe this, you'll enjoy the book, otherwise, you'll find it a "worthless left-wing propanganda."

The book does take for granted a large degree of knowledge by the reader. That is, the author only explains US activities (as the book's title plainly states) in particular regions, but general history between time periods and other nations' influences are usually omitted. So if your history isn't up to par it may be a little confusing keeping track of changing foreign attitudes and policies.

Worthless Left-Wing Propaganda.......2007-04-09

I'm sorry to say that I actually spent money on this! I had thought of returning it but I didn't want to allow these misconstrued fantasies to be further spread so I destroyed it. It's sad that the author used biased references and half truths to support his position. As a retired USAF military member I'm ashamed to think that I protected his rights for over twenty years. If he's so against the U.S why doesn't he leave this country and go peddle his stories somewhere else.

Essential Reference, Some Warts.......2007-02-18

Over-all, this is a very precious book, and an essential reference on the history of US intervention, both military and clandestine or covert.

As a former Marine Corps infantry office and former clandestine services case officer, and as an avid reader of non-fiction, I will gladly state on the record that this author has it largely right.

I took off one star because the book has NOT been properly updated. The list of U.S. military interventions still ends in 1945, only the the CIA assassination plot list has been updated.

There are other books that complement this one--everything by Noam Chomspky, Derek Leebaert's "The Fifty-Year Wound," Chalmers Johnson on "Sorrows of Empire," Robert McNamara et al, "Wilson's Ghost," the DVD "Why We Fight," Ambassador Palmer's "The Real Axis of Evil" (on the 45 dictators we SUPPORT), and--with respect to the ignorance of America about reality, the two books, "Fog Facts," and "Lost History." See also Marine General Smedley Butler's short but hard-hitting work, "War is a Racket."

While I take the author with a grain of salt and do not appreciate his collaboration with Phil Agee, who betrayed his oaths to the US, whatever his reasons, on balance this book is an essential reference for anyone who wishes to understand why the rest of the world is beginning to conclude that we are the worst of all evils in our foreign policy behavior and misbehavior.

Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Wilson's Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century
Why We Fight
Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025
War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth'
Fog Facts : Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin (Nation Books)
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq

What every American should know about reality.......2006-11-13

"The greatest purveyor of violence on Earth is my own government." Martin Luther King Jr.

This is still true in 2006.

Killing Hope has nothing to do with wacko conspiracy theories. It's history. Untold, untaught history--but fact, not fiction.

"Read the history of the place where you're living/and stop letting corporate news teach lies to your children." Immortal Technique

This book is an encyclopedia of the terrorism, assassinations, and covert wars the US government has committed around the world since WWII. Other reviewers will undoubtedly deny this books factuality. In fact, Mr. Blum. a former CIA station chief, fought an extensive legal battle with the CIA over his right to publish it. The court's decision was to allow publishing, but that the proceeds of all sales would be given to the CIA! So, as Mr. Blum says, don't buy this book, borrow it from a friend or a library.

WHY DOES THE REST OF THE WORLD HATE US (except for the world's wealthy elite)? This book helps dispell the myths of "islamic fascism," "anti-americanism," and other lies that perport to explain those that oppose the US government and the corporations it serves. Unlike what you hear on FOX News, those who oppose US global dominance DO have good reasons. Usually it's because our government tortures and murders their families.

What HOPE is the US Govt. and the world's wealthy elite trying to KILL? The threat of a good example alternative to unbridled capitalism (iow nothing in life has value unless a dollar amount can be attached to it). Ever wondered what Washington has against poor, unthreatening Cuba? Or why the US supports brutal dictatorships around the world (Columbia, Saudia Arabia, Pakistan etc.), and opposes genuine democracies (Venezuela, France). Or how about why Americans have been taught to oppose universal health care, or free university education (hint, these ideas make people more important than profit).

For those who claim to be history buffs, I challenge you to read this. You don't know squat about modern history unless you understand the episodes described in this book.

Read this to understand why the population of the US must learn to think for themselves, before "our" government destroys the world for profit. Make no mistake, the survival of humanity, and certainly our prospects for peace and happiness depend upon the American public not continuing down the road first trod by the "good Germans."

The giant should remain strong no matter what........2006-09-26

I read this book and it confirmed my feelings that USA, as the only super power, should ALWAYS remain STRONG.

The book is composed of some 400 pages full of critiques as if the author wanted America to be the haven of saints when the world has been full of crocodiles, for instance the introduction brings about a fair resume of the author's intentions

How!

In the Introduction I came across a passage which I hereby quote `''It was in the early days of the Vietnam War that a Vietcong officer said to his American prisoner _' You were our heroes after the war, and a common phrase in those days was `'to be as rich and as wise as an American'' - What happened `''.

The title `Killing Hope' - updated edition 2004 - by William Blum, and many of the contents are indeed offensive to the USA because it speaks about U.S military and C.I.A 'interventions' since World War II and endeavours to portray them as the bad guys.

C.I.A (USA) intervensions?

Didn't such 'intervension' save many countries that now live under the 'shades' of democracies, in Europe and the Far East (Japan) enjoying unprecedented richness and prosperity, with a high standard of living for their nationals.

As one individual out of six billion living on this planet, do I blame the USA for protecting the interest of its citizens.

USA is The World Giant and one has to learn how to convince them of one's view points , rather than garrulously defy them with boring speeches and empty written words.

Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved in the Assassination of JFK?

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Plausible Denial:
Does Lane know what he's talking about ????????
Great for the time, now...
The CIA assassinate a head of state?
Frame A Lone Patsy By Using SEVERAL Gunmen?? That's Just Flat-Out Kooky!

Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved in the Assassination of JFK?
Mark Lane
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Rush to Judgment
Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy
Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK
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On the Trail of the Assassins

ASIN: 1560250488

Book Description

The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 continues to be shrouded in mystery and controversy. Now, for the first time in almost thirty years, explosive new evidence reveals much about the CIA's involvement in an event that devastated the entire nation and irrevocably altered the course of history. In "Plausible Denial," Mark Lane makes startling revelations about the CIA's involvement in a plot to murder the president.

Customer Reviews:

Plausible Denial:.......2006-10-11

I came to know Mark Lane very intimately over a period of ten years - where we shared, exchanged, many long hours of intense discussion on the JFK and MLK assassinations.

He captivated me with intricate details of the various events and supportive data sources. Through him - I relived these very complexed parts of American History as he awakened me to a darker deeper side of political shennanigans - not too unlike those which continued to take place in my own country.

This very calm ... quiet man - often barely audible is one of the five most thought provoking people in my personal life. Yes, Mark Lane makes you think - without bludgeoning one over the head with senseless rhetoric or inflamatory diatribes.

I recall how Oliver Stone borrowed Plausible Denial in preparation for his movie of the JFK Assassination - only to return it many months later (having discarded it as unhelpful) and yet using direct quotes from the book in the actual movie.

This seems to be the way of naysayers ... their modus operandi - to negate those with whom they disagree by plagarising them.

Is this then not the highest form of flattery?

I highly recommend anyone with an independent mind to read Plausible Denial - for it will open your mind to a lot more critical thinking - by questioning rushed decisions by those in power - whether politically, the private sector or public life.

Does Lane know what he's talking about ????????.......2006-08-31

Witness the two articles below, one written about six weeks before the assassination:

The New York Times
October 3, 1963 p. 34
The Intra-Administration
War in Vietnam
By Arthur Krock

... One reporter in this category is Richard Starnes of the Scripps-Howard newspapers. Today, under a Saigon dateline, he related that, "according to a high United States source here, twice the C.I.A. flatly refused to carry out instructions from Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge . . . [and] in one instance frustrated a plan of action Mr. Lodge brought from Washington because the agency disagreed with it." Among the views attributed to United States officials on the scene, including one described as a "very high American official . . . who has spent much of his life in the service of democracy . . . are the following:
The C.I.A.'s growth was "likened to a malignancy" which the "very high official was not sure even the White House could control . . . any longer." "If the United States ever experiences [an attempt at a coup to overthrow the Government] it will come from the C.I.A. and not the Pentagon." The agency "represents a tremendous power and total unaccountability to anyone."
... The C.I.A. may be guilty as charged. Since it cannot, or at any rate will not, openly defend its record in Vietnam, or defend it by the same confidential press "briefings" employed by its critics, the public is not in a position to judge. Nor is this department, which sought and failed to get even the outlines of the agency's case in rebuttal. But Mr. Kennedy will have to make a judgment if the spectacle of war within the Executive branch is to be ended and the effective functioning of the C.I.A. preserved. And when he makes this judgment, hopefully he also will make it public, as well as the appraisal of fault on which it is based.
______________________________________________________________

... and one written exactly four weeks after the assassination by former President Harry S. Truman, no less:

The Washington Post
December 22, 1963 - page A11
Harry Truman Writes:
Limit CIA Role To Intelligence
By Harry S Truman

INDEPENDENCE, MO., Dec. 21 -- I think it has become necessary to take another look at the purpose and operations of our Central Intelligence Agency--CIA. At least, I would like to submit here the original reason why I thought it necessary to organize this Agency during my Administration, what I expected it to do and how it was to operate as an arm of the President.
I think it is fairly obvious that by and large a President's performance in office is as effective as the information he has and the information he gets ...
... But their (C.I.A.'s) collective information reached the President all too frequently in conflicting conclusions. At times, the intelligence reports tended to be slanted to conform to established positions of a given department. This becomes confusing and what's worse, such intelligence is of little use to a President in reaching the right decisions.
... For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment. It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government. This has led to trouble and may have compounded our difficulties in several explosive areas.
I never had any thought that when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak and dagger operations ... But there are now some searching questions that need to be answered. I, therefore, would like to see the CIA be restored to its original assignment as the intelligence arm of the President, and that whatever else it can properly perform in that special field--and that its operational duties be terminated or properly used elsewhere.
We have grown up as a nation, respected for our free institutions and for our ability to maintain a free and open society. There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position and I feel that we need to correct it.
______________________________________________________________

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Great for the time, now..........2006-01-04

...not as good; hasn't aged well. I saw Mark Lane during his book tour for this particular volume back in Feb. 1992 at Border's in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. The atmosphere was electric---the Stone movie was out, George H.W. Bush was President, and 500 people were there! Now, as George *W.* Bush is President, it is important to reflect back and see just how this volume (along with others, such as Mortal Error and The Texas Connection) took full advantage of great, great timing. Frankly, this book probably would have sunk without a trace if it wasn't for the timing. It DOES contain some good info. re: CIA officers like Phillips, Hunt, et. al...but the central thesis doesn't hold up.
[...]

The CIA assassinate a head of state?.......2005-12-18

The hit WAS a very stupid, sloppy job that HAS been exposed (about 3/4's of Americans don't believe the Warren Commission's report) it's just that the government and the controlled media keep insisting JFK was hit in the back of the head despite all the evidence to the contrary. JFK's assistant press secratary pointed to his right temple during a press conference though they never show that anymore. It's very similar to 9/11. WTC - 7 was clearly a classic controlled demolition (you will never see that "collapse" on mainstream TV again) and numerous survivors talked about bombs going off in the buildings yet the steel was never checked for explosives because the head of FEMA's investigation claimed he didn't know there was such a test. One of the signs of fascism is you only hear the truth once.

Back to the thesis of the book - how can you NOT suspect the CIA? They'd been fighting with Kennedy from the beginning and he was going end the organization. Then somehow Allan Dulles, who was fired by Kennedy, makes it to the Warren Commission. Nothing suspicious there.

I would also recommend "Final Judgement" by Michael Collins Piper which can be considered a sequal to "Plausible Denial.

Frame A Lone Patsy By Using SEVERAL Gunmen?? That's Just Flat-Out Kooky!.......2005-05-22

There have been many "JFK Conspiracy" books written that put forth theories of how Presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was connected with a wide array of unsavory characters or how he was an "agent" for various official U.S. Government organizations (right on up to the CIA and the FBI).

These theories veer off into one of two directions -- with some conspiracists being of the opinion that Oswald was "assigned" by his high-level bosses to be a part of a multi-man shooting plot to end the life of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

But the most-popular conspiracy theory, it seems, has Oswald being framed, duped, and "set up" as a "Patsy" on the day that Kennedy was killed, completely innocent of shooting anyone that day (including policeman J.D. Tippit).

The "Patsy" theory is pure nonsense, in my considered opinion (and my thoughts on just why I feel that way are detailed below).

Author Mark Lane, who sees conspiracy everywhere he looks, points an accusing finger at the CIA (and E. Howard Hunt in particular) in this 1991 book, "Plausible Denial". In this volume, Mr. Lane has Hunt and the CIA "setting up" Oswald (the proverbial 'Patsy') to take the (lone) fall for JFK's murder. I couldn't disagree more with these wild conspiracy conclusions.

To believe that an 'outside agency' of some sort was really behind JFK's tragic death, I suppose, isn't beyond every stretch of the imagination when looking at the assassination through a very narrow and non-exacting lens. But, when one starts to examine the DETAILS and the MECHANICS of HOW such a "Multi-Shooter" plot was supposedly carried out in Dallas -- with ALL of the evidence expected (per the plotters) to funnel down, SOMEHOW, to the feet of a single killer (by the name of Oswald) firing from behind the President -- it becomes glaringly obvious to a reasonable person gazing at these "nut & bolts" of the actual shooting that any such "Patsy" scenario couldn't have possibly been pulled off successfully without the "plot" being exposed almost immediately. (Unless, that is, ALL of the 'frontal' shots magically were to have MISSED all potential victims in Dealey Plaza. And NO theorist believes that occurred.)

Via that widely-accepted conspiracy theory of: "Lee Harvey Oswald Was Framed As The Patsy In The JFK Assassination", I'm just wondering what the conspirators/architects/designers of such a complicated plan were thinking when they were "planning" and "plotting" the murder of the U.S. President in the days and weeks prior to Jack Kennedy's November 22, 1963, assassination? Did ANY of these conspirators mapping out the physical shooting of JFK have an ounce of gray matter in their heads?!

Per many conspiracy-theory ("CT") accounts of the Dallas, Texas, shooting, these secret plotters/conspirators hired UP TO FOUR OR FIVE GUNMEN to ALL fire their rifles at President Kennedy ALL within an 8-second timeframe in Dealey Plaza, riddling the target (JFK), potentially, with UP TO TEN BULLET WOUNDS (per some CT versions of the shooting; and it's even higher than this via other versions) in this short 8-second period -- and then, afterward, these same shooters/plotters miraculously EXPECT ALL THE EVIDENCE FROM THESE MANY GUNSHOTS TO SOMEHOW LEAD BACK TO ONLY ONE SINGLE KILLER IN THE TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY!*

* = Place my best imitation of Ricky Ricardo's boisterous laugh HERE ---> :-)

A conspiracy plot that involves framing a LONE "Patsy" (a plot where it's MANDATORY for ONLY three rear shots and three bullets MAXIMUM to enter the record) is DOOMED to fail when one of the following two things happens in Dealey Plaza on November 22 ----

1.) Shot #4 rings out for all to hear -- and for JFK to (potentially) be hit by.
2.) ANY frontal shot strikes ANYONE in the automobile.

And via many/most CTers' scenarios not only do BOTH of the above occur on 11-22-63, but it's MULTIPLIED TIMES TWO for BOTH of the above items! -- 8 Shots (minimum!) and 2 'frontal hits' to JFK (per Robert Groden's theory at any rate, and he's a "Leading Assassination Researcher", is he not?).

Obviously, all XX number of shots fired by XX number of conspirators are designed and intended to do only one thing -- ALL HIT JFK! Which is something that any and all 'plotters' SHOULD have EXPECTED to happen as of November 21, the day before any such ill-conceived and inane plan of this nature would have been put into action. But many CTers think these bonehead plotters went ahead with this destined-to-fail "Let's Frame Oswald" plan anyway, despite the overwhelming odds against its success, given the sheer number of gunmen being employed. It's downright hysterical.

Let me ask an obvious, logical question -- Why utilize 3 or 4 or 5 shooters to "frame" Oswald for the assassination, when using just the ONE sniper from the Oswald window in the TSBD could have just as easily gotten the job done? (And would also have eliminated any NEED for the crazy cloak-&-dagger stuff afterward. In such a 1-killer "plot", the conspirators wouldn't need to play post-assassination games like 'alter-the-wounds', or 'hide-the-bullets', or 'switch-the-caskets', or 'fake-the-photos', etc., etc.)

Using more than one shooter virtually ensures the failure of any such secretive and clandestine "plot", IMO.

It seems to me that conspiracy promoters would be much better off (and much less silly-sounding) if they'd just admit that Oswald was a willing and active participant in the assassination (shooting from where we KNOW he WAS shooting and from where he practically left us a sign saying "I Was Here With My Own Gun Shooting At The President -- Yours Truly, Lee H. Oswald").

By admitting that Oswald was 'no patsy', but instead a willing shooter on November 22nd, the conspiracists still don't have to believe LHO was the ONLY shooter (the CTers would still have that JFK "head shot" that they believe came from in FRONT of Kennedy's limousine); although there's plenty of evidence to tell us that the head shot, too, was fired from Oswald's gun in the School Book Depository. But to get a die-hard 'CTer' to see it that way is like pulling teeth, to be sure.

But dropping the "Patsy" notion would be far better for any CTer, IMO, because that idea is just plain hogwash and entirely irrational from the point-of-view of the killers/plotters, based on the way conspiracy buffs say it was carried out.

Believe in Mark Lane's theory that the CIA killed JFK, if you must -- but before embracing such a "theory" with wide-open arms, I'd first suggest pausing for a few moments and consider the question of just exactly HOW this plot could have been pulled off to such perfection using several gunmen firing from multiple directions at the VERY SAME TARGET (the body of John F. Kennedy).

The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control

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Required reading for every American
The CIA's Experiments in Mind Control.
A Classic !
Truth Outpaces Fiction Every Time
controlling people

The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control
John D. Marks
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0393307948

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Required reading for every American .......2007-01-31

I'd recommend Search for the Manchurian Candidate to every American over high school age so that they may learn from these abuses. While John Marks bases his book on declassified documents that cannot be challenged, few if anyone in the mainstream media ever discuss these things. This fact clearly illustrates the degree of political corruption and major coverups that take place in our so called 'free press'.

Manchurian Candidate lists the CIA's use of prostitutes in luring unsuspecting 'johns' to CIA run brothels so that our intelligence community may monitor the affects of large doses of LSD given to these men without their knowledge. The CIA would also routinely give LSD to one another in order to monitor it's affects. Unfortunately this resulted in the death of CIA agent Frank Olsen who reportedly committed suicide after having an unexpected 'bad trip'. In classic CIA fashion, they tried to cover up his death and denied all wrongdoing. While the truth eventually came out, one has to wonder about the depths of their illegal activities we have yet realize.

While the book is highly detailed and well documented, it only scratches the surface as to how far our intelligence community will go in engaging in illegal activities. Overall it's a great book and I'd recommend it as a starting point for those who are unfamiliar with our government's ongoing MK-ULTRA program. For a more detailed (and disturbing) account of government sponsored mind control, I'd suggest A Nation Betrayed by Carol Rutz.

The CIA's Experiments in Mind Control........2006-02-03

If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then? - George Orwell from _1984_.

_The Search for the "Manchurian Candidate": The CIA and Mind Control_ by John Marks published in 1979 is a somewhat dated account of the CIA's experiments in mind control. Marks obtained much of his material from documents released through the Freedom of Information Act; however, he had to actively pursue these documents and was involved in a lawsuit against the CIA in order to obtain much of his material. He notes that without the release of this material his research would not have been possible.

The author begins by noting the influence of World War II and Nazi science on subsequent investigations by the CIA, formerly the OSS. In particular, the discovery of the hallucinogenic (psychedelic) drug LSD by Albert Hofman of the Sandoz drug company in Basle, Switzerland was to play a central role in the coming experimental "science" of mind manipulation. The author outlines various sadistic experiments performed by the Nazi scientists and doctors on unwitting prisoners and explains how the Nuremburg Code developed. The author also explains the role of the intelligence operatives in the Second World War, including experiments with marijuana as a supposed truth drug, a whole arsenal of dirty tricks and assassination projects, and the attempt to psychoanalyse Adolf Hitler. Indeed, after the war, the intelligence community captured the surviving research by the Nazi scientists and attempted to sort through it for any scientific value it might have had. Next, the author turns his attention to the development of the Cold War, the subsequent paranoia that ensued over such alleged brainwashing as the case of Cardinal Mindszenty and the Moscow Show Trials, and the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency. The author shows how various projects including Projects BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE came to include mind manipulation technology, emphasizing the polygraph machine and hypnosis. The author next turns his attention to the experiments of G. Richard Wendt, who attempted to devise a truth serum as part of his "A" (for ARTICHOKE) treatment. The author also discusses the role of LSD, often given to unwitting experimental subjects as part of Project MK-ULTRA by the CIA and its role in the death of the scientist Dr. Frank Olson. As part of the CIA's experiments with LSD, Dr. Sid Gottlieb tested the drug on unknowing subjects including Olson. Later Olson was to develop signs of paranoia and depression, eventually leading him to jump to his death from a New York building. Olson's death was covered up by the CIA; however, it was later revealed that an allergist (who also experimented with LSD) had been treating him for depression (ironically!). The author next turns his attention to the development of various "safe houses" in San Francisco, run by the narcotics officer George White. White tried to develop techniques for turning enemy agents by using prostitutes. White also experimented heavily with LSD, marijuana, and other drugs on unknowing subjects. He frequently held lavish parties and then would spray LSD into the room through an aerosol spray and watch the effects of the drug from a post outside the room. Needless to say, White's experiments represent the ultimate in unethical experimentation with drugs as well as hypocrisy because White would frequently turn in common citizens to the police for possession of drugs. The author next turns his attention to the Mexican hallucinogenic mushroom and its role in the development of the 1960s counter-culture. Here, the author explains the theories of R. Gordon Wasson, an investment banker, who co-authored the book _Mushrooms, Russia and History_ with his wife Valentina Wasson about the role of the hallucinogenic mushroom in culture and religion. The author next turns his attention to brainwashing. Here, the author notes the role of the CIA in promulgating the theory of brainwashing, but also in attempting to create brainwashed subjects. The author also devotes his attention to "human ecology". Here, the author notes the unethical nature of various experiments on sensory deprivation in the CIA's efforts to depattern a subject. The author shows how the notion of a "terminal experiment" (i.e. an experiment that pushed a human being to their outer limits with no ethical strings attached) was developed by the CIA and was used to justify extreme experiments in sensory deprivation. The author also discusses the role of personality research including the Gittinger Assessment System of John Gittinger. Here, the author shows how Gittinger used his research in an attempt to control subjects based on their personality type as determined by his system. Finally, the author turns his attention to hypnosis. Hypnosis was used in the hope of creating the "Manchurian candidate", a perfect mind control assassin. This concept had developed out of a novel by Richard Condon where the Chinese communists had brainwashed an American soldier. It was believed that soldiers returning from a certain area in Manchuria had no memory of what had happened there, leading to the idea that the Chinese were brainwashing Americans. It should be noted that not all people are equally hypnotizable; however, the CIA believed that by developing the personality of a childhood playmate they could induce multiple personalities in an agent, thereby creating an effective mind control assassin. The author ends this book by noting the importance of the search for truth, particularly as it involves unethical experimentation on United States citizens by its own government.

This book offers compelling evidence regarding the CIA's role in mind manipulation. For all those who care about the future freedom of the human mind it is important to understand what has been done in the past and continues to be done in the name of research to justify covert operations.

A Classic !.......2004-10-07

John Marks has done a wonderful job of piecing together the available information on the clandestine operations done by the CIA in their attempt to accomplish mind control.He begins in the early stages of their program in the 1940's and carries it through until the last of the mind control programs allegedly was shut down in 1973.In this book the author covers topics such as brain washing, hypnosis, LSD experiments, and the very tragic death of Dr. Frank Olson (as a result of an experiment gone bad). I highly recommend this book if you are interested in what occurred during the CIA's secret attempt at creating "Manchurian Candidate's"

Truth Outpaces Fiction Every Time.......2003-01-03

I read this book when I was in high school playing hookey in the public libraries of Manhattan, NY. My public high school was That bad! At the time I knew nothing about the Korean War or the extremely brilliant Manchurian Candidate movie starring Frank Sinatra but I knew I was interested in governmental mind control plots and the CIA. I think this book was the first to show me that all fiction, no matter how FANTAStic is but a shadow of reality.

That concept really explodes when as the previous reviewer points out, we consider, that the book's author focuses on the CIA's involvement with MK Ultra neglecting that of the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, etc. etc. Its the etc.s that really count!! Most of us have such a vague understanding of what the CIA actually does much less that there are scores of such publically and privately funded "Intelligence" organizations. Readers of this book would probably also enjoy the book The Control of Candy Jones.

I think I learned about the Candy Jones book from this book and its certainly as weird, if not weirder, than any Philip K. Dick sci fi movie/book (Bladerunner "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"). Scary, chilling, true, tip of the iceberg and relegated to fiction. Stealth is important and we probably can't do without military, no less the Intelligence component of military. It would be great, however, to see people become literate on the subject of secret government mind manipulation and how it determines government and society.

controlling people.......2002-01-07

This is a very well written; book that detailing a lot of information about secret test conducted on controlling people. This book should go on the same shelf as "Body of knowledge", Puzzle Palace", and "Influence: Science and Practice ". In addition, if you are thinking about taking LSD, hallucinations, or smoking dope, read this book before you do.

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