Review: Fixing the Spy Machine–Preparing American Intelligence for the Twenty-First Century

This book has two good features-the author really does understand the personnel issues, and hence one can read between the lines for added value; and the book is as good an “insider” tour of the waterfront as one could ask for. How the book treats the CIA-FBI relationship, for example, is probably representative of how most CIA insiders feel. The book does not reflect a deep understanding of open sources and tends to accept the common wisdom across the intelligence bureaucracy, that all is “generally okay” and just a bit of change on the margin is necessary. In this respect, it is a good benchmark against which the more daring reformist books may be measured.