The Real Deal–Gripping Details & Lessons Learned & Lost
November 21, 2009
Thomas Leo Briggs
I served with the author in the clandestine service, saw the galley of this book in its early form, and was delighted when I received a copy of the finished book in the mail.
This is an absorbing detailed reference work, professional lessons learned document, “oral history” of the hidden war in Laos and Cambodia, and above all a patriotic “after action” report that should be–but has not been–absorbed by both Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Special Operations Forces (SOF) “leaders” and program managers.
Portions of the book are somewhat numbing in *necessary* detail, and other portions of the book gave me goose bumps. The book is something of a counterpoint to Blond Ghost, about Ted Shackley and his war in Laos, the most famous quote being his deputies, “We spent a lot of money and got a lot of people killed,” Lair remembered, “and we didn't get much for it.”
I take this officer at his word, and have absolute confidence in this book and its details. The two most important points:
This book will seriously annoy those who consider themselves scientific rationalists (e.g. Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West and those who tend to look askance, as I do, and the kum-ba-ya hand-holding crowd BUT–and this is a big but–I absolutely consider this author and this book to be totally credible, and as annoying as the inner spirituality conversations at the beginning and the cosmic spirituality conversations at the end are, this book is a MUST READ for any serious person who cares about the future of humanity and the Earth. I take some of this with a grain of salt, but I want to meet this person, learn more, and believe he is on a righteous path of truth for the good of the larger group, humanity.
I read this book online, where it can be found for free, and in retrospect, now that I have read Hidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge, regret not buying it to have my notes and the physical book in my library.
The bottom line on this book is that it is a less than perfect but still incredibly valuable and serious effort to place before the public the testimony of individuals who have been involved in the government and contractror programs to both conceal from the public what we do know about extra-terrestial beings, vehicles, weapons, communications, and energy systems; and to impose on the public a fear of extra-terrestials that is completely unfounded and simply another “Big Lie” intended to perpetuate the military-industrial complex.
I strongly recommend the Disclosure Project, and especially its meetings when offered, such as the 24-26 October 2009 meeting in Arizona.
As a recovering spy who has published and agitated for intelligence reform over the years, I generally have little patience for spy novels less the George Smiley series by John Le Carre. Been there, done that. This book is nothing short of sensational, and at $9 a huge value.
This book is so very good that I am making it one of THREE books I recommend to future spies and those who wish to understand the human side of the spy world today (or course there are many others but this one is special). The other two are still:
I liked this book on multiple levels. It does for the clandestine service, where we were obscenely proud of having the highest alcoholism, adultery, divorce, and suicide rates in the US Government, what James Webb did for the abuse of military forces by craven politicians in Fields of Fire.
Antiwar.com
July 21, 2009 by Kelley B. Vlahos Listen closely and you can hear the slow release of hot air. There’s a leak somewhere, and it appears to be coming from the giant red, white, and blue balloon set aloft some months ago by the counterinsurgency experts who convinced everyone in Washington that Afghanistan was one “graveyard of empires” that could be resurrected for the good of the world.
In fact, anxiety over the latest major U.S. offensive in Afghanistan is increasing among military officials and policymakers every day, sources tell us. News reports coming in from Helmand province and repeated public complaints from American and British leaders bear that out.
And the story is this: in order for so-called “population centric” counterinsurgency to work in a place as vast and geographically unrelenting as Afghanistan, there must be a lot of counterinsurgents (more than 600,000, according to the current Army counterinsurgency manual). Right now, there is a lid on the number of coalition forces approved for the mission, and worse, there are pathetically few Afghan troops and police available to do the most important work, which is to collaborate with the foreign forces to fight the Taliban and successfully hold areas on behalf of the Afghan government over the long term.
Even as 10,000 Marines pushed into the Hindu Kush bearing the talisman of David Petraeus and his patented COIN doctrine this month, it was clear to top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal that something was amiss.
“The key to this is Afghan responsibility to the fight,” he told the New York Times on July 15. “As a team we are better.”
His anonymous lieutenants were much blunter. “There are not enough Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police for our forces to partner with in operations … and that gap will exist into the coming years even with the planned growth already budgeted for,” an unnamed U.S. military official told the Washington Post four days earlier.
Click on photo above for complete story. See also our reviews of:
The corruption of the leaders and the complacency of the West in accepting that corruption is a recurring theme. If the USA does not stop supporting dictators and embracing corruption as part of the “status quo” then no amount of good will or aid will suffice.
The Real Deal–Gripping Details & Lessons Learned & Lost
