Reviews (Books & DVD) – Page 364 – Public Intelligence Blog

Required Reading for All Command & Staff Officers,

April 8, 2000

Tom Mangold

This is required reading for every commander and every staff officer, and for every intelligence professional, both at the entry-level and at mid-career. Two things really hit home from this book: 1) the fact that we were completely clueless about the physical, mental, and cultural toughness and dedication of the Vietnamese who opposed our interference in Viet-Nam; 2) the fact that we are completely unable to detect tunnels under our base camps or in the tactical environment (although new technology is coming along). They dug 200 miles of tunnels by hand, including extensive networks under the major Bien Hoa complex.

2000/04/082009/10/24

Review: The Tet Offensive–Intelligence Failure in War

5 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

Very detailed review of intelligence failure in Viet-Nam,

April 8, 2000

James J. Wirtz

Jim, a very respected member of the faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School, has provided us with a very well documented study of how the U.S. missed the Tet Offensive in Viet-Name. Among his findings: we knew fully two months in advance at the tactical collection level, with several additional collection successes and some modest analysis successes in the weeks preceding the offensive. We were distracted by Khe Sanh, the commanders did not want to hear it, “intelligence to please” was the standard within the Military Assistance Command Viet-Nam intelligence bureaucracy, and when we finally did grasp, one day before the attack, its true strategic nature, we failed to disseminate the warnings to the tactical commanders with sufficient effectiveness.

2000/04/082009/10/24

Review: From the Shadows–The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War

4 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

Useful benchmark on intelligence-policy relationship,

April 8, 2000

Robert M. Gates

I wore out one fountain pen on this book. Bob Gates has served his country, and five presidents, as earnestly and capably as anyone might, and there is much to learn from this book. The level of detail is quite good. He is very critical of the Directorate of Operations for both misbehavior and a lack of management control in relation to Central America, and as one who was there I have to say, he is absolutely right. We disagree on the point of intelligence (he would say, “secrets for the president”, I would say “knowledge for the Nation”) but I believe we would agree on this: intelligence is important, and intelligence merits deep and sustained interest by the President.

2000/04/082009/10/24

Review: In from the Cold–The Report of the Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on the Future of U.S. Intelligence

4 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

Essential Citizen-Led Reference on Intelligence Reform,

April 8, 2000

Allan E. Goodman

The Director of Central Intelligence now serving refuses to accept the word “reform” and persists in the traditionalist view that only incremental change is needed within the U.S. Intelligence Community. This book, by a very respected team of private sector authorities with experience in the business of intelligence opens by noting that “informed opinion overwhelmingly holds that many of the important questions about the intelligence agencies have yet to be addressed.” Their book, and mine, and the books coming out this year by Greg Treverton, the team of Bruce Berkowitz and Allan Goodman, and a group of ten authors including Mel Goodman and Bob White, are part of the responsible effort from the private sector to get the incoming President and the incoming Congress to finally accept their own responsibility for engaging these issues and legislating reform that will never come from within the U.S. Intelligence Community if it is left to its own devices and inclinations.

2000/04/082009/10/24

Review: INSIDE THE COMPANY–CIA DIARY

4 Star, Impeachment & Treason, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

Best Cold Look at Day to Day Clandestine Operations,

April 8, 2000

Philip Agee

I despise what Philip Agee did with this book, endangering the lives of real people and violating his oath as a commissioned officer in the clandestine service. I was also very surprised by the level of detail in the book, and concluded that he intended to betray the CIA well prior to leaving. I've served three overseas tours and three Washington assignments, and from all that time I can barely remember one cryptonym series and not a single true identity. I think Agee took notes and planned ahead to burn the CIA. This is a good diary, and I include it in this bibliography to represent the pedestrian side of the DO-the day to day monotony of going through the motions and doing agent recruitments and agent handling operations in third world countries where the bulk of what one does really does not contribute to U.S. national security or understanding.

Edit of 11 Jan 08 to add comment and links.

Comment: I am committed to reducing the secret budget from $60 billion a year to $12 billion, and the heavy metal military budget from $950 billion to $250 billion, with the savings directed toward waging peace and offering free education in all languages via free cell phones, the only way we will be able to create a prosperous world at peace.

Other links:
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion
Web of Deceit: The History of Western complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush
None So Blind: A Personal Account of the Intelligence Failure in Vietnam
See No Evil
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition

Edit of 12 Apr 09 to add three more links
Who the Hell Are We Fighting?: The Story of Sam Adams and the Vietnam Intelligence Wars
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political–Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace

2000/04/082009/10/24

Review: Best Truth–Intelligence in the Information Age

5 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

The Next President, and Next DCI, Need to Read This Book,

April 8, 2000

Mr. Bruce D. Berkowitz

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

The Next President, and Next DCI, Need to Read This Book, April 8, 2000

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This book dedicates itself entirely to fixing the underlying process of intelligence. The authors place intelligence in the larger context of information, and draw a plethora of useful comparisons with emerging private sector capabilities and standards. They place strong emphasis on the emerging issues (not necessarily threats) related to ethnic, religious, and geopolitical confrontation, and are acutely sensitive to the new power of non-governmental organizations and non-state actors. The heart of their book is captured in three guidelines for the new process: focus on understanding the consumer's priorities; minimize the investment in fixed hardware and personnel; and create a system that can draw freely on commercial capabilities where applicable (as they often will be). Their chapter on the failure of the bureaucratic model for intelligence, and the need to adopt the virtual model-one that permits analysts to draw at will on diverse open sources-is well presented and compelling. Their concluding three chapters on analysis, covert action, and secrecy are solid professional-level discussions of where we must go in the future.

2000/04/082009/10/24

Review: National Insecurity–U.S. Intelligence After the Cold War

4 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

Useful Annecdotal Opinions, Should be Bought and Read,

April 8, 2000

Craig R. Eisendrath

A project by the Center for International Policy, founded by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), this book brings together a series of chapters that are largely anecdotal (but reasoned) pieces from former foreign service officers recalling all the terrible things CIA did or did not do while they were in service. It includes a chapter by Mel Goodman that some thought was to have been a full-blown book. The chapter by Richard A. Stubbing on “Improving the Output of Intelligence: Priorities, Managerial Changes, and Funding” is quite interesting. There is a great deal of truth in all that is presented here-Ambassador Bob White, for example, was in El Salvador when I reported, a graduate thesis on predicting (and preventing) revolution in my past, and I remember vividly our conversation about the need to suppress the extreme right if we were to stabilize the country.

Category: Reviews (Books & DVD)

Review: The Tunnels of Cu Chi

Review: The Tet Offensive–Intelligence Failure in War

Review: From the Shadows–The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War

Review: In from the Cold–The Report of the Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on the Future of U.S. Intelligence

Review: INSIDE THE COMPANY–CIA DIARY

Review: Best Truth–Intelligence in the Information Age

Review: National Insecurity–U.S. Intelligence After the Cold War