Agencies

This is the first of Buckley's books that I have read and it was a real treat. This book is so good in a variety of ways that I think it deserves five stars. It is a combination of good story-telling, historical information, compelling characters (including those taken from real life), clear writing, and intrigue. These elements are combined smoothly into a very entertaining and easy to read tale. The book starts with the thoughts of President Kennedy and ends with Johnson in the Oval Office. The story provides a fascinating glimpse of Cuba in the 1960's, starring Castro and Guevara. There is plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning, but the pace and tone are very even - not a run of peaks and valleys. Even the dedication and acknowledgements were interesting. It was fun!

Buckley's Blackford Oakes novels seem to remain one of the best-kept secrets around. For the record: These novels are all based on historic events, but, unless Mr. Buckley has even more of an inside track than I believe he does, they weave a wonderfully complex--and witty!-- web of circustances surrounding them. In this novel, we get a two-fer: the Cuban missile crisis *and* the assassination of JFK. Didn't know that they were linked? Read the book to see how they (maybe) were. [This one ought to be included under the Cuban missile crisis heading.]

This is the best and most complete description of the life cycle of a mole I have ever read. It also gives supplementary information on other moles and incompetents in the CIA as it goes along. There is one problem in the book. It assumes that the CIA has a monopoly on people with common human nature imperfections. I have seen similar problems in the military, academia, and industry. The reader is probably familiar with the recent Catholic child molesting scandal which is another example. As a result of this, the author advocates corrective action which involves the either-or logical fallacy and "throwing out the infant with th bath water" type actions.

Well written, and stunning in its detail of the incompetence, unbelievable bungling, and the persistent failure to follow up on what was obvious about Ames to all but the blind--this,within the bowels of the CIA at the highest levels. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Not even Ames's rampant drinking, lavish lifestyle, and poor performance could for years unmask or launch a thorough investigation, something in any other organization would certainly take place. And then, to have the same person assigned to the CIA's Counter Intelligence Center with access to highly classified material and at the same time was "considered a dumping ground for CIA underachievers" has to be the apex of irony on a scale incapable of measurement.

"The directorate of [CIA] operations regarded the Counter Intelligence Center as a place that poor performers could be sent because they could not do much harm," said panel chairman Jeffrey H. Smith, a former Senate Intelligence Committee staff member. "It was like a bank concluding that because one of its officers had performed poorly, he should be put in charge of the vault." (pp. 248-49) Indeed.

For the many who did their jobs, this must have been a crushing revelation, none more so than for Jeannie Brookner, a successful case officer who was forced to bring a sexual discrimination lawsuit against the Agency, in which the court papers revealed "a male-chauvinist nightmare of drunkeness, drug-taking, and wife-beating, in which the mentally unsound [Ames might well qualify, in certain respects] serve alongside the corrupt to produce a parody of the intelligence community that is far more bizarre than anything a novelist might imagine. It is difficult to believe that in this apparently lunatic world the CIA could ever spy successfully against anybody." (p. 250)

A companion book would to have to be "The Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised American Security for Chinese Money."

While Rick Ames smugly and gloatingly languishes in jail, he must wonder at times why he hasn't Bill as a cellmate because, as both books reveal, "Ah shucks, we did it for the money."

Environmental, political, social and economic concerns drive the storyline. Interest retention is good to great. This is not a feel-good book, but one that should evoke emotions, the type of story that you might love to hate. The bottom-line is: Is this fiction, or "foretelling" of what the future might bring? 2030 is the year, and hopefully most of us will be here to see what happens. Its perfect for the science and political neophyte, and you don't have to like science fiction to appreciate this book.

Could a nuclear missile detonation along the San Andreas Fault, start the worst earthquake(s) the West Coast of the U.S. has ever seen? If so, what might happen to California, the country, the world, and the future of humankind? Sentinel 2030 is a fictional story that is based on this premise. WEWA (the World Environmental Watchdog Agency) a non-profit organization, sponsored in part by the United Nations, utilizes and maintains all satellites in space from its space station Sentinel. Smitty Adams, a former billionaire and founder of WEWA and Dr. Albert Jackson, the inventor of an electro-chemical super-computer, with the help of laser/dark-matter weaponry, are able to prevent World War Three. Dr. Jackson matures as crisis after crisis provides the catalyst for his change.

This is the second guide I've bought from Wetfeet (the other was Careers in entertainment), and so far, they haven't let me down. The editorial team is top-notch over there. they really do a good job at helping me visualize and place myself within specific jobs as well as understand the full spectrum of what's possible for someone with my background (in PR) to cross-over into in terms of job roles. i'm now pretty sure the Ad world is for me. thanks a bunch for boiling all of the info floating around out there down into a succinct guide that gives me the most important stuff to prepare me for my interviews.

I really enjoyed reading this informative guide. Not only was it packed with helpful information, but it was written in a fun, upbeat style that didn't put me to sleep and got me really excited about my decision to change careers.

The vocab section was a great way to get accustomed to the industly lingo. I'll sound like a pro by the time my interviews come up. The company profiles provided a good start for company research and the job descriptions helped me get a good idea of where I want to be.

This is a great buy for anyone thinking about a career in advertising.

I had not realized that Julia Child had served in the Office of Strategic Services (the CIA) during WWII. In fact, there is much that I had not realized prior to reading this fascinating book. But wait! It's also a cookbook! The authors were often challenged with new and foreign ingredients and their collection of recipes from around the world is excellent. It seems that our intelligence officers and their families like to eat, and well! Highly recommended.

I have never even had a passport, but for 2 years I have edited some stories and completed all of the nutritional analysis for the recipes in this book. I cried when I read the piece titled "Raincheck", (and I didn't recommend changing a word). There were other stories that needed a little grammatical clean up, but the goal for all of those involved in this project was to maintain the voice of the original author. Some stories are scary, some are hilarious, and all are compelling. The recipes were used mostly for entertaining, so this is NOT a diet cookbook. If you can occasionally part ways with the American Heart Association, you will find most of the recipes tasty, although a few require a sense of adventure. I've tested several recipes myself. Ladda's Yellow Curry is now a staple in my home, and several of the desserts would be if I allowed dessert in the house. I make the desserts to carry to other people's houses. The drawbacks are minor, but annoying. The book is small (so is the type), and there isn't a blank page in the front of the book to prevent the titled page from sticking to the cover. This book is worth reading though. It allows those of us who stay safely in the U.S. to share in the experiences of being a CIA agent's spouse overseas. All of the profits will fund scholarships for CIA dependants. Neither myself, or any of the authors, were paid for their work on this piece. Now that the book is out I am immensely proud it, and of the CIA spouses who made it possible.

Mr Koehler get's rare interviews from the "horses mouth" & has done some tremendous work in this book. His attention to detail is fantastic with times, dates, etc. Mr. Koehler should also be applauded for bringing the truth to light about Marcus Wolf's Man without a face book where he takes almost no responsibility to the destruction of many East Germans lives & knowing about the terrorist movement in the DDR. This is an outstanding book of facts & follows closely the life of the notorious henceman Erich Meilke. It is also amazing to watch the birth of a country like East Germany after just witnessing the 3rd reich, which they became so much like. Sadly, as people we haven't learned much!

The first word that came to my mind after reading this piece of literature, that best describes my reading experience of this well researched and well told account of the Stasi is, "Chilling." This book scared me out of my wits. It amazed me to read about how the East Germans were basically kept walled up in a type of concentration camp, sort of like the Jews and how they were terrorized by the brutal, ruthless Stasi organization up until just little over a decade ago. I would have been to weak to survive the Stasi and probably would have made a haste attempt to escape the Berlin Wall, as so many others did. I can now see why so many died trying to escape past the wall, even though they knew that they stood a very poor chance of making it. Death was more comforting to them from what I gather, than being stuck for just one more day under the Stazi and its microscope. I now know why the East Germans had so much fun smashing the wall to pieces. They were being released to freedom and for many of them, freedom had become nothing more then a dream, a miracle, under the Stasi. I believe after reading about how the Stasi got things done that the Stasi was as ruthless as the Gestapo and the NKVD, expecially when reading about accounts of their interrogations. The Stasi kept total order among the East German people and it was fascinating to read and find out how the Stasi crushed any and all attempts that could challenge its authority, any attempts of political uprisings and how the Stasi simply controlled the East German people with fear and intimidation. It amazed me to read about the fellow who informed on his wife, even though they had been married for such a long time. The Stazi was very powerful, even more powerful than love. This wonderful work of literature gives some terrific information that helps to better understand the Cold War and it paints a wonderful picture of how communist nations and dictatorships work behind the scenes. The one thing that I found to be most interesting about this book was that the Stasi did not limit itself just to controlling the East German people, but rather it extended its feelers and spied on the West, sabotaged NATO, etc. The Stasi and it's international agents really got around. This book should definitely be read by any and all interested in the Cold War, espionage, secret police agencies and last but not least, Germany and its recent past. This book does not exhaust various issues related to the Stasi, as many other novels written about secret security organizations based on interviews, files, etc., do, such as the 700 page, plus Mitrokhin Archieve which is about the KGB, but simply discusses different Stasi issues in lengths appropriate to their importance, that keep the reader interested. This book gave me a message I will not soon forget and that is, "trust no one if you know what's good for your survival."

Professor Bozeman makes it absolutely clear that anyone attempting to understand causation and motivation for the turmoil that leads to terrorist acts must get under the skin of the actors involved. We in the West particularly need to learn to lay aside our collection of presumptions about paramount human values.

While reading this book, every intelligence professional should feel like a bashful second-grader shuffling their feet while being kindly reprimanded by their teacher. This book, a collection of essays from the 1980's, is the only one I have ever found that truly grasps the strategic long-term importance of intelligence in the context of culture and general knowledge. The heart of the book is on page 177: "(There is a need) to recognize that just as the essence of knowledge is not as split up into academic disciplines as it is in our academic universe, so can intelligence not be set apart from statecraft and society, or subdivided into elements...such as analysis and estimates, counterintelligence, clandestine collection, covert action, and so forth. Rather, and as suggested earlier in this essay, intelligence is a scheme of things entire. And since it permeates thought and life throughout society, Western scholars must understand all aspects of a state's culture before they can assess statecraft and intelligence." The 25-page introduction, at least, should be read by every intelligence professional.

This is a wonderful book. I especially liked the scene on the NYSE. Remember, low level hacking the NetStream feed is your best entertainment value!

This is a great read that blurs the line between science fiction and fantasy genres! Others have tried melding the supernatural with science fiction (such as Poul Anderson in "Operation Chaos"), but with nowhere near the success of Rachel Pollack. Unlike some other writers, she obviously understands something about magical beliefs and rituals, and does a great job of imaginatively integrating this into a high tech future and a suspenseful plot. After you read this, you may want to read "Unquenchable Fire" too, since it is set in the same futuristic world.

This book gives a frightening look at how post-9/11 paranoia and the aftermath of that horrific event have lead to the diminution of civil liberties in the U.S.. The passage of the so-called "Patriot Act(s)" will not only make ethnic groups (particularly Arab/Muslims, given that 9/11 was perpetrated by members of that ethnic group) [a] cause to worry, even Americans may be, if their views don't match the current Administration's views, subject to loss of constitutional rights. [The ACLU would have a field day about this, if the premise of the book is true.] It is an important book to read and should be read by everyone who thinks that their civil liberties are unable to be violated by the government. (Conservatives will call this book nonsense, but most of us [moderates and liberals] will find the book an eye-opening study of overreaction and paranoia, by the government, as a result of 9/11.

This edition is an updated version of the authors earlier book written in the wake of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act. Remember that Act? That was the one passed in response to Oklanhoma City and gave "sweeping new powers" to federal authorities, so that such a horrible act of terrorism, would never, ever, never, never happen ever again!

Now with 9/11 and the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" (U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T) Act (how much time, do you suppose, does it take to come with these acronyms?), the authors are back with a critical look at a drive towards what has very little to do with counterterrorism and quite a bit to do with increasing and centralizing power.

In the past 12 months we've had proposals for a national ID card, a missle defense system, legalized torture, suspension of writ of habeas corpus, a "homeland security" infrastructure that is heavily reliant on security technologies of dubious value. Basically the only thing that has changed that would have prevented the 9/11 are locked Cabin doors and the newfound general awareness that "cooperating with the hijacker" might not be the best policy for passeners.

Also along the way, a steady trickle of stories of missed opportunities, ignored warning and frustrated investingations have come out regarding the FBI and others to use the powers they already do have.

The bulk of the book deals with FBI misdeed during the Cold War and proposes an unfashionable counterrorism strategy that emphasizes the responsibility of actors, not ideology. Basically, trying to treat terrrorism as a crime not as war.

The proposals are a little narrow. Terrorism of the sort represented by al Quaeda is international, not just national. The fight against it will share more with racketeering and global criminal networks. And a world court is needed. I'm not sure if dealing on a purely "case-by-case" basis will do the trick.

Nevertheless, the authors have offered a well reasoned case and in the current climate when we are asked to give up so much with only the assurance of "trust us" we would do to heed their call.

Try reading this book. It incites the desire in me to shrink it down to something else, like any psychiatrist would approach a case of psychotic multiplicity. There are a number of individuals with credible positions presented in this book, and the summaries of those positions express matters that are highly important. The problem with the story is that, instead of hinging on the things that are important, the whole picture is in danger of becoming unhinged whenever a decision approaches the bottom line. This is like great art which has no conception that the whole world might see this picture and consider it absolutely nukers. As crazy as all the other nukers in the world might seem to us, it takes a lot of effort to keep from applying the same judgment to the system which inflicts the costs mainly on ourselves. There are things in this book, like William Greider's comment about "payoffs for layoffs" on page 200, which make it too obvious which bottom line matters. His personal suggestion to "turn out the lights rather than waste all this money waiting for world war three" (p. 201) is coupled with his knowledge of officers who "question this choice of toys over boys" (p. 202) because of what's happening: "they're being rolled by the industry." (p. 202) Even Wilson has to report that "There are too many fiefdoms." (p. 202) That might be the main conclusion here, except that it is followed by some comment about a president who would rather "chat by the side of the road until a compromise route is agreed upon." (p. 203) The index doesn't have an entry for "depleted uranium" weapons, but we are still planning for some part of the world to become a dumping ground for our bombs, and it is highly unlikely that there will be much of a chat by the side of the road before the choice of mistakes on where we can hurt our enemies the most is made. The story of how "the American military's fighting edge was being lost for lack of money" (p. 90) hardly makes sense in a world that keeps complaining when we do destroy things.

George C. Wilson is simply the best reporter alive writing about the American military. THIS WAR REALLY MATTERS brings into the cold light of day the federal budgetary process and its effect on national defense issues. The book is relatively short--just twelve chapters--and is written in the clear, easy-to-understand style of the professional reporter Wilson certainly is. He tackles the tough questions: Why is the military orgainzed the way it is? Does it have the weapons it needs to fight now and in the future? Why and how are new weapons systems procured? As you might suspect, Wilson confirms, It's the money, Stupid! THIS WAR REALLY MATTERS is a literate, lucid masterpiece that should be read by every military officer and candidate for federal office. It should also be read and re-read by every student interested in the way decisions are made in a major democracy.