Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
by Tim Weiner
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.39 You Save: $6.56 (39%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.44 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Book Review: Interesting Account of the CIA's History
Summary: 4 Stars
"In Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA", Tim Weiner details the origins of the CIA and how the organization has veered from its intended function of simply gathering and analyzing international intelligence. As an American citizen, I was alarmed and surprised at our attempts to manipulate virtually every developing nation in the world. What fueled my frustration was the fact that the CIA has been so wrong about so many things and has distorted their "intelligence" to serve the political intentions of the presiding President.
The information presented by Weiner is through first hand conversations with former CIA officials and de-classified CIA documents. According to Weiner, every conversation was on record and there were no anonymous sources. I believe this is extremely important because the reader can digest these numerous follies throughout the CIA's history and feel confident that these accounts are grounded in truth.
I extremely enjoyed Weiner's writing style is informative and engaging. The writings documenting the United States evacuation of Laos were especially excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that is interested in learning about an organization that, until recently, has virtually escaped public scrutiny.
Book Review: Great book, must read for americans
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent book.. While the primary aim of the book is to prove how the CIA has failed as an organization, it also provides a lot of insight into how the USA has been meddling in the affairs of other nations. It is shocking to read about how the CIA has supported terrorists and dictators whenever they have believed it is in americas best interest. And it is equally shocking to learn what extents they have gone to to keep the american people unaware of their underhand activities and secret funding of overseas conflicts. If you want to learn why the USA has so many bad relationships with other nations, read this book.
Should also add that the book is written in a very interesting manner, not a boring essay or anything.. you will not be able to put it down.
Also after reading the book I recommending reading the CIAs official response to the book (google it). They do not say that any facts presented in this book are false, especially since these are based on decalssified cia documents. Instead they defend their actions saying whatever they did was with good intentions and with the interest of america in mind. Makes you wonder what they are up to right now. We will only find out decades later when todays documents are declassified.
Book Review: Missing Relevance & Misguided Purpose
Summary: 4 Stars
Has there ever been more scrutiny and criticism of an organization that is suppose to operate in secret? At its formation from the remnants of the OSS, the CIA was always playing "catch-up" with other nation's counterparts who were more practiced at the 'great game'. Then in short order, its many missteps brought about distrust from its own government and people. Despite this, the CIA managed to maintain a formidable reputation in spite of its truly awful record.
Its purpose or mission was to know the world. Soon that came to entail exporting and cementing democracy. The result, in the words of President Eisenhower, is "a legacy of ashes." Weiner's book delivers on two levels. First, it offers up a definitive history of the CIA activities (much you may have read before but the whole effort is more comprehensive). But more importantly, he provides an analysis of why the organization has been such a debated failure giving credence to the theory that its brand is more valuable than its substance.
History will show that the US missed a critical opportunity to totally revamp its entire intelligence apparatus in the wake of 9/11 rather than simply applying bandaids and creating an umbrella structure for competing organizations.
Book Review: Spectacular Failures at Impossible Tasks
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an important book because of the insight it provides about the nature and history of the CIA's work. It's hard to read, partially because it is so repetitive. According to this book, throughout its history the CIA has failed spectacularly at essentially every major task it has undertaken. And, in so doing, it has caused thousands of deaths, wasted billions of dollars, operated lawlessly and shown total disregard for the wishes of the presidents it has "served". It's not a pretty picture.
The more failures that are chronicled, the more a reader almost has to conclude that the job of gathering good, actionable intelligence is essentially impossible. There's no place for CIA operatives to go to learn how to do their jobs effectively. They have talent and drive, at least at the beginning of their CIA careers, but they are not superhumans and are overwhelmed by their tasks.
I wish there could have been an appendix or a companion book in which another author might take issue with the way this book presents the CIA's history - saying it's not really this dismal and here's why. Maybe that book is out there and I should look for it, but meanwhile I'll never think very highly of the CIA after reading this one.
Book Review: dwelling on the negative?
Summary: 3 Stars
This books purports to report the failures of the CIA - the so-called secret history of the CIA. A better book would be a history of the CIA that included both the failures and the seemingly fewer successes. A CIA enthusiast may be interested in this book simply due to the fact that a lot of recently unclassified information is revealed in it. Evidently the unclassified information contained a lot of the mistakes and failures of the agency.
One can take away from the reading that the CIA is a paradoxical institution in a democracy since it depends almost exclusively on deception and lack of transparency. It had been a history of pulling the strings to initiate democracies and terminating obstacles to such governments whether the people will it or not.
While our government decries terrorism, one cannot but wonder if the CIA's actions have occassionally bordered on such actions. Also, one's faith in the CIA is shattered when you read of such operations as Operation Northwoods which was a false-flag operation that would endanger American citizens.
I thought the book concentrated heavily on the early days of the CIA and I would have liked to see more coverage of the CIA ante-911 and Iraq War.