Interesting article by Larry Beinhart about the costs of secrecy and the intel capabilities of the US on Alternet this morning. It seems to focus on the negatives and, even the few positives it reports, it manages to turn into negatives. It is likely that only an intel historian with a deep knowledge of the facts would be able to contradict or even add nuance to the parade of horribles. CIA historian Nicholas Dujmovic tried to do exactly that in a recent edition of CIA's in-house journal, Studies In Intelligence, with respect to Tim Weiner's recent book Legacy of Ashes (which Beinhart cites). Weiner, a Pulitzer Prize winner, went on to receive the National Book Award for Legacy of Ashes.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Bad Intelligence: America's History of Bungled Spying (Alternet.org)
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Clearances? Sure, they help on the margins. But most of what I wrote about Weiner's work did not require access to secret material. In any case, don't take my word for it, see the even more devastating review of Legacy of Ashes by Jeffrey Richelson, who hasn't held clearances in years:
http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/books/index.html
Nick Dujmovic
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