Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA Review

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Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA ReviewThis is an astonishingly well balanced book that while deeply critical of CIA and its senior management also credits its strengths and successes. The author, Melvin Goodman, spent some 34 years as an analyst within the Directorate of Intelligence (DI) of CIA. His principal criticism is that CIA directors in collusion with the executive branch have routinely politicized not merely intelligence products, but the very processes of research and analysis basic to intelligence production. He further argues that most intelligence `failures' can be traced to the practice of far too many at CIA to distort the intelligence process to support policy decisions and even to suppress sound, contrary intelligence. He also sees the growing `militarization' of the U.S. Intelligence System as further evidence that the Intelligence Community (IC) is moving from producing objective and accurate intelligence to producing intelligence that supports the ideologies and prejudices of its masters.
Goodman supports his argument with a remarkably detailed chronicle of CIA intelligence production over the last 35 years. This chronology emphasizes those instances where political pressure and the need to support a particular point of view took precedence over the need to produce accurate intelligence. Also, although he doesn't say so directly, he demonstrates the truth that intelligence is only as good as the system it serves. Unlike so many books on intelligence, this book actually identifies both the good guys and the bad .guys of CIA over the years. In particular he has a fascinating analysis of CIA Directors from Bill Casey (1980-1986) onward that is quite devastating. Although his principal target is the deleterious effect of the politicization and militarization of intelligence, he also effectively criticizes CIA's analytic and clandestine tradecraft.
This is an absolutely important critique of the course of CIA and by extension the entire U.S. Intelligence Community. However, given the controversial claims made by Goodman and the fact he actually names his heroes and villains, the reader might ask does he really know what he is talking about? In this reviewer's opinion, the answer is yes he does. Having been personally involved in a number of specific intelligence events that he chronicles, this reviewer would argue that Goodman has accurately described them. This is a book that ought to guide any effort to reform the U.S. Intelligence System.
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Secrecy and the Media: The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice System (Government Official History Series) Review

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Secrecy and the Media: The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice System (Government Official History Series) ReviewRetired British Admiral Nick Wilkinson has given us more about the wrangling of government and press in the United Kingdom than any reasonable person would want to know. This is not meant as criticism of this fine book, but is only meant to suggest how detailed it truly is. Wilkinson takes the reader through the origins and development of a unique collaboration between government and news media that might only flourish in the UK. Indeed, any American journalists or military officers with whom I have spoken about the "D-Notice" system in Britain only shake their heads in amazement. Yet, it works, and Admiral Wilkinson has done an extremely thorough job of laying out the reasons why it works. Moreover, this book is much more than simply a history of the D-Notice Committee. It is, rather, an integrated look at spying, intelligence, secrecy, the news media, and government-news media interaction over the course of almost the entirety of the twentieth century.
Wilkinson starts the meat of the book with the Boer Wars, that nasty series of little-understood conflicts between Britain and Afrikaaner settlers that determined the fate of Southern Africa. British generals sought to limit the information that journalists were able to ferret-out and transmit to their newspapers, while newspapermen thought they ought to be free to write and publish as they wished. One of the innovations used by the British army during this conflict was the beginning of what in Vietnam would come to be known as the "Five O'Clock Follies." According to Wilkinson, a military "Staff Officer will fix an hour when correspondents may call upon him daily for information, and he will be authorized to tell them everything that can be published with safety to the Army." Not unsurprisingly, such a deliberate release of information did not cause the press to resolve to live exclusively upon government hand-outs, and the inherent conflict between the citizenry's right to know and the government's duty to protect its true secrets continued.
The lead-up to World War I proved that press and government could cooperate when it came to keeping true secrets from being publicized. In 1911, on several occasions that Wilkinson documents, members of the press demonstrated to the government that they could be trusted to withhold material that might be damaging to national security. It was not such a great leap, then, to establish a formalized way for press and government to come together to discuss what should and should not be published. Thus was born the antecedent of the modern D-Notice Committee.
With fits and starts the arrangement held up reasonably well throughout World War I. Wilkinson quotes a government official as saying that "'practically none of the [D-] Notices had been disregarded except by one or two publications of a certain kind. The Press as a whole had loyally observed the warnings." The Admiralty, War Office, Air Ministry and Press Committee was suspended, the author writes, during WWII. The book does not therefore attempt to cover the D-Notices issued by the Ministry of Information during that period. It does relate the criterion use for war censorship of the press in the UK: censorship was to be based upon "security alone." This meant, writes the author, that elements like harm to public morale (unless of "real gravity") would not provide a basis for withholding information.
The Cold War brought its own problems between government and news media. Various British citizens--Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Kim Philby, George Blake, to name a few--were revealed as spies for the Soviet Union. The D-Notice Committee was soon re-established. Wilkinson does a superb job of recounting the dynamics between members of the press and the government of the UK over the various crises of the day, ranging from the Suez affair to the Kuwait episode. The American journalist Joseph Galloway has described the tension between the two sides--at least in the US--as being one of "anarchists" versus "control freaks," with the news media, of course, playing the role of anarchy. Such did not seem to be the case with respect to British journalists, nor, it should be said as an aside, was it the case with American journalists of the earlier wartime periods.
Wilkinson's book is very fluidly written. The author manages to put the story in front of the reader with great detail, but he does so in such manner that the story moves smartly along. The book contains various appendices, which are themselves quite interesting: examples of WWI D-Notices and secret letters to editors; WWII Defence notices; examples of D-Notices and letters to the editor, 1945-67; examples of parliamentary questions; lists of D-Notice Committee Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, and Secretaries, and a very nice glossary of terms and acronyms. This is the definitive book on the uniquely British system called the D-Notice Committee. I commend it to you.Secrecy and the Media: The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice System (Government Official History Series) Overview

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Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do Review

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Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do ReviewI bought this book thinking that I would read a chapter or two a week and learn some previously unknown nuggets of information and insights about our past presidents. Without giving away spoilers or free samples, I read the first chapter. It was so good I then read chapter two. Then chapter three. The next thing I know, I'm done with the book in one sitting. Though I didn't agree with some of their assessments of some Presidents (I'm a conservative and these are mainstream media types so it's safe to say they are a bit to the left of myself), the book was never lacking in original insights and lessons. Moreover, there were no cheap shots taken under the belt, even in the sections that I may have disagreed with. It's very fair. Chapter one is definitely worth the price of the book for those interested in the Presidency and anyone looking to get into T.R.'s proverbial Arena of politics. I personally found that the parts of the book that dealt with how the Presidency is covered and the give and take between the President/Executive Branch and the fourth estate, particularly the fourth chapter, came to life, for obvious reasons--Thomas and Crawford are journalists! A surprisingly wonderful and insightful read--and that's coming from a conservative who isn't too fond of most in the mainstream media. Go buy a copy, you won't regret it.Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do Overview

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Special Trust Review

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Special Trust ReviewUnlike the reviewer below, I thought this book was refreshingly honest and self-effacing, and it by no means struck me as a typical "c.y.a." memoir. Bud McFarlane comes across as a dedicated, though perhaps not exceptionally talented public servant who performed a very important job (National Security Advisor) with an uncommon degree of modesty. I couldn't help but thinking that one of his major weaknesses as a player at these high levels might have been that he lacks the guile, expediency, and instinct for self-preservation that characterizes many who work in the upper echelons of government. In this respect, McFarlane stands in marked (and favorable) contrast to his most famous predecessor, Henry Kissinger.McFarlane may not be the brightest or the flashiest National Security Advisor we have ever had, but I came away from this book with a great respect for the man and the ideals of public service he brought to his position. The book is a riveting read, and McFarlane's judgments about the Iran-Contra affair and the culpability of others are eminently reasonable and compelling.Special Trust Overview

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The White House Tapes: Eavesdropping on the President (Book & CD) Review

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The White House Tapes: Eavesdropping on the President (Book & CD) ReviewI absolutely loved this collection. The content is wonderful. I want more!
I would give it five stars if it weren't for the audio quality.
There are eight disks plus a disk called "the white house tapes: the president calling". This last disk was just wonderful with good audio quality. You can listen to this online at the american radioworks website. It will get you hooked.
However, the other disks were hit or miss because they can be really difficult to hear. Many disks "Truman, Roosevelt and Eisenhower", (and to a lesser extent Kennedy and Nixon) were completely unintelligible in the car. Think old-time PA system in a concrete room. Johnson was very good, although there were repetitive sounds from the tape recorder. Ford was good too. I guess listening on a home stereo or with headphones might be a different story.
Maybe the recording technology on many of the tapes just wasn't there. You figure with today's technology there would be some way to clean up the audio, especially when you're paying so much for the collection.The White House Tapes: Eavesdropping on the President (Book & CD) Overview

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Confidential: Uncover Your Competitors' Top Business Secrets Legally and Quickly--and Protect Your Own Review

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Confidential: Uncover Your Competitors' Top Business Secrets Legally and Quickly--and Protect Your Own ReviewThere isn't a business alive today who isn't faced with stiff, sometimes overpowering, competition. One assumes that the large corporations have the resources to staff and manage a competitive intelligence program. But what about the small to medium companies?
In my practice as a marketing consultant to this size business, I'm amazed at how little companies often know about the competitors who are eating them for lunch. And then, how do they find the information that can make a difference? Where can they go to find expert help?
It is for precisely those reasons, I picked up this book. What an education I got and have already passed along to clients. The author very succinctly describes the whole gamut..from how to get information all the way to how to protect your company's trade secrets.
Of particular interest to me was the whole section on capitalizing on trade shows. This is typically a major expense yet, the opportunity is mainly wasted because companies don't realize the potential contacts they can make and information they can gather. Worse yet, they have no idea what the risk might be of having their employees give away information to those competitors "in the know" or who have already read this book.
While this topic is quite serious, the author manages to make it an fascinating read. He sprinkles enough stories from his career as a government intelligence officer to keep you guessing.
For anyone who thinks this is all bogus "spy" stuff, guess again. Everything the author recommends is completely legal and aboveboard. Those companies who are out there following his recommendations are pulling ahead of the competition. That's why this book is landing on my clients' desks.Confidential: Uncover Your Competitors' Top Business Secrets Legally and Quickly--and Protect Your Own Overview

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Obama's Wars Review

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Obama's Wars Review
In the author's personal note to this book, Bob Woodward thanks his assistant Josh Bock with words of such kindness that I was completely taken aback by the grace that this man possesses. Many writers wouldn't take the time, or interest to be so encouraging to someone else. Woodward's writing has the poet's touch. It is elegant, straightforward, and of such compelling interest that this book like many others he has written, is a page turner. You start it, and you just keep going until you are finished. First we must discuss his sources and methods. This author doesn't publish unless he has confirmation of what he is being told by an additional 3rd party. His interviews are recorded, transcribed and then checked for errors. He sometimes revisits the same interviewee 4 or 5 times. He works with notes, documents and recollections. Although a person being interviewed may request that it be background only, once Woodward gets the same story from another independent source, the story is no longer background. Many people have talked to Woodward on the basis of background in an effort to remain anonymous, and control him. It just doesn't remain that way. You are not going to fool this man. When you read Obama's Wars, you realize that you can't obtain this much great information if you read a year's worth of the New York Times. You are getting the real deal here, and you don't get it anywhere else. Let me illustrate:*When meeting President Bush's intelligence officer and hearing what he had to say prior to the election, then Senator Obama responds that he was worried about losing this election, now he's worried about winning the election with the information he is being told. *Woodward confirms for us that Pakistani intelligence, the so called ISI has been giving aide to the Taliban, while taking $2 billion a year in cash from us.
*During the first half of 2008, the US made only 4 Predator strikes in Pakistan. Pakistan made the US warn the ISI ahead of time before a strike could be made. The ISI in turn would warn the Taliban and the bad guys would head for the hills prior to the strike. Once American got wise to the setup, we only gave the ISI simultaneous warning, and frankly we waited until the Predator was ready to fire its missiles before giving that warning. Where are you going to get information like this? I don't see it in the Washington Post, and certainly not the NY Times.
*President Obama was informed that 35 countries do not require Visas prior to coming to the United States. Terrorists are now coming to the US through those countries and forming cells. Our worst nightmare may be yet to come.*Iran will have a gun-type nuclear weapon between 2013 and 2015 which will be demonstrated in the desert. Saudi Arabia will immediately notify Pakistan that you help us develop a nuclear weapon, or we cut off oil supplies to your country.
*Then Senator Obama was the victim of a cyber attack on his campaign by the Chinese government that copied his documents and files. The greater danger was what would happen if they destroyed the files as opposed to just copying them. The same thing happened to Senator McCain and his campaign. *But Wait - there's more. Senator Obama was then told that every day both the Bank of NY and Citibank handle $3 trillion a day in funds transfers, whereas the entire economy is equal to $14 trillion in gross domestic product. Other countries now have the capability to interfere with those transactions through cyber war. The resulting financial chaos would be exponentially worse than the World Trade Center destruction. We do not have a cyber defense yet. Woodward is at his best when discussing personalities. His discussion of Hillary Clinton's reluctance, then refusal and finally acceptance of the Cabinet position of Secretary of State is absolutely fascinating. Senator Clinton did not want the position, but Senator Obama's people sensed the door was still opened, so they told her to sleep on it over night. During the night Senator Clinton consulted Mark Penn, the Clinton pollster who basically asked her if she was crazy. Take it, "you will have an unmatched record of public service." He also reminded her that you are weak on foreign policy and national security, and now you will have absolute bonafides in both, and it didn't hurt that you she will finally show independence from her husband. Yes, there's Richard Holbrooke the egotist, and General Petraeus comes through looking great. No one lays a glove on the General. The Secretary of Defense Robert Gates gets very high marks in the book. Over and over again, when you read Woodward, you recognize that the story you are reading is not something that is covered anywhere else. You are a part of the decision making process. You are involved. You know who makes sense and who doesn't, who's brilliant, and who's all talk, and no show. I have given you pieces here and pieces there, a flavoring of a giant ice cream Sundae. Every page has a great story, and there is nothing superfluous in this great read. This book gets five stars. If you love politics, a good story, history, and reading what a great author operating at the peak of his powers can do, read Obama's Wars, and thank you for reading this review. Richard C. Stoyeck
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Secret and Sanctioned: Covert Operations and the American Presidency Review

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Secret and Sanctioned: Covert Operations and the American Presidency ReviewStephen Knott starts this fast paced book by recounting the myth that covert operations in America began with the Cold War, and searches for the truth or falsity of this belief. Then Knott recounts the history of covert operations in America, beginning during the Revolutionary war with George Washington. Knott points out how the founding fathers understood the value of secrecy and espionage run by the executive branch to maintain secrecy and deniability.
Knott explains how Washington created a contingency fund to pay for spies and secret diplomacy. Jefferson bribed Indians to gain territory and started to overthrow the Pasha of the Barbary pirates. Madison planned covert operations to gain Spanish Florida, to gain land, stop Indian attacks, and get Spain out of North America. Then Knott describes the efforts of Joel Poinsett for President Madison in Argentina and Chile where he tried to incite independence from Spain, and cut down the influence of the British. Eventually Poinsett worked in Mexico on behalf of President Monroe. Andrew Jackson sent Robert Anthony to Mexico to try and get Texas, to help protect New Orleans. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln supported covert efforts throughout Europe and Canada supporting the Union through propaganda in newspapers.
Knott concludes the book by showing how during the nineteen-seventies, congressmen wanted to control covert operations and set up a congressional oversight in the belief that this is what the founding fathers would have wanted. But, as we have seen, the founding fathers believed in covert operations with no congressional oversight, because even then congress could not keep a secret. Knott's book is full of surprising anecdotes detailing the use of covert operations by the founding fathers.Secret and Sanctioned: Covert Operations and the American Presidency Overview

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The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945 Review

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The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945 ReviewFour stars only for the following reason.
Andrew Roberts, who penned the Introduction to this book, concluded it with the following phrase: "Sir Winston Churchill once said that in war the truth needed to be protected by 'a bodyguard of lies'. This is the story of the men and women who constituted that bodyguard." Paraphrasing him, I would say that "The Secret History of PWE" is the truth about the Political Warfare Executive, protected by a bodyguard of silences. A couple of examples from the book, to substantiate this claim. Andrew Roberts says in his opening para: "We can for the first time now know the whole truth about the British (and later Allied) propaganda effort in the Second World War...". Seven pages down the road, in his closing para Andrew Roberts says: "We know from Sefton Delmer's autobiography, "Black Boomerang", that a large number of PWE's files were destroyed after the war..." Sefton Delmer, PWE's No 1 man for black propaganda, is said to be, in a caption accompanying his picture, "Britain's most fertile 'Black' propagandist, the hero of this book". Indeed, with pictures of only 11 men (including the author himself) in the illustrations, Delmer becomes one of very selected few. And yet, when you have finished reading the last page, you can't stop wondering why on earth did they tag him "the hero of this book"? Not because the man does not deserve it - he does - but because there is so precious little real information about his particular department, even less about its work, and almost nothing about its achievements. These (and many others) are the disappointing and disturbing silences I am talking about when I say that the truth in this book is protected by a bodyguard of them. This disappointment is particularly big in my case since I came across the book, found it of particular interest and went on purchasing it with my own money - while doing research on Sefton Delmer's record in black propaganda.
But I give four full stars to the book nevertheless. It portrays with perfect sobriety and meticulous detail the true orwellian Ministry of Truth at work, but without the anti-utopian angle and the democratic prejudice: it's war time, and Britain has got nothing to lose. And if you miss one of the author's main conclusions, you will definitely enjoy and appreciate the mastery of David Garnett's writing; but if you don't, you won't. Because his strong conviction is: "Political Warfare will play a larger part in future both in peace and war". If one rethinks the whole book all over again with this final conclusion in mind, the four stars will most probably remain a fair rating. Its rationale, though, will undergo a drastic change: it will become a thank you for the warning from an insider.The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945 Overview

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pentagon (Complete Idiot's Guides) Review

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pentagon (Complete Idiot's Guides) ReviewThis book is both funny and functional -- I use it as a desk reference in my work counselling companies who have to work with, or sell to, the US military, as well as a random excuse to brighten the day.
Moreover, military officers I work with have started to recommend it to colleagues attending the services' staff colleges...not because there are no other reference books, but because this one tells you things that are useful in a way that makes you genuinely interested in learning more.
The Pentagon lore here is well-researched, and provides a terrific foundation for a primer on the parts of the US military with roots in The Building.
Better yet, it's a fine effort to bridge inter-service rivalries: you can read someone poking fun at those Other Guys with the Funny Uniforms and, while nobody's watching, actually appreciate the Other Guys' history, culture and lore.
My favourite parts are the ones about Classified Documents, and the civilian's guide to Missile Defense. Not only are these great examples of how Cateau and Levin make complex topics accessible with clear examples, but I just plain couldn't read these ones aloud to friends without laughing!
Okay, and the quiz on Navy Abbreviations catches even the most avid acronym interpreters!The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pentagon (Complete Idiot's Guides) Overview

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The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization Review

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The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization ReviewIt's hard to take a fresh look at a book that has already been so well reviewed, but I feel that I do have a few more worthwhile comments, hence another review.
Even though PUZZLE PALACE has been around for eighteen years, it still seems to be the best researched book on NSA that's available. It would be nice if Bamford could update us on what has happened in those intervening years.
None of the following is classified information. I was an enlisted man in the Army Security Agency, stationed in the Philippines, from 1955 to 1957. I had been trained as a French Linguist at the Army Language School. It wasn't until I got to the Philippines that I even knew that there was an organization known as the National Security Agency (NSA). Even more amazing is the fact that, until I read Bamford's book, I had no idea how what I was doing fit into the scheme of things. Thanks, James Bamford, for clearing that up for me some forty five years later. Better late than never, they say.
What I think that Bamford has done so well is to tell the true story of the creation of a modern "Frankenstein's Monster." He presents a cogent case for the very real need for communication interception and code breaking in the early days of NSA's existence. He proceeds to take us through, step by step, the process whereby a protector of our freedoms seems to have evolved into a threat to those very freedoms.
According to Bamford, the communications security community seems almost paranoid in their fears that "unless we absolutely control it, it's dangerous." They are devious enough to get around any and every safeguard to the privacy of the individuual that might be established. To wit: Jimmy Carter, when he was President, put a few safeguards in place. With time on their side, the NSA waited until Ronald Reagan was President and got him to remove those safeguards. (See page 374 of the 1982 hardback edition.)
It makes one wonder: In today's world of e-mail, high speed faxes, cel phones, etc., all using the air waves, is anything sacred or has Orwell's prediction come true. As I mentioned above, I'd really like for Bamford to bring us up to date.
A few reviewers have complained about problems keeping up with all the initials used in PUZZLE PALACE. One has to understand that no discussion of the magnitude of the situation can be held without mentioning all of the organizations and committees involved.
It is true that a bit of hard work on the part of the reader is necessary to get all, or most, of the impact of the information contained in PUZZLE PALACE, but I think that the knowledge gained is definitely worth the effort.The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization Overview

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Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World Review

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Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World ReviewThe U.S. National Security Act of 1947 established a national security structure which was felt to be necessary to protect the U.S. from what was perceived as serious threats from foreign and domestic enemies. Almost immediately a parallel structure, invisible to public, was created as a compliment to the public national security establishment. This parallel structure is what this absolutely fascinating book refers to as the "black world."
According to Trevor Paglen, a geographer by trade, this black world can bounded by adroit compilation of blank areas on official maps, deleted passages from official documents, and acute observations of restricted areas and activities. Well he has certainly done a very thorough job of it. He begins with the secret and unacknowledged government test sites scattered throughout the country, but especially in the South Western U.S. that actually employ an astonishingly large number military and civilian workers yet still are literarily off the map. He subsequently tackles such arcane topics as black operations, black funding, and a host of other unacknowledged, often denied, U.S. activities including questionable and even illegal programs and operations. Perhaps the most discouraging information he provides is how easily it is for officials of the black world to hoodwink congress and the media, both nominal guards against government excesses. Certainly the most astonishing thing he reveals is that the black world in total may employ as many as 4 million military and civilians who carry secret or higher clearances. The fact that this many people can be involved and yet so many black activities remain completely off the gird is pretty scary in itself.
This reviewer has tremendous respect for the academic discipline of geography. It combines some of the best features of social and physical science and perhaps is the most effective system for understanding the phenomenon of Globalization. Some 60 years ago one branch of geography that was called "cultural geography" sought to describe the relationship between societies and the environment in which they lived. The term may no longer be used, but Paglen is a cultural geographer in the best sense of the term.
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How to Live in a Dangerous World: A Stratfor Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family and Your Business Review

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How to Live in a Dangerous World: A Stratfor Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family and Your Business ReviewTeach your children to be situationally aware (and teach yourself while you are at it). Written primarily for folks who travel abroad, it has application in the US as well. Well thought out presentation - not at all a hysterical rant, but well reasoned with practical guidance.How to Live in a Dangerous World: A Stratfor Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family and Your Business Overview

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How to Look for Trouble: A Stratfor Guide to Protective Intelligence Review

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How to Look for Trouble: A Stratfor Guide to Protective Intelligence ReviewI am studying in the Intelligence field and read Stratfor on the regular; their analysis is fantastic and they are solid, reasonable, and provide a clear understanding of options available in whatever Intel review they are doing. This book is more of a compendium of articles -- in that regard I was hoping for more clear instructions on what Protective Intelligence would look like, a how-to manual would have been a bit better.
They do point out failures of security teams to properly run Counter-Surveillance on their principals that have resulted in murder, kidnapping, and a very bad day. The emphasis on Protective Intelligence is really on CS; if you let your enemies watch your patterns, analyze them without harassment, or fail to follow through on suspicious activity you could potentially be risking your own life. Executive Protection folks have to disrupt Surveillance schemes or the likelihood of failure can be quite high.
I would buy the book, read it, and keep it on the shelf. It is a lot of articles that are arranged topically and not a "how-to" (not that you could get that all figured out by simply reading a book anyway) and those articles are informative and help paint a picture of what Protective Intel might look like for Exec. Protection professionals.How to Look for Trouble: A Stratfor Guide to Protective Intelligence Overview

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Techno Security's Guide to Securing SCADA: A Comprehensive Handbook On Protecting The Critical Infrastructure Review

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Techno Security's Guide to Securing SCADA: A Comprehensive Handbook On Protecting The Critical Infrastructure Reviewi got this because it was fairly recent, but not as useful as the the other SCADA protection books out there (which are cheaper). It is broad in scope as it covers assessments, physical security, but barely touches on the mechanics of the types of cyberattacks that SCADA systems are vulnerable to. I found even the "Securing SCADA Systems" by Krutz more helpful, as it was basic but clearly written. I also found the Botnet detection books and malware forensics helpful to cover this book's cyber threat gap. Clearly, a collection of experts in the field, but more substance and editing and less war stories would have created a better product.Techno Security's Guide to Securing SCADA: A Comprehensive Handbook On Protecting The Critical Infrastructure Overview

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One Nation Under Surveillance: A New Social Contract to Defend Freedom Without Sacrificing Liberty Review

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One Nation Under Surveillance: A New Social Contract to Defend Freedom Without Sacrificing Liberty ReviewThis is a very eye-opening and interesting book about the steps taken by governments to "protect" us. It brings up many very interesting points.. such as how far should the government go to protect us? At what point is violating the rights of innocent people justifiable to catch the "bad" guys. The book talks about many things done by a couple of different governments, like the street cameras used in London, England and discusses their effectiveness. It does make one think that with the trends of surveillance and other intrusions into are private lives and information just how far is the government willing to go and just how far should we be willing to let them. Definitely worth the time to read. Hope you enjoy.One Nation Under Surveillance: A New Social Contract to Defend Freedom Without Sacrificing Liberty Overview

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America's Secret Power: The CIA in a Democratic Society Review

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America's Secret Power: The CIA in a Democratic Society Review"America's Secret Power" is Loch Johnson's 1989 study of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the premier U.S. intelligence agency. Johnson, an academic by trade, had extensive experience working as a staffer in Congress, most notably on the 1974-75 Church Committee investigations of CIA excesses.
The good news is that Johnson has compiled extensive unclassified research on the CIA, based on a variety of sources, and made a meaningful effort to analyze, for the general public, the attributes of an agency which by necessity conducts most of its business out of public view. Johnson discusses the many functions of the CIA, including its controversial responsibility for covert action and its contentious relationships with academia and the media. Johnson is to be commended for having gone the extra mile in trying to provide constructive criticism for the many faults he finds.
The bad news is that Johnson tends to undercut the value of his own work:
First, he is sometimes careless in his fact-checking, ranging from the merely annoying (Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese naval aviation, not the Japanese Air Force) to the fairly significant (confusing "counterinsurgency"-a method-with "paramilitary"-a tool).
Second, Johnson places too much credibility in the media accounts he relies upon in his study of CIA actions. An author who implies, for example, that the New York Times is "an organ of unfettered expression of fact" has made a remarkable assertion given the longstanding political activism of that paper.
Third, Johnson is challenged to maintain his objectivity throughout the book. He is prone to characterize various CIA activities as illegal, without actually documenting that any competent authority has found a particular activity to be illegal (as opposed to merely objectionable). Sometimes, he indulges in hyperventilating prose. The Iran-Contra Scandal, an admittedly botched attempt to ransom American hostages out of Lebanon coupled with an illegal diversion of funds to support anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua, is characterized as somehow threatening the very existance of American democracy, instead of merely the careers of the individual officials involved. Johnson seems blind to the highly partisan nature of some Congressional criticism of the CIA, rooted as much in policy differences with a President as in real or alleged wrong-doing.
"America's Secret Power" has much value as a textbook on the Central Intelligence Agency for the student who has the background and skepticism to weed through Johnson's occasional failures of objectivity and the limitations of his sources. Johnson has posed many very useful questions about the value of secret intelligence organizations in a democracy. It is to Johnson's credit that he acknowledges that many of these questions have no useful permanent answer.America's Secret Power: The CIA in a Democratic Society Overview

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How to Complete a Risk Assessment in 5 Days or Less Review

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How to Complete a Risk Assessment in 5 Days or Less ReviewImagine a patient bleeding to death in an emergency room while doctors tell his family that they will run tests on him in a week or so. Similarly, many organizations operate amid critical IT security risks, absent without any clear knowledge about them because those answers often take far too long to obtain.
How to Complete a Risk Assessment in 5 Days or Less is a valuable reference guide that can help readers identify the myriad threats that their organizations face. Once they are identified, the book shows how you can make the right triage decisions about whether those threats pose a real risk to your company or are innocuous.
The book is built around the concept of a Facilitated Risk Analysis and Assessment Process (FRAAP). The process is designed to be implemented by organizations without outside help. The book's five chapters take the reader through the process from prescreening and performing a business impact analysis to the last step, the gap analysis.
The majority of the book--roughly three quarters of it--consists of appendices to be used during the FRAAP. They cover every aspect of the process from listing the team members and developing a project scope statement to completing various checklists and questionnaires.
Unfortunately, the book does not include a CD-ROM containing its various appendices and checklists, nor is it available online. The book's planned second edition, however, is supposed to include such a disc.
Other than that, this work is a critical resource that can help an organization get up to speed with its risk management program. Readers looking to get their organizations out of the risk management "emergency room" will find this an indispensible and valuable guide.
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Early Warning: Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risk, and Create Powerful Strategies Review

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Early Warning: Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risk, and Create Powerful Strategies ReviewEdit of 21 Dec 07 to add links. This remains a core reference.
Ben Gilad, arguably one of the top five practitioner-scholars in the competitive intelligence arena (the others, in my opinion, are Jan Herring and Leonard Fuld, his partners; Babette Bensoussan in Australia, and Mats Bjore in Sweden), makes a very important contribution with this book. It is for business leaders what Kristan Wheaton's book, was and is for government leaders.
The author's earlier book, "Business Blindspots: replacing myths, beliefs and assumptions with market realities", remains one of the single best references for business intelligence professionals (but only available from Infonortics UK), together with Babette Bensoussan and Craig Fleisher's Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition
I regard this book as being primarily for the manager of the business enterprise rather than the business intelligence professional, primarily because it is very helpful in breaking through old mind-sets and suggesting that very specific attitudes and activities must characterize those endeavors that wish to avoid costly surprises. I would say that this book, together with Yale business author Jeffrey Garten's book, The Politics of Fortune: A New Agenda For Business Leaders are "must reads" for the senior executive who desires to not just survive but to excel in the 21st Century.
The author, who has a solid understanding of the history of surprise in military or national security circles, makes the point that surprise does not occur for lack of signs that can be detected, but for lack of a culture and mind-set open to seeing and understanding those signals.
The book combines survey results from professionals attending the Academy of Competitive Intelligence (the single best offering in the world) with real-world accounts, "gray box" supplementals, and "manager's checklists" at the end of each chapter that are in essence an executive summary of the chapter.
This is a 2-3 hour read, and well-worth anyone's time, but especially well-worth the time of the executive who is willing to consider the possibility that they are grossly unaware of real-world external threats to their future bonuses, and that there might be some relatively simple low-cost solutions to dealing with the threat that require, rather than vast sums of money, a change in mind-set.
Other recommended works on my short list (with reviews):
Measuring the Effectiveness of Competitive Intelligence: Assessing & Communicating CI's Value to Your Organization
Keeping Abreast of Science and Technology: Technical Intelligence for Business
The New Competitor Intelligence: The Complete Resource for Finding, Analyzing, and Using Information about Your Competitors
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political--Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
THE SMART NATION ACT: Public Intelligence in the Public InterestEarly Warning: Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risk, and Create Powerful Strategies Overview

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The Quiet Threat: Fighting Industrial Espionage in America Review

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The Quiet Threat: Fighting Industrial Espionage in America ReviewI came across this book as I did my advanced degree in competitive intelligence at American Military University.
With globalization, outsourcing, consolidation, convergence and the constantly advancing information age in which we find ourselves today, it has become more challenging for businesses and organizations to reconcile the necessity to be inclusive and open with the need for security. Chances for unwitting and seemingly unavoidable loss of competitive secrets have multiplied, even as information thieves have become more stealthy; always seeming to be a step ahead of contemporary security measures. Mendell shows how twenty-first century business dynamics have made it such that partners and associates are easily turning to aggressors before some companies realize it. This is not fear-mongering. The threats are real , as this book shows. The threat to the integrity of the competitive information of US firms is quite serious. Yet, such information seem to be at the mercy of highly sophisticated and motivated national and international information hoodlums. But no more can these thugs operate with ease. In The Quite Threat, Mr. Mendell has crafted a handbook for every company or organization in the United States that has any competitive secret at all to protect. Indeed, as the book states, "friendly competitors don't exist - whether domestic of foreign." Yet, this book goes beyond enabling security professionals to sharpen their skills as spy catchers, but to make them super experts in counterintelligence and as collectors of intelligence themselves. In other words this book emphasizes proactive intelligence strategies more than reactive techniques. Indeed, it creates agents on the offensive. My fear is that in spite of this book, many firms will still underestimate the threat that they face until something happens, when the damage is already done. I decry the fact that despite the sordid espionage cases that abound, as this book shows, many executives still think that it can't happen to them until it's too late.
There are many other books that address corporate espionage but, I seriously recommend this book because it is very comprehensive and yet precise - with only about 184 information-packed pages (Nwankama Nwankama).
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