Latest read: Legacy of Ashes – The History of the CIA

Tim Weiner wrote an extraordinary book Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.  He traced the origin back to World War II and movements by former Office of Strategic Services Officers to run the new agency in a post war world.
Weiner’s research (over 50,000 documents and interviews with agents and over a dozen CIA Directors) is priceless.  Legacy of Ashes won the 2007 National Book Award for non-fiction.

I cannot help but look back at sections of his book regarding the CIA’s role in Vietnam from 1954-1975. Weiner book helps indicate where the CIA is today as an organization, regarding their war on terror….also known as the ‘transnational anti-terrorism activities’ including implications of human rights abuses.

Weiner’s rich history of CIA’s vast amount of intelligence gathering required by Presidnets Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon is no surprise, however I was surprised by Weiner’s documentation regarding Kennedy’s distain for the agency and its Director former Air Force General Charles Cabell.

As I read the Pentagon Papers its amazing to cross reference Weiner’s timelines to Vietnam and learn how Johnson and Nixon where throwing billions at a problem that simply never went away.  Faulty intelligence by the CIA misled Nixon into bombing Cambodia and ultimately a secret invasion that backfired on his Presidency.  Nixon, like Kennedy had no love for Director Richard Helms.  Weiner documents the difficult political role Directors have played in working with every President.  Chief issue for all: faulty intelligence.  Oh how it has cost America.  Then there is the whole Watergate thing…

Legacy of Ashes is a great read that will enlighten you to the amazing history of American espionage and the failures of the agency that have lead to incredible mistakes in American foreign policy.  Since America seems to ignore it’s own history this book provides the framework for future errors that will cost America more than just blood.