Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone [Hardcover]

Larry Devlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 2007

Larry Devlin arrived as the new chief of station for the CIA in the Congo five days after the country had declared its independence, the army had mutinied, and governmental authority had collapsed. As he crossed the Congo River in an almost empty ferry boat, all he could see were lines of people trying to travel the other way—out of the Congo. Within his first two weeks he found himself on the wrong end of a revolver as militiamen played Russian-roulette, Congo style, with him.

During his first year, the charismatic and reckless political leader, Patrice Lumumba, was murdered and Devlin was widely thought to have been entrusted with (he was) and to have carried out (he didn't) the assassination. Then he saved the life of Joseph Desire Mobutu, who carried out the military coup that presaged his own rise to political power. Devlin found himself at the heart of Africa, fighting for the future of perhaps the most strategically influential country on the continent, its borders shared with eight other nations. He met every significant political figure, from presidents to mercenaries, as he took the Cold War to one of the world's hottest zones. This is a classic political memoir from a master spy who lived in wildly dramatic times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this vivid, authoritative account of being CIA station chief in Congo during the height of the Cold War, Devlin brings to life a harrowing tale of postcolonial political intrigue, covert violence and the day-to-day reality of being a key player in a global chess match between superpowers. Posted to Congo in 1960, Devlin quickly found himself at the swirling center of conflict— the Belgian colonial rulers had pulled out, the local strongmen had begun what would be a decades-long struggle for power and the Soviet Union was sending agents to influence events. Arriving on the scene with his wife and young daughter in tow, Devlin finds "central authority had broken down; there was no one in control who could prevent random acts of barbarity." As the country begins to fall apart and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba starts flirting with the Soviets, orders come from Washington for "his removal." Within weeks Lumumba is not only out of power but dead. While the rest of the book is full of exciting cloak-and-dagger derring-do and scrapes with death, it is this incident that haunts Devlin. He devotes the last chapter of the book to a point-by-point refutation of his or the agency's involvement in Lumumba's death. That alleged assassination is often used to illustrate the hypocrisy in U.S. foreign policy. Devlin's straightforward, plainly written approach to the task lends credence to his assertion of innocence. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

When Belgium ceded independence to the Congo in 1960, one of the cold war's most acute crises erupted. The French-speaking Devlin was there as the CIA's man in Leopoldville (today, Kinshasa) with a charge to defeat a Soviet and Chinese Communist surge into the country. This memoir shows the author in best light as a station chief with personal courage and cultural astuteness, a quick thinker in sticky situations, many potentially lethal. The hair-raising incidents, often at roadblocks, once with burglars in his house, so common in Devlin's narrative will instill those interested in operational intelligence careers with the 24/7 risks of a posting in the field, while his involvement with political developments in chaotic, post-independence Congo contributes primary testimony to the history of the period. Devlin acknowledges, for example, receiving an order to assassinate leftist premier Patrice Lumumba, but says he opposed it as immoral and did not carry it out. Including his personal impressions of Mobutu, the eventual victor in Congo's early 1960s turmoil, Devlin's retrospective will rivet the espionage set. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (March 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586484052
• ISBN-13: 978-1586484057
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > History > Africa > Democratic Republic of Congo
  • #68 in Books > History > Africa > West Africa

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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History Lessons, June 7, 2007

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Retired Reader (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone (Hardcover)

This book rewards its readers with good deal of information on a variety of subjects. It undoubtedly provides a very accurate account of the struggle of the former Belgium Congo to become a variable nation state. In the course of doing this, its author provides a plausible description of the chaotic condition of an imploding nation state and its leading political players of the period, including the controversial Patrice Lumumba and the man who turned out to be his chief rival Sese Seko Mobutu. Finally the book opens a window on how the U.S -Soviet Union Clod War rivalry played out in an newly independent African state like the Congo.

On a rather different level, Larry Devlin provides a good explanation of what a pro-active CIA Station Chief (COS) of 1960 did to earn his keep. One can carry away a good deal of information about good `tradecraft', the use of non-official cover (NOC) agents, and the vital need for a close relationship between the COS and the U.S. Ambassador. For a long period Devlin was not only COS Kinshasa (Leopoldville), but also the only CIA representative in the Congo. As a result, he discloses quite a bit about the art and craft of recruiting and maintaining `agents' in the field. Although virtually all memoirs written by former intelligence folks tend to be somewhat self-serving, from this book it is clear that Devlin really was good at his job and did his best to protect the national security interests of U.S. and equally important to help the Congolese build a viable and independent nation state. That in the end the Congo continues to be a near failed state was due to factors well beyond Devlin's control.

The problem then as now of course is that a really good CIA operative like Devlin and a really poor operatives are treated pretty much the same way by CIA. The system is really designed to homogenize everyone into the same bland blend. Also it is clear that CIA of 2007 would never allow a COS the kind of freedom of action that Devlin had in 1960.

Anyone with an interest in Africa or the CIA or both ought to find this well written and informative book fascinating.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rare honest account of events in Congo in the 1960s, June 5, 2007

By 

Mark bennett "Mark" (portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone (Hardcover)

This is a remarkably honest and accurate book about events in the Congo in the 1960s. The author tells his story, good and bad, and attempts to explain his motivations.

Most attempts to tell the story of these events are exercises in conspiracy theory and mythology. The false story is always of how Patrice Lumumba was the greatest leader in African history who was murdered by a colonial/CIA conspiracy and replaced by the same people with Mobutu.

The real story was never that simple. Lumumba was a bad leader. Within a month of independence, Lumumba caused the army to mutiny by giving all government workers except the army a pay raise. The soldiers ran wild leaderless throughout the country and Lumumba could do nothing to address the situation. He actually responded to the mutiny by going about the country whipping up crowds against europeans leading to riots and beatings in the streets. When Belgian troops in the country intervened to protect civilians from the army, Lumumba accused them of attacking the Congo and then Lumumba asked for UN intervention.

What happened next was that the various tribal factions in the country lined up behind outside sponsors (commerical and government). Lumumba aligned himself with the Soviet Union which of course meant that some of his opponents lined themselves up with the author as representative of the Americans. But also playing the game were the Belgians, various Belgian commerical interests, the French, the British and even the Chinese.

Devlin is very blunt about the things he did to assist Lumumba's rivals in removing him from power and makes no apologies for what he did. He also talks about receiving orders that he should arrange the assassination of Lumumba. Orders which he never carried out because he considered it a horrible idea in any number of ways.

The UN comes off very badly in the book. The local official in the Congo, an Indian Political Crony of Nehru, comes across as more interested in formenting a civil war than in solving the conflict. When the government desposes Lumumba as Prime Minister, the UN rejects the decision and then sends in troops to act as a bodyguard for Lumumba. The worst story about the UN is a personal one. When the daughter of an american official suffers a broken leg and hip, the UN doctor she is brought to not only refuses to treat her, he attempts to stop the men from using a strecher (UN Property) to move the girl on foot to another hospital.

On the actual death of Lumumba, the author has remarkably little to say other than to make convincing statements that whatever happened he had nothing to do with it. The problem is that the number of groups that wanted him dead was so large, that its almost impossible to assign blame or to figure out who was actually responsible.

The author then afterward traces the downward spiral of Congo into first civil war and then a political showndown between the president and prime minister which ended with Mobutu overthrowing both in a coup. His conclusion is that in effect what happened in Congo wasn't the best case outcome, but it was the best in the circumstances. And he is correct in large measure in saying that things could have been far worse. As bad as Mobutu was, he wasn't the worst of the crocodile dictators in Africa.

There is lots of detail in the book about the life of a CIA station chief in a dangerous country in the 1960s. Incredibly, Devlin also had his wife and daughter with him in the posting. There are stories of attempted robberies, confrontations with the army at checkpoints, problems with the police and any number of stories which will be familar to anyone who knows about life in bad places.

Devlin, later in his career, seemed to take risks that were beyond what would have been expected. In the mid-1960s in an attempt to free hostages held in Congo he attempted to personally meet a rebel leader in a third country. He nearly got picked up by the Chinese Intelligence service who effectively controlled the country.

This is easily the most readable account of Congo history 1958-1965 currently published. Devlin was involved with all the key players and key events. The only flaw is that he goes too far in defending Mobutu's period of rule in Congo.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keep In Context And Consider The Source, September 14, 2008

By 

David Donelson "Author of The Dynamic Manager... - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone (Hardcover)

This memoir by the man who was CIA station chief at the birth of the modern Congo can spark reactions from repulsion to admiration for the man, his mission, and the many, many less-than-perfect players in the game at the time. Although any such work needs to be read with a grain of salt and full recognizance that the author isn't about to destroy his own reputation, Devlin's book is, I think, an accurate account of the events of the times.

His no-holds-barred discussion of Patrice Lumumba is bound to provoke cries of outrage in many circles, but Devlin is not alone in his assessment of the problems caused by the personal strengths, weaknesses, and ambitions of the martyred Congolese patriot.

I heartily recommend this book for the insights it offers into the wild times leading up to the Mobutu coup.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo