A new, updated edition of this classic account of the CIA's deeds and deceptions by one of its formerly most prized recruits.
"One of the outstanding books written by former CIA agents."-Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Ralph W. McGehee spent 25 years in the CIA; he joined as an idealist, and left as a cynic. The crisis happened in Dec 1968. RWM wondered why we had to bomb the people we were trying to save? Why did the CIA report lies instead of the truth? He thought of his earlier work in Thailand, where his reports were first accepted, then denied in spite of his accuracy. The Agency preferred the old methods that resulted in more killings. RWM decided then to tell what he found out and warn the American people. The CIA is the covert action arm of the Presidency. It is not an intelligence agency because it only seeks the information that supports existing policies. Its propaganda uses disinformation to fool the US public, and justify policies by distorting reality.
RWM was class president and in the honor society, and All State as a football tackler. An ardent Baptist, he went to Notre Dame and played on an undefeated football team that won national championships; he graduated cum laude. A telegram recruited him to fight communism and save our way of life. RWM went to Washington and passed the tests. The chapters in the book tell about his career in the agency. Chapter 5 tells of his "Life at Langley" when he returned to Headquarters. His knowledge of the Bay of Pigs came from television news. It seemed they relied too much on an assumed uprising of the Cuban people. Could such a mistake ever happen again? Pages 57-8 tells how the CIA promoted a bloody extermination campaign in Indonesia. (Read L Fletcher Prouty's book on this.) Page 59 tells of agency coups in South America. American training of the military and police created traitors who overthrew their governments; was this the definition of subversion?
Page 61 quotes Howard Hunt on gathering "any and all information" on Presidential candidate Goldwater for delivery to the White House. Page 63 tells of the CIA's insertion of individuals into dissident circles in order to establish their credential for foreign operations. (Could this explain W J Clinton's success?) Page 64 tells how RWM was transferred to Thailand, and page 80 tells of the sad results. Pages 111-6 tells of his successful survey of Thailand. This "good news" resulted in his quick removal! Years later the truth dawned on him: the CIA didn't want the truth! This tells of the management trick of offering a transfer to a better job, then eliminating the job after the employee transfers. RWM became another paper pusher. Page 120 shows the bureaucratic faults of the CIA. Page 128 tells of the fatal flaws of our presence in Vietnam. Pages 129-135 gives Vietnamese history in a nutshell. Page 146 summarizes the problem: how was it that one junior officer was better informed and had a clearer picture of the reality out there than all the rest of the Agency? Is this unique to a government agency? The bottom of page 159 tells of the results of his experiences. Chapter 14 concludes and summarizes this book.
The Appendix is the last part, but you should read it first to understand the writing of this book. His secrecy agreement let the CIA review and censor any information that they did not want revealed. When his writing was censored, he was allowed to substitute information from open sources. (See page 35 in Chapter 3 on the use of agents.) When RWM found a published book with the same opinions he was then allowed his critical comments. The CIA's secrecy agreement stops critics from explaining their actions to the American people.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By Luc REYNAERT
This is another book by an ex-CIA agent which is full of disgust with the incompetence, bureaucracy, infighting for career reasons and opportunism of the Agency.
It was partly censured by the CIA, but it is nevertheless very revealing.
It shows how CIA agents concealed the truth by dispatching false reports and how they created their own reality, for the sole reason of saving their jobs. The end (jobs) justified all means.
It was partly censured by the CIA, but it is nevertheless very revealing.
It shows how CIA agents concealed the truth by dispatching false reports and how they created their own reality, for the sole reason of saving their jobs. The end (jobs) justified all means.
The author didn't have the same high level duties as e.g. Joseph B. Smith (Portrait of a Cold Warrior). He was more an executive field worker and that mostly in Vietnam and Thailand.
His report contains however very interesting information about, among other things, the hiring procedures of the Agency, the terrible fate of the Hmong tribe in Laos or the training of Tibetan guerrillas for an invasion of Mao's China.
His conclusion is deadly: If the Agency reported the truth about the Third World, it would say that the US installs foreign leaders, arms their armies and empowers their police, all to help those leaders repress, kill, torture and impoverish an angry, defiant people in order to maintain their position of privilege.'
McGehee gives us an incisive view of the dark and murky ploys of a governmental institution.
Not to be missed.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By cher*
Ralph McGehee's book serves as an eye-opening glimpse into our nation's CIA history. From his beginning as a "gung-ho" patriot until his growing disillusionment with the Agency, leading to retirement, McGehee reveals the truth behind the many of the CIA's operations, not only domestically and in well-known regions of the world, but also within areas quite unaddressed by the common American. His revelations about the Agency were somewhat shocking to a naturally pessimistic person as myself. However, I found this book very helpful especially in my position as a student who's life began after much of the book's coverage occured, because it reawakened me to the dishonesty and means the CIA employs in order to acheive its goals not only in important past events, but even up to the present.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read!
McGehee's book is an excellent expose of the truth about an agency that thrives on deception, abuse of power, and disinformation. Read more
Published on December 3, 2008 by Rev4u
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very realistic, which means unexciting
Interesting book. i was half expecting something like in the more subdued spy movies, but McGehee is a very average, unremarkable person who was a paper pusher in the CIA
This... Read more
Published on December 26, 2000 by baylor
4.0 out of 5 stars
An eye opener...
During the war in Viet Nam, I was anti-war, yet it still didn't really seem possible that what Walter Cronkite told us on the evening news was wrong and that the strident-voiced... Read more
Published on January 29, 2000 by Marsha
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this before it's too late.
The first edition of this book was removed from libraries and bookstores by the C.I.A. They knew what they were doing! Read more
Published on January 15, 2000 by H. B. Franklin
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the only CIA-critical books written from the inside
Ralph McGehee's Deadly Deceits is one of the most sobering books you will ever read if you are an American. Read more
Published on December 18, 1999 by Wade Frazier
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the only CIA-critical books written from the inside
Ralph McGehee's Deadly Deceits is one of the most sobering books you will ever read if you are an American. Read more
Published on December 18, 1999
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