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Loch K. Johnson
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Bombs, Bugs, Drugs, and Thugs: Intelligence and America's Quest for Security

by Loch K. Johnson (Author)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
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An "experienced overseer of intelligence" maps out the future of American intelligence and security

Recent years have seen numerous books about the looming threat posed to Western society by biological and chemical terrorism, by narcoterrorists, and by the unpredictable leaders of rogue nations. Some of these works have been alarmist. Some have been sensible and measured. But none has been by Loch Johnson.

Johnson, author of the acclaimed Secret Agencies and "an experienced overseer of intelligence" (Foreign Affairs), here examines the present state and future challenges of American strategic intelligence. Written in his trademark style--dubbed "highly readable" by Publishers Weekly--and drawing on dozens of personal interviews and contacts, Johnson takes advantage of his insider access to explore how America today aspires to achieve nothing less than "global transparency," ferreting out information on potential dangers in every corner of the world.

And yet the American security establishment, for all its formidable resources, technology, and networks, currently remains a loose federation of individual fortresses, rather than a well integrated "community" of agencies working together to provide the President with accurate information on foreign threats and opportunities. Intelligence failure, like the misidentified Chinese embassy in Belgrade accidentally bombed by a NATO pilot, is the inevitable outcome when the nation's thirteen secret agencies steadfastly resist the need for central coordination.

Ranging widely and boldly over such controversial topics as the intelligence role of the United Nations (which Johnson believes should be expanded) and whether assassination should be a part of America's foreign policy (an option he rejects for fear that the U.S. would then be cast not only as global policeman but also as global godfather), Loch K. Johnson here maps out a critical and prescriptive vision of the future of American intelligence.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0814742521
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0814742525
  3. Publisher
    NYU Press
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2000
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  7. Print length
    298 pages
  8. See all details
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3.6 out of 5 stars
8 global ratings

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  • LEJ
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    enlightening
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  • Robert H. Allen
    3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    For school.
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  • gidy001
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2017
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  • Don E. Lamprecht
    5.0 out of 5 stars CIA Organization
    Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2004
    If you want to read a good book concerning needed CIA organizational changes, this is the one to read since it came out before 911. (Nov 1, 2000 in hardback). Chapter 5, "The DCI and the Eight-Hundred-Pound Gorilla" gives a very detailed accounting of the politics between the Department of Defense and the CIA. Books written after 911, including the 911 Commission Report either have too much blame or too little blame placed on politicians. Books written by democrats or republicans have too much blame and bi-partisan commissions have too little blame. Back to chapter 5. The Aspin-Brown Commission of 1996 had all the same major recommendations as the 911 Commission Report. Congress made a lot of changes in the way the National Security Council (NSC) and CIA are organized, but they did not make the DCI a cabinet level job. They added two subcommittees to the NSC including the Committee on Foreign Intelligence (CFI) and the Committee on Transnational Threats. The latter committee was meant to include global crime, narcotics flows, and weapons proliferation, as if the NSC had somehow overlooked these menaces in the past.

    The DCI was given four additional directors to help him oversee the Intelligence Community just as President Truman originally intended (the "C" in CIA means central). But the fatal flaw was the inability of the DCI to overrule the Department of Defense in determining budget responsibilities. The DCI was even given concurrence authority on director nominations of other intelligence agencies. The unanswered question is whether or not Presidents Clinton and Bush II failed to back their DCIs in this increased responsibility against other cabinet level jobs. If they had backed their DCIs to strengthen their control over the entire Intelligent Communities could it have prevented 911? Or is it necessary to have the proper job title to have prevented 911? Have we rewarded an agency that failed us or have we failed to supported a critical agency and give it's director a proper job title?
    4 people found this helpful
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  • D. Edger
    4.0 out of 5 stars Nontraditional Intelligence Targets
    Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2003
    Loch Johnson's book serves as an excellent introduction to the type of problems that now face intelligence agencies i.e. problems caused by "non-state actors" like terrorists and drug runners as opposed to the traditional nation versus nation. For readers interested in the development of the intelligence business, this one is definitely worth a read. I used this book very successfully with college juniors and seniors in a course on intelligence.
    5 people found this helpful
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