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First off what happened to actual true crime books? Well this is supposed to give insight into the CIA all i heard on repeat was brief the president ....... Only a couple crimes where even mention and yea a few details about Bin Laden but nothing i cant skim for in a google search...
 
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JamieM12 | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Feb 8, 2022 |
Michael Morell, former CIA deputy director, discusses our (U.S.) battle vs. Al Qaeda and ISIS, from pre 9-11 times to the present. Morell worked closely with the Bush Administration during this period, including at one point being the CIA Presidential briefer to President George W. Bush. He discusses our intelligence and level of understanding of Bin Laden going back to the Clinton Administration, and our level of awareness of Al Qaeda in the time just prior to 9/11. He also spends some time talking about Iraq and the fear of Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction, and CIA's level of knowledge about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) at that time.

Some have accused President Bush of ignoring the Al Qaeda threat prior to 9/11, and of lying to the American public about Iraq's WMDs. Morell paints a much different picture of the President, characterizing him as being engaged, interested, and inquisitive. But our national intelligence wasn't quite good enough, and our intelligence agencies didn't work together well enough at that time to be able to provide the best and most accurate data to the President. As a result, our faulty intelligence led to poor decisions.

As a side note, many have also suggested that Vice President Cheney and his staff were the real war mongers interested in invading Iraq and removing Hussein, regardless of what the intelligence analysis showed. Morell’s book does support that picture, and is critical in that regard especially of Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, Donald Rumsfeld's undersecretary Doug Feith, and several others who felt the CIA's analysis was simply wrong in finding no Al Qaeda and Iraq connection, or no substantiated evidence of WMDs in Iraq. As a result, Cheney and his staffers collected and analyzed their own intelligence, separate from the CIA, and then pushed to make their version of "facts" the dominant one presented to the president and the public. After reading Morell’s book, I'm now afraid I'm going to be forced to read Doug Feith's book "War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism", to see how the view from inside the Department of Defense matches up with the view from inside the CIA.

Morell also provides a good review of the successful hunt for Osama Bin Laden (OBL). A lot of credit has been given to Obama for making the tough call to take out OBL, in doing so, violating Pakistan's sovereignty without notification or approval of Pakistan's leadership. But, as Morell reminds us, leading up to that difficult decision by Obama, there was the hard work and dedication and character shown within the CIA and field operatives to gather the intelligence and present the facts as they knew them to the President. Not an easy call for the President, for sure, but also not an easy job for the CIA in collecting, analyzing, and making a recommendation to the President.

I thought Morell also provided really good insights into the Benghazi Affair. This became a huge political issue, with hearing after hearing in Congress, intended in the eyes of some and as admitted to by Congressmen Kevin McCarthy and Richard Hanna, to impact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's nomination for President in the next election cycle. Morell goes into great length to dispel the idea, championed by Republican congressmen and Senators, that the CIA edited its assessment of the Benghazi disaster due to pressure from the White House or presidential aides. Morell explains the fluidity of the situation in Libya, and how information was received, interpreted, and released in the several days after the incident. His explanation is believable, and consistent with other reviews of the incident from other Congressional panels and independent books such as "Under Fire", by Fred Burton, and ”13 Hours", by Mitchell Zuckoff. Unfortunately, as Morell points out, this Foreign Affairs / National Security incident became politically polarized instead of uniting the Country over this terrible tragedy.

Bottom line, the CIA's task is not an easy one. Many of their successes tend to be kept secret, and only their failures become publicized. Similarly, individuals within the CIA may get criticized, but as Mr. Morell tries to point out, the great majority of CIA employees are hard working, dedicated citizens focused on doing their best for our country. And Morell does a fairly good job of getting that across, proud of what the Agency has accomplished, and honest enough to admit to their weaknesses.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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rsutto22 | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jul 15, 2021 |
The Great War of Our Time: The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism--From al Qa'ida to ISIS, Michael Morell, author, Robert Fass, narrator, Bill Harlow, contributor
Michael Morell’s book covers the three plus decades of his work with the CIA through several White House administrations, both Republican and Democrat. Largely non-partisan, his book is written very well. It is an honest and entertaining read, although it reveals little of earth shattering consequence. He humanizes each of the Presidents and colleagues he works with, often with humorous anecdotes that are not widely known, and he illustrates his deep involvement with the anti-terrorism effort in our country. Although he is a fence sitter on most issues, not taking a definitive stand, he does voice his displeasure on certain issues, one being a report on the enhanced interrogation techniques and another on the information provided to General Colin Powell for his speech before the UN. He blames the incorrect data on information provided by Scooter Libby at the behest of Vice President Cheney. While he does not have much to say that is positive about either of those two gentlemen, he does express respect and genuine affection for most others with whom he worked or was in contact, both his superiors and inferiors.
The only time he expresses real emotion and displeasure is when his own integrity is questioned, and also when blame for failure or wrongdoing is incorrectly placed on the shoulders of the CIA, assigning them powers they do not have, rather than placing the blame where it belongs, on Congress and other agencies that might be more to blame, on those agencies that actively prevented the CIA from accomplishing a more fruitful investigation or action by withholding approvals or on the White House. He also expresses deep displeasure when reports are disseminated with false information that is cited as fact and put out in the public domain by the media or others, without regard for its ultimate effect on our national security and safety. When it comes to the discussion on an investigation called for by the Democrats and released prematurely by Diane Feinstein, on enhanced interrogation techniques, he vehemently denies the conclusions reached in the report, insisting they were not based on facts or a proper investigation, and he unequivocally states that it was highly political in nature. He absolutely believes that the EIT’s gathered information that helped prevent further terrorist attacks, contrary to what the report stated in its final draft.
He addresses the second Bush and the Obama administration more heavily than the others but he does also briefly address the first Bush administration’s national security efforts and the Clinton administration’s failed effort to catch Osama Bin Laden in his early days. He provides many details on the decade of intense search for him. He thinks very highly of Bush, father and son, as men who are genuine and sincere when dealing with people and also in their effort to protect the country and its citizens. He exonerates George W, when it comes to the war in Iraq, placing most of the blame for the rush to war on Vice President Cheney who, according to Morrell, pushed Scooter Libby to encourage the war by presenting improperly vetted and misleading intelligence to, among others, Colin Powell. In the book he offers Powell an apology, blaming it on a failure of intelligence gathering.
He raises all of the major issues our country has faced over the last three decades, the rise of al Qa’ida, the attacks on our bases and embassies, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Wikileaks, Snowden, the Kohl attack, the thwarted attempt of the shoe bomber to bring down an airplane, 9/11, the Arab Spring, the NSA’s collection of metadata, Iran sanctions and nuclear research, North Korea, China’s spying, Pakistan’s possible collusion with al Qu’ida in protecting Bin Laden, Russia’s flexing of muscle, US/Israel relations, the rise of Isis, and also a host of successfully thwarted attacks on our homeland. He covers all of these in great detail, often including little known informative and humorous tidbits of information.
When he got to the chapter describing the Benghazi incident, he seemed less non-partisan. He blamed one party more than another, without justification, merely based on his personal judgment and opinion, which it must be said is worth a lot since he has years of experience. However, as he has stated when he has evaluated other incidents, often people’s personal backgrounds affect their decisions, sometimes incorrectly. I think, in this case, his personal circumstances affected his ultimate conclusions. He acquits the White House without proof of their non-involvement and is angry with the GOP for not believing his version, which adheres largely to the version of the White House. He does not give proper emphasis or explanation to the false premise put out about the video, falsely blamed for the uprising, and pretty much excuses Susan Rice’s explanation as simply the message she was told to give, essentially to blame the attacks on the video, while emphasizing the lack of an organized approach. Then the White House doubled down on that opinion even after it was absolutely and definitively proven not to be the case. In her position, Susan Rice should have known better, and we know now that the administration certainly did. The buck should also stop at the top, but he does not blame the White House or the Department of Defense or State. He seems to make a concerted effort to justify their ignorance, non involvement, lack of response and false conclusions. Some of his explanations seemed hypocritical, as he presented one argument in one instance and the opposite argument in another, when it suited his assessment and served his purpose. He seemed to be trying hard to protect the administration, a charge he had been accused of and had denied. If he wasn’t trying to protect them, why did he seem to be steering clear of any references to either Obama’s or Hillary Clinton’s part in Benghazi, which upon reflection and further information, seemed a bit ludicrous? When he discussed the capture of Bin Laden, he had no qualms about praising Obama, although he also gave praise to the effort of George W.
Today, we know that the White House is withholding some of Hillary Clinton’s emails that concerned Benghazi, and we know that she had unauthorized emails from certain people the White House frowned upon, therefore, we also may be right in considering her involvement and the administration’s far more suspect than Morell acknowledged. His conclusions may very well have been incorrect, while the judgment of the dissenters may be vindicated as the more accurate assessment and not one that is an indication of their playing politics, the charge of which he accused them.
All in all, while there are no great secrets revealed as the book outlines the part he played in the last 30+ years, working in various capacities to fight terrorism, it presents a pretty accurate and detailed history of the country’s anti-terrorism effort for the layman, particularly the effort of the CIA, beginning with al Qa’ida and extending to the rise of Isis. He praises all those he has worked with and for, and is careful not to speak negatively about anyone or compromise sensitive information. He remains neutral, most of the time, laying out the information that is already widely known about how each operation and event took place. He speaks well of General Petraeus and steers away from controversies. He does not speak that well of Obama’s effort to fight the war on terror, and he expresses his fear that the country has already and is now, taking its eye off the ball, exposing us to danger because politically, the country does not want war. However, he believes if we drop the ball, our national security will suffer. Most of his assessments are neutral with the exception of our efforts going forward. He steered away from opinion and he is to be commended for writing this honest appraisal and also for donating a portion of the profits from the book to charity.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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thewanderingjew | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jul 3, 2015 |

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