Beyond Repair: The Decline And Fall Of The Cia

Charles Faddis

ISBN 10: 1599218518 / ISBN 13: 9781599218519

Editore: The Globe Pequot Publishing Group, Inc., 2009

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From the author's Introduction: Let me start by saying what this book is not.It is not an attack on the men and women of the Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency, the overwhelming majority of whom are dedicated, patriotic Americans working hard everyday on behalf of their fellow citizens. God knows that they do not do it for the money nor do they do it for the recognition. They do it because they believe in the work, and because they know, as I do, that there really are monsters in the world, and someone has to protect us from them.It is also not an argument against the existence of a central human intelligence collection organization within the United States Government. We desperately needed a central intelligence agency in 1947 when the CIA was created. We even more desperately need such an entity today. The threats facing us are multiplying and becoming more complex. The time horizons in which threats are emerging are shortening. Technology is evolving at an astonishing rate, and we really are fast approaching the day when there will be dozens of groups and nations on this planet capable of threatening us with biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear weapons. This is not pulp fiction. This is reality.This book is an argument that the existing Central Intelligence Agency is no longer capable of performing the task for which it was designed and must, rapidly, be replaced.

Codice articolo CIN1599218518G

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Beyond Repair: The Decline And Fall Of The Cia
• Editore: The Globe Pequot Publishing Group, Inc.
• Data di pubblicazione: 2009
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1599218518
• ISBN 13: 9781599218519
• Rilegatura: Hardback
• Condizione: Good

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

An insider's account of why the CIA is ill-prepared to protect America, and why it must be replaced without delay

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Once upon a time, the CIA took the risks necessary to protect America. “If you fall,” went its mantra, “fall forward.” In Beyond Repair, one of the agency's most respected former operatives mounts a scathing cri­tique of the preparedness of today's CIA—and, spe­cifically, the Directorate of Operations at its core—to defend America against the dizzying dangers of the twenty-first century. In a compelling blend of analy­sis and fascinating true-life stories, Charles S. Faddis argues that the CIA has devolved into a low-risk or, often, no-risk bureaucracy of careerists whose mantra might be summed up thus: “Don't fall.”

“Every senior officer I know in the CIA carries personal liability insurance,” writes Faddis, “because of the fear of being sued for actions taken in the line of duty.” And, he notes, no operatives who commanded CIA teams in Afghanistan have been promoted to key positions. Why? Because they operate within a system that is no longer built to encourage and reward the risk-taking and creativity they excelled at.

Faddis discusses the birth of the CIA, how the agency works from the inside out, why things have gone awry—and how to go about building a new entity that will maintain the midnight watch, so Americans can sleep well at night.

Informazioni sugli autori

Charles S. Faddis served twenty years in the Central Intelligence Agency as an operations officer, holding positions as a department chief at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C., and as a chief of station in the Middle East. He is the coauthor of Operation Hotel California (Lyons Press), which recounts how he led the first CIA mission into Iraq in 2002 in preparation for the pending invasion.

Charles S. Faddis served twenty years in the Central Intelligence Agency as an operations officer, holding positions as a department chief at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C., and as a chief of station in the Middle East. He is the coauthor of Operation Hotel California (Lyons Press), which recounts how he led the first CIA mission into Iraq in 2002 in preparation for the pending invasion.

Charles S. Faddis served twenty years in the Central Intelligence Agency as an operations officer, holding positions as a department chief at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C., and as a chief of station in the Middle East. He is the coauthor of Operation Hotel California (Lyons Press), which recounts how he led the first CIA mission into Iraq in 2002 in preparation for the pending invasion.