The Secret History of the CIA, 1946-1989

Military Review, Nov-Dec, 2003 by Thomas K. Adams

Joseph Trento, Prima Publishing, Roseville, CA, 2001, 432 pages, $30.00.

Joseph J. Trento's The Secret History of the CIA, 1946-1989, attempts to expose alleged ineptitudes and wrongdoing in the CIA. Unfortunately, the book promises much more than it delivers. Also, it makes no direct reference to terrorists attacks, dealing almost entirely with the period from the CIA's founding in 1947 to the 1980s. In fact, the term "terrorism" is absent from the index.

For a supposedly secretive organization, the CIA attracts a great deal of attention. Over the years it has been accused of everything from gross ineptitude and massive corruption to scheming for world domination. The most consistent strain of criticism, however, has been the charge that the CIA is the victim of its own alleged arrogance and ineptitude. This sort of criticism is so common that the CIA's bibliographic website has a special category for accusations, subdivided by time periods. Some criticism is rooted in fact, but much of it has strong elements of fantasy. The arguments appeal chiefly to conspiracy buffs and consist mostly of speculation, hearsay, and circumstantial evidence.

Trento coauthored Windows: Four American Spies, the Wives They Left Behind, and the KGB'S Crippling of American Intelligence (Crown Publishers Inc., New York, 1989), with Susan Trento and William Corson. They argue that U.S. intelligence in general and the CIA in particular were no more than playthings in the hands of the Soviet Union's Secret Police and intelligence agency. Trento carries on the same theme in Secret History. Once again he presents the thesis that since its inception, the CIA has been a colossal failure, outmaneuvered by its enemies, penetrated by the KGB, and duped at every turn.

Some of the evidence that Trento presents is undoubtedly true, but except for details, none of it is new or startling. For example, the attempt to enlist organized crime in a campaign to assassinate Fidel Castro is well known. One of Trento's few current "revelations" is that President William Clinton used a presidential pardon to save CIA Director John Deutch from a possible jail term.

The centerpiece of Trento's book is a 1985 interview with the legendary former CIA Chief of Counterintelligence James Angleton. As might be expected, the interview offers little new about Angleton or his work as a counterspy. However, in a series of extensive quotes from Angleton, it provides the clearest and most succinct statement of the book's theme. Disgraced and dying of cancer, the counterspy reportedly said, "I realize now that I have wasted my existence, my professional life.... There was no accountability and without accountability everything turned to shit.... Fundamentally, the founders of U.S. intelligence [the CIA] were liars. The better you lied and the more you betrayed, the more likely you would be promoted. These people attracted and promoted each other. Outside of their duplicity, the only thing they had in common was a desire for absolute power.... [Y]you had to believe [they] would deservedly end up in hell."

The best that can be said of this book is that it avoids accusing the CIA of actively seeking world domination. For those interested in the CIA and the practice of intelligence, there are many superior books on the subject.

LTC Thomas K. Adams, USA,

Springfield, Virginia