Burn Before Reading: Presidents, CIA Directors, and Secret Intelligence

National Guard, Mar 2006 by McGinnis, Dave

THE BOOKSHELF CIA History Makers Burn Before Reading: Presidents, CIA Directors, and Secret Intelligence By Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner Hyperion 320 pages

Some have recently stepped forward to take up the challenge of fixing our intelligence apparatus, including Congress, but can't seem to get beyond the bonds of institutional inertia.

Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, CIA director under President Jimmy Carter, effectively places the challenge that America faces today in the context of our history, through those who made it in Burn Before Reading: Presidents, CIA Directors, and secret Intelligence.

And he does so at this transitional point in our history where we have-again-been jolted from fantasy to the reality that we have allowed ourselves to become unnecessarily vulnerable.

His discussion of our intelligence capabilities and the expectations placed upon them using the passage of the post-World War Il intelligence community provides the kind of tool that we, as responsible citizens, need to fully understand the obstacles to a safer future.

Following the ebb and flow of presidential policy, and the power and accomplishments of each Director of Central Intelligence yields an interesting and stimulating perspective that could only come from one who has evolved from a customer of the process, to its CEO, who now resides in academia.

The well-researched manuscript flows easily from era to era. And it is up to date, incorporating 2005 events into the analysis. It gains considerable value from its ease of presentation. Readers don't need a War College degree to understand this book.

This is obviously an objective that Admiral Turner betrays in his concluding remarks: "It is important, as never before, that the American public, not just politicians and bureaucrats, understand the issues at stake in how we organize and operate our nation's intelligence activities."

Did You Know?

The Army National Guard has increased its personnel strength by more than 2,500 soldiers since September 2005.

By Retired Col. Dave McGinnis