Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence, 3d Edition

Book Description

A thoroughly updated revision of the first comprehensive overview of intelligence designed for both the student and the general reader, Silent Warfare is an insiderâ€™s guide to a shadowy, often misunderstood world. Leading intelligence scholars Abram N. Shulsky and Gary J. Schmitt clearly explain such topics as the principles of collection, analysis, counterintelligence, and covert action, and their interrelationship with policymakers and democratic values. This new edition takes account of the expanding literature in the field of intelligence and deals with the consequences for intelligence of vast recent changes in telecommunication and computer technologyâ€”the new â€œinformation age.â€ It also reflects the worldâ€™s strategic changes since the end of the Cold War. This landmark book provides a valuable framework for understanding todayâ€™s headlines, as well as the many developments likely to come in the real world of the spy.

Customer Reviews:

Great work!.......2007-02-02

The book came right on time and in EXCELLENT condition. I will definately buy with this seller again!

Solid introduction into the world of intelligence.......2006-06-13

I would say that this book would be a good first read for anyone interested in learning more about the intelligence community. It covers a wide variety of information without getting to in-depth into any one subject, so it feels like a pretty well-rounded experience. I also felt that the use of some historical examples really helped not only to make the book more interesting to read but to make some of the concepts easier to understand.

My biggest problem with this book is that at points it reads like a college textbook, which isn't always a particularly good thing. I also found some of the sections that talked about the relations between policy and intelligence to be pretty dull. Overall this book is a pretty informative and a mostly enjoyable read.

good introductory book ..........2006-04-01

A good introduction book to the Intelligence subject. In this book the author browse all the elements and methods of intelligence in a mix with history examples, that helps you understand all the facts of this world and the importance for a goverment to use it in order to be updated and alert of international events.

Thinking About Intelligence.......2005-10-24

This book was first published in 1991, but is as current today as it was 14 years ago. This is because the authors have succeeded in conceptualizing intelligence functions and activities in an abstract, but very accurate manner. Although the authors provide a conceptualized view of intelligence, they also provide concrete historical examples to illustrate specific concepts. As a result the reader is given an understanding of intelligence that transcends current trends and practices within the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). The book is an excellent introduction to the discipline of intelligence independent of specific agencies or practices of the IC. For this reason the book should be of interest not only to folks with no background in intelligence, but also to experienced intelligence professionals. One of the biggest obstacles to real intelligence reform in the IC is the inability of reformers to formulate broad concepts of the purposes and functions of intelligence. Reading this book could go a long way in helping them to develop such concepts. As the final chapter of the book suggests, it shows the way to a theory of intelligence.

"Silent Warfare" is the best introduction I have found to the arcane world of intelligence and is an excellent textbook for an introductory course. However, in a utopian world that course would be taught over a year and in its second semester students would read another excellent intelligence text, "Intelligence From Secrets to Policy" by Mark Lowenthal, which moves from the abstract to general, but specific practices and operations of the U.S. IC. The two books compliment each other very well.

Solid Introduction to Intelligence Activity.......2005-09-19

Both the authors, Abram Shulsky and Gary Schmitt, are respected intelligence organization professionals who have taken up university-level teaching and writing. The book is focused on intelligence theory and organization - not on tradecraft. As such, the principal audience of this book would likely be future intelligence policymakers or foreign intelligence organizations trying to gain an insight into US intelligence systems.

The book does a solid job of identifying what intelligence is, how it is collected (humint vs. techint), how it is processed, how it is systematically protected, and what counter-intelligence includes. In addition, it addresses the gray areas of covert action (Is it intelligence or military activity?) and plausible denial. Although much of this discussion could apply to most nations' intelligence bureaus, the authors only explicity describe the American intelligence system.

Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the book is the wealth of sources it contains. Many of these are freely and immediately available on the web for all to read. All the footnotes are very thoroughly explained and usually refer to a specific source. The source list itself adds tremendous value to the book by guiding the reader to so many numerous definitive works on intelligence operations.

All in all, this is a solid introduction to intelligence and a great book for pursuing its addition sources.

Average customer rating:

Great Book for the Price
Great book by a great writer
Good overview, lacking depth
An informative read that wont put you to sleep!
Heighten awareness, but not educate

Information Warfare & Security
Dorothy E. Denning
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0201433036

Book Description

What individuals, corporations, and governments need to know about information-related attacks and defenses!

Every day, we hear reports of hackers who have penetrated computer networks, vandalized Web pages, and accessed sensitive information. We hear how they have tampered with medical records, disrupted emergency 911 systems, and siphoned money from bank accounts. Could information terrorists, using nothing more than a personal computer, cause planes to crash, widespread power blackouts, or financial chaos? Such real and imaginary scenarios, and our defense against them, are the stuff of information warfare-operations that target or exploit information media to win some objective over an adversary.

Dorothy E. Denning, a pioneer in computer security, provides in this book a framework for understanding and dealing with information-based threats: computer break-ins, fraud, sabotage, espionage, piracy, identity theft, invasions of privacy, and electronic warfare. She describes these attacks with astonishing, real examples, as in her analysis of information warfare operations during the Gulf War. Then, offering sound advice for security practices and policies, she explains countermeasures that are both possible and necessary.

You will find in this book:

A comprehensive and coherent treatment of offensive and defensive information warfare, identifying the key actors, targets, methods, technologies, outcomes, policies, and laws;

A theory of information warfare that explains and integrates within a single framework operations involving diverse actors and media;

An accurate picture of the threats, illuminated by actual incidents;

A description of information warfare technologies and their limitations, particularly the limitations of defensive technologies.

Whatever your interest or role in the emerging field of information warfare, this book will give you the background you need to make informed judgments about potential threats and our defenses against them.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book for the Price.......2004-05-31

Dennings Work in this book is great!

Great book by a great writer.......2003-09-11

Dr. Dorothy Denning is both a genius and a pragmatist.

She knows what the real risks are and writes about them.

This book is 100% fact and 0% hype.

Read it!

Good overview, lacking depth.......2002-04-03

The book provides a good overview of information warfare. It is divided into three sections, the introduction, offensive information warfare and finally defensive information warfare. Numerous topics are covered. The author is clearly an expert in security and manages to touch upon all the major information security topics.

The main strength of the book is the breadth of topic selection. By the time you have reached the end of the book, you will have at least a passing acquaintance with all important information security topics. The book is very well referenced and is written in an easy to read style.

The enormous topic selection means that no topic is treated in any particular depth. This means that you'll get to know something about everything, but unfortunately you won't develop an intimate understanding of any of the topics covered.

At times I received the impression that the book was simply a collection of anecdotes. Some parts of the book resembled sensationalistic journalism and, four years after it was written, many parts of the book are out of date. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a broad overview of information security. Its scatter gun approach means that you'll hit all of the topics but won't develop a true understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved.

An informative read that wont put you to sleep!.......2002-02-03

Dorothy Denning has produced one of the best 'easy read' reference books I have seen in years. The writing is one of the most striking aspects of this book; right from the introduction the reader is taken on a logical and structured route through the key aspects of Information Security, with numerous references to real life cases. You don't need a note pad, as the language is clear and concepts explained in simple English. This a excellent book to read on the train/plane: it is interesting, job related, informative but not dull or too intellectually challenging.

That said the strength of argument and excellent references are worth the cost of the book alone! I have personally used excerpts form this book to very good effect when making a point to higher management. Of the 50+ IT, Security and InfoSec books have in my collection this is the one I never, lend out.

Heighten awareness, but not educate.......2000-10-03

Gulf war, fraud, national security, Spam, traitors, and computer viruses. These are just a few of the topics covered by Dorothy Denning's book Information_Warfare_and_Security. This book gives a broad and informative view of information security, however it lacks specifics to make it more than an introductory work to this field.

The book has a broad overview of subjects. The Introduction section encompasses around 75 pages and gives substantial theory to the how and why of information security. Part II discusses "Offensive Information Warfare" which brings the reader through techniques on obtaining information. "Defensive Information Warfare" in Part III naturally discusses how to repel the offenses discussed in Part II.

Information_Warfare_and_Security is very informative on the problem areas which it discusses. Computers and phones are obvious places for intrusion and the book covers the facets of these areas in depth. The less obvious methodologies are also mentioned such as eavesdropping, traffic analysis, and sabotage. Denning does not leave out the human factor in her sections on social engineering, traitors, and even dumpster diving.

Denning's book, however, lacks specific in-depth information. Any chapter subject could have a large book written on it. The book does not give the "how-to's" to create or block an attack; rather it merely discusses the possibilities. To Denning's credit, however, she does include a substantial bibliography and endnotes so the reader can find further information in the source material.

Information_Warfare_and_Security would serve the purpose of an excellent introductory overview to the information security field. It is broad and informative, but lacks the specific information to execute any of the offenses or defenses. Denning's book is useful to heighten awareness of information security issues, but it is not sufficient to provide an education in this field.

By Any Means Necessary: America's Secret Air War in the Cold War
Average customer rating:

For those interested...

The Cold War that cost lives.

FEET TO THE FIRE!

Buy it, read it, give a copy to a friend

Should Be Taught In All History Courses

By Any Means Necessary: America's Secret Air War in the Cold War
William E. Burrows
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Shadow Flights: America's Secret Airwar Against the Soviet Union: A Cold War History

The Price of Vigilance: Attacks on American Surveillance Flights

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ASIN: 0374117470

Book Description

The "Blind Man's Bluff" of aerial espionage.

Unknown to the public and cloaked in the utmost secrecy, the United States flew missions against the Communist bloc almost continuously during the Cold War in a desperate effort to collect intelligence and find targets for all-out nuclear war. The only hint of the relentless, clandestine operations came when one of the planes was shot down. Many of the air force and navy flyers were killed on the top secret missions. But now, for the first time, award-winning historian William E. Burrows shows that others were captured by the Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans, and were tortured, imprisoned, and killed, while their loved ones grieved and their government looked the other way. In an effort to improve relations with Russia, Washington is still looking the other way, though it pretends otherwise.

Burrows has interviewed scores of men who flew these "black" missions, as well as the widows and children of those who never returned, all of whom want the full story finally told. He has done so with an eye to this story's immensely human dimension. By Any Means Necessary is not about airplanes, but about the people who've sacrificed their lives in the interests of national security.

Customer Reviews:

For those interested..........2007-03-05

This is a must read. Exceptional coverage of the topic and even adds a bit of humor here and there ("Berlin for lunch bunch"). Within the subject this book is worth the five stars.

The Cold War that cost lives........2005-11-10

At the beginning of this book, it quotes Teller as saying at least the Cold War did not cost any lives. Burrows points out in this book that the Cold War did cost lives. At least 15 planes were shot down, and close to a hundred Air Force and Navy airmen were killed. The U.S. Government hid the fact that many flights were ferreting radar information and bombing sights in case of offensive nuclear war. The Soviets and Chinese did the same thing, even if their propaganda said otherwise. The real losers in this conflict were the families of those airmen who were lost. The government lied to them to cover their activities.

This book was released after the Navy ferret airplane collided with the Chinese jet off Hainen. This incident was also described. However shootdowns of U.S. aircraft took place as far back as 1948. Some of these shootdowns were over international airspace. All participants in this conflict were not innocent. The U.S. needed information and these flights provided them this information. The end of the air duels happened in 1970 when satellites took over the intelligence gathering over sensitive Cold War targets.

This is a nice informative read about a little known conflict in the Cold War. I was surprised about the detail the author put into the air clashes. He also told the human story of the losses on the families. A good read.

FEET TO THE FIRE!.......2005-08-24

I remember reading stories of Americans, mainly servicemen, who disappeared behind the Iron Curtain following World War II. To the everlasting shame of every single President from Truman to the current occupant of the White House, we have never demanded a full accounting of their fates, not even from so-called "Democratic" Russia.

Burrows story is a sad, despairing one, of brave men who flew their reconnaisance aircraft over hostile, yes, enemy airspace without fighter jet protection, and often encountered Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean MiG fighters. He writes of that very first aircrew shot down over the Baltic in April 1950, roughly two months before the Korean War. Harry Truman, revered by so many, did absolutely nothing about it even though US Navy life rafts, filled with machine gun holes, were seen drifting off the Swedish coasts.

When the Korean War broke out, Truman refused to bomb the Chinese Army that massed along the Yalu but continued to send these unarmed planes deep into Chinese and Russian Far East airspace. The pilots who did come back would talk about flying over those eerie mountains and crystal blue lakes of Manchuria and Siberia, always on the lookout for enemy jets, and fearfully knowing that if met, they didn't stand a chance. Even if the planes were close to Japanese airspace that didn't stop the Soviets from blasting them out of the sky. One such flight was blasted out of the sky in 1952, just off the coast of Northern Japan. But instead of U.S. jets scrambling to help the crew, or U.S. Navy ships at full speed trying to rescue them - there were destroyers of the Soviet navy on-hand. Some of the American airmen seen parachuting into the sea were believed to have been picked up by these Russian ships, never to be seen again.

Most of these flights ended with the advent of satellites and the downing of Gary Powers' U-2 in May 1960. But Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon (although he did try to get a full accounting of missing U.S. personnel in Vietnam), Ford, Carter, Reagan, and even Bush and Clinton after the Soviet empire finally collapsed never even bothered to get a full accounting of what happened to these men. Only after former Soviet officers presented the widows, sons and daughters with personal items of men shot down off the Soviet coast did some word of these secret missions and the fate of these men come out - and not for all.

When a "friend" of the United States like Boris Yeltsin can rewarded a savage American traitor and Fascist like the late spy Morris Cohen with the Hero of Russia award, then it is time that we press our elected officials to demand a full accounting - and if any might still be alive a release of these American servicemen who gave their all for this country. Otherwise, what are we doing rescuing their sailors?

Buy it, read it, give a copy to a friend.......2005-02-07

Bottom Line - This is an excellent book. Buy it, read it, give it to a friend.

If you are in the business of Intelligence, you owe it to those who preceded you to hear their story. This book should be required reading for every prospective intelligence officer. It lets you know what the standard is.

If you are an American who values your freedom, you should read this to understand what the price of that freedom is. In these days when people openly talk about and debate the value of the billions spend on intelligence it is even more important to know what the non dollar cost is and what all of those billions buys us.

Most of the players in the decades long game with the Soviets and Chinese were never talked about in the glowing terms of the "Greatest Generation" yet they sacrificed as much if not more than those before them. Their battle was unknown to the outside world and often even to them. Their families were denied any comfort that is gained from explanation and recognition. Because the war was "Cold" few knew or admitted that lives were being lost. Burrows provides long overdue recognition for their sacrifice.

A cannot recomend enought buying this book.

Should Be Taught In All History Courses.......2004-03-26

I find that memories of the Cold War are fast fading, and not even direct experiences of a growing part of our population. This is why it seems now so easy for politicians to "rewrite" history to their own agendas, including phases such as Vietnam specifically and the Cold War generally. Fewer and fewer know how it even came about--how one of our staunchest Allies agains the Third Reich could so quickly become our primary nemesis in the seeming battle for world domination and influence--or as I was taught--hegemony.

Burrows focuses on the brave soldiers who were on the front lines of intelligence gathering. These were the men who "accidentally" flew over Soviet air space, to get a glimpse of weapons systems, troop movements, and the military-industrial complex of the U.S.S.R. This work is well-documented and fascinating. The great human toll of this work is clear with a section before the endnotes, with names of those deceased in this important work.

These silent and shadow missions went on continually, punctuated only by foreign touting of a plane shot down, a flier captured. Such was our fear of "re-education" that the film the Manchurian Candidate could not be shown for decades, fear that our government might be infiltrated by "turned" Americans.

That was not fantasy, however, for there were plenty of "turncoats" to go around, as we now know so well---turncoats purchase with easy money and the desire for conspicuous wealth. HOwever, the silent observers of the aerial intelligence war could not dream of such rewards, only of carrying out their duties in the name of freedom. As such, this book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who takes the great conflicts of the 20th century seriously, for they are prologue to the murkier conflicts of the 21st. Will these tactics only be frozen in time, abandoned as surely as the Napoleonic tactics of the early 19th century? The short history of the 21st century, thus far, does not provide the answer. However, as is so often said, those who do not learn from history may be condemned to repeat it. To the extent the post-WWII period truly differed from present day, we can and should learn from it. In that effort, this book provides a truly valuable reference of tactics and tenacity.

Defending the Homeland: Domestic Intelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security (Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice Series.)
Average customer rating:

The 'MUST Read' for law enforcement intelligence students

Defending the Homeland: Domestic Intelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security (Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice Series.)
Jonathan R. White
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Annual Editions: Homeland Security 04/05

ASIN: 0534621694

Book Description

The United States government is reorganizing to increase domestic security. How will these changes impact the American criminal justice system? DEFENDING THE HOMELAND: DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND SECURITY is the only book that illustrates up-to-the minute information on how our criminal justice system has changed since 9/11. Written by an expert on academic leave to provide training for the Department of Defense, White provides an insider's look at issues related to restructuring of federal law enforcement and recent policy challenges. The book discusses the problem of bureaucracy, interaction between the law enforcement and intelligence communities, civil liberties, and theories of war and police work. From a practical perspective, the book examines offensive and defensive strategies. The book gives an introduction to violent international religious terrorism and an overview of domestic terrorist problems still facing law enforcement.

Customer Reviews:

The 'MUST Read' for law enforcement intelligence students.......2004-10-15

Jonathan R. White's Defending the Homeland: Domestic Intelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security is the book I assign as the keystone text for a Law Enforcement Intelligence course. It is a `must read' because it correctly portrays intelligence as both art and science, deeply rooted in action-making tangible things happen, getting real things done-by reducing warfare to its simplest level and thereby limiting the negative effects of susceptibilities such as fog, chance, and friction. This volume makes sense of how the traditionally polar fields of law enforcement and intelligence can develop a symbiotic relationship for synergistic effect.

Because it is one of the first sources for this argument, it serves as a measuring stick for both policy and operational analysis. It examines the concepts, uses, and limits of strategic intelligence in contrast to operational imperatives. Very little has been previously offered in law enforcement intelligence beyond rhetoric-which are sound as far as they go-such as, `intelligence is the key to the problem', or `the support of the population must be won'. Students and practitioners tasked with, or having previously experienced the responsibility of actually executing missions will appreciate this book the most.

The essence of the book can clearly be defined as delineating the parameters of low intensity conflict and law enforcement; to deduce from them the principles of asymmetric warfare, and to outline the corresponding strategy and tactics.

Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea

Average customer rating:

US intelligence on a nuclear bomb.
How We Know
The Definitive History of Nuclear Espionage
A fascinating account on what our activities and capabilities have been in discovering the development of nuclear weapons.
Tell Tale Mushroom Clouds

Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea
Jeffrey T. Richelson
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Iran | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

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Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons

ASIN: 0393053830

Book Description

A global history of U.S. nuclear espionage from its World War II origins to today's threats from rogue states.

For fifty years, the United States has monitored friends and foes who seek to develop the ultimate weapon. Since 1952 the nuclear club has grown to at least eight nations, while others are making serious attempts to join. Each chapter chronologically focuses on the nuclear activities of one or more countries, intermingling what the United States believed was happening with accounts of what actually occurred in each country's laboratories, test sites, and decision-making councils. Jeffrey T. Richelson weaves recently declassified documents into his interviews with the scientists and spies involved in the nuclear espionage. The book reveals new information about U.S. intelligence work on the Soviet/Russian, French, Chinese, Indian, Israeli, and South African nuclear programs; on the attempts to solve the mysterious Vela Incident; and on current efforts to uncover the nuclear secrets of Iran and North Korea. The book also includes spy satellite photographs never before extracted from the national archives. 46 photographs, 6 maps.

Customer Reviews:

US intelligence on a nuclear bomb........2007-03-21

I confess that I think the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable. To make a nuclear bomb all you need is 1940s technology. In time more and more nations will get them. At best, the US can try to slow down the growth. To do that they need accurate intelligence. What is critical is before they get the bomb as later it is much harder to stop it. Reading this book I did not feel confident the US intelligence was that successful in finding out this information. Partly it is asking too much of an intelligence agency for example it is clear from the book that few in the countries that are trying to make bombs know or even suspect it. The cost is not that high. It appears the local intelligence is these countries is adequate in security. It does not take that much time to make one if a country wants too. It is also clear for all the technological marvels available to the US they do not enough. Although it does appear the US often knows a bomb has gone off after it has gone off.

What I did not like is the book lacks an overall assessment at the end of each section. So I felt like we are going from story to story with no real theme.

However it is a good study and if your interested in this subject it is a must read.

How We Know.......2006-09-09

This is a detailed study of what we know about the different atomic weapons holdings and development efforts and how we obtained that knowledge. Jeffrey Richelson describes all the development efforts from war-time Germany to Iran and North Korea today. He particularly brings across the importance of the different airborne and satellite surveillance programs, showing how the need for airplane over-flights diminished as higher and higher resolution imagery became available from the KH series reconnaissance satellites.

This is an exhaustive effort and well documented with 122 pages of notes that left me with an appreciation for the problem of information gathering when dealing with nuclear proliferation.

The Definitive History of Nuclear Espionage.......2006-08-08

Dr. Jeffrey T. Richelson, arguably the most prolific and certainly the most technically correct writer about the U.S. intelligence community, has done it again. "Spying on the Bomb" describes, in Dr. Richelson's usual thorough and well-researched manner, the U.S. intelligence community's efforts to track--and influence--other nations' attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

Dr. Richelson begins his story in Nazi Germany during World War II. Hitler, as it turned out, did not have a meaningful atomic bomb program, despite the worrisome presence in the Third Reich of renowned nuclear physicist Dr. Werner Heisenberg, who was certainly capable of designing one. After the War, the Soviet Union was the second nation to join the "nuclear club," detonating a fission bomb in 1949, years earlier than the "experts" had predicted. Today the nuclear club includes, for sure, Britain, China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan and South Africa. The evidence concerning North Korea and Taiwan is ambiguous (they probably have small nuclear arsenals), and Iran could join the club at any time. Dr. Richelson describes the nuclear programs of all of these nations at great length, as well as the efforts of countries such as Libya which tried and failed to get nuclear weapons by purchasing them.

He also describes the many types of technological sensors that the U.S. used to detect nuclear weapon tests anywhere on the earth or in near-earth space, and to determine the characteristics of those that were tested. The U.S. deployed global arrays of seismic, acoustic, optical, radiation and electromagnetic sensors to detect nuclear bursts. For each test, the Air Force flew specially modified aircraft into the downwind radioactive cloud to "sniff" particles of the weapon debris, from which analysts could determine many details about the weapon type and design. These sensors, naturally, were only useful "after the fact." Unfortunately, they could not reveal that a nuclear test was GOING to happen, only that one HAD happened. To try to figure out IF and WHEN nations were going to test before they did so, the U.S. used other assets--photographic reconnaissance and electronic eavesdropping satellites, human agents ("spies") and diplomacy. The U.S. intelligence community's post-test analyses of other nations' nuclear tests were usually quite timely and accurate. But its record of correctly predicting "if" and "when" nuclear tests were going to take place was dismal. Virtually every foreign nuclear test was a surprise to U.S. analysts in one way or another. Their predictions of test dates, locations, bomb types, designs, fissionable materials, yields, etc., were often so far off the mark as to be worse than useless. The record of failure is so appalling that one wonders why analysts bothered to keep making predictions when they turned out to be so wrong so often.

Long after I have forgotten the technical and operational details that Dr. Richelson describes in "Spying on the Bomb," I will remember three main points.

One is that EVERY nation that today possesses nuclear weapons has lied about its intention to develop them. EVERY nuclear nation once protested that either "we are NOT going to develop nuclear weapons" or "our nuclear research is for peaceful purposes only." Then they went right ahead and developed the bomb. With the historical perspective that Dr. Richelson offers in this book, which might as well be entitled "Lying About the Bomb," I can't imagine how ANYONE can put any stock whatsoever in the promises of foreign leaders that they will not build atomic bombs. Such promises, in fact, should be considered insults.

Another related point is that treaties are useless. Dr. Richelson does not explicitly say this--it is more of an "exercise for the reader." But he tells of several nations that signed the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or other agreements to refrain from developing atomic weapons in exchange for trade rights or economic aid, and then went right ahead and did what they wanted to do--build atomic bombs. Such treaties, in fact, may do more harm than good. If diplomats or analysts believe falsely that a nation is abiding by the terms of a treaty, they may not react quickly enough when evidence accumulates that the nation is simply ignoring the pretty words on the piece of paper.

The third point, related to the U.S. intelligence community's consistent failure to accurately predict the nuclear activities of non-U.S. nations, has to do with a certain "technological arrogance." In the examples that Dr. Richelson cites, U.S. analysts seem to think that most other nations lack the scientific, engineering and manufacturing skills required to design and build an atomic bomb. The record clearly belies that assumption. They also seem to assume that every other nation MUST proceed along the same nuclear path that the U.S. took. But counter-examples abound. For example, U.S. analysts ASSUMED that any nation developing an atomic bomb would use plutonium for the fissionable material. China, however, shocked U.S. analysts by using highly enriched uranium instead of plutonium. Similarly, many analysts smugly assume that certain isotope separation techniques are "obsolete." But just because the U.S. does not use them today does not mean they are not perfect for some other less-advanced nascent nuclear nation.

U.S. intelligence community analysts seem to lack a real-world appreciation for the importance of innovation, cleverness and adaptability, on which the U.S. does not have a monopoly, in the nuclear weapon development process. This short-sightedness has repeatedly led them, and the nation, to be unpleasantly surprised by foreign nuclear developments.

A fascinating account on what our activities and capabilities have been in discovering the development of nuclear weapons........2006-07-04

Jeffrey T. Richelson chronicles the efforts the United States has made to deal with the threat of atomic and nuclear weapons from they were first conceived in the 1930s and `40s through the gathering of intelligence. You know, spying. The building of our own (the United States') nuclear arsenal is well chronicled in other books. This volume is more about the kinds of methods that were developed in the human intelligence and technical intelligence areas and the debates that have raged over the decades in interpreting the meaning of what was found out. I found the gradual growth of the intelligence bureaucracy and how each component of the CIA versus the State Department versus the Military became predictable in its interpretation of evidence of nuclear activity fascinating and distressing. It is hard to have confidence that our nation is getting a handle on the threats facing us when intelligence interpretation is more about turf wars than truly understanding what is happening in the laboratories and processing plants of our enemies.

While the book does discuss the development of sampling the atmosphere for the minute quantities of by products unique to nuclear activity and the particles that are the residue of a nuclear explosion, the acoustic infrasonic signatures of nuclear blasts, the satellite detection of light signatures, gamma ray production, photographic evidence of infrastructure and activities signaling the enrichment of uranium or the collection and processing of plutonium through flyovers by spy planes and specialized satellites, it also discusses the problems associated with gathering human intelligence in the various regimes. Even when you get evidence from someone on the ground, one has to not only verify the validity of the information provided, but also consider carefully the motives of the person supplying the information. It becomes a very complicated series of issues very quickly.

Adding to the difficulty is that those who desire to develop these weapons usually want to do so in great secrecy until they successfully explode a nuclear device. They have learned a lot about the capabilities of our satellites and the habits of interpretation by our intelligence services. So, they design their facilities to look as much like something legitimate as they can. They take facilities underground. They build decoys that look hidden, but are designed to hold attention. At times, they are even good enough to fool the watchdogs that come on site to inspect. For example, in the old days, inspectors measured the total radiation of fuel rods being shipped. One Asian country wanting enriched uranium got around this by building fuel rods of the proper weight and size and radiation, but using smaller pieces of enriched uranium spaced with aluminum filler. Another shaped the dirt covering the blast site (to ensure no radiation escaped into the atmosphere) so that it looked as if was created by the prevailing wind so the satellite photo interpreters would be less likely to pick up on it.

Obviously, I can't recount everything that is covered in 544 pages. However, the last three chapters do cover current events with Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. The author shows clearly how the present administration was not served well by competition between intelligence services. I found the discussion of the infamous aluminum tubes quite enlightening. Iraq orders 60,000 extremely engineered aluminum tubes. Why? One analyst at the CIA sees them as centrifuge tubes. He even tests them as such and finds a way to make one spin at high enough rpms to function as one. Other agencies point out that the proportions are wrong for centrifuge tubes and they are indeed similar to the missile bodies Iraq had used in the past. However, the tubes are too hard and the tolerances are overly precise for rockets. Is Iraq simply living with inefficiency to get away with enriching uranium? Or was Saddam himself the victim of his own agencies? Did he order the program restarted, and his crooked bureaucrats ordered these things to make him think they were doing something but secretly benefiting themselves somehow?

Who knows. All the certainty you here from various parties is evidence of their political position rather than any real expertise in intelligence analysis.

What I come away with is a sense that we really do need to reform our intelligence services to make sure we are focused on gathering intelligence and interpreting it as well as we can with as few turf wars and bureaucratic wrangling as we can. The daunting task is that the reforms have to be done by the same bureaucrats who are fighting over power and turf now. Who wants to give up power? And just because one group wins over another in no way indicates that the better and more reliable group won the fight. It simply means that the better political infighter was rewarded.

Some say that we are too focused on nuclear weapons. That a single nuclear weapon cannot take down the United States. While that is likely true, it isn't the direct assault that is the real threat for America. It is if a bomb goes off in a place and in a way that draws America into a war the way the Allies were all drawn into World War I through a seemingly small act. We have to be focused on these nations and what they are up to on this front. Of course, we must do the other things, too. Nobody said being a Superpower was easy work. Of course, nations will act in their own interests. What is interesting, and adds to the complexities, is how the political factions within each nation (including ours) will interpret, leak, and promote various activities contrary the plans of those in power. From what we have seen leaked to the press in the past few years, it appears that our own intelligence bureaucracies are rife with this contrarian activity.

A fascinating and informative work. You cannot consider yourself informed on this subject by what you hear and read in the mainstream media. This book is certainly one you should read. And the background it will give you will help you decipher sense from nonsense when you hear someone talking about nuclear issues on the tube.

Tell Tale Mushroom Clouds.......2006-05-22

This is a meticulously researched book that provides what seems to be an accurate chronicle of the efforts by the U.S. Government to gather intelligence on the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It is a good source book and a good introduction to the issues associated with identifying and tracking the development of nuclear weapons. It is however a long way from being a definitive book on the subject.

The story of the proliferation nuclear weapons is a complex one involving the international transfer of weapons related knowledge, technology (such as advanced machine tools), and raw materials from nation states possessing one or more of these ingredients to those wishing to posses them. It further involves the development of the scientific and engineering human capital required to design and run a nuclear program by nuclear wannabe states. Finally there is the construction and location of the necessary production and testing facilities needed for such programs. Richelson would have better served his readers had he opened his book with a tutorial on this complex story so that they could better understand what American intelligence was really looking for in the events he chronicles.

This book would have also been better had Richelson made more of an effort to tie the individual events he chronicles so well into a common theme. As is, each event he recounts exists more or less in isolation from every other event without any indication of the evolution of either of nuclear weapons development or of the efforts to produce intelligence on the subject.

Still this is a remarkable book that provides a wealth of details on both nuclear weapons development and the efforts of U.S. intelligence to track such development. It could have been a great book and it is a shame that it turned out to be merely a good book.

Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

Average customer rating:

Red Star Rogue
Red Star Rogue Belongs on the Bad Fiction Shelf
Astonishing
Good, but I'm not quite buying it
Pass the Nuts please!

Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.
Kenneth Sewell , and Clint Richmond
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
Silent Steel: The Mysterious Death of the Nuclear Attack Sub USS Scorpion
The Death of the USS Thresher: The Story Behind History's Deadliest Submarine Disaster
Hostile Waters
The Greatest Submarine Stories Ever Told: Dive! Dive! Fourteen Unforgettable Stories from the Deep (Greatest)

ASIN: 0743261127
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Download Description

"One of the great secrets of the Cold War, hidden for decades, is revealed at last. Early in 1968 a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine sank in the waters off Hawaii, hundreds of miles closer to American shores than it should have been. Compelling evidence, assembled here for the first time, strongly suggests that the sub, K-129, sank while attempting to fire a nuclear missile, most likely at the naval base at Pearl Harbor. We now know that the Soviets had lost track of the sub; it had become a rogue. While the Soviets searched in vain for the boat, U.S. intelligence was able to pinpoint the site of the disaster. The new Nixon administration launched a clandestine, half-billion-dollar project to recover the sunken K-129. Contrary to years of deliberately misleading reports, the recovery operation was a great success. With the recovery of the sub, it became clear that the rogue was attempting to mimic a Chinese submarine, almost certainly with the intention of provoking a war between the U.S. and China. This was a carefully planned operation that, had it succeeded, would have had devastating consequences. During the successful recovery effort, the U.S. forged new relationships with the USSR and China. Could the information gleaned from the sunken sub have been a decisive factor shaping the new policies of détente between the Americans and the Soviets, and opening China to the West? And who in the USSR could have planned such a bold and potentially catastrophic operation? Red Star Rogue reads like something straight out of a Tom Clancy novel, but it is all true. Today our greatest fear is that terrorists may someday acquire a nuclear weapon and use it against us. In fact, they have already tried. "

Customer Reviews:

Red Star Rogue.......2007-10-01

This book accurately relates parts of history that have remained a mystery for years. There is some speculation, however, the author is very convincing and has done his homework. I throughly enjoyed reading this book.

Red Star Rogue Belongs on the Bad Fiction Shelf.......2007-09-08

As another reviewer, William F. Twist, states, authors Kenneth Sewell and Clint Richmond claimed the acoustic signatures of the Soviet diesel submarine, K-129, recorded by a PERMIT Class submarine in 1968 were processed by land-based Cray supercomputers when the first such computer was not completed until 1976,

In 1968, the year K-129 sank, and for several years thereafter, any recordings of Soviet submarines made by US submarines would have been sent to the Naval Scientific and Techincal Intelligence Center (NAVSTIC) in Building 52 on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. Then, as now, such detection events were analyzed by Intelligence Research Specialists with near photographic memories. Computers were not then, nor are they now, used to evaluate such data. (This may come as a shock to those who believe computers are capable of solving almost all complex analytical problems.) As head of the Branch within NAVSTIC responsible for the analysis of all such data, I can state categorically that no K-129 acoustic signature information was received from any US submarine in 1968.

This, and other egregious errors documented by Twist, indicate Sewell and Richmond engaged in the complete fabrication of events to support their conspiracy theory and sell the book.

Sadly, this has become common practice by those who must be called "hack journalists." The motive: sell books to the technically uniformed and conspiracy gullible public. A more recent example is Ed Offley's book, SCORPION DOWN, which propounds unfounded conspiracy theories and ignores the pressure-collapsed condition of the wreckage on the bottom and the complete absence of any damage consistent with a torpedo attack.

SCORPION was lost because of an onboard problem the crew could not overcome before the submarine sank to collapse depth. The Soviets were miles away minding their own business. Sewell's next book, "All HANDS DOWN: The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS SCORPION," due out 15 April 2008, will doubtless follow the same conspiracy story line although we can expect a few new fabrications to convince the buying public that Sewell's book is "better" than Offley's. We can also expect other hack journalists to provide back-of-the-dust-jacket reviews praising Sewell's effort as "a daring expose that reveals what the US Navy has for decades kept hidden" or some such drivel. This is a neat - but not very nice - reciprocal (quid pro quo) arrangement among such journalists: "You endorse my book and I'll endorse yours." This leaves the prospective buyer without an objective assessment of such books until they are critically reviewed - and their technical weaknesses exposed - in limited distribution publications such as NAVY TIMES or the US NAVAL INSTITUTE PROCEEDINGS.

Astonishing.......2007-06-15

Although much of the data was not declassified until recently, one can certainly see where authors such as Tom Clancy have found their inspiration. This is a riveting true story. Regardless of your opinions of the author's conclusions, the facts and details are endlessly fascinating. To know the story of Red Star Rogue is to understand better the dynamics of the Cold War.

Good, but I'm not quite buying it.......2007-06-11

There have been a lot of quibbles about details in the various reviews, most of them are missing the fundamental point: If it wasn't an attempted rogue launch, what was it?

On the other hand, I don't buy the notion that the missile was destroyed by a fail-safe. There's one problem with that notion: Why was somebody outside at launch? I can't imagine that that would be survivable. I think it's much more likely something went wrong preparing to launch.

Addressing various gripes:

I don't think disagreements about exactly where it sunk matter because the CIA has an incentive to hide it's true location.

As for the guy who said there would be nothing to salvage if the nuke went off--it's only the high explosive that seems to have gone off. If you simply fire one of the detonators the warhead will be blown to bits but will *NOT* produce a nuclear yield. All the detonators must be fired at *EXACTLY* the right instant for it to make a mushroom cloud.

As for China not having such missiles--they did. The Gulf I the Russians sold them. They didn't have h-bombs to put on them but we had no conclusive evidence they didn't have them, either.

Pass the Nuts please!.......2007-05-22

I claim to know almost nothing about subs, being an old grunt myself. But I have read Cotten Collier's "A Matter of Risk" which covered the Project Jennifer and was written in the 1980's by a member of the Project Staff.

His claims jive with Craven's as to the status of the sub on the ocean floor (broken in two), the parts recovered and the fact the recovered section of boat broke in two while being lifed off the floor and the Conning Tower was lost. One missile also fell out of its tube to the floor.

Also at least one torpedo with a atomic warhead was recovered. As Collier's Brother was part of the crew that took the sub apart screw by screw, I'd take his version over.

I'd say that the "story" would make much more sense if he included Space Aliens, Di-Lithium Crystals, and a few cute kittens for the "human intrest" value.

I sincely hope the writers go back on their Meds before they write another book.

If you want a book thats more believable, buy "The Book of the Subgenius" here. I'd beleive in J.R. "Bob" Dobbs before I'd believe these guys!

Average customer rating:

Fun, yes -- accurate, no
A Confederacy of Dunces
A fantastic ride into uncharted waters.
i've since bought everything by jon ronson
Fascinating

The Men Who Stare at Goats
Jon Ronson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Them: Adventures with Extremists
Reading the Enemy's Mind : Inside Star Gate--America's Psychic Espionage Program
How Mumbo-jumbo Conquered The World
The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank
Psychic Warrior: The True Story of America's Foremost Psychic Spy and the Cover-Up of the CIA's Top-Secret Stargate Program

ASIN: 0743270606

Amazon.com

Just when you thought every possible conspiracy theory had been exhausted by The X-Files or The Da Vinci Code, along comes The Men Who Stare at Goats. The first line of the book is, "This is a true story." True or not, it is quite astonishing. Author Jon Ronson writes a column about family life for London's Guardian newspaper and has made several acclaimed documentaries. The Men Who Stare at Goats is his bizarre quest into "the most whacked-out corners of George W. Bush's War on Terror," as he puts it. Ronson is inspired when a man who claims to be a former U.S. military psychic spy tells the journalist he has been reactivated following the 9-11 attack. Ronson decides to investigate. His research leads him to the U.S. Army's strange forays into extra-sensory perception and telepathy, which apparently included efforts to kill barnyard animals with nothing more than thought. Ronson meets one ex-Army employee who claims to have killed a goat and his pet hamster by staring at them for prolonged periods of time. Like Ronson's original source, this man also says he has been reactivated for deployment to the Middle East.

Ronson's finely written book strikes a perfect balance between curiosity, incredulity, and humor. His characters are each more bizarre than the last, and Ronson does a wonderful job of depicting the colorful quirks they reveal in their often-comical meetings. Through a charming guile, he manages to elicit many strange and amazing revelations. Ronson meets a general who is frustrated in his frequent attempts to walk through walls. One source says the U.S. military has deployed psychic assassins to the Middle East to hunt down Al Qaeda suspects. Entertaining and disturbing. --Alex Roslin

Book Description

In 1979 a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the U.S. Army. Defying all known accepted military practice -- and indeed, the laws of physics -- they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them.

Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren't joking. What's more, they're back and fighting the War on Terror.

With firsthand access to the leading players in the story, Ronson traces the evolution of these bizarre activities over the past three decades and shows how they are alive today within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in postwar Iraq. Why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners of war with the theme tune to Barney the Purple Dinosaur? Why have 100 debleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces Command Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? How was the U.S. military associated with the mysterious mass suicide of a strange cult from San Diego? The Men Who Stare at Goats answers these and many more questions.

Customer Reviews:

Fun, yes -- accurate, no.......2007-09-27

On getting around to writing a review on "Goats," I found myself wishing that there were two rating scales on Amazon -- one for entertainment value, and one for accuracy. I rate "Goats" five stars for amusement value -- it really is an entertaining and engagingly-written book, and nothing I say further in this review is meant to discourage you from reading it -- I really do recommend you buy it if only for its entertainment value alone. But do so with a very large helping of salt, since I only give it one star for accuracy (I averaged the two ratings, hence the three stars).

I shall leave the amusement factor behind as sufficiently addressed, and talk now about the accuracy issue -- at least so far as the parts of the book about parapsychology are concerned (there is an odd conflation in it of 'psychic' operations and psychological operations, or 'psyops,' neither of which had anything to do with each other; I cannot speak authoritatively on the psyops part of the book). Whenever possible, Jon Ronson and his crew (yes, "Goats" is a team effort, though Ronson gets prime billing) opted for color and sensationalism over accuracy. Interviews are cherry-picked for the juiciest stuff, leaving context on the cutting-room floor that would have presented what they did choose to print in an entirely different light had it been more honestly presented (the film-making language is intentional, as the book is the literary companion to a three-hour conspiracy-laced documentary on the same topics).

For the sake of the story they also seem to have been perfectly happy to make logical leaps connecting events and persons which in reality were either never connected, or only were very tenuously. As one example, retired Colonel John Alexander is presented as being "one of Al Gore's oldest friends," when in fact what John (a close friend of mine) told them in an interview was that he had once decades before been briefly introduced to Gore and shaken his hand -- and that Gore would not know him from Adam.

As another example, they present Gen. Bert Stubblebine as having actively recruited Ed Dames to become a government remote viewer, making the general eventually responsible for the deaths of 39 Heaven's Gate cult members (I won't take space here to tell you how this is alleged to have occurred -- read the book!). The real facts are that Stubblebine had nothing to do with Dames until the latter was already well entrenched in the remote viewing program. Missing from the book is any account of the successful intelligence work done by the military remote viewers (and there is plenty of authentic documentary evidence available to show this), or the extensive scientific research that grounded it.

It's not possible to cover all the literary crimes of "Goats," but I assure you my take on this does not result from hearsay, but from first-hand knowledge of and direct communication with nearly all the remote-viewing-associated people featured in the book, plus my own multi-year involvement with the government remote viewing program. The carnival-esque image with which "Goats" paints what became known as the "Star Gate" remote viewing program is merely a caricature (and a very rough one at that) of a program that, while not perfect, was indeed successful and valuable despite what its detractors might prefer to believe. But please, do buy the book!

A Confederacy of Dunces.......2007-08-05

Military techniques vary with the Administration, the challenges faced and the level of brain power sitting on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the Cold War a lot of outlandish spying and interrogation techniques were tried out, including psychics and 'remote viewers,' giving prisoners LSD without their knowledge, getting them hooked on heroin, using subliminal messages, psychological torture involving humiliation, fear or cultural prohibitions, and various other alternatives to respected methods. The clear result from all of these experiments -- not all of them non-lethal, by the way -- was that they were all completely worthless.

It is somewhat surprising therefore, that after 9/11 many of these same failed programs were quietly reactivated, with the miserable results we have subsequently seen at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and on the battlefields.

Well, maybe not so surprising if you consider the Presidential Prayer Team, the unsuccessful search for 'missing' WMDs, the quagmire from having no exit plan and the general wanton disregard for the lessons of history.

This book is proof positive that a government conspiracy could never be successful with the current crop of comedians running things.

A fantastic ride into uncharted waters........2007-05-23

I loved this book. I can't put it simply enough.

In the 90's, I was an uber-fan of Art Bell, and all things paranormal. Slowly, cynicism crept into by daily incredulity fix when it became apparent that the world wasn't going to end, that certain claims weren't necessarily what they seemed, and that perhaps (gasp) Art and his guests were perhaps taking liberties with a gullible public.

Mr. Ronson paced me through this transitory period of my life with a balanced view, with charm and wit remeniscient of Bill Bryson. I've seen other reviews that come down on Jon as a critic of the paranormal, but I've got to say that he's done quite the contrary. In keeping an open, but questioning mind, he's raised far more questions in the writing of this book than he's done debunking.

All in all, it's a great read, and I look forward to reading more of his writing in the future.

i've since bought everything by jon ronson.......2007-04-20

Really good journalism, a number of disturbing discoveries, warm-hearted prose and understated English wit. This book is absolutely gorgeous and Jon Ronson deserves acclaim for it. I've read it several times...and I'm still staring at my hamster.

`Them' is maybe better. That's only maybe. This is incredible.

Fascinating.......2007-01-06

Fascinating material presented in a well written objective format. At first i was skeptical but apparently the NY Times and various other newspapers have investigated his work and given it a thumbs up.

Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of Soft Power (Issues in Twenty-First Century Warfare)

Average customer rating:

a Good Begining
High level IO overview that can't be beat!
Outstanding First Cut, Needs to Go Further
Discovering Practical Information Operations
The premier book on military Information Operations

Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of Soft Power (Issues in Twenty-First Century Warfare)
Edwin L. Armistead
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Information Warfare & Security
In Athena's Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age
Villages of the Moon : Psychological Operations in Southern Afghanistan
Strategic Warfare in Cyberspace
Information Warfare Principles and Operations

ASIN: 1574886991

Book Description

The modern means of communication have turned the world into an information fishbowl and, in terms of foreign policy and national security in post-Cold War power politics, helped transform international power politics. Information operations (IO), in which time zones are as important as national boundaries, is the use of modern technology to deliver critical information and influential content in an effort to shape perceptions, manage opinions, and control behavior. Contemporary IO differs from traditional psychological operations practiced by nation-states, because the availability of low-cost high technology permits nongovernmental organizations and rogue elements, such as terrorist groups, to deliver influential content of their own as well as facilitates damaging cyber-attacks (â€œhactivismâ€) on computer networks and infrastructure. As current vice president Dick Cheney once said, such technology has turned third-class powers into first-class threats.

Conceived as a textbook by instructors at the Joint Command, Control, and Information Warfare School of the U.S. Joint Forces Staff College and involving IO experts from several countries, this book fills an important gap in the literature by analyzing under one cover the military, technological, and psychological aspects of information operations. The general reader will appreciate the examples taken from recent history that reflect the impact of IO on U.S. foreign policy, military operations, and government organization.

Customer Reviews:

a Good Begining.......2007-03-20

The meaning of the tem `Information Operations' (IO) is still evolving, but it is generally recognized to be inextricably part of the concept of Network Centric Warfare which was made possible by what the U.S. Military refer to as the `Global Information Grid' (GID). Which is to say that the IO concept is essential to developing military strategy and force structure planning. So what is it? The simplest definition of IO that is currently in fashion would appear to be that it refers to techniques and actions that adversely affect an enemy's ability to collect, manage, and use information while defending ones own abilities in this regard.

All this is by way of introduction to this book, which although written by a committee of U.S. and Australian IO theorist and operators, is a pretty good over view of how IO works both in theory and, interestingly enough, in practice. The book makes perfectly valid claims that IO clearly must be based on effective intelligence production and good information systems. Ironically both defensive and offensive IO are dependant on access to accurate and timely information (knowledge) to be successful. In this context it was rather surprising that the book did not make more of an issue of the dangers of disinformation and corrupted information to IO success although it did discuss psychological warfare as an aspect of IO. Still the book is for now a good primer on IO and understanding the complexities of war in the 21st Century.

Yet this book is not the definitive statement on IO, rather it is another step on the road of the U.S. Military to transformation to force structures based on Network Centric Warfare. Incidentally for those interested in that concept I suggest they read "The Future of War" by Mark D. Mandeles (Amazon.com). A rather different but equally relevant view of IO can be found in "Information Operations' by Robert D. Steel (Amazon.com). Until the term `Information Operations' is finally established, it is a good idea to keep an open mind on what it means.

High level IO overview that can't be beat!.......2006-12-01

Info Ops: Warfare and Hard Reality of Soft Power is an awesome primer to information operations/information warfare (IO/IW). The book was originally written as a textbook for some high-level defense university classes, but has worked great as a layman's introduction to the field. In it you'll find many government agencies and the scope of their involvement in IO, great examples of IO/IW [save one example I'll mention later]

The book is the foundation to an IO/IW education, so it is a definite "must-purchase." Its low price may shy folks away, thinking its a "discount" overview - but that is a mistake in thinking, and maybe IO (deception) on the part of the publisher...

The one example of IO/IW I was disappointed in was mention of cyberspace exercises called Solar Sunrise and Elligible Receiver. The mainstream press have called them hoaxes or reporting blown out of proportion; the book does no better by using it as a "smoking gun" without the powder burns or shell casing. The mention of both exercises seem to be wrapped in the same mystery and hysteria as found on online conspiracy theory sites.

Other than that slight peeve, the book should be purchased to get the skinny on IO/IW.

Outstanding First Cut, Needs to Go Further.......2006-03-18

This is a first rate effort, but it is incomplete and overly U.S. centric. A new expanded edition is needed soonest.

For myself the best chapters were on "Intelligence Support: Foundations for Conducting IO" and "Information Projection: Shaping the Global Village." Other chapters on the language of IO, information protection, related and supporting activities, and implementing IO were good.

The most important point in this book from my point of view was its observation that modern war is only 15-25% military action, and the rest must be a unified national campaign that leverages all sources of national power **for which IO is the glue that provides the inter-agency coherence.** These authors understand and teach, very ably, how IO is at the heart of managing complex coalition contingency operations.

The book over-all shows a real appreciation for the role that must be played by non-military agencies, coalitions, and private sector organizations including religions, academics, and business as well as media personalities.

The discussion of the "information battlespace" is useful, as are the illustrations. There is an excellent "strategy to task" section helpful to anyone actually implementing IO.

The authors are to be commended for emphasizing that knowing the enemy is not enough--you must know yourself and be firmly grounded in reality rather than ideological fantasy, if the IO message is to have traction. The authors also address, diplomatically but directly, the limitations of the traditional insular military planning process (especially the secretive intelligence process), and clearly articulate the need for open processes that can embrace and leverage varied communities of interest, non-US as well as US.

The authors also raise an extremely important issue to which they cannot provide an answer, but which must be resolved sooner than later: the urgency of being able to educate Americans about global realities and threats, without being accused of propagandizing Americans. [This is one reason why Congressman Simmons, on both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee, is so important--he understands that the state intelligence centers and networks we are advocating can serve two functions: as bottom up dot collectors, and as disseminators of real world open source intelligence to the state and local publics.]

One minor nit: the authors assume that because most of the 9-11 hijackers had Saudi passports they were Saudi. My understanding is that they were a mixed bag with passports of convenience from Saudi Arabia for those who were not Saudi.

The book concludes with cursory attention to Russian, Chinese, and Australian IO doctrine and practices, and does not address Iranian, Indian, Pakistani, and Venezuelan-Cuban IO, which are of considerable importance.

The book, very understandably, does not spend a lot of time on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) or the need to properly monitor all information in all languages all the time, but the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence has clearly articulated the need to do "universal coverage, 24/7, in all languages, at the neighbood level of granularity" (this is an abdiged paraphrase) and DoD appears well on its way to doing just that. I recommend that this book be read in conjunction with Max Manwaring and John Fishel's "Uncomfortable Wars Revisited," with Max Manwaring's edited work on "The Search for Security" which emphasizes key moral messages; and my own IO book, which focuses exclusively on information peacekeeping or the foreign language content side of IO, and has a comprehensive annotated bibliography. Specialty books that I recommend to IO practitioners include Larry Beinhart's "Fog Facts," Robert Cialdini's "INFLUENCE," Robert Parry's "Lost History," and John Hasling's "The Audience, the Message, the Speaker."

Discovering Practical Information Operations.......2004-08-23

Finally, here's a book that cuts through the dense brush of information operations theory and reaches a clearing where the reader can truly discover the practical application of information operations. The list of contributors is impressive...and all have practical experience in information operations. A must read for practitioners of IO.

The premier book on military Information Operations.......2004-07-13

This is the most up-to-date book on Information Operations I've read. There are over a dozen contributors from the US, UK and Australia, all of whom have hands-on Information Operations experience. It is must reading for anyone serious about this important field of military operations.

The Tao of Deception: Unorthodox Warfare in Historic and Modern China

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The Tao of Deception: Unorthodox Warfare in Historic and Modern China
Ralph D. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The Tao of Spycraft: Intelligence Theory and Practice in Traditional China
One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies: Battle and Tactics of Chinese Warfare
The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, including The Art of War
History of Warfare in China: The Warring State Period
The Essence of War: Leadership and Strategy from the Chinese Military Classics

ASIN: 0465072054

Book Description

The definitive book on ancient military principles that is strikingly relevant to the War on Terror, the war in Iraq, and the rise of China as a geopolitical power

The history of China is a history of warfare. Wars have caused dynasties to collapse, fractured the thin faade of national unity, and brought decades of alien occupation. But throughout Chinese history, its warfare has been guided by principles different from those that governed Europe. Chinese strategists followed the concept, first articulated by Sun-tzu in The Art of War, of qi (ch'i), or unorthodox, warfare. The concept of qi involves creating tactical imbalances in order to achieve victory against even vastly superior forces.

Ralph D. Sawyer, translator of The Art of War and one of America's preeminent experts on Chinese military tactics, here offers a comprehensive guide to the ancient practice of unorthodox warfare. He describes, among many other tactics, how Chinese generals have used false rumors to exploit opposing generals' distrust of their subordinates; dressed thousands of women as soldiers to create the illusion of an elite attack force; and sent word of a false surrender to lure enemy troops away from a vital escape route.

The Tao of Deception is the book that military tacticians and military historians will turn to as the definitive guide to a new, yet ancient, way of thinking about strategy.

The Bell Curve Wars: Race, Intelligence, and the Future of America (A New Republic Book)
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Provides Good Balance

Poor world

Poor science

Not much real content-except for Sowell's critique

The Other Side Reacts

The Bell Curve Wars: Race, Intelligence, and the Future of America (A New Republic Book)

Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book)

Measured Lies: The Bell Curve Examined

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools

The Troubled Crusade: American Education 1945-1980

The Mismeasure of Man

ASIN: 0465006930

Customer Reviews:

Provides Good Balance.......2007-05-16

No matter what you think about the Bell Curve Wars, it is an essential companion to the controversial Bell Curve, for it explains not only the reasoning behind it, but the motive for writing it. Several eminent intellectuals provide a panoramic perspective of the Bell Curve, and even offer some insights as to its impact on our society. Some of these BCW responses deserve special merit, like Thomas Sowell's contribution, "Ethnicity and IQ.",and "Cracking Open the IQ Box",by Howard Gardner. The book will challenge proponents and detractors of the Bell Curve alike.

Poor world.......2005-10-01

As far as I know a high IQ has never prevented anyone to rot under ground after death. Call it the great (and eternal) nothingness curve. So, just be a good person and be of some help to the people around you! World needs love not pedantic morons. Of that sort we have more than enough, dont you think?

Poor science.......2004-12-11

Though I agree with the general conclusion that environment, as religion as well as things like the quality of foods have considerable over intelligence, I do not think the authors have
rendered any particular service. The high Jewish performance
reported known thoroughout history can without serious doubt be totally explained by Judaism's teaching children to visually
"see" in the mind's eye sylogistic relationships (IF--AND--THEN as the right end, center shaft and left end of a balance). Likewise certain Hindu castes put obsessive energy and time into teaching children math to a degree that in such a study such Hindu elementry school children scored double the problems solved in a given time than the average of various countries' scores, which all gave about equal score results.

Fraser has come to a conclusion which is in essence a prejudice and has attempted to "prove" it. And the product Fraser puts out has much in common with the Ashley Montegue kind of nonsense.

I do think "The Bell Curve" has some significant insufficiencies, which I address in my review of that book, but "The Bell Curve Wars" gives a good deal of poor science or poor scholarship. There are plenty of examples of racially mixed populations in the world. And race mixing has consequences: psychological, biological and social, beyond
any test.

Not much real content-except for Sowell's critique.......2004-01-19

The Bell Curve sparked an outpouring of liberal/leftwing anguish, and it was valuable for doing such- especially in exposing the hypocritical and deceptive assumptions that
have held sway in black education, especially the farce of
"affirmative action". Much of the sound and fury deals with
"racism" for pointing out the obvious-sub par black educational performance. The torrent of liberal anguish also may have helped to bolster conservative racism. After all with the liberals so upset, there must be something to it-"methinks they doth protest too much...."

Conservative economist Thomas Sowell's analysis pronounces a pox on both houses. He welcomes the exposure of the hypocrisy surrounding Race and IQ, and notes that many critics are long on shrill emotion and short on hard analysis.

H&R he asserts, are quite accurate in their analysis and presentation of the stats. Speculative conclusions are another matter. The authors claim that the higher incidences of incarceration in black populations and their higher illegitimacy rate is largely explainable by their lower overall IQ. But this does not stand up to the record of history. Whites of similar IQ have similar anti-social patterns, but also to be remembered is the fact that there are white ethnic groups in the US that have long had a pattern of high incarceration, high out of wedlock births, high levels of crime and violence, and a general disinclination towards education and learning. These folks are conveniently forgotten in the haste of many to point the finger at blacks.

They are called the white Irish, and the patterns noted above were seen not just in America but also over in Ireland and among Irish immigrants in Britain. In Sowell's "Ethnic America" for example, he points out that the illegitimacy rates among the Irish in sections of New York in the 1800s rivaled that found among urban blacks in the late 20th century. And as for levels of violence, just one of the many Irish riots back then killed more that all the people that died during the black riots of the sixties. Phrases such as "paddywagon" or "donnybrook" "fighting Irish" are based on historical realities like these. And let's not get into historically high levels of substance abuse (alcohol) among the white Irish... Over time the Irish improved their lot and behavior over time. Blacks are no different provided they are left alone to get on with the job.

Others have used the Bell Curve stats stats to argue that black intelligence is declining- hence the high rates of illegitimacy and incarceration. None of these speculations stands up to the record of history.

In fact the intelligence scores of blacks (along with other initially low IQ whites) have been rising for decades. As Thomas Sowell points out, it is the "norming" of IQ tests from their earlier baselines so that increases are reshuffled to yield a "normal average" of 100, that has concealed black

progress. When progress is measured from the original baselines, in fact, whole nations have experienced rising IQs. This change over time does some damage to H&R conclusions. It should be noted as well that Jewish soldiers scored rather low on Army mental tests given in WWI, leading some Anglo experts to cast doubt on the mental capacity of Jews- but who's laughing now?

Nor are Jews unique as to the moving pattern of IQ scores. As far back as the First World War, black soldiers from northern states, places like New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio scored higher on mental tests than white soldiers from southern regions like Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi.

Some patronizing white liberals argue that blacks need special "help" and preferences to register improvement- hence the farce of affirmative action. But history shows nothing of the sort. Back in the Jim Crow era, when blacks were blatantly and systematically denied opportunities open to whites, blacks were making progress without any "special" help or "preferences" from whites. All they needed was an equal chance. And when they did, all black PUBLIC schools like Dunbar High in Washington DC, along with many others for example, consistently produced test scores for decades ABOVE the white average.

Sowell exhaustively documents the above in books like "Black Education", 'Ethnic America", "Race Ind IQ" and "Inside American Education".

The Other Side Reacts.......2003-03-10

This is actually an interesting reaction to the findings of the Bell Curve and I enjoyed reading the articles to see how they would attack the foundations of Hernstein and Murray's thinking. I think it's good to read several viewpoints on a subject and then make up an informed opinion from there. The arguments presented against The Bell Curve's conclusions will have to be answered by more scientific testing. I do agree that none of these people who disagree with the book are running their own scientific tests and coming up with factual conclusions that contradict The Bell Curve findings. --Who has the pseudo-science? Only time will tell.

Egalitarians have emotional reasons for accepting the conclusions that they do. They do not want to accept a rigid determinism that would suggest that improving the environment of a group of deficient learners is futile and will not improve IQs. They do not want to accept the tag of permanent inferiority. On the other hand, determinists may have emotional reasons for accepting their conclusions; they do not want to accept the conclusions that if some group has a low IQ, it is the result of white racism that whites are guilty of.

Although egalitarians speak evil against determinists, egalitarian viewpoints on race have their own detrimental results by loading whites down with guilt and shame that may not be their fault and filling blacks with resentment against whites for problems that may be their own responsibility.

One effective argument against The Bell Curve was a mentioning ofHernstein and Murray's hasty dismissal of counter-evidence against their theories such as the testing of black and white children of white mothers in Germany that ended up with the same IQ scores. Another argument suggests that there really is no rising of a cognitive elite in America. Others give anecdotal evidence of people who did brilliantly in school but ended up in mediocre careers suggesting that high IQ does not spell success. (The Bell Curve authors agree with this conclusion.) It is also mentioned that H and M could have focused on white differences in IQ, such as white ethnic group differences in completion of college graduation, or IQ differences between southern and northern American whites. H and M are accused of not confronting these white differences as much because that would be too politically divisive.

One argument says that the H and M's conclusions are pseudo-science and that such "science" has occurred before in history, suggesting the inferiority of blacks to justify the unequal status quo and that this pseudo-science is actually hate literature. (I'm generally against defining conclusions as hate speech because it censors free inquiry. It's too easy to define heretical ideas that someone doesn't like as 'hate" and then get the government to censor them.) Hernstein and Murray are also portrayed as neo-social Darwinists in one essay; they present ideas that give credence to the belief in the survival of the fittest ethnic group and the inability to raise up a lower ethnic group to a higher level.

Another argument was that there are multiple intelligences that can't be measured by just taking a test. Some wondered what was being measured in an IQ test. What is this mysterious "G" (general intelligence) that H and M talk about? Some said that the historically bad environment that blacks have lived in has lead them to be culturally deprived and more money must be invested to improve deficient IQs. There is also some evidence the black/white gap in IQ is closing. Blacks are improving and whites are staying the same. Of course, one could argue that the whites should be improving also and something is wrong with the education system if it is not. Some of the argumentation is dauntingly technical and although a layman can get the gist of the argument, the details may go over his head.

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