¶ … September 11 was a disaster that might have been averted with better intelligence operations; in his book See No Evil, Robert Baer tells us how and why American intelligence failed. With his twenty-plus years of experience as a CIA field officer and recipient of intelligence community awards, Robert Baer is in a unique position to alert America to the weaknesses within its government and especially, within its intelligence services including the CIA and the NSA. Baer, who was stationed in some of the most dangerous parts of the world during his stint as field officer, knows first-hand of the specific dangers and threats that the United States continues to face. In See No Evil, he recounts what he knows through personal experience and thus delivers to the public a valuable resource for understanding the current state of affairs in the realm of national security.
According to the author, the end of the Cold War marked a beginning of an era of political correctness and essentially, ignorance toward the evils that are brewing throughout the world. Under Clinton's administration, the CIA was a low-priority issue and American intelligence services became sucked up into the Washington political circles and in useless bureaucracy. Business trumped national security in terms of importance, which is why the CIA reduced the numbers of field operatives like Baer. Fewer officers were trained in local languages and customs in order to infiltrate terrorist organizations before they could wreak havoc. The reduced numbers of field officers meant less intelligence and more potential for terrorists to organize attacks such as September 11.
Most readers will find Baer's book shocking and frightening, given that it will take many years for American intelligence to grow back in stature and effectiveness. Additionally, the CIA's emphasis on technology over people, on business over security, on political correctness over the real and gritty work of a real security officer, might come as a surprise to those who still believe that the NSA and CIA have the potential to know all. See No Evil is therefore a valuable resource that should bolster the revamping of American security and intelligence agencies.
