Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Monday, September 29, 2014

Company Man


COMPANY MAN

Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA

By John Rizzo

Spanning more than three decades, Company Man by John Rizzo, top gun and highest ranking lawyer in the CIA bureaucracy’s history,  the book is the both timely,  candid and flawed as a history of American intelligence.

As a young lawyer, looking for something more interesting than tax law, he found a job in the CIA where after thirty some years of dedicated service he had become both an honored and despised public figure.  Interpreting Constitutional, legislative law and Presidential orders he was one the scene  in one way or another for all of the significant operations of the CIA’s modern history.

The inside stories, events and personalities are all there in Company Man as Rizzo tells of thirteen  CIA Directors and seven Presidents. The big and little people and controversies come to the fore from Iran Contra to waterboarding and all the dissembling and controversies in between.

It all seems like a tell all tale but is it really?  No. The title is revealing.  Rizzo is the archetypical “company man” He loves the agency perfectly. He apparently believes its  leaders from Presidents to Directors have no logical or moral deficiencies.  It’s all so titillating but do we really care if Dick Cheney smokes cigars?  Faulty analysis,  slanting the facts, ineptitude and worse don’t get much attention in this book. When problems crop up, shaping public opinion comes to the fore. Rizzo was apparently good at that.   Perhaps things like why our intervention in Iraq wasn’t a “slam dunk”, etc. could be missed. Today we need much better analysis of policy decisions based on American values involving the shadowy world of espionage and foreign affairs.  Sometimes secrets are necessary but so is oversight by the Congress and most importantly by an informed American public.  The rose colored and one sided story by John Rizzo doesn’t help a bit to solve the real issues related to intelligence gathering, freedom, democracy and privacy in an increasingly dangerous world.  Rizzo was there for a lot of it all but doesn’t seemed to have learned much of importance from the experience and tells us even less….

13 comments:

  1. I find it hard to even want to read anything by ANY politician--no matter which party. I never became interested in politics until a few years ago, and I'll admit now that I wish I never had.. No matter which party, they are all corrupt; they ALL lie; they ALL are only in it to get re-elected; etc... I got my eyes opened and I don't like what I see.

    I didn't care for the morals of Clinton --but I voted for him, and was happy to see how he worked with BOTH parties in order to come to some compromises. Our leader now does nothing but separate us as a country instead of working with all of us... Congress is terrible (both parties) --but until there is a good leader (don't care which party) who is willing to work with all of us, then nothing will change --and our country will just continue to go down the drain even farther... Nuff said.. I will NOT read that book... ha

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  2. I just finished watching the series by Ken Burns on the Roosevelts, and I found it fascinating. But I'm not ready to take on any more political stuff for awhile now. This sounds interesting but a bit on the weighty side. :-)

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  3. I think you talked me out of that book which I believe was your intent. Thank you. Frankly, the CIA and espionage scares me.

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  4. I love the new header picture. Politics worry me too much to read about them. I did buy The Burglary for hubby's birthday... I know he will enjoy that.

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  5. It has a charm but makes me wonder if it is true.

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  6. It has a charm but makes me wonder if it is true.

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  7. Politics make my blood boil. Once a staunch Republican, now I'm a disillusioned Independent. I have lost faith in the political system we have, but it's all we've got at this time.

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  8. Talked me out of this book. I did truly enjoy Robert Gates book however.

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  9. Well said! Perhaps there is a book inside of you? We need more critical analysis.

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  10. Politics to me are about greed and domination. Have a tough time even watching the news as it seems that is all the media talks about.

    I wanted to leave this link for you as I thought it relates to your area and it is a very well done video.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pX6FBSUyQI

    -- barbara

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  11. I agree with Sarah...a book inside of you. :-)
    Thank you for the review.
    And I love your new photo at the top of your blog.

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  12. Probably not something I'd read - but you never know.

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  13. Good luck in getting that educated public.

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