Rating: 
Summary: "Rogue Warrior" AND "About Face" CIA Style, less the egos
Review: I gave this book four stars because of the intro by Seymour Hersh, a less than reputable reporter given his motivations in the last couple of years. Skip the intro, Baer doesn't need it because his story is compelling. Baer comes across as slightly arrogant, but that's not a surprising characteristic for someone that goes into the bad parts of the world to recruit agents. His message about what has happened to our human intelligence capability is disturbing, as is the underlying message, that U.S. policy towards terrorism has been lacking since the 1980s. This is an excellent book on what "boots on the ground" human intelligence is like.
Rating: 
Summary: This book should get 6 stars.
Review: When I finished reading this book I was sick at heart to realize that there is and has been such massive corruption in the halls of government for so long. The kind of corruption that allows money from Caspian Oil speculators and the Russian and Chinese governments to find its way into our political processes. The kind of corruption that allows an NSC advisor to halt the intelligence gathering activities of the CIA in order to serve the political agenda of her President, all the while knowingly allowing the very terrorists who attacked us on September 11, 2001 to go about there planning and plotting unhindered. The kind of corruption that allows the pro-Chinese lobby in our government to veto intelligence gathering that would verify nuclear arms cheating by the Chinese because it might upset the Chinese if we caught them cheating! And don't look to closely at the Saudis because we don't want to rock that boat either!Robert Baer holds both political parties and all three branches of government accountable. This book is fair and non-partisan. As for his complaining about the politics and lack of professionalism at the CIA, and the FBI, read the book and you will see that the complaints are more than justified. This book should get 6 stars. A word of caution, you will be angry as hell after you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Robert Baer is the "Rogue Warrior" of the CIA. He fights two wars, one with terrorists, and one with the beauracratic goats in Washington who are afraid to do what it needs to get the job done. If you like covert CIA stories that pack a punch, you will love it. America needs more "get the job done" people like Baer.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Disturbing
Review: If I had read this book before 9/11, I wouldn't have been shocked at all when the Twin Towers collapsed. The book outlines the decline of the CIA in the 80's and its absolute collapse in the 90's. It really is frightening. Baer expertly outlines his exciting career and weaves in the story of the fall of the CIA. Some of the stories would be funny if it wasn't deadly serious. I'm surprised Bob Baer didn't go nuts and start going after people, the incompetance he describes is shocking and horribly frustrating. Get this book only if you're ready for a shock. I pray we can get some professionals in the agency before something else hits our country.
Rating:
Summary: An Eye Opening Read
Review: This is a broadside by a well-known CIA whistle blower. It is more than a little surprising that the CIA allowed him to publish, since he is very critical of the agency. Baer makes clear that the problems with the CIA have nothing to do with lack of funding, but rather come from non-existent political interest in the results of intelligence investigation, lack of political support and absence of vision within the agency. This book is a compendium of missed oppurtunities in the last quarter century. Each of the Presidents during this period comes out looking bad in this book. High level executive branch managers are painted as univerally inept and craven. The CIA is shown to be simply putting in its time, with the primary goal of not causing any trouble. In short, compelling reading for the concerned citizen. This is a book that will make you angry! Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Pretty depressing
Review: to see how an organization like the CIA can be corrupted, manipulated and rendered ineffective by liberal politicians, bureaucrats and high powered lobbyists. Clinton lovers should read this. They have put all our lives at risk. The CIA needs to be rebuilt, allowed to operate in the shadows and do the things we don't want to know about. Worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: The Fog of Foggy Bottom
Review: After reading this book, which I found to be informative as well as entertaining, my respect for the people who ran our foreign policy during the fabulous nineties has hit mean low. I sure hope our government avails itself of the knowledge of people like Baer for our collective sake. I recommend Mylroies book A Study of Revenge as well as Beardens book Black Tulip for companion reading. Baer should write a travel book for lighter reading. I would like to hear more about his travels in the Pamirs, the lost tribe etc.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: I find it very disheartening to know that Washington would rather believe satellite imagery over an eyewitness account. Several times Bob Baer reported on wars and conflicts going on that Washington refused to believe because their satellites hadn't shown them the same thing. Throughout the book, you can slowly see the point of view of Washington changing as the years go on about spying and the CIA. Bob Baer is a true hero.
Rating:
Summary: First Rate True-Life Adventure with an Important Theme
Review: "See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism" by Robert Baer is an account of Mr. Baer's 21 year career as an officer in the CIA's Directorate of Operations. He served tours in a number of exotic, and rather unpleasant, locations and much of his career was spent combating, and collecting information on, terrorist organizations. Mr. Baer comes across as honest and appears to tell the truth as he sees it. He shares his triumphs and his mistakes. Of mistakes or bad judgement, drinking too much with a Russian army colonel, spending the night on the colonel's couch, and then being whisked away early the next morning to parachute with Russian paratroopers is probably the most humorous (and perhaps a tad bit diquieting from a security stand point). The book is well-written, interesting, and informative. While there is plenty of adventure in this book, it is not just an adventure story or a run of the mill memoir of a former spy. The book is also the vehicle for a very important theme -- the decline and failure of the U.S. intelligence community's ability and willingness to gather intelligence. He argues persuasively and, given his past service, credibly that the successful collection of human intelligence has been hampered, if not outright blocked, by politics (both domestic and international) and bureaucratic fighting between and within components of the U.S. intelligence community. He also indicates that the newer generations of case officers are too content to sit in offices and attend official functions and are disinlcined to go out and beat the bushes for informants and information. Mr. Baer posits that these kinds of problems led directly to the disasters of September 11. To be sure, Mr. Baer had some problems while a CIA employee and he does have an axe to grind. At times, he appears to be arrogant, a know-it-all, and a bit bitter. He is "old Agency" in that he seems to hate the FBI. Clearly, the FBI has it's own intelligence trouble, suffers from problems similar to those of the CIA, and is in need of a serious over-haul. However, for the reasons he gives regarding his discontent with the FBI, the reader should bear in mind that there are two sides to every story or complaint. Mr. Baer also indulges in a bit of whining. He complains that when he returned to the Washington, D.C., area during the mid-90s for an assignment at CIA headquarters, the housing prices were extremely high and he couldn't afford to eat out often at restaurants. He states that after risking his life for his country, he was only earning the salary of a midlevel career civil servant. Surprise, Mr. Baer was a civil servant when he joined the Agency and he was a midlevel career civil servant when he moved to Washington, D.C., in the 1990s. At that time, a midlevel civil servant in the WDC area earned, at a minimum, somewhere bewteen $55,000 and $70,000 per year. Given his position and seniority, he may have been earning more. It is hard to feel bad for Mr. Baer on this point. As an aside, readers from West Virginia may be a little irked by a sentence in this book. Because he was a CIA employee (aka a civil servant), Mr. Baer must submit any manuscript concerning the CIA that he may write to the CIA for pre-publishing review. This is required to ensure that classified information does not inadvertently get leaked. Accordingly, this book was submitted and the CIA determined that some words, dates, sentences, and an occasional paragraph were too sensitive for public consumption. Mr. Baer left the censor's blackouts in the body of the manuscript. Many of the blackouts don't make much sense because the reader can often make a fairly good guess as to the missing date or word. At any rate, the results are interesting to observe. In sum, as a memoir or true-life adventure story, the book is fascinating. At times the reader has to put up with Mr. Baer's attitude and complaints, but it is his story and his honest opinion -- all of which makes for a first rate book. As an insider's observation and warning, the book is important. Anyone interested in the problems of terrorism or other intelligence matters will want to consider reading the book. Policymakers in Washington, D.C., should read this book. Readers who like "See No Evil" and who wish to read other books similar in nature should consider another interesting book titled "A Spy for All Seasons" by Duane E. Clarridge.
Rating:
Summary: A passionate cry for human intelligence agents
Review: Could the September 11th terrorist attacks in the U.S. have been prevented if an aide to the Saudi defense minister had accepted documents from the author listing Bin Laden operatives who were about to launch 'a spectacular operation'? Does the identification of an El Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany as the perpetrators of those attacks demonstrate the unbroken continuity of the unholy alliance between Arab radicals and Teutonic national socialists that dates back to the 1930's, when the Mufti of Jerusalem secretly supported Adolf Hitler? Were the Clinton administration's anti-terror efforts compromised by their acceptance of contributions of tainted, possibly KGB funds from Roger Tamraz (whose name adorns the Libyan-owned European chain of Tamoil service stations), a failed banker indicted for fraud in Lebanon and a former business partner of the Lebanese president who quietly released the suspects in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut? Is there a parallel between Tamraz's contributions to both U.S. political parties and those of Enron? Do the current Bush administration's ties to the energy industry, reflected in related stockholdings of very senior officials, along with its apparent abandonment of the previous administration's efforts to 'look more like America' in respect of both ethnic and religious diversity, compromise its ongoing war against terror? Was the Pan Am 103 bombing, for which a Libyan national is currently appealing his criminal conviction, funded by Iran in retaliation for the accidental downing of one of its civilian airliners? Does Yassir Arafat, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, and who is currently under virtual house arrest, retain ties to the major middle-eastern terrorist networks? The answer to all of these questions, according to Robert Baer, who is 'scared to death of what is to come,' is an unflinching 'yes.' His book contributes invaluable perspective for any serious student of current events, politics, or history.
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