Rating: 
Summary: Very Specific and Insightful Information...
Review: Baer's book is a must read if you wish to get up to speed on the problems the intelligence agencies in the USA have faced over the past 10 years (and especially during the Clinton era). Tales of political correctness and limited human resources are told repeatedly in Baer's book. His frustration with the declining abilities of the CIA are palpable and troubling for any reader who lives in the United States. A fascinating read - from his recruitment until his retirement on trumped up grounds during the Clinton years - for all readers who are piecing together the failures that resulted in 9/11.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow - Langley, We Have a Problem...
Review: I'll keep this review more on the brief side since so many excellent reviews have already been posted. RB paints a picture of the CIA that is downright disturbing, and if his account is an accurate characterization of the current state of affairs of the CIA, Americans are in big trouble for some time to come.The book reads very quickly and is difficult to put down. I had a little bit of hassle keeping all the players in order in my head, but RB supplies a very helpful glossary. My only worry about the book is that one really has to be in tune with RB's sense of humor, as he quips sarcastically through the entire piece. See No Evil is indespensible, however, for its insider look at the destructive impact politics has upon national security. Americans are no longer safe from the seething hate that is birthed and nurtured in the Middle East, and RB paints a spine-chiller picture of the present CIA efforts to stop it.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Look At World Of CIA !
Review: This is a sometimes-fascinating look into the world of a covert intelligence operative on the ground on what is often hostile terrain of a variety of foreign countries. Robert Baer was a field officer for the Central Intelligence Agency for more than 20 years, and shares his recollections, observations, and frustrations with us as he recounts the personal experiences of a long and fruitful career in the shadowy world of the Middle East. His personal exploits ring especially true in view of the 911 experience, and the author explains why neither the scope nor the success of the attack surprises him, given the degree to which the agency had been devastated by the accumulated years of witch hunts and the pressure to be more politically correct. For example, he directly addresses the issue of how such a large scale and complex covert operation as the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon could have possibly been accomplished without any significant detection or compromise, advising the reader that the growing Islamic threats that were emanating from radical Muslim fundamentalists never reached the radar screens of the much more traditionally-oriented CIA, which had few resources dedicated or even capable of attempting to adequately surveil such organizations. The CIA, increasingly bureaucratic and befuddled by the meaning of the rising tide of Islamic extremism, had few analysts capable of either reading or speaking in most of the Arabic dialects. Baer was a student from the old school of covert operations, running agents in the field and running down leads on suspected terrorists throughout the very active area of the Middle East. Over time he became increasingly frustrated by drastic reductions in funding, sanctions for covert operations, and lack of either sufficient interest or appreciation for the skills and aptitudes it would take to place competent and effective agents on the ground in the Arabic countries. What he observed was individuals who were savvy political infighters rising through the bureaucracy and heading back to Washington to realize their personal ambitions within the Headquarters hierarchy. Increasingly, then, field operations were unnecessarily compromised by the inept administration of such ambitious incompetents. At a more profound level, he observed the gradual poisoning of the whole intelligence field by an Executive branch that considered the interests of business and commerce more important than the duty of protecting its citizens. So defanged of its mission and its motive forces, the CIA was no longer in any position to accurately and professionally decipher the complex information available concerning the aims and objectives of a wide range of emerging terrorist organizations. The author cautions that unless we learn from the events of 911 and the manifest failures of our intelligence services to give us adequate warning of the impending threat, we can expect more attacks, more loss of property, and a much greater loss of life.
This is an intriguing book, and one that I recommend for serious reading. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Author is a Bit Grumpy
Review: Be prepared for an author that has a bit of an ax to grind. This book covers the career of a CIA Field officer that was spent mostly in the Middle East. Given the current war on terrorism this makes the book even more interesting past the normal espionage junky stuff. The author details many of the mistakes the CIA and then Presidential Administration made over the past 10 - 15 years that had at least and indirect effect on the September 11th attack. The author really gets going in the book when talking about his posting in Beirut and the bombing of the marine compound and the hostage taking. He provides a number of interesting bits of information and a good overview of the work the CIA did to solve the issues. I did feel that the middle of the book dragged a little. The author was talking about his experiences in the "Stan" countries of the former USSR and it just did not have the pep and zip that the rest of the book had. He did make up for it at the end with a lot of good details on the lead up to the 9 - 11 attacks and what the government could have done to stop them. He lists out a number of errors committed by the CIA and FBI, but his negative attitude about his former employer tends to come out a bit heavy here. Overall the book was very interesting. The author left in the items that we blocked out due to government censorship and that in it's self was interesting - what is left in and taken out. Many of the errors he highlighted I would have assumed the government would have liked to cover up
Rating:
Summary: Money See, Money Do
Review: Be prepared for an author that has a bit of an ax to grind. This book covers the career of a CIA Field officer that was spent mostly in the Middle over the past 10 - 15 years that had at least and indirect effect on the Septem
Rating: 
Summary: Should come with a pound of salt
Review: If you have read any of the Marcinko books you've read this book as well. Here's the condensed version: our man Baer did this, our man Baer did that, and he was the only one with half a brain in the whole CIA the whole time he was there (according to the book). I would suggest other books such as Master of Disguise over this one.
Rating:
Summary: Say it ain't so, Joe!
Review: What's wrong with this picture? 1) A CIA officer in Lebanon strikes gold : He discovers a safe house for Abu Nidal, one of the top terrorist organizations which is interconnected with practically every other. He prepares to rent an apartment next door, bring a tech team, stick a mike in the wall and bug their meetings. His name is Robert Baer. Baer is outraged that the US embassy in Beirut has been bombed and no one seems close to a solution as to who did it or where they may strike again. His chief, a confirmed desk jockey, vetos the operation on the grounds that it might upset the Lebanese government if they found out. He suggests Baer should finagle an invitation to attend an Australian embassy party instead. When Baer replies "Who the hell do you expect is going to show up at an Australian embassy reception?" he is met with silence. 2) Former KGB archivist, Vasili Mitrokhin gets turned away by the CIA on the grounds that Russia is now a friendly country. This, despite the resurgence of Russian nationalism, possibly missing nuclear bombs, and the exposure of traitors Rick Ames (CIA) and Robert Hannsen (FBI). This story, at least, has a happy ending. Vasili subsequently volunteered to British intelligence and the info provided culminated in the arrest of dozens of spies, including a U.S. colonel. 3) In 1995 Baer runs an 'office' in the hills of Kurd occupied northern Iraq. Opposition leaders and Iraqi generals join forces in a coup de etat against Saddam Hussein. The plan involves precise timing. As the US representative they give Baer all the details and ask if they have US cooperation. Baer reports all to his superiors stateside. He assures them Washington wants to get rid of Saddam. The preliminary attack to divert Saddam's attention begins as scheduled. At this eleventh hour, Baer gets a telegram from HQ that the US is backing off and the Kurds and Iraqi generals are on their own. One of them ironically asks if they have never heard of the Bay of Pigs. 4) President Aliyev of Azerbijan informs Baer and other American 'delegates' that he is ready to help but that the US must "live up to its bargains". The 'delegation' has no idea what he's talking about so Aliyev explains that the State Dept undersecretary and Deputy Energy secretary promised him help against Iran and threatened 'bad relations' with the US if Aliyev did not give a contract to Exxon---never mind competing American oil companies, or free market ideals---According to Baer, Clinton was "pimping for Exxon". He reports on widespread corruption in Washington when it came to oil deals with former USSR republics. He names names and recounts how his offers to testify before Congress met with--you guessed it--silence.
----------------------------------------------------------------- See No Evil is the story of Rober Baer, a self admitted ski bum who applied for a job at the CIA in his early twenties as a lark, not really thinking he'd be hired but hoping that if he were, he'd be able to get a paycheck while fooling around Switzerland's mountaintops. No such luck. It turned out to be hard and dangerous work. However, he discovered he had a taste for being a field officer--rather like a cop who enjoys working the streets. He worked the streets for 21 years and recounts it in this best selling book. Baer's main beef is that the US intelligence community is enamored of the "eye in the sky"--satellite photos and high tech gizmos whcin cannot tell what goes on inside the human mind. For that one needs field officers and infiltrators, which the increasingly PC establishment was unwilling to keep backing Consequently they became dinosaurs. Baer's critics seem to charge him with wanting to dismantle the NSC, or down all American satellites and sell them for scrap. Rather absurd charges that side step the issues. Great reading before we all become dinosaurs.
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Summary: Something Just Doesn't Look Right
Review: If you've read any of the "Pogue Warrior" books by the Marcinko guy, you've basically read this book as well, you just didn't know it until now. It has the same Soldier of Fortune magazine feel to it that forces you to take it all with a tablespoon of salt (a grain would be insufficient). I'd suggest reading the book, Master of Disguise, by Antonio Mendez. Even the Markus Wolf Stasi excuse book (I forget the title... ...so would you) was better than See No Evil. As far as his political points (American spies should mix it up with the dirtbags so they can get the dirt on other dirtbags), I'd agree... ...but who heck wouldn't???? At the end of the book I'm left wondering: "yeah, and...????" Once again, I would strongly suggest the Master of Disguise book over this one.
Rating:
Summary: Hands on, roll up the sleeves and get it done !
Review: Mr. Baer provides a sensational view of exactly what his CIA job involved. He is an on the scene, in place doer as contrasted with a desk bound paper shuffler working an inbox. He proves, beyond a doubt, that our intelligence apparatus has been falling apart and that we need to rebuild it from the ground up with field people that can do good, old fashioned pick and shovel work instead of relying on electronics, satellites, etc. He makes a potent case for injecting more of the human element in preventing terrorists from succeeding.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly GREAT READ...incredibly IMPORTANT book!
Review: See No Evil is a great read. In fact, it reads like a great spy novel...except the scary part is: it's TRUE. In the book's intro investigative reporter Seymour Hersch calls See No Evil "yet another body blow to the reputation of an agency(the CIA) that failed to protect America when it needed to be protected." That is an understatement: this book confirms seemingly unconfirmed reports immediately after 911 about the CIA's flawed performance, and confirmed reports that have come out in several media outlets since then. This book is a GREAT --and vitally important -- read. Baer suggests some horrific forces were at work that helped the 911 plot succeed -- forces more terrifying than the terrorists lurking in Afghanistan's caves and releasing
videos on Arab television, more hideous than sleeper cells in the US waiting to launch a bloody strike at their leaders' signal, more hideous than weapons of mass destruction.
These insidious forces were bureaucratic cowardice, careerists who didn't want to rock the boat (even if that meant the boat would be blown up along with the rest of the US),
unrelenting beltway wars, petty squabbles, and good old fashioned office-politics that gave personal agendas precedence over our national security agenda. And, in the back of it all, he suggests there may be a hidden hand that the CIA and oil-influenced American interests do not want completely revealed: the hand of the Iranian government, manipulating and perhaps supporting terrorists in some of the worst acts of terrorism of the 20th and 21st centuries...using surrogate states and groups to carry out its hidden terrorism agenda and maintain a cloak of deniability. See No Evil starts with a quick pace and never lets up. It traces Baer's decision to apply to the CIA, his training and stints in various countries. Baer outlines how, with a sinking
feeling, he became disillusioned by the CIA's growing unwillingness to focus exclusively on protection and issues instead of politics. This started BEFORE the Clinton
administration. But by 1994, with Clinton in power, he writes, the CIA "seemed to be doing little more than flying the flag.." What happened to the agency "didn't happen just by chance," Baer writes. Rather, the CIA was "systematically destroyed by political correctness, petty beltway wars, careerists and much more." Baer uses fascinating, detailed high and low profile cases to show how the CIA's action-oriented mid 20th century man was by the end of the century, more of "a kind of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, do-no-evil" individual who did not want to take real risks.
Basically, some employees (especially supervisors) were now more akin to Motor Vehicles Department bureaucrats than James Bond agents. Baer's s turning point was the 1993 explosion of the American Embassy in Lebanon. He also gives a shocking account of how a tip he tried to give superiors on a plot to kidnap agent Bill Buckley, the CIA's Beirut chief, was ignored, leading to Buckley's murder. Baer discusses the implications of 911, noting that in the end ""intelligence boils down to people" needed to give the US secret info to anticipate future attacks -- and the CIA is
still woefully lacking in this department. See No Evil's credibility is boosted by various sentences and words blackened out in the book's by the CIA under the censorship agreement he signed when he became and agent. It is also increased by Baer himself, who has been an impressive "talking head" on various television news shows. In all, See No Evil is GREAT read that will answer -- and leave you with -- a lot of troubling questions.
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