Rating: 
Summary: What can be checked is often wrong
Review: When approaching a book like this, where most of the sources are not named, one should always be suspect and look to those things that can be checked. Bamford gets an F on that test. The case in point is his coverage of the attack on the USS Liberty....Lets take a moment and look at the authors actual work in this area to see if he can be trusted. What ever position you take on this argument, several of Bamford sources have come forward and complained that he has misquoted them and taken statements out of context. Many of the documents he sites that are public are likewise manipulated, often torturously, to fit his argument. Moreover, he changes several dates to further strengthen his position. Does this mean that he is wrong about the Liberty? I would say yes, but more importantly, it puts the veracity of his entire book into doubt. Nor is that the only place his work has been questioned. His last book, The Puzzle Palace, was generally praised for its stright forward journalism, and even several people involved with the NSA praised its acuracy, warts and all. This book has gotten none of that praise and his been widely critisized for its poor journalism and fact checking. For those reasons, it is not worth reading. If you want to learn about the NSA, read his other book.
Rating: 
Summary: Astonishing revelations
Review: Bamford's latest book, Body of Secrets is an eye-opener. His contentions on Cuban-American relations, the role of the US military during the 1960 election, and Israel's conduct during the 1967 war are nothing less than bombshells. Especially of interest were revelations on domestic 'targets' of surveillance and the race to build a biotic supercomputer. Body of Secrets is not an easy read; Bamford alternates between lush and evocative descriptions to dry technical narratives that give the reader the feeling of roller skating with one skate. Overall, the book seems like an an assemblage of notes that have only partially been edited into a manuscript. No matter; for the amateur historian, Bamford's style only heightens the feeling of having stumbled upon a treasure trove of never seen before archives. This book amply repays the readers trouble with careful scholarship and rich content.
Rating: 
Summary: I wonder how many secrets are still hidden from US people.
Review: James Bramford pulled it again and this time he just broke the lock on the USS Liberty incident and how Israel was able to influenced the White House administration through the Jewish American Lobby to avoid a congressional hearing on the attack. James account of how NSA knew of the attack before it happened and the Administration was able to cover it really nicely. Overall, I have read all the thirteen chapters and my blood starts to boil on how American service man lives have been sacrificed by the politicians and bureaucrats for their own gains.
Rating:
Summary: An eye-opening book
Review: This book is an astonishing volume, and I'm very glad I read it. Particularly amazing is the account of the attack on the USS Liberty by Israeli forces during the Six-Day War, an appalling slaughter of innocent American servicement of which I was previously unaware. Perhaps even more appalling is the account of Lyndon Johnson's subsequent handling of the situation and his willingness to bend over backwards to accommodate Israel. I'm astonished at the reviewers who refer to this book as "revisionist history" and attempt to cast the author as somehow being anti-Semitic. This is WAY out of line -- the comparisons to Mein Kampf in particular are ridiculous. The author is clearly unbiased and backs up his with fact after fact after fact. Bamford's account of the USS Liberty attack in particular seems extremely balanced and well-documented. At the very least, in light of the revelations in this book, the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty very clearly demonstrates the need for a fair, non-partisan Congressional inquiry that Bamford advocates. Every American should read this book, and I join Bamford in calling for a thorough, fair, unbiased Congressional investigation of this horrific tragedy.
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Summary: Concerned Mexican Citizen
Review: My husband, William Reed, worked for the NSA for many years. He has been living here in Mexico with me for the last 28 years. I have worked with him on eight books, many of which describe the very things that James Bamford describes in this book. The stories about the NSA that he told me troubled me. The stories that Sr. Bamford tells about the NSA trouble me. Now, that the Top Secret BORESIGHT program has come to light, we, Mexicans, will think different about your late President, John F. Kennedy. We were left with the impression all these years, that he was a person of no character at all, giving away important U.S. stations around the world(for example the missile sites in tTurkey), and leaving the free world unprotected from a Russian threat. Yes, thanks to this BORESIGHT program a probably inminent Third World War was prevented. It is about time to clear his name. Es una tristeza ver que esa oficina niegue la existencia de tan importante estrategia, y nos dejen creyendo que Kennedy no fue un hombre valiente. The primary concern of my husband about these Super Top Secret NSA and CIA programs (which he discusses in his most recent book, Crazy Ivan: A Story of Submarine Espionage, and also in a recent article in Troika on-line magazine, titled Thirteen Days: The Real Story, in which Sr. Bamford even quotes my husband in The Body of Secrets), is that perhaps these SPY programs, directed against nations that are no longer really a threat to the United States, may backfire and cause yet another Cold War. Followed by a Hot War. We Mexicans are also concerned about this. Remember, we are just across the border from the Rio Grande River. Books of this nature should be read and thought about very carefully by all concerned World Citizens. Truth should never be hidden. If we do not learn from our mistakes, then the next one could be the Big One. Silvia Rosa Garcés de Reed
Rating:
Summary: Body of Secrets
Review: This book is an excellent well-researched book, and I find the criticism of Bamford's account of the attack on USS Liberty by the Israelis is baseless and without any merit. One reader charges that the USS Liberty was attacked because it was providing information to the Egyptians. This can't be further than the truth because the Israelis are financed and armed to the teeth by the USA. Tragically, the torpedos and the bombs that killed 55 USA sailors were supplied by the USA. Another reader charges that the USA was/is silent about the attack on USS Liberty because the Israeli threatened to "blow our cover" to the American people. This is a fanciful and pathetic explanation. The fact remains, and every informed person knows this fact, that the USA goverment was silent about this attack because, sadly, both the Executive and the Legislative branches of the US Goverment are hostoges and fearful of the entrenched pro-Israeli Lobby. How else can we explain the fact that the rest of the World (including the Europeans) are all criticizing the Israeli human right violations of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories; whereas the USA stands alone in the UN Nation in vetoing any resolution that condemns the Israeli's behaviour?!
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Summary: Intentionally Falsifying History
Review: [Conspiracy] theorist James Bamford once again charges that Israel intentionally and knowingly attacked a US spy ship, the USS Liberty, during the 1967 Six Day War. He claims to have uncovered new evidence, but the charges in Body of Secrets directly parallel demonstrably false charges Bamford leveled in his earlier book, The Puzzle Palace. Neither Bamford's charges nor his "new evidence" are credible--at all. On the absolutely key point of motive, Bamford argues in Puzzle Palace that Israel attacked the Liberty on June 8th to prevent the US from knowing the extent of Israeli victories in the war and to prevent the imposition of a cease-fire: "By Wednesday, June 7, nearly all [Arab] resistance had been eliminated. Nevertheless, an essential element in the Israeli war plan was complete secrecy about all the details of the true extent of the Israeli penetration into Arab territory as well as the size and scope of its military victories. Vital to the Israeli strategy was the prevention, for as long as possible, of any cease-fire imposed by any of the superpowers." (The Puzzle Palace, p. 221-222) The theory falls apart, however, in the face of the facts: The very DAY of the Liberty attack, June 8, 1967, banner headlines in the New York Times literally screamed the news: Israelis Rout the Arabs, Approach Suez, Break Blockade, Occupy Old Jerusalem; Agree to U.N. Cease-fire; U.A.R. Rejects It (New York Times, June 8, 1967). Some secret. Does Mr. Bamford really think those clever Israelis somehow prevented the President and his advisers from noticing these headlines? Does anyone? Another key point: Israel accepted the U.N. cease-fire while the U.A.R. (ie, Egypt and Syria) rejected it. Other passages hinting at Bamford's extreme animus for Israel perhaps explain why he would publish such nonsense. Numerous apparently careless errors undermine his believability. Merely consulting old newspapers demolishes Bamford's conspiracy theories. If that does not convince you, consult Michael B. Oren's magnificent article on the USS Liberty in the Spring 2000 issue of Azure--available online. Case closed.
Rating: 
Summary: Another conduit for disinformation
Review: Although the account rendered for the fate of the USS Liberty may agree with the one given by the crew, a much more believable and plausible report was given in the book, "The Secret War Against the Jews", by John Loftus & Mark Aarons. In it they convey that the Liberty was under the control of the NSA at the time of the attack, and was intercepting, translating and organizing the communication of the Israeli armed forces. They were then transmitting that intelligence to the Arab forces. In what was clearly a surgical strike that targetted the area of the vessel that held the communication equipment and the transmission devices on deck, the Israelis neutralized what had become an enemy vessel jeopardizing the very existence of their nation. When challenged by our government, the Israelis threatened to 'blow our cover' to our own people. That's why we did not make an issue out of it at the time or since. In reporting the incident in this manner, Mr. Bamford gives life to the NSA cover-up of the event. They must be having a great laugh back at shop.
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Summary: In response to another "Reader Review"
Review: While I haven't completed reading Bamford's new book, the recounting of the USS Liberty story is fully consistent with all the facts previously recorded by the Captain and crew of the Liberty, and other military sources. It could not have been other than a deliberate assault on a virtually defenseless ship, an electronic surveillance ship, by an ally, Israel. Hard to believe, and the motive for the attack has been persistently denied by Israel, who officially call it a case of mistaken identity. There has never been a detailed investigation. Bamford has provided new, corroborative evidence that supports the survivors version which should make such an investigation mandatory. Excellent book, a deep-inside look at an agency most of us would have considered too "James Bondish" to be real.
Rating:
Summary: Body Of Secrets
Review: Mr. Bamford has given the public a honest and fair look at the NSA.I was very interested in the USS Liberty part of the book. I was a crew member on the Liberty at the time of the Isralie attack and Mr. Bameord is dead on target with his reporting.I learned things that I never new befor and I thank him for that. All Americans need to read this book...
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