gnu@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (John Gilmore) (04/12/89)
From: hoptoad!gnu@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (John Gilmore)
I found a review of this book in the Oct 88 "Military Intelligence"
magazine (which is slightly interesting in and of itself -- it's
$6.50/yr for 4 issues, from the Government Printing Office, ISSN
0026-4028). Quoted without comment:
THE CIA and the US Intelligence System, by Scott D. Breckinridge; Boulder
CO: Westview Press, Inc; 1986, 364 pages, $33.
Scott Breckinridge spent 26 years with the CIA and was twice awarded its
Distinguished Intelligence Medal. This book was written to provide a
textbook for a course on the intelligence community taught by the author
at the Univ. of Kentucky.
The entire book is well written and verifies the length and breadth of
his service in the intelligence community. It is refreshing to read a
book that is bolstered by experience that included sevice as a CIA
liason to foreign intelligence agencies and as a Deputy Inspector
General for CIA.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers the reader a good
foundation of knowledge about the founding and organization of the CIA,
especially its outgrowth from the Office of Strategic Service (OSS)
after World War II. In light of the fact that only five percent of the
government intelligence budget goes to the CIA (the reminader being
given to DOD intelligence agencies), public attention is constantly
focused on the CIA with the role of DOD agencies being downplayed in the
media. He provides a well-researched examination of the National
Security Council and a deep examination of the role of the Director,
Central Intelligence. That role is strictly identified in the founding
charter and further redefined in additional Executive Orders. Of
particular value to the non-intelligence community reader would be
Breckinridge's examination of the interrelationship of DOD agencies and
the CIA.
Part 2 is very interesting in that the author scores a number of
"firsts" in his examination of collection management, including
technical collection; overt and clandestine collection; secrecy
activities and techniques and covert/paramilitary operations. These
areas have not been openly examined at this length in any nonclassified
publication familiar to this reviewer. The book also looks at the
National Photographic Interpretation Center, the Air Force Technical
Intelligence Center and the role of the Army's Edgewood Arsenal.
The author makes his best contribution in Part 3, entitled
"Considerations Affecting Intelligence". During the 1975-76 Church
Committee Hearings on intelligence, the author was a CIA representative
to the committee and his thoughts and insights into the role of
intelligence in American policy are intriguing. Chapters include
"Intelligence under American Law", "Intelligence under International
Law" and "Principles and Standards of Conduct". The author's comments
summarize his thoughts on the agency and its role:
"The sole purpose of foreign intelligence lies in the domain of foreign
affairs and it must be judged in that context. As long as the world
continues in its restless state, the United States will need a complex
and comprehensive intelligence system. Perhaps the most inportant part
of the systm is that, in spite of the differing demands and missions, it
is fair to say it works very well."
One of the problems facing the intelligence community is the public's
misunderstanding of its role in foreign policy and protecting American
interests. This book goes the distance in closing that information gap
and provides, in addition, interesting insights. It is of value to the
intelligence professional or the noncommunity reader.
Capt. Rick Ugino
NYARNG, Rochester, NY.
--
John Gilmore {sun,pacbell,uunet,pyramid,amdahl}!hoptoad!gnu gnu@toad.com
"Use the Source, Luke...."
Copyright 1989 John Gilmore; you may redistribute only if your recipients may.gnu@uunet.UU.NET (John Gilmore) (04/18/89)
From: acad!hoptoad!gnu@uunet.UU.NET (John Gilmore)
I found a review of this book in the Oct 88 "Military Intelligence"
magazine (which is slightly interesting in and of itself -- it's
$6.50/yr for 4 issues, from the Government Printing Office, ISSN
0026-4028). Quoted without comment:
THE CIA and the US Intelligence System, by Scott D. Breckinridge; Boulder
CO: Westview Press, Inc; 1986, 364 pages, $33.
Scott Breckinridge spent 26 years with the CIA and was twice awarded its
Distinguished Intelligence Medal. This book was written to provide a
textbook for a course on the intelligence community taught by the author
at the Univ. of Kentucky.
The entire book is well written and verifies the length and breadth of
his service in the intelligence community. It is refreshing to read a
book that is bolstered by experience that included sevice as a CIA
liason to foreign intelligence agencies and as a Deputy Inspector
General for CIA.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers the reader a good
foundation of knowledge about the founding and organization of the CIA,
especially its outgrowth from the Office of Strategic Service (OSS)
after World War II. In light of the fact that only five percent of the
government intelligence budget goes to the CIA (the reminader being
given to DOD intelligence agencies), public attention is constantly
focused on the CIA with the role of DOD agencies being downplayed in the
media. He provides a well-researched examination of the National
Security Council and a deep examination of the role of the Director,
Central Intelligence. That role is strictly identified in the founding
charter and further redefined in additional Executive Orders. Of
particular value to the non-intelligence community reader would be
Breckinridge's examination of the interrelationship of DOD agencies and
the CIA.
Part 2 is very interesting in that the author scores a number of
"firsts" in his examination of collection management, including
technical collection; overt and clandestine collection; secrecy
activities and techniques and covert/paramilitary operations. These
areas have not been openly examined at this length in any nonclassified
publication familiar to this reviewer. The book also looks at the
National Photographic Interpretation Center, the Air Force Technical
Intelligence Center and the role of the Army's Edgewood Arsenal.
The author makes his best contribution in Part 3, entitled
"Considerations Affecting Intelligence". During the 1975-76 Church
Committee Hearings on intelligence, the author was a CIA representative
to the committee and his thoughts and insights into the role of
intelligence in American policy are intriguing. Chapters include
"Intelligence under American Law", "Intelligence under International
Law" and "Principles and Standards of Conduct". The author's comments
summarize his thoughts on the agency and its role:
"The sole purpose of foreign intelligence lies in the domain of foreign
affairs and it must be judged in that context. As long as the world
continues in its restless state, the United States will need a complex
and comprehensive intelligence system. Perhaps the most inportant part
of the systm is that, in spite of the differing demands and missions, it
is fair to say it works very well."
One of the problems facing the intelligence community is the public's
misunderstanding of its role in foreign policy and protecting American
interests. This book goes the distance in closing that information gap
and provides, in addition, interesting insights. It is of value to the
intelligence professional or the noncommunity reader.
Capt. Rick Ugino
NYARNG, Rochester, NY.
--
John Gilmore {sun,pacbell,uunet,pyramid,amdahl}!hoptoad!gnu gnu@toad.com
"Use the Source, Luke...."
Copyright 1989 John Gilmore; you may redistribute only if your recipients may.