Book Review
James Bamford’s Spyfail ruffles all the right feathers.
Bamford is best known for his books The Puzzle Palace and The Shadow Factory, both about the National Security Agency. The NSA did not initially know whether to fete or undermine Bamford after he thrust the agency’s secretive activities, such as data mining Americans, into the spotlight.
The CIA is not as indecisive about Spyfail. The agency’s book review in Intelligence in Public Media charges Bamford does not make his case that American counterintelligence has failed, speculating this is due to a pro-Indigenous character flaw: “In his extensive accounts of these undertakings, Bamford’s pro-Palestinian views are striking.”
The Cipher Brief, a website with close ties to the CIA, also argues Bamford treats Israel unfairly: “All intelligence activities are not equally dangerous to U.S. national security…the author’s clear anti-Israeli biases—views abundantly evident in the book—detract from his argument.”
The discomfort expressed by intelligence agencies and aligned media outlets over Spyfail’s well-sourced evidence appears to be a subtle admission Bamford is right.
Exhibit A is the ongoing impunity of Hollywood movie producer and Israeli spy Arnon Milchan, who has long been engaged in espionage and weapons smuggling operations targeting the United States….Read more at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.