
Intelligence Officer’s Bookshelf - sp332
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/intelligence-officer2019s-bookshelf.html
======
revscat
This is interesting, although the editorial comments are not particularly
surprising given the source. e.g.:

"Throughout this chapter and the next, 'The Harm of Surveillance,' Greenwald
emphasizes the coincidence of his judgments and values with those of Snowden.
He also links Snowden’s upbringing and checkered employment history as
justification for his decision to proceed as he did rather than follow
official whistle-blower procedures."

Snowden's stated reasons for not going through official channels, and
Greenwald's reporting of this, were based upon the NSA's prior treatment of
whistleblowers, specifically William Benney and Thomas Drake[1]. The
surveillance agencies believe that all information collection is desirable,
justified and, because of the public's ignorance of the threats posed,
necessarily secret. Like most organizations, insiders who push for changes are
met with varying degrees of resistance.

[1] [http://www.npr.org/2014/07/22/333741495/before-snowden-
the-w...](http://www.npr.org/2014/07/22/333741495/before-snowden-the-
whistleblowers-who-tried-to-lift-the-veil)

~~~
cryoshon
The editorials should be read as propaganda targeted toward the CIA's staff
who will consume these documents. The critical giveaway here is the phrase
"checkered employment history". Snowden's employment history isn't checkered,
it was a clear upward trajectory, starting at the very bottom.

It's to their benefit to form their propaganda in a very dry "factual"
sounding way such that it can more easily dodge the perception of bias. Of
course, it's merely a biased presentation of some facts and
twisting/fabrication of others in a way that favors the agency.

~~~
sremani
Especially given the "checkered employment history" he worked at CIA with
security clearance.

~~~
AnkhMorporkian
The CIA can pass the buck there as the FBI conducts clearance investigations.
The CIA does do additional screening for access to certain information, but if
it's anything like most other agencies then they likely trust the FBI's
judgement on non-sensitive positions that only need collateral clearance.

~~~
vonmoltke
Actually, the CIA runs its own background investigations, as well as those for
the ODNI. Additionally, Snowden was cleared through the DOD contractor process
which means he was investigated by either DSS or OPM initially, depending on
when he got his initial clearance.

------
dmix
If you're interested in the (modern) history of spycraft I highly recommend
Allen Dulles 'The Craft of Intelligence':

[http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Intelligence-Legendary-
Fundament...](http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Intelligence-Legendary-Fundamentals-
Gathering/dp/1592282970/)

It was written by the first CIA director in the 1950s and is part memoir and
part look into the structure of the early intelligence world.

I find looking back at the beginning of something is necessary to understand
the current state and this book lays a good foundation for understanding how
the CIA grew and evolved. It's particularly interesting how even back then it
started out of paranoia and suspicion of all ideas that were an affront to the
American Dream. More than just out of simply the need for a national defense
mechanism.

Famous operations sound quite different from the perspective of the leaders
who ran them. Than what you might find in the media or documentaries.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Dulles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Dulles)

~~~
bradleysmith
I've read OF Dulles, but this one escaped me. thanks for the share.

For more of the nuts and bolts of modern operations, I suggest 'Intelligence:
From Secrets to Policy' by Mark Lowenthal.

[http://www.amazon.com/Intelligence-Secrets-Policy-Mark-
Lowen...](http://www.amazon.com/Intelligence-Secrets-Policy-Mark-
Lowenthal/dp/1608716759)

I also appreciate the foundations and history, but this is a great
introduction to the tasking, training, mindset, and goals of modern
intelligence operations. He's updated for post-9/11 and post DHS splintering
of the IC as well.

------
clamprecht
Wow, here's a quote from their summary of one of the books:

    
    
      Each of these books about the Snowden affair covers the 
      basics of Snowden’s broken family life, his half-finished 
      education, his political beliefs, and his devotion to the 
      Internet.

~~~
gnu8
It belies the attitude of the typical intelligence official that they believe
an education is something that is finished and then you learn no more.

~~~
waterlesscloud
Which is why they have a Bookshelf page.

------
PaulHoule
Funny thing is the CIA never includes this book in their lists

[http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Company-Diary-Philip-
Agee/dp/08...](http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Company-Diary-Philip-
Agee/dp/0883730286)

~~~
arethuza
Or Robert Baer's books (which had a fictionalized form in the movie _Syriana_
).

His _See No Evil_ goes into a lot of detail about the training and day to day
work of a CIA case officer:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_No_Evil_%28book%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_No_Evil_%28book%29)

~~~
mcguire
That looks really interesting; I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

However, I suspect that Baer may be out of touch with US post-cold-war
national security issues.

" _The final section of the memoir deals with Baer 's experience with oil
politics in Washington, and the extended reach granted to oil's agenda by the
politically fixated and strategically oblivious American government. At one
point, Baer is stunned at being asked to approve the sale of a sophisticated
American defense weapon to a former Soviet-bloc country as an incentive for
participating in an oil deal, while that same country had recently obstructed
the investigation of the murder of an American diplomat on their soil._"

~~~
bradleysmith
His 'Sleeping with the Devil' on the US-Saudi connection was pretty damning
for its time too. No pun intended.

[http://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Devil-Washington-Saudi-
Crude/...](http://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Devil-Washington-Saudi-
Crude/dp/1400052688)

I grew up in Saudi, and got my undergraduate degree in intelligence studies.
From my perspective, Baer was quite in touch with modern politics. A bit
bombastic, but always a seemingly strong understanding of the political
landscape.

------
rurban
>> Snowden’s acts were justified because he chose to seek “reform of the
surveillance state,” (248) and journalists have the absolute right to be the
final arbiters of what to publish. Greenwald’s often bitter ad hominem
rationale for this is unlikely to be the last word on the subject.

Interesting comments from the other angle. As they are just waiting for
prosecution.

~~~
thrownaway2424
Greenwald's book is a long series of winces and groans. It's just awful the
way he indulges his vengeful, bitter side. Maybe you'd like to know things
about the Snowden affair but reading them via Greenwald just has to be the
worst possible way to get that knowledge.

~~~
shitgoose
What is the second worst?

~~~
thrownaway2424
A tight race! Hacker News maybe?

------
tlogan
Interesting list. And if this is really the list I can see why CIA have hard
time doing what it should be doing: National Intelligence Agency. There is
nothing written by Russian authors from communist area, nothing written by
Muslim extremists, no books written by Nazis, etc. I was assume the list will
be combination of books from all over the world - especially books written by
past and current adversaries.

But this is probably not the official list for agents. I would love to see the
official list.

------
hackuser
My impression is that this isn't an official CIA reading list. It's one
edition of a regular book review article that appears in each issue of the
journal Studies in Intelligence.

[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intellig...](https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies)

------
rrggrr
If controversy or Agency efforts to censor or block publication is something
you view as a badge of authenticity and information value then:

The Human Factor (Jones): [http://www.amazon.com/Human-Factor-Dysfunctional-
Intelligenc...](http://www.amazon.com/Human-Factor-Dysfunctional-Intelligence-
Culture-
ebook/dp/B003XU7IF4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416601140&sr=8-3&keywords=human+factor)

Loose Lips (Berlinski): [http://www.amazon.com/Loose-Lips-Novel-Claire-
Berlinski-eboo...](http://www.amazon.com/Loose-Lips-Novel-Claire-Berlinski-
ebook/dp/B004SOVAGC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416601184&sr=8-1&keywords=loose+lips+berlinski)

Rift Zone (Hillhouse): [http://www.amazon.com/Rift-Zone-Raelynn-Hillhouse-
ebook/dp/B...](http://www.amazon.com/Rift-Zone-Raelynn-Hillhouse-
ebook/dp/B003J5UI8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416601212&sr=8-1&keywords=rift+zone+hillhouse)

------
Immortalin
Is there any modern book/guide on spycraft and carrying out intelligence
operations in general instead of just a history?

------
gnu8
I wonder if CIA personnel are actually forbidden from reading or possessing
some of the Snowdrn related books. If they contained any leaked classified
material, that would be a violation for anyone possessing a security
clearance.

~~~
jackweirdy
I remember reading an article that said military bases began blocking the
Guardian, as most information was still classified and despite being public
soldiers weren't allowed to read it.

I think it was this one: [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/01/us-
military-blo...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/01/us-military-
blocks-guardian-troops)

~~~
logfromblammo
That's not just closing the barn door after the horse has fled, but beating
any others that may have died in the escape attempt.

It is also completely true. As you might expect, .mil unclassified public
networks are still strictly controlled and monitored, with all the invasive
filters and MitM certificates you could ask for. I recall seeing mass-
distribution e-mails "reminding" cleared personnel that they should not even
be visiting WikiLeaks or Guardian.co.uk using their own equipment when they
return home from work.

They actually expected people who saw classified material distributed from the
web on their home computers to call and report it, so that the "spillage"
experts could examine every bit of their privately owned hardware and
permanently delete the classified material. It sounds ridiculous, but they
were completely serious.

I cannot even imagine the sort of brain damage that would allow a person to
have such an expectation.

------
Alupis
interesting to see the CIA's ssl cert is still SHA1.

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4rt
the whole point of this list is paragraph 1

