See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism
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See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86  ·  rating details  ·  1,348 ratings  ·  160 reviews
In his explosive New York Times bestseller, top CIA operative Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides startling evidence of how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA’s efforts to root out the world’s deadliest terrorists, allowing for the rise of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the continued entrenchment of Saddam Hussein in...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published January 7th 2003 by Three Rivers Press (first published January 17th 2002)
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Aaron Crossen
Aaron Crossen rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: memoirs
Revealing look at the decline of the CIA in the 80s and 90s through the eyes of an old-school operations officer, Bob Baer.

Baer argues - largely through firsthand experience - that the CIA, in the simplest terms possible, bowed to political pressure of all sorts, sent idiots overseas to collect intelligence, and basically forgot what its job was and how to do it. After the Cold War, the CIA - and thus, the US - has virtually no idea what was going on in the world. This almost comple...more
Steven
Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars
In many instances the difference between perception & reality is minor; when it comes to the CIA it’s enormous. Any ideas of some rogue agent crisscrossing borders, kidnapping, & developing dangerous liaisons are shattered after reading See No Evil by Robert Baer. Instead what you encounter is an agency that achieves vast amounts of public hatred because of the past and private confusion going toward the future. Robert Baer is a reliable, informed, & considerate agent. According to the text th...more
Winmonroe
See No Evil - Robert Baer 9/10 (non-fiction)

This is the book that "inspired" the movie Syriana, whatever that means because it is nothing like Syriana other than the main character is a badass from the CIA with a white house that hinders the agency's search for terrorism in order to protect oil. The other thing in common with the movie was that the book was a terrific complex and thoroughly exciting look into the middle east. The first half is a look into how CIA agents bec...more
Brian
Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars
Anyone who saw the movie "Syriana" has some idea of the book. Bob Baer is a solid voice of reason in our chaotic war on terror. And he has told it how he saw it on the ground. The deemphasis of solid, human-to-human intelligence has left the U.S. at it's weakest and September 11th only proved it. Bob Baer's excellent critique in this very brief memoir has layed open what the community was when he joined, and then how it devolved into what it is now.

I usually do not get of...more
Cramer Williams
An interesting story about Robert Baer. He was a hippie turned CIA field agent in Europe and mostly the middle east. The book was a lot slower than I thought it would be and walked through his individual contacts that he used to "run". He explains various accounts of plots to overthrow heads of states and plans to foil them, with a few of these ending up in a giant mess, Baer barely escaping with his life.

All in all, it was interesting to see the inner-workings of a field ...more
Ron
Ron rated it 3 of 5 stars
Robert Baer was a case officer in the Directorate of Operations for the CIA from 1976-1997. He served in places such as Iraq, Dushanbe, Rabat, Beirut, Khartoum, and New Delhi. A compelling account of America's failed efforts to 'listenin' on the rest of the world. A chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides startling evidence of how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA's efforts to root out the world's deadliest terrorists, allowing the for rise of Osama bin Laden an...more
Ryan
Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars
Reading this right now... This was loaned to me by Pam's Uncle Dan, so I thought it might just end up collecting dust in my office until he asked for it back. But since I glanced at the intro, I haven't been able to put it down...

Excellent account of a CIA foot soldier in the Middle East during the transition to modern Islamic terrorism and the lead-up to 9/11. Great to see all the stupid mistakes we made, and also makes me a little glad (and at the same time a little sad) that I ...more
Steve
Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars
Very interesting description of life coming up as a CIA agent in the 70's and 80's. Baer goes on to describe the decline of the CIA spy networks after the fall of the Soviet Union when the home office in Langley, VA begins to succomb to the affects of politcal correctness and US government corruption.

The narrative, particularly early on in the book, provides an exciting look into how the CIA developed its agents and how those agents in turn developed local contacts around the world....more
AJ
AJ rated it 4 of 5 stars
If you've ever wondered if spies still do any actual spying, See No Evil should clear that question right up. Robert Baer spent more than twenty years in the CIA recruiting and running agents is some very iffy places. It's interesting to see where the CIA censor have blacked out parts of this book. Not nearly as much as I would have guessed. Baer is pretty pissed at a lot of people in the CIA, and even more people in D.C., but after reading this book, I can understand why. Completely fascinating...more
Mike
Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: Serious students of Middle East politics and terrorism.
Don't expect this book to be anything like the movie Syriana. Although the movie was enjoyable in its own right, the book upon shich the movie is loosely based is much deeper and more thought-provoking. After reading it you can fully appreciate (if not truly understand) the head-in-the-sand attitude that has permeated US intelligence toward the Middle East, and the still-flawed attitude of the establishment toward terrorism.

Also, don't expect to be able to sleep soundly with a se...more
Arthur
Bob Baer's autobiography, with a focus on his time as a front-line CIA operative in the Middle East. His thesis is that the CIA is failing because of its loss of interest in human intelligence, its focus on eye in the sky intelligence and its internal politicization, at the expense of listening to field-based truth tellers.

Lots of war stories, name dropping and repeating his points above almost every chapter. During his time in the CIA, no one foresaw the collapse of the soviet union, ...more
fyc
fyc rated it 4 of 5 stars
This book was the inspiration for the George Clooney movie, Syriana. The movie doesn't come until the end of the book which is most likely why the movie just didn't make sense to me and given that inspired me to read the book. The first 2/3 of the book gives background information that makes the movie make sense. After reading it, I know understand why we still haven't gotten Osama bin Laden and even why it appears that we don't even know where he is. It also explains why we decided to jump ...more
Ben
Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Ben by: Jr
Shelves: non-fiction
A very interesting look at the life of a CIA agent who spent a fair amount of time in some of the world's hot spots. The book is divided into three main sections--his early life and entry into the CIA, his time in the field as an agent, and his time back in the US dealing with politics and bureaucracy.

Baer obviously feels very let down by both the CIA and the US government in his attempts to fight terrorism. While part of me wonders how much of that is a stubborn individual raili...more
Noelle
Noelle rated it 3 of 5 stars
Nonfiction, which is rare for me. This book is about Robert Baer's 20 years in the CIA, and his take on how it changed and declined during that period, moving from OSS-style adventures and effective intelligence gathering to a new, hyper sensitive and politically correct CIA that has no idea what's going on in the Middle East. It was fun to read for the spy stories set all over the world, including obscure and random locations like Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The stories were compelling, but the pr...more
Jamey McMillen
This book was truly eye opening about the CIAs inability to stop terror attacks after the cold war due to our politicians as told by Robert Baer, a case officer who gathered intelligence in some of the real armpits of the world. It also gives insight into the terror networks of the middle east and how they are connected and who funds them. It reads like a detective novel tracing the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Beirut all the way up to the September 11th attacks and how we saw it coming for at...more
Jon
Jon rated it 3 of 5 stars
I'm not sure a review can be properly made after so long a stretch since I've finished the book. More properly in review is the fortitude of my memory and the scruple of my conscious, rather than Baer. But from a nagging need for completeness I want to add something to this space.

Baer's book is a memoir of sorts of his career at the CIA. And in one sense you could say the book traces the path of a youthful, naive CIA agent at its beginning; and there through as he grows more disencha...more
Simon Cleveland
I became interested in this book after watching Syriana when at the end of the movie a post-script announced "...based on the book See No Evil by Robert Baer." Naturally I became interested in learning about the truth behind the fiction.

The movie is largely based on one of the many cases during the author's long career as a CIA agent (this one was related to his experience with a shady investment figure from the Washington lobbying community and closely connected with Clin...more
Isis
Isis rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: memoir, politics
A well-written, thoughtful, and incisive indictment of the CIA by a former operations officer (who now lives in the mountains about 50 miles from me). Baer essentially charges that during the 80s and 90s, the CIA became overly politicized and lost sight of its basic intelligence-gathering and analytical mission. He shows through his own experiences the blundering course the US took in the Middle East; I felt a bit as though I was looking over the shoulder of the Captain of the Titanic, knowing...more
Steve
Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars
“Apply to the CIA.”

Those words, spoken by Robert Baer’s post-college roommate in the mid-1970s, were the beginning of his 20-year odyssey through the bowels of America’s intelligence apparatus. The son of an adventurous, impulsive mother, Baer traveled the world as a child and attended Georgetown University, ending up without any real clue as to what his career goals were. It’s ironic that Baer really joined the CIA, at least initially, almost as a goof. In time, as he states in his...more
Sean
Sean rated it 3 of 5 stars
For those of you who have seen Syriana, Clooney's character is allegedly based on Baer. But what I got out of this book was not the story of a good solider who believed in democracy and was thwarted by dark forces in Washington. Instead, I got the story of a C.I.A. cowboy who most likely did more harm than good in the region and was thwarted in his attempts at further meddling in the Middle East by the incompetence of the suits at Langley.

This books isn't Syriana. Its a memoir of one...more
Marcus
Marcus rated it 3 of 5 stars
This was an eye-opening book. The main thing I got from it is that the CIA of today isn't the CIA of 25 years ago. Much more emphasis is placed on internal politics, satellite photos and CYA than on on-the-ground intelligence gathering and that it's going to keep costing us lives and liberties until something changes.

The book was sort of an inverse sandwich. The tastiest parts were closest to the front and back covers and the meat that should have been in the middle was filled with a...more
Will
Baer was a bona fide spook, a case officer placed in many of the hottest spots in the world. He is outraged at the failure of intelligence that allowed a 9/11 to happen, and goes into why it was possible for that to have occurred. Baer theorizes that there is indeed a strong relationship between Arafat, AL-Qaeda, Iranian fundamentalists and the other terrorist entities of the region. He talks about the massive decline in human intelligence (humint) as the US seemed to have mostly gotten out of ...more
Jonathan
I listened to an audiobook of this which was narrated by the author. This made for a narration which had vibrancy reminiscent of an author reading aloud his own work. To be less circular (and if you can't say something nice, say something roundabout), it was a bit flat.

The material is quite interesting and weaves a clear historical line through the decades preceding September 11, 2001, including the immediate aftermath, by following the career of one C.I.A. agent. Some revelations do...more
Nate Cooley
I had figured for the last little while that our intelligence apparatus was in pretty bad shape. However, I never guessed that the things Robert Baer describes actually happened. As a former top-notch agent in the DO, Baer presents this book as a memoir but also in a way in which he exposes some of the blantant shortcomings of today's "PC" CIA. The book is especially prescient considering the attacks of September 11th. Baer seems to be making a subtle argument (without actually saying ...more
Marius van Blerck
An excellent real-life narrative of life as a CIA operative in the decades leading to 9/11. You can't miss Bob Baer's message, since he repeats it so often, on the importance of on-the-ground operatives for intelligence, rather than relying on high-tech means alone. He also has interesting insights into the political correctness that paralysed the CIA after the Iran contra affair. I experienced this tale as an audiobook, superbly narrated by Sean Barrett. Man, is this Barrett guy good or what!
Kate Schindler
I seem to keep reading books by, say "the one agent/guy with integrity against the big evil/uncaring institution," and it makes me skeptical. I mean, I'm as anti-the-Man as the next libertarian, but I can't help wondering how biased these guys are and what ACTUALLY happened. So I liked the book a lot, and I appreciated the historical background, but I'm not totally sure about it.
Adam
Adam rated it 3 of 5 stars
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Ann
Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars
Really interesting stuff about what CIA operatives actually do. His time in Beirut was particularly fascinating. Baer is appalled at the CIA's recent emphasis on electronic spying rather than "Humint," and is scornful of those who have never been in the field. He quit the agency eventually. This book is said to be the basis for the film Syriana.
Ted
Ted rated it 4 of 5 stars
The CIA from an insiders prospective. A true account of how the CIA has become a "toothless wonder" due to Washington's "Politically Correct" atmosphere. Baer takes you through his career as a CIA street officer; his recuitment, training, successes, mistakes, and close calls. If you like Tom Clancy novels, you'll love this because IT'S ALL TRUE!
Donna
Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars
Not a great literary work, but rings true, especially the part about Tajikistan. This fits with other books I've read - Afghanistan the Untold Story, etc - the US was over there looking for a way to get a pipeline through Afghanistan to tap huge oil reserves in Tajikistan. Oil rules the world and it is about to tighten it's grip.
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See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism (Hardcover)
See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism (Paperback)
See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism (Hardcover)
See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism (Kindle Edition)
See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's Counterterrorism Wars (Audio CD)

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