The first 160+ pages are devoted to petty office politics and interpersonal squabbles, which I think gives a petty good indication of the sort of work you're in for.

After that as things begin to get into motion Wooward acts more as a court historian, or unofficial biographer of William Casey, presenting the administration and agency official views and justifications for their illicit acts and deals with monsters that was the hallmark of the 1980s never contradicting them and rarely challenging.

A highlight for me was the revelation that Casey and many administration officials were devoted to the writings of Claire Sterling: they were absolutely convinced by her claims about a worldwide Soviet conspiracy that was centrally coordinating all revolutions, terrorist groups, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul, etc. They refused to believe an internal review of her work by CIA analysts that concluded her claims were not only unsupported but that some of her sources were in fact *stories that the CIA had itself planted in the foreign press*. I highlight this minor episode because it is one of the few times critical analysis of what was going on is presented to the reader.

The rest of the book reminded me of a line from The Grapes of Wrath: "a communist is any man who wants 10 cents an hour when we're paying 5 cents." ( )

Woodward provides deep journalism on the work of the US Central Intelligence Agency, "CIA". President Ronald ("Nancy") Reagan appointed William J. Casey as DCI ("Director of Intelligence"). The book covers the period of Casey's service from 1981 to 1987 when he was forced to resign.

Casey was DIA Director and responsible for the dramatic expansion of programs unprecedented in American traditions: He conducted (1) Covert wars, involving actual boots on the ground, and (2) Disinformation campaigns, which deliberately lied to the American people and destroyed the Congressional oversight required by the Constitution. The unauthorized wars, and disinformation, coupled with clandestine relationships with both domestic and foreign powers created "time bombs" with both immediate and long-term effects. Woodward documents the conduct as well as the harmful impacts.

I was left with the conviction that the Reagan administration was not only left un-informed, because of a failure of intelligence, but was also deliberately and intentionally subverting the Constitutional structure of oversight and rules of law.

The specifics revealed by Woodward are convincing. He enjoyed access to Casey himself in numerous interviews, even long after he had resigned in disgrace and was dying in the hospital. Morever, since the book was written, the data has been largely corroborated by writers whose work is more associated with "history" than with Woodward's "journalism", such as Kessler ("CIA at War"), and admissions by Wm Donnelly, the CIA Head of Administration.

The entire Reagan administration came under scrutiny and most of the officials at the highest levels were convicted of perjury and other felonies. Many of these crimes were enabled or solicited by Casey, and Iran-Contra was only the tip of an iceberg of expensive and wrongful abuses of power.

Woodward had the opportunity to meet with Casey after the facts and cover-ups had been exposed, hoping there would be "an admission of some kind or an apology" acknowledging the damage or his understanding. [506] "It hurts", Casey said. "What you don't know." ( )

2105 Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987, by Bob Woodward (read 30 Oct 1987) This is a journalistic work and one doesn't know how much to believe, but it is fascinating reading. It revolves around Bill Casey, who served six years as head of the CIA--1981 to 1987. He was a dedicated and unusual man, but he sure never hesitated about means. The book of course ends with the Iran/Contra affair, which I watched so much testimony about. ( )