Matthew M. Aid

A fast-paced and very interesting (if sometimes just slightly disjointed) overview of America's intelligence community in the years since 9/11, concentrating on the 2008-2011 period leading up to the death of Osama bin Laden. Drawing on the leaked Wikileaks cables plus many interviews with current and former intelligence officials, Aid's book highlights some of the many successes of recent years, while also documenting the continued turf-battles and bureaucratic infighting, the "data crush" brought on by too much data and not enough analysts to explain it, and the serious problem of intelligence personnel leaving the field in droves.

Aid explores the American intelligence community's role in Afghanistan, Pakistan and against the threat of homegrown terrorism most intensively, but also offers shorter summaries of what's happening in the Middle East more broadly, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. He does a very good job of explaining the vast array of different agencies within the intelligence community responsible for various bits and pieces of the puzzle, and I particularly liked a section on the men and women who do this work.

Gives a good sense of the challenges still out there and the work that will never end.… (meer)

Starting with the early years of the AFSA and other organizations, the book is structured chronologically through the last half century, revealing NSA's contributions to national security, military efforts, and intelligence-sharing. Detailing both NSA's successes and failures, politics and technology, and ever-changing challenges, Aid provides an fascinating account of an otherwise mysterious agency. Recently having read Bamford's "Body of Secrets", I appreciated Secret Sentry's logical progression and organization, as well as nearly a decade's worth of updated information. An excellent read.… (meer)