THE SUPER SPIES: More Secret, More Powerful than the CIA

by Andrew Tully ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 1969

Taxpayer, have a sedative at hand when you read how your four billion a year is supporting a gaggle of U.S. espionage agencies which, by massive non-coordination, produces competition, confusion, and indeed, some notable achievements. Tully outlines the operations of the Pentagon's National Security Agency (NSA), which runs the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), an amalgam of all armed forces spy forces; the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) and, well down the list, the CIA and FBI. Best marks go to the DIA, which predicted the Israel/Egypt war on the nose and well in advance and called the 1968 Tet offensive in Viet Nam brilliantly while the CIA said no attacks were planned. He applauds the rising influence of State in the overall espionage effort, downgrades the CIA as ineffectual and the FBI for exceeding its boundaries and urges much closer Congressional scrutiny of the whole business. Despite his tendency to slip into a style reminiscent of Dragnet, Tully offers some intriguing incidentals.

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION