The book states that the CIA is not much better than other foreign intelligence services or even worse. Now what I want to ask to the author is when he has been to other foreign intelligence services if he can gauge their performance so well. He writes as if he had open access to foreign intelligence angencies. If that's the case then he should be tried for being a double agent! The book is not balanced at all and some parts of the book is unfair to the CIA. Most of all I think he is so focused on the negatives that he distorts the whole picture. I don't know why balance is lost in these writers. Most of all the publishers support this kind of books to make money. Yes the CIA has made mistakes but they do good things too. The book lack balance so it may be shocking and dramatic to read but I am not sure whether it has any value or substance.

The book points out one important lesson that the US should learn..

( At the root of this failure of intelligence was "our national ignorance of Vietnamese history, society, and language,")

- Richard Helm

Similar statements repeat through out the book. I totally agree with it. I recently attended a talk given by a Chinese student. He said that the developing countries know more about the US then the US know about them. I thought it was a very insightful statement made by such a young student.

Yes the book seems unfair to me and it's not so constructive. The above stamens is the gem of the book, however. I want to find out who was the sponsor of the book. That will make a very investigative story too but I guess it will be hard to find a sponsor for a story like that.. If only I could win a jackpot I think I will just do that.