Kessler deals with each of the CIA's four directorates (operations,
science and technology, intelligence, administration), as well as the Office
of the Director, in five separate sections of the book. He blends a bit of
historical context (including some dirty laundry) with a description of
day-to-day operations, and the result is worthwhile even for those of us
who have read dozens of books about the CIA. But after noting on page 125
that "at least 80 percent" of the information used by the analysts in the
Directorate of Intelligence is from open sources, we'd like to see another
chapter on how the Directorate of Operations can be justified in the first
place -- particularly since it was never part of the CIA's original charter
(page 301), and it means we cannot complain about KGB moles without invoking
a double standard. But that's a chapter Kessler isn't ready to write.
ISBN 0-671-73458-X
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