Prados, John. Presidents' Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations from World War II Through Iranscam. New York: William Morrow (Quill), 1988. 560 pages.

This 1988 paperback edition was expanded to include the Iran-contra scandals. The strength of this book is that it presents a straightforward overview of CIA and Pentagon secret paramilitary operations in various parts of the world since the beginning of the Cold War. Unlike many similar books, Prados does this without using anecdotes, and without dwelling on the personalities of particular players. While not comprehensive, it covers Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia, Tibet, Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam and Laos. The chapters on Bill Casey and Iran-contra are skimpy at best.

This book deals with secret paramilitary operations, and ignores the massive covert efforts in propaganda and surveillance, influence peddling, funding of institutions, connections to drug smugglers, money laundering, organized crime, the politicization of intelligence analysis, the role of assassinations, and the effectiveness of counterintelligence. These are more important than your garden-variety paramilitary operation, which is sanctioned by the President and rarely a secret (at least not to the other side). This book needs a chapter explaining that these other activities are easier to hide from the President and Congress, and perhaps more threatening to democracy and enduring in their effects, than Presidential secret wars.
ISBN 0-688-07759-5

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