The
American CIA has become everyone’s bête noir. Even recently I read that one
writer proclaimed that the CIA took control over the missing Malaysian
Airlines plane and landed in Diego Garcia, abducting 20 computer boffins
from the passengers and assassinating the rest!
“The Way of the Knife” (ISBN978-0-14-312501-3, Penguin, 2014) was written by
Mark Mazzetti, a Pulitzer prize winning correspondent for the New York
Times, who covers the CIA, an espionage service which grew to be a shadowy
para-military agency.
A few weeks ago, I reviewed the book “I am Malala” the biography of the
young Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban. This book, “The Way of the
Knife” makes understanding of the young girl’s situation even more
understandable, and poignant. The way of life in tribal Pakistan is quite
different from that of the western world. The culture is quite foreign to
the mind of the West. However, even though the culture of the Pashtuns in
Pakistan is such that accommodation must be found for the al Qaeda fighters
from Afghanistan, the culture stops short of not exploiting the situation to
charge inflated rents from the fighters as well. (One should be wary of more
than just Greeks bearing gifts it would seem.)
Interrogation in hidden (foreign country) jails is shown with the
development of torture techniques such as water-boarding being used by CIA
operatives, away from prying eyes. It is claimed that there was one of these
secret establishments in Bangkok.
Blackwater emerges as an outsourced ‘army’ capable of everything from
surveillance to loading bombs on Predator killer drones. Highly profitable
and aware of the need for secrecy, including this prize piece of information
sourced from an email from Blackwater to the Drug Enforcement Agency
“Deniability is built in and should be a big plus.”
Where did the Somali warlords get their military hardware and 200,000 US
dollars for each? From the CIA operating out of Kenya, that’s where. Author
Mazzetti then delves further and demonstrates just how Islamic radicalism
then spread through Yemen, Somalia and to other countries. From there it was
but a small step to involve other countries by backing their military
hardware and literally getting these countries to fight the war the CIA
wanted, but could now do so at long distance.
The money that the CIA managed to burn was just scandalous, with for
example, $80 million to begin a TV station in Iraq, which never managed to
eclipse Al Jazeera, and contractors walking off without being paid.
The CIA was able to think outside the box with the arms-length warfare,
including video games beamed to Iraqi youth. Very devious!
At B. 605 in Bookazine, I found this a fascinating and very well researched
book, which has the capacity to change your way of thinking regarding the
position that America holds as a world authority. Is the US the world’s
policeman? Does the US have the integrity expected of a world’s policeman?
And where does the CIA see itself in all this? Read this book first and “I
am Malala” afterwards. You will not regret it.
