I have mixed feelings about this book.
On one side, you get an interesting story about a former CIA agent, who has a lot of experience and has many fascinating stories to tell.
Especially from a 2023 perspective, it's interesting to read the authors views from 2002. Some theories proved to be right and some not to be true.
On the other side I don't always like how the author jumps from one date and location to the other and makes it difficult to keep all the events connected together. It's a confusing mix of overly detailed and only giving limited information. The parts that were censored by the CIA are a fitting right into that.
For me personally definitely not one of my favorite books, but still worth to read and to expand the horizon for everyone interested in 9/11, the history before it and the CIA.

7.

I got this because I thought it would shed more light on the movie, Syriana. It did not at all. I'm still not sure how that movie was based on this book. But I still love both the movie and the book. The book is a real account of working with the CIA. Fascinating stuff. You have to read it fairly quickly because there are so many names to keep straight.

This is the book the movie 'Syriana' is based on, a true story told by a CIA-agent. Having read the book, I found the movie a little bit disapping to be honest, because only a very small portion is used. The book is quite easy to read and gives an interesting view of the life of a foreign spy or agent. It read like a spy-thriller and at the same time shows the way the US is aggressively interventing in national politics everywhere around the world.

Recommended to anyone who likes thrillers or is interested in US foreign policy.

This book was the basis for the film “Syriana”. If you think that must mean it is just as good as the movie was - you’re wrong.
Of course Baer’s prime qualification is not being a good writer, but being an ex-CIA officer who is a writer. That doesn’t make this book any more readable though. It does at times smell a little conspiratorial, and it is definitely not especially self-reflected. A not uninteresting read, but unless you really want to get into the nitty gritty of international politics of the 90s, I’d recommend watching “Syriana” instead, to get the feel of what this book is trying to convey, without having to sort through the unedited details of it all.

Wonderful facts but not really novel worthy.

A little too technical, slow and not at all like the movie that was supposedly based on it.

Interesting story and unsurprising revelations about political influence. I was worried about the anti-management rhetoric that became evident early on, but it was actually relatively well contained.
The stories are epic; the plot at times hard to follow. Generally quite entertaining.

Be careful what you wish for. in this current environment I guess the author will be happy. The pendulum has swung the other way

Interesting bits of CIA spy reality, some great descriptions of exciting moments in the field, and some (outdated) insight into the real work of an American spy. I enjoyed the book and found it inspiring at times, but oh my, this book is a mess!

It's a mess from the point of view of the structure, that seems to follow the author's career chronologically, but it really doesn't (initially it does, but then later it becomes a description of his thoughts and investigations). Also, I found some parts to be too detailed, while some other parts are too vague and missing some crucial links.

And it is a mess also from the point of view of the content, that goes from being linear and straight forward at times, to being an absolute cluster of information that don't seem to follow any logic at other times.

Now, the cover of the book says the movie "Syriana" was based on this book. Funny thing is, virtually nothing of this book is represented in Syriana. The movie's director talked with Baer and put together the script based on some "chats" that he had with Baer. But the really bad part is where the director said he purposely wanted to make his movie "confusing", because that is how the work of gathering intelligence is. WTH?

God, I hate these artsy-fartsy logics (I'm talking about the director of Syriana here). So now - for example - because a movie is about whale hunting, we need to be pierced through our chest with harpoons? Why? The whole principle is just logically wrong. The artful confusion is not going to help me better understand the world of intelligence at all.

Anyway, I don't know if Baer followed a similar principle while writing his book, but I really don't think so: I think he just wrote a factual book that happens to be a bit unorganized.

The first part of the book is probably the most interesting, where Baer describes his first years in the CIA. Nice to hear how he learned to work with agents in foreign countries, but unfortunately, given that it was a world without the internet, it's all extremely outdated: this book was written in 2001 - 2002, and so many things have changed since.

Towards the end, Baer unveils his “beef”, his open bitterness towards the CIA. His point is pretty much that, while he and a few others were out there risking their lives trying to do proper intelligence work and properly fighting terrorism, people at HQ were more interested in politics and careers. Basically, he was the real deal, while his superiors were ill-advised clowns.

There must be some truth there, and you can certainly feel Baer's honesty and passion in some chapters. After a while though his argument grows a bit dull, because ... isn't any large organization anywhere plagued with politics and careerism at the highest levels of HQ? Plus, again, he is talking about the CIA of the 90's. I have no idea how things are today, but my guess is, the CIA is doing better today - despite having to deal with delusional 'superheroes' like Edward Snowden.

So, overall, I would recommend reading this for some of its historic content, but certainly not as a text to help you understand what the CIA is today and how it operates.

Yes, human beings still need to be in the field, listening, understanding, speaking with locals, but by now the whole world has gone cyber, and it's safe to assume that a massive chunk of the intelligence work has, too.

Reading this book felt like having a friend, Bob (Robert Baer), vent to me about the frustrating bureaucracy and how the CIA was losing its edge—and I could totally see it. It reads like a fictional story due to Bob's point of view and the occasional humour but it covers real historical events. Here are some of my personal takeaways:

- In an era of supposed peace and security, the prevailing mindset prioritized political correctness over operational effectiveness, time and time again. It was sickening and frankly led me to question the CIA’s competence. I’ve lost some respect for the organization, as I believe political correctness should never overshadow the core mission of any institution.

- Even if the boots on the ground have the best judgement, they are hamstrung by the leaders at the top, who are so disconnected that they may not understand the consequences of their actions. I would like to be in an organization that does not curtail communication of negative events to save face, but rather prioritizes transparency and resolving issues as they arise.

- Ultimately, this memoir reflects only one perspective. We don’t get insight into the motivations of other key players, so it’s easy to sympathize with Bob and be critical of others mentioned in the book since everything is filtered through his lens.

- Given the abundance of signs pointing to danger and the ignorance of the top brass, I must agree with the final quote and main premise of the book - "It is the evil we refuse to see, that does us the greatest harm."

CIA agent's memoir starts off promising, but then buries the reader with names and places, without providing much context or background for 70s/80s Middle East.