Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 20:16:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rebecca Fenton <rebecca.fenton-AT-excite.com>
Subject: RE: Help me reconstruct.


Here's a book:

"Body of Secrets : Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency from
the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century"
by James Bamford

Amazon.com's review:

Everybody knows about the CIA--the cloak-and-dagger branch of the U.S.
government. Many fewer are familiar with the National Security Agency, even
though it has been more important to American espionage in recent years than
its better-known counterpart. The NSA is responsible for much of the
intelligence gathering done via technology such as satellites and the
Internet. Its home office in Maryland "contains what is probably the largest
body of secrets ever created." 

Little was known about the agency's confidential culture until veteran
journalist James Bamford blew the lid off in 1982 with his bestseller The
Puzzle Palace. Still, much remained in the shadows. In Body of Secrets,
Bamford throws much more light on his subject--and he reveals loads of
shocking information. The story of the U-2 crisis in 1960 is well known,
including President Eisenhower's decision to tell a fib to the public in
order to protect a national-security secret. Bamford takes the story a
disturbing step forward, showing how Eisenhower "went so far as to order his
Cabinet officers to hide his involvement in the scandal even while under
oath. At least one Cabinet member directly lied to the committee, a fact
known to Eisenhower." Even more worrisome is another revelation, from the
Kennedy years: "The Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans for
what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. government. In
the name of anticommunism, they proposed launching a secret and bloody war
of terrorism against their own country in order to trick the American public
into supporting an ill-conceived war they intended to launch against Cuba."

Body of Secrets is an incredible piece of journalism, and it paints a deeply
troubling portrait of an agency about which the public knows next to
nothing. Fans of The Sword and the Shield will want to read it, as will
anybody who is intrigued by conspiracies and real-life spy stories. --John
J. Miller 


Regards,

Rebecca Fenton





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