Robert Baer

The book "See No Evil" by Robert Baer is a thrilling adventure story about the experiences of a young CIA case officer in Asia and the Middle East. It is written with energy and a touch of humor, making it a captivating read for those interested in espionage procedurals. The second half of the book reveals a different side of Baer, as he becomes burnt out and in need of rest. This is marked by a re-call to headquarters and an investigation into his involvement in a murder for hire plot. As show more Baer continues to operate on his own in the field, he becomes increasingly isolated and out of control, leading to his eventual return to headquarters in Washington D.C. There, he struggles to navigate the unfamiliar and seemingly unfathomable world of Washington politics. Despite these challenges, Baer is a talented writer and deserves a loyal audience for this and his other books. show less

This is book is a bit dated in that it tackles the question of U.S. withdraw from Iraq, but it is very valuable for the years of experience Baer gained on Iran from his years in the middle east. The title of this work is loaded and layers of meaning are not fully clear until the audacious (enlightened? visionary?) epilogue. Baer builds up a tale of a misunderstood Iran with astute geo-political machinations bearing success at positioning it as a regional hegemon and leader of a show more Shia-dominant, oil-rich Muslim (not Arab) world. It is easy to take this as subtle coloring of a wily adversary, but in the conclusion Baer boldly advises getting the jump on Russia and China and the U.S. directly allying with and cooperating transparently with Iran.

like Wells in "Outline of History", we see here that below the imposed political map wrestles a religio-cultural map. by disrupting Iraq, we've tipped the scales in Iran's favor. Baer suggests we run with that. show less

I have seen and enjoyed Baer as a talking head on cable news. That got my interest and I came to see him as really not in the stereotypical spy mold when I read The Company We Keep: A Husband-and-Wife True-Life Spy Story. Here he really has a screed against the CIA and a leadership and gov't (NSC, especially) cowed by big business putting profit above national security. Incompetence is a real prominent thread: "...a headquarters staffed with officers [who] so badly misidentified the Chinese show more embassy in Belgrade that we sent a missile into it."

Baer's behind the scenes story on a failed Kurdish coup in Iraq and lack of CIA interest in Bin Laden linkages to Iran paint an intriguing back story to the Beirut embassy bombing that one of the first salvos in the war with Islamic jihad. Along with Clinton admin influence peddling, this edition is updated with post-9/11 observations by the veteran spy.

Among the most interesting things to me here, though is all the fits and starts and details to the beginning of his career - what it's like to be a spy noob - and similarly learning to recruit agents and then have to pass them on as a veteran to another new-hire. show less

Provocative and even frightening account of our relationship with the Saudis by former CIA operative Robert Baer in a book dedicated to the memory of Daniel Pearl. The text includes blacked-out passages from the CIA Publications Review Board. Baer begins by delineating the specifics of the oil industry in which Arab sheikhdoms own sixty percent of the world's reserves. He describes the prolifigate and corrupt lifestyle of the house of Al Sa'ud and the allure of all of their oil money to show more Washington lobbyists and politicians. He made this wry observation when he moved back to D.C. from the Middle East in 1994 and observed the official treatment of Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.:

"Bandar's convoy, his sprawling house, the special access, the no-limits lifestyle: They were all a constant reminder of the way Washington really ran. Forget the crap about democracy, about the capital of the free world. Washington was a company town, and Bandar had a seat on the board." He not only reminds us of how many of the Bush II Administration are associated with the oil industry, but also goes into some detail about the Carlyle Group, the private global investment firm that provides lots of wealth to Republicans as they leave the Administration, and very close ties to, and lucrative deals with, Saudi businesses as well.

Baer recounts the Saudi role in funding terrorism over the years, charging "For American arms makers [who have made fortunes off of deals to the Saudis], Saudi Arabia is an industry subsector all its own, with its own peculiar rules. We buy oil from Saudi Arabia, refine it, and put it in our automobiles, and a certain small percentage of what we pay for it ends up funding terrorist acts against America and American institutions at home and abroad."

Baer gives a history of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 by the Egyptian Hassan al-Banna, and also some background about the the influence of the 13th century Syrian cleric Ibn Taymiyah and the most extremist of the Muslim Brothers, Sayyid Qutb. As Baer notes "Egypt executed Sayyid in 1966, but his doctrine [of jihad against "infidels"] lived on."

The Saudis need to support the Muslim Brotherhood and its hatred of America and Israel, Baer asserts, in order to redirect resentment and aggression against its own corruption and greed. If Islamic militarism is now out of control, neither the Saudis nor the Americans care to admit the extent of the role played by the Saudis.

Baer concludes: "Was it all inevitable? No.... Washington made us lie down with the devil. It made the bed, pulled back the covers, and invited the devil in. We whispered in his ear and told him we loved him. When things went a little wrong, Washington held his hand and said it was all right. And all that time we had our eye on his bulging wallet, lit by the moonlight on the dresser."

In a way, the book serves as the footnotes to Michael Moore's "Farenheit 9/11." It's a short book, and has an informal tone that of necessity lacks footnotes, but is well worth the little time it will take to read.

(JAF) show less