Inside the Company: CIA Diary

Inside the Company: CIA Diary by Philip Agee provides a detailed and personal account of his years working within the CIA, offering an insider’s perspective on the agency’s operations and international influence. Written as a diary, the book emphasises transparency and accountability, making complex intelligence work accessible to the general reader. I gained a lot of information from it about how the CIA functions, why it operates the way it does, and the methods it employs. However, I found the reading experience somewhat tedious: parts of it were boring and difficult to get through. At the same time, it was interesting to peek behind the curtain of such a secretive organisation. Agee’s motivations or the ethics of revealing show more operational details are not entirely clear to me, but the text remains a valuable historical document that illuminates the inner workings of the CIA and invites reflection on the broader implications of intelligence activity in global politics. show less

In 1974 the US government, for the first time in American history, went to court to censor a book prior to publication. That book was "The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence," which was published with very clear indications of where the 168 cuts were.

If you browse bookshops in the UK you'll commonly find books that are labeled "For copyright reasons this book is not for sale in the United States [also in Canada in some cases]." Philip Agee was a CIA agent in South Anerica in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He became extremely disaffected with the agency's covert operations and resigned. In writing about his experiences he endured ostracism and vilification. He wrote most of the book in London, and it was published by Penguin Books in one show more of those editions not marketed in the US, thereby rendering futile any attempts by the US government to suppress it. When I found out about the book, I had a friend in Vancouver, BC buy a copy and mail it to me. What I read in the book angered but did not surprise me. I was feeling very cool for having circumvented an obstacle to reading the book, when one day I walked by a bookstore in my home town and saw the book prominently displayed in the window. I never read the American edition, which was slightly emended from the original.

Agee was not a professional writer and the narrative is rather plodding, but this is not a book to be read for excitement. It laid bare the machinations of the vast, sleazy organization that was the CIA. How much of the book is still accurate, I have no idea. But if you read this book you'll never trust ANY government, let alone our federal government. show less

My Favorite Traitor: Philip Agee vs. the Nationalist Superstition
http://monacojerry.livejournal.com/77523.html"

On the occasion of Philip Agee's death I reflect upon the first time I read "Inside the Company."

In 1975 I picked up Agee's book "Inside the Company: A CIA Diary" because it was about spying, not for its anti-imperialist content. What I read gave a face to imperial skulduggery as it was practiced in Latin America in the 1960s. Agee's book certainly did its job with me. I saw that secret intelligence agencies were not compatible with the basic principles of a (bourgeois) republic.

For the whole review see here.

Relato autobiográfico de un exoficial de la CIA que documenta operaciones, estructuras internas y prácticas de inteligencia estadounidense durante la Guerra Fría, ofreciendo una crítica directa al funcionamiento de la agencia.

(Klappentext:) Bei der Erstveröffentlichung von CIA-Intern 1975 schrieb die Washington Post: "Nichts wird ausgelassen - Agee gibt alle Namen und Operationen preis. Der bislang vollständigste Bericht über CIA-Aktivitäten im Ausland. In fast jeder Zeile enthüllt sich dem entsetzten Leser das Spinnengewebe von Betrug, Heuchelei und Korruption, mit dem die US-Außenpolitik ganz Lateinamerika überzogen hat." Von dem Tag an war Philip Agee als Feind der CIA gebrandmarkt. Er wurde bedroht, gejagt und eingekerkert, er wurde auf Druck der Vereinigten Staaten aus fünf NATO-Ländern ausgewiesen. 1979 wurde ihm der Paß entzogen und er war gezwungen, mit Dokumenten von Grenada und Nicaragua zu reisen. Für die Neuauflage des CIA-Tagebuchs show more 1993 hat Agee ein zusätzliches Kapitel geschrieben, in dem das Schicksal des Buches und das seines Verfassers bis in die Gegenwart geschildert wird. "Zehn Jahre lang habe ich mich erfolglos bemüht, bei den Bundesgerichten etwas Genaues über die Einzelheiten des illegalen Vorgehens der CIA zu erfahren. Es gab Hinweise, daß es sich dabei um eine kriminelle Verschwörung oder um einen Aktionsplan handelte, der jedoch nie ausgeführt wurde. Ich dachte, man hätte mich vielleicht entführen wollen, um mich in die USA zurückzubringen, oder man hätte mir Drogen unterschieben wollen, die dann CIA-Kollaborateure einer spanischen oder französischen Polizeieinheit bei mir entdeckt hätten. 1991 jedoch bestätigte ein ehemaliger CIA-Kollege, der inzwischen nicht mehr dort arbeitete, meinen schlimmsten Verdacht: daß die CIA Anfang der siebziger Jahre ernsthaft erwogen hatte, mich verschwinden zu lassen. Kein Wunder, daß sich die CIA heute, zwanzig Jahre danach, immer noch weigert, mir Genaueres mitzuteilen, und zwar mit ausdrücklichem Einverständnis des Bundesgerichts." show less