The story told by Legacy of Ashes is all the more terrifying when you consider the immortal words of George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it." Again and again, the CIA fails to remember its own past failures; again and again, it recommitts the same mistakes and loses even more money and lives in the process. Perhaps Weiner's greatest accomplishment is how he draws a convincing line between the agency's earliest disasters and its most recent failure in providing the non-existent "evidence" that prompted the invasion of Iraq and convinced the UN to support that invasion. The CIA never did heal itself; it continued to repeat the failures of the past at an almost incalculable cost.
Legacy of Ashes is absolutely worthwhile, but is still an intense and difficult book. Be forewarned as you plan your vacations and spend Saturday afternoons in the hammock: It is not anything close to "summer reading." Do not take it to the beach.
Instead, Legacy of Ashes is the kind of volume that might be best served by the harsh, merciless nights of fall and winter, when you can curl up on the couch and descend into the horror show of death, destruction, and wasted resources that is the history of the CIA. Anyone interested in the past, present, and future of our government and how it operates should find this an essential read — it's just not for the faint of heart, and there's nothing "escapist" about it. Steel yourself, and educate yourself on this nation's darkest secrets.
Article comments
1 - Lou Novacheck
Jeffrey Richelson is considered by most to be the preeminent nongovernmental expert on intelligence matters, particularly as pertains to US intel matters. He's got a pretty different take on this book.
Also, take a look at the CIA's review of the book. Some excerpts:
"Tim Weiner’s Legacy of Ashes is not the definitive history of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that it purports to be. Nor is it the well researched work that many reviewers say it is."
"Starting with a title that is based on a gross distortion of events, the book is a 600-page op-ed piece masquerading as serious history; it is the advocacy of a particularly dark point of view under the guise of scholarship. Weiner has allowed his agenda to drive his research and writing, which is, of course, exactly backwards."
"Weiner is not honest about context, he is dismissive of motivations, his expectations for intelligence are almost cartoonish, and his book too often is factually unreliable. What could have been a serious historical critique illuminating the lessons of the past is undermined by dubious assertions, sweeping judgments based on too few examples, selective or outright misuse of citations, a drama-driven narrative, and a tendentious and nearly exclusive focus on failure that overlooks, downplays, or explains away significant successes."
2 - bliffle
CIA was pretty good when it was eyes and ears only, but when they started giving CIA missions it perverted their eyes/ears capablities. Execution should be separated from intell.
3 - John Wellington
Let me be the judge. I will accept a free copy of the book.