Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary--Substantive History--Real World Good Stuff
Review:
This book is a fine read, and to my surprise, the contributions from The New York Times are quite worthwhile. In essence the primary author, Milton Beardon, wrote the core of the book, on his experiences with the Soviet Division in the Directorate of Operations at the CIA, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan driving the Soviets in Afghanistan, and then journalist James Risen filled in the gaps with really excellent vignettes from the other side. The two authors together make a fine team, and they have very capably exploited a number of former KGB and GRU officers whose recollections round out the story.This is not, by any means, a complete story. At the end of thise review I recommend five other books that add considerable detail to a confrontation that spanned the globe for a half-century. Yet, while it barely scratches the surface, this book is both historical and essential in understanding two facts: 1) Afghanistan was the beginning of the end for USSR and
2) CIA made it happen, once invigorated by President Ronald Reagan and DCI William Casey It may not be immediately apparent to the casual reader, but that is the most important story being told in this book: how the collapse of the Soviet effort in Afghanistan ultimately led to the collapse of Soviet authority in East Germany, in the other satellite states, and eventually to the unification of Germany and the survival of Russas as a great state but no longer an evil empire. There are two other stories in this book, and both are priceless. The first is a tale of counterintelligence failure across the board within both the CIA and the FBI. The author excels with many "insider" perspectives and quotes, ranging from his proper and brutal indictment of then DCI Stansfield Turner for destroying the clandestine service, to his quote from a subordinate, based on a real-world case, that even the Ghanians can penetrate this place. He has many "lessons learned" from the Howard and Ames situations, including how badly the CIA handled Howard's dismissal, how badly CIA handled Yuchenko, to include leaking his secrets to the press, how badly both CIA and FBI handled the surveillance on Howard, with too many "new guys" at critical points of failure; and most interestingly, how both DCI Casey and CIA counterintelligence chiefs Gus Hathaway (and his deputy Ted Price) refused to launch a serious hunt for Ames and specifically refused to authorize polygraphs across the board (although Ames beat a scheduled polygraph later). The author's accounting of the agent-by-agent losses suffered by the CIA as Howard, Ames, and Hansen took their toll, is absolutely gripping. The second story is that of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and how the anti-Soviet jihad nurtured by America and Pakistan ultimately turned back on both countries. It may help the reader of this book to first buy and read Milt Bearden's novel, "The Black Tulip," a wonderful and smoothly flowing account in novelized terms. From the primary author's point of view, it was Afghanistan, not Star Wars, that brought the Soviet Union to its knees. The primary author provides the reader with really superb descriptions of the seven key Afghan warlord leaders; of the intricacies of the Pakistani intelligence service, which had its own zealots, including one who launched jihad across in to Uzbeckistan without orders; into how the Stingers, and then anti-armor, and then extended mortars (with novel combinations of Geographical Information System computers and satellite provided coordinates for Soviet targets, all 21st century equipment that was quickly mastered by the Afghan warriors) all helped turn the tide. As America continues to fail in its quest to reconstruct the road of Afghanistan, having severely misunderstood the logistics and other obstacles, one of the book's sentences really leaps out: the supply chain to the rebels "needed more mules than the world was prepared to breed." This book is a collector's item and must be in the library of anyone concerned with intelligence, US-Soviet relations, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Saudi funding of terrorism. It is a finely crafted personal contribution from someone who did hard time in the CIA, and made an enormous personal contribution, in partnership with the hundreds of CIA case officers, reports officers, all-source analysts, and especially CIA paramilitary officers (including Nick Pratt and Steve Cash, forever Marines). A few other books that complement this one: Thomas Allen & Norman Polmar, "Merchants of Treason", Ladislav Bittman, "The Deception Game", Vladimir Sakharov, "High Treason", Victor Sheymov, "Tower of Secrets," and Oleg Kalugin, "The First Directorate." There are many more but these are my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Spy vs Spy in thrilling "Main Enemy
Review: by Richard Sale, UPI Terrorism Correspondent
The U.S.-Soviet war of spies was essentially a war about "denied areas" -- breaching those inner circles of government secrecy whose existence is existence is essential to national security and military supremancy. For both sides, this meant recruiting defectors in place -- agents with access to denied areas and who were spotted, conditioned, recruited and trained to betray their countries' vital information. (Sometimes they volunteered.) Since government's do not act on a single piece of information, an agent's production must be sustained over a signficant period of time, and it should go without saying that the value of the information is go reat that the recruiters will hazard almost any risk to get it. This brutal war of brains is the subject of a new classic of intelligence literature by Milt Bearden, a true CIA legend, and James Risen, a first-rate reporter on intelligence for the New York Times. Called, "The Main Enemy," the book opens in 1985, when the FBI and the CIA had suffered a series of disatrous losses among the Russians they had recruited. It is with intense disquiet that the reader comes to realize that top U.S. assets are one by one coming under the dominion of a dark power. Within a space of 15 months, like night lights in a distant village winking out, two dozen priceless Soviet spies working for America are recalled to Moscow, interrogated, and many shot in the back of the head in a KGB prison including a 65-year-old Russian grandfather Gen. Dmitri Polyakov or "TOPHAT," of the agency's and FBI's most irreplaceable and beloved sources. The book is built around a rough chronology of Bearden's career, which poses a narrative problem mainly because right in the middle of the spy hunt for moles, Bearden is pulled out of Washington and made head of CIA operations in Afghanistan to bolster anti-Soviet mujahideen fighters there. This is an arresting section of the book in which we view one colorful tableaux after the next. After the Russians are defeated Bearden returns to Washington and to his dismay finds that the probe for the mole who caused the losses is continuing but has lost its focus and become feeble. The climax comes when a CIA investigator helps to uncover Aldrich Ames, an agency traitor arrested in Februrary 1994. By 1990, communism had collapsed but questions about the mole remained. Many were answered when FBI agent Robert Hanssenis finally uncovered.But Bearden still believes that another extraordinary effective U.S. traitor is still at large and doing damage, and he sets out his case. It is a gripping book of extraordinary sweep and signifcance. In putting it together, Bearden and Risen have produced a work of the first distinction.
Rating: 
Summary: The Shadow Lifts...
Review: Espionage, especially that concerning the CIA and the KGB, is extraordinarily hard to write about in an understandable way. It is either cloaked in a still tight shroud of official secrecy, or is so complicated and personal that readers simply cannot grasp the inherent complexities of the world of international intelligence gathering. Milt Bearden, a well known CIA official who has written on these matters for the last few years finally puts his fascinating life down on paper. His career in the 1980's and 90's spanned some of the most tumultuous and intriguing periods of the Cold War spy war. He watched as the CIA, newly emboldened, created a very effective network of penetration agents inside the Soviet Union, only to watch it fall apart dramatically. He ran an intense guerilla war in the wilds of Afghanistan as his mercenaries and his weapons dealt the Soviet Union a mortal blow. Finally, he watched the Evil Empire fall apart in fairly rapid succession, even as the CIA struggled to recover from its invisible betrayer. It's an amazing story, and it's very well told. The early 1980's was a very positive time in American espionage. The CIA in Moscow was running some very good HUMINT sources, including various KGB, GRU, and Red Army officers, even a general. The flow of information from the Soviet Union was fairly constant and was often spectacularly accurate. The agency, newly bolstered by a conservative administration and new funding, was spreading its wings as it was finally managing to effectively outwit the dreaded KGB. Bearden experienced this period of success as a senior official in the Soviet section of the operations directorate, and was instrumental in its success. The CIA was also aided by a new influx of volunteers or outright defectors, as KGB officers sensed their side was losing the its grip on the empire. However, the whole deck of cards quickly collapsed. Starting in 1985, the CIA's agents began to disappear, often executed by the KGB. The agency struggled to understand what would only become clear years later. There was a mole deeply buried in the CIA, Aldrich Ames, and his involvement in Soviet operations, as told first hand by Bearden, is really chilling. This first part of the book is the best part of the book, as it gives the reader a surprisingly well detailed examination and chronicle of nitty gritty spywork. If you want to have an idea how dead drops, surveillance, and other tricks of the trade are pulled off, this is a great book to read. Bearden's job at the CIA takes a radical turn in 1986 as he is tasked with coordinating agency aid to the Afghan rebels fighting the Soviet occupation. I felt this part of the book was the weakest, as it was short on real specifics and paled in comparison to recent works on the subject. However, at times, it did offer some new insights on the war and the agency's role, especially that concerning the Stinger missiles that eventually led to the Soviet withdrawal. In comparison to the really scintillating read the first part of the book offered, the Afghan section is a bit weak. One great part though had to do with Bearden's meeting with the infamous Afghan warlord, Hekmatyar. Recently a target of a CIA assassination attempt, Bearden sensed the danger that this man would pose in the future, as his religious extremism was clear under a thin veneer of gratitude for US weapons and funding. The last part of the book deals with the final dissolution of the Soviet Empire. While a great success for the United States, it was hardly a sterling moment for the CIA. Because of the dramatic losses suffered in the late 1980's, the CIA was virtually blind in regard to Soviet operations. In East Germany, the highly effective Stasi had a stranglehold on any CIA operations in the area. Still, Bearden does point out that the CIA was able to take advantage of the deteriorating situation in the eastern bloc and quickly adapted. It began presenting large amounts of money to anybody that wanted to flee the sinking ship, so to speak. These efforts were moderately successful. Bearden ends the story of the great Cold War battle by documenting the birth of free eastern European intelligence agencies, and the collapse of the KGB itself. Bearden's memoir serves as a critical examination of the world of Cold War espionage and the men and women who played roles in it. It's a story of traitors, thugs, academics, and covert operations that often sounds like a Clancy thriller. But, as they say, the truth is often much stranger than fiction, a reality made clear all throughout The Main Enemy.
Rating:
Summary: The Shadow Lifts...
Review: Espionage, especially that concerning the CIA and the KGB, is extraordinarily hard to write about in an understandable way. It is either cloaked in a still tight shroud of official secrecy, or is so complicated and personal that readers simply cannot grasp the inherent complexities of the world of international intelligence gathering. Milt Bearden, a well known CIA official who has written on these matters for the last few years finally puts his fascinating life down on paper. His career in the 1980's and 90's spanned some of the most tumultuous and intriguing periods of the Cold War spy war. He watched as the CIA, newly emboldened, created a very effective network of penetration agents inside the Soviet Union, only to watch it fall apart dramatically. He ran an intense guerilla war in the wilds of Afghanistan as his mercenaries and his weapons dealt the Soviet Union a mortal blow. Finally, he watched the Evil Empire fall apart in fairly rapid succession, even as the CIA struggled to recover from its invisible betrayer. It's an amazing story, and it's very well told. The early 1980's was a very positive time in American espionage. The CIA in Moscow was running some very good HUMINT sources, including various KGB, GRU, and Red Army officers, even a general. The flow of information from the Soviet Union was fairly constant and was often spectacularly accurate. The agency, newly bolstered by a conservative administration and new funding, was spreading its wings as it was finally managing to effectively outwit the dreaded KGB. Bearden experienced this period of success as a senior official in the Soviet section of the operations directorate, and was instrumental in its success. The CIA was also aided by a new influx of volunteers or outright defectors, as KGB officers sensed their side was losing the its grip on the empire. However, the whole deck of cards quickly collapsed. Starting in 1985, the CIA's agents began to disappear, often executed by the KGB. The agency struggled to understand what would only become clear years later. There was a mole deeply buried in the CIA, Aldrich Ames, and his involvement in Soviet operations, as told first hand by Bearden, is really chilling. This first part of the book is the best part of the book, as it gives the reader a surprisingly well detailed examination and chronicle of nitty gritty spywork. If you want to have an idea how dead drops, surveillance, and other tricks of the trade are pulled off, this is a great book to read. Bearden's job at the CIA takes a radical turn in 1986 as he is tasked with coordinating agency aid to the Afghan rebels fighting the Soviet occupation. I felt this part of the book was the weakest, as it was short on real specifics and paled in comparison to recent works on the subject. However, at times, it did offer some new insights on the war and the agency's role, especially that concerning the Stinger missiles that eventually led to the Soviet withdrawal. In comparison to the really scintillating read the first part of the book offered, the Afghan section is a bit weak. One great part though had to do with Bearden's meeting with the infamous Afghan warlord, Hekmatyar. Recently a target of a CIA assassination attempt, Bearden sensed the danger that this man would pose in the future, as his religious extremism was clear under a thin veneer of gratitude for US weapons and funding. The last part of the book deals with the final dissolution of the Soviet Empire. While a great success for the United States, it was hardly a sterling moment for the CIA. Because of the dramatic losses suffered in the late 1980's, the CIA was virtually blind in regard to Soviet operations. In East Germany, the highly effective Stasi had a stranglehold on any CIA operations in the area. Still, Bearden does point out that the CIA was able to take advantage of the deteriorating situation in the eastern bloc and quickly adapted. It began presenting large amounts of money to anybody that wanted to flee the sinking ship, so to speak. These efforts were moderately successful. Bearden ends the story of the great Cold War battle by documenting the birth of free eastern European intelligence agencies, and the collapse of the KGB itself. Bearden's memoir serves as a critical examination of the world of Cold War espionage and the men and women who played roles in it. It's a story of traitors, thugs, academics, and covert operations that often sounds like a Clancy thriller. But, as they say, the truth is often much stranger than fiction, a reality made clear all throughout The Main Enemy.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Excellent story telling combined with insights into the espionage end game of the Cold War.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: For those of us who were a bit younger at the end of the Cold War and were more interested in girls and cars than politics, this is a great read about the spy games that went on between the CIA & KGB, both directly (eg. in Washington or Moscow) or indirectly (Afghanistan) and about the political changes that happened at the end of the 80's and early 90's. I have read a lot of Tom Clancy's novels, and this one has them beat for intrigue and insight. Anyone who enjoys books told from a truly inside perspective will love this one.
Rating: 
Summary: as seen thru beardons filter
Review: I am an American living abroad and am very interested in these types of books Ive been reading nonficiton spy related books for over 20 years now. My father was an MP and my uncle a Green Beret on some secret missions and this whole field fascinates me.
BUT .. I dont understand all the five star reviews of this book! I bought it at a local bookstore and it leaves out MANY things that need to be said. IT seems to be focuseing more on wowing the reader with all the JAmes Bond goings on rather than really getting atwhat everything meant. Listen folks if you really want to read a good(I MEAN GOOD!)book about the secret cia doings in recent years buy
Lost Crusader: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby (Jan 2003)instead of this book.
Colby was a DIRECTOR of the CIA (not a CIA underling like Beardon who had a high level but NOT high enough to write a books of this kind) --and wow what a difference --Colby's book is a very professional nonsensationalistic look on the CIA wars of note. I honestly dont know if Beardon got his freinds to write all those five star reviews but his book seems to be geared on selling itself like some sort of spy movie. ITs style and some substance. Its a medicore book but I cannot in good conscience give it more than one star. I say mediocre because you must look past all the interesting CIA events to the meat and potatoes aof what was bieng acheived if you are serious about understanding the CIA and related agencies around the world. And sorry --this book simply does not cut it. If your looking for sensational stuff than youll read this and balk at my review Im sure --but for you out there who understand what Im talking about please dont waste your money. Also I heard the author BEARDON live on a talkradio interview recently (he has been doing alot of them to promote the book) where Beardon told a caller that he "should get over it" as regards to the CIA failure of Sept 11.
You know what Mr. Beardon??--until we actually CATCH Bin Laden there is nothing to "get over". Beardon came across as smug and evasive --folks that shows in his book as well. Please consider buying the CIA DIRECTORs book instead IF you are serious about substance. God Bless America.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping Action
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The story grabs you from page one and never lets go. It puts a very human face on this mysterious and larger-than-life era in world history. The authors did an excellent job bringing the story and its characters to life!
Rating:
Summary: Bearden's new MOLE HUNT!
Review: I think I could write the world's largest review of "The Main Enemy" by the ex-CIA's "Uncle Milty", but I think we should simply focus on one item that this book, like a small scale nuclear explosion, lays on the reader: A HIGH PLACED MOLE AT SENIOR LEVELS INSIDE THE CIA BETRAYED TO THE FORMER SOVIET KGB THE HIGHEST PLACED AND STRAGEGICALLY MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN SPY IN US HISTORY: A.G. TOLKACHEV! Anyone interested in what Tolkachev revealed to US Intelligence may have difficulty finding out the facts. Tolkachev gave us everything from Soviet Missile research to the latest designs for Soviet combat aircraft. Mr. Milton Bearden and his writer friend James Risen, chosen by Uncle Milty so he could avoid the CIA 'black magic marker' when he submitted this manuscript for approval in Arlington, reveal for the first time that neither Aldrich Ames nor Edward L. Howard had anything to do with Tolkachev's betrayal!
This begs the question: WHO WAS AND POSSIBLY STILL IS THE TRAITOR MOLE INSIDE THE CIA?
For those of you interested in the on-going historical MOLE hunts inside the CIA, stop watching the idiot TV show "The Agency" and read: "Legend, the Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald" by Edward Jay Epstein. I am a believer and follower of the late James Jesus Angleton who went to this grave wondering about the mysterious 1978 death of CIA official John A. Paisley and several others inside the agency from 1978 to 1985. Angleton was the MOLE HUNTER who came close to discovering the identity of the super "Soviet Mole" before he was suddenly fired by CIA Director William Colby. Colby, like Paisley, died in an equally mysterious "canoe accident" in 1996. He and Paisley's demise had one thing in common: it happened on the water. Paisley, in addition, had a 9mm hole behind his left ear. They called it a "Suicide".
As you begin this reading adventure you might consider finding a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Espionage" by Norm Polmar and Tom Allen. It might help guide you on your journey through the "WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS"!
Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Well written view into the CIA and KGB
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I had trouble putting it down, and it was looong! It was not a strong plot that pulled me through but rather a rich immersive background and atmosphere. I really enjoyed finding out about the 'back side' of events that I remember from the news when I was in high school.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone with a flair for spy stories or cold war history.
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