The Armies of Ignorance

The Armies of Ignorance PDF Author: William R. Corson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Intelligence service
Languages : en
Pages : 672

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Book Description
"The closing months of 1977 saw the beginning of the most important debate on the functions and future of American intelligence since the original National Security Act of 1947 signaled the rise of what has become an intelligence empire. The Senate Intelligence hearings, the Watergate revelations, and the daily barrage of leaks and exposés about "mind control" and mail-opening programs were merely a prelude to the struggle to reorganize and control the bweildering proliferation of agencies, activities, and responsibilities that make up the vital intelligence shield of this country. The Armies of Ignorance is one of the most authoratative and important contributions to understanding what has gone on in the sprawling intelligence community and what must be done to ensure this country's real "national security." Part of the task is historical -- this book examines the entire history of American espionage from the Revolution to the present. The more important and more difficult task is that of relating how the intelligence establishment has really functioned since the early days of the Second World War and how its unwritten law compares with Congressional mandates, executive orders, and the U.S. Constitution..."--Book jacket.

The Armies of Ignorance

The Armies of Ignorance PDF Author: William R. Corson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Intelligence service
Languages : en
Pages : 672

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The closing months of 1977 saw the beginning of the most important debate on the functions and future of American intelligence since the original National Security Act of 1947 signaled the rise of what has become an intelligence empire. The Senate Intelligence hearings, the Watergate revelations, and the daily barrage of leaks and exposés about "mind control" and mail-opening programs were merely a prelude to the struggle to reorganize and control the bweildering proliferation of agencies, activities, and responsibilities that make up the vital intelligence shield of this country. The Armies of Ignorance is one of the most authoratative and important contributions to understanding what has gone on in the sprawling intelligence community and what must be done to ensure this country's real "national security." Part of the task is historical -- this book examines the entire history of American espionage from the Revolution to the present. The more important and more difficult task is that of relating how the intelligence establishment has really functioned since the early days of the Second World War and how its unwritten law compares with Congressional mandates, executive orders, and the U.S. Constitution..."--Book jacket.

Ike's Spies

Ike's Spies PDF Author: Stephen E. Ambrose
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307946614
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
This classic Cold War-era history looks at the way President Dwight Eisenhower managed America’s secret operations as general and as commander in chief and is based on privileged access to the president and his private papers—from bestselling historian Stephen E. Ambrose. During his time in office, Eisenhower projected the image of a genial bureaucrat, but behind that public face, he ran the most efficient espionage establishment in the world, overseeing assassination plots, the growth of the CIA, and the overthrow of governments. This book gives a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most ambitious secret operations in American history, including the 1954 overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán’s government of Guatemala; Operation AJAX, which toppled Iran’s Mossadegh; and the U-2 flights over Russia. Some of Ike’s most conspicuous intelligence missteps are also discussed, including the failure to predict the German attack during the Battle of the Bulge and the tragic encouragement of freedom fighters in Hungary, Indonesia, and Cuba. Ike’s Spies is indispensible to anyone interested in the development of America’s Cold War spy operations.

The Ignorance of Bliss

The Ignorance of Bliss PDF Author: Sandy Hanna
Publisher: Post Hill Press
ISBN: 1682617955
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
The Ignorance of Bliss tells the true story of ten-year-old Sandy, who moves with her American military family to Saigon, Vietnam where her father, the Colonel, serves as a military advisor to the South Vietnamese Army. In 1960s Saigon, Sandy finds a world of crushing poverty and extraordinary beauty; a world of streets, villas, and brothels, where politics and intrigue reside between plot and counterplot. Blissfully living a life of French decadence, Sandy maneuvers between coups, spies, bombings, corruption, and scandal as she and her thirteen-year-old brother, Tom, run an illicit baby powder and Hershey bar business on the black market and live a life of school, scouts, dance parties, and movies at the underground theater. When the Colonel’s counterpart, Colonel Le Van Sam, delivers an expose on the current ruling Diem regime, Sandy finds that her constant spying on her father’s activities has brought her face to face with the reality of Vietnam and the anti-American sentiment that pervades it. This coming-of age story takes place in a turbulent country striving for nationalism, giving the reader a stunning look into the life of military dependents living abroad and the underlying ignorance that surrounded a little understood time in history.

The Valor of Ignorance

The Valor of Ignorance PDF Author: Homer Lea
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
One of the foremost strategists of the American Army in the first decade of the twentieth century warns of the great danger of militarized Japan and forcasts -- 44 years before it actually happened -- the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism

The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism PDF Author: Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791494799
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
The Imam, the Divine Guide, is the central point around which the Shi'ite religion turns. The power of Shi'ism comes from the actions of the Imam. This title is reserved exclusively for the sucessors of the prophets in their mission. The author shows that from the beginning of Shi'ite Islam until the tenth century, the Imam was primarily a master of knowledge with supernatural powers, not a jurist theologian. The Imam is the threshold through which God and the creatures communicate. He is thus a cosmic necessity, the key and the center of the universal economy of the sacred. The author presents Shi'ism as a religion founded on double dimensions where the role of the leader remains constantly central: perpetual initiation into divine secrets and continued confrontation with anti-initiation forces. Without esotericism, exotericism loses its meaning. Early Imamism is an esoteric doctrine. Historically, then, at the beginning of esotericism in Islam, we find an initiatory, mystical, and occultist doctrine. This is the first book to systematically explore the immense literature attributed to the Imams themselves in order to recover the authentic original vision. It restores an essential source of esotericism in the world of Islam.

What is Shi'i Islam?

What is Shi'i Islam? PDF Author: Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351604864
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
For the public at large Shi’ism often implies a host of confused representations, suggesting more often than not obscurantism, intolerance, political violence and other ignominies running hot or cold in response to world events. In fact for many people, Shi’ism stands for "radical Islam", or – worse – "Islamic terrorism". In some respects, nothing is more familiar than Shi’ism, and yet nothing is more misunderstood. For some twenty years the media have increased their coverage of the phenomenon. Never, or only rarely, do they formulate the question we ask here: what is Shi’ism? What is this belief that inspires millions of people dispersed throughout the world? This book provides a broad based introduction to Shi’i Islam. It examines what the Shi’i believe, how they see themselves and how they view the world. It includes a thorough examination of doctrine, philosophy, the Shi’i approach to the Qur’an and the historical evolution of Shi’ism as a branch of Islam. Too often, and too quickly, the conclusion is drawn that Shi’ism is a marginal heretical sect, fundamentally alien to the deeper truth of the great religion of Islam, thrust by historical accident onto the political stage. Shi’ism either speaks the truth of Islam, meaning that it is a truth of terror, or it is entirely foreign to Islam and, therefore, merits outright rejection, as Islamic fundamentalists and some individuals repeatedly claim. This book intends to explain why such common misunderstandings of Shi’ism have taken root. Written in an accessible format and providing a thorough overview of Shi’ism, this book will be an essential text for students and scholars of Islamic Studies or Iranian Studies.

The Archaeologist was a Spy

The Archaeologist was a Spy PDF Author: Charles Houston Harris
Publisher: UNM Press
ISBN: 9780826329370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
Sylvanus G Morley (1883-1948) is widely known as an influential Mayan archaeologist. This intriguing book shows that he was arguably the greatest American spy of World War I. Morley came to the attention of the Office of Naval Intelligence in 1916, when reports that German agents were establishing a Central American base for submarine warfare first surfaced. Morley's field research provided the ideal cover for reconnoitring throughout the region. He made several extended research/intelligence-gathering trips along the Caribbean coast of Central America starting in 1917 and forwarded detailed reports and maps to ONI. While he found no noteworthy German activity, his activities permit the authors of this book to reconstruct the way ONI identified, recruited, placed, and debriefed field agents, nearly 150 of whom, many with academic ties, were funnelling data to ONI by the close of World War I. In a final chapter, Sadler and Harris extend the story of academic participation in intelligence work through the 1930s into the founding of 'Wild Bill' Donovan's Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the beginning of World War II.

The Quiet Americans

The Quiet Americans PDF Author: Scott Anderson
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385540469
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 722

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Book Description
From the bestselling author of Lawrence in Arabia—the gripping story of four CIA agents during the early days of the Cold War—and how the United States, at the very pinnacle of its power, managed to permanently damage its moral standing in the world. “Enthralling … captivating reading.” —The New York Times Book Review At the end of World War II, the United States was considered the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But it was clear—to some—that the Soviet Union was already seeking to expand and foment revolution around the world, and the American government’s strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly formed CIA. Chronicling the fascinating lives of four agents, Scott Anderson follows the exploits of four spies: Michael Burke, who organized parachute commandos from an Italian villa; Frank Wisner, an ingenious spymaster who directed actions around the world; Peter Sichel, a German Jew who outwitted the ruthless KGB in Berlin; and Edward Lansdale, a mastermind of psychological warfare in the Far East. But despite their lofty ambitions, time and again their efforts went awry, thwarted by a combination of ham-fisted politicking and ideological rigidity at the highest levels of the government.

The Study of Shi'i Islam

The Study of Shi'i Islam PDF Author: Gurdofarid Miskinzoda
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857735292
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1101

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Book Description
Shi'i Islam, with its rich and extensive history, has played a crucial role in the evolution of Islam as both a major world religion and civilization. The prolific achievements of Shi?i theologians, philosophers and others are testament to the spiritual and intellectual wealth of this community. Yet Shi?i studies has unjustly remained a long-neglected field, despite the important contribution that Shi'ism has made to Islamic traditions. Only in recent decades, partially spurred by global interest in political events of the Middle East, have scholars made some significant contributions in this area. The Study of Shi'i Islam presents papers originally delivered at the first international colloquium dedicated exclusively to Shi'i studies, held in 2010 at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. Within the book are eight sections, namely, history, the Qur'an and its Shi'i interpretations, hadith, law, authority, theology, rites and rituals, and intellectual traditions and philosophy. Each section begins with an introduction contextualizing the aspects of studying Shi'i Islam particular to its theme, before going on to address topics such as the state of the field, methodology and tools, and the primary issues with which contemporary scholars of Shi'i studies are dealing. The scope and depth here covered makes this book of especial interest to researchers and students alike within the field of Islamic studies. The volume benefits from the diverse expertise of nearly 30 world-class scholars, including Mohammad-Ali Amir-Moezzi, Meir M. Bar-Asher, Farhad Daftary, Daniel De Smet, Gerald R. Hawting, Nader El-Bizri, Etan Kohlberg, Wilferd Madelung, Andrew Newman, Ismail K. Poonawala, Sabine Schmidtke and Paul E. Walker.

U.S. Army Special Warfare, Its Origins

U.S. Army Special Warfare, Its Origins PDF Author: Alfred H. Paddock, Jr.
Publisher: The Minerva Group, Inc.
ISBN: 0898758432
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Colonel Paddock traces the origins of Army special warfare from 1941 to 1952, the year the Armys special warfare center was established. While the Army had experience in psychological warfare, the major recent U. S. experience in unconventional warfare had been in the Office of Strategic Services, a civilian agency, during World War II. Many army leaders, trained and experienced in conventional warfare, hesitantly accepted psychological warfare as a legitimate weapon in the Armys wartime arsenal, but questioned the validity and appropriateness of the Armys adoption of unconventional operations. The continuing tensions of the cold war and hostilities in Korea resolved the ambivalence in favor of coordinating in a single operation the techniques of both types of warfare. Colonel Paddocks extensively documented work traces a portion of a brief episode in our Nations military hisotyr, but an instructive one. For the historian and military scholar, it provides the necessary backdrop for understanding the subsequent evolution of the Armys special warefare capability. For the national security policymaker, it suggests the value of the innovative impulse and the need for receptivity to new ideas and adaptability to change. John S. Pustay Lieutenant General, United States Air Force President, National Defense University