Has anyone read Robert Baer? I just finished See No Evil...Ick

[Hamlette]

the last half of the book he trashes Clinton. Maybe Clinton was as bad as they said and I was/am blinded by ideology. He has an afterword about how maybe going after Iraq was not the best idea. I think he wrote the book before the Iraq war. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense as he was trying to get rid of Saddam as a CIA agent. And was pissed when the CIA didn't support him in those efforts (in the 90s).

I thought he was on "our side". Is Sleeping with the Devil different? I'm not in the mood for any more "its Clinton's fault." And thought I'd warn you in case you thought of reading it. One persons opinion anyway.

[pnorman]

1. I haven't read that book,

but I've read (actually listened to) his other book, "Sleeping With The Devil". Here's the URL: http://audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?productID=BK_RAND_000297&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes I liked it, and will be looking for the "See No Evil" one. NOTE: This sort of book is best read rather than listened to, but the latter method is certainly convenient at times.

That doesn't really answer your question, but it's a start.

pnorman

[5X]

2. I did read it...

I think he was just speaking truth to power,
as he should. I can't say I agreed with everything, but,
he was in more of a position to know from where he speaks.

[5X]

3. Did you know that 'Syriana' was loosely based on this book? n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

4. Ahhhh... Spoiler!! I just started reading it...

:spank:

and yes it was before the Iraq war (don't quote me on that one since I get this book confused with CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HITMAN which I just finished reading last week).

He might not be on our side but he's no Bushbot. I got interested on the book after watching a short interview during last weeks Real Time with Bill Maher. I also saw Syriana but it was kinda hard to follow and always wanted to read the book.
:) :)

[Hamlette]

5. Spoiler alert

I had forgotten Syriana was based on it. I think that's why I put it on my audible list in the first place. (I love audible but I'm finding the selection not so great. I keep checking the "new releases" stuff and it seems to be conservative, business oriented....but...I digress)

The book did not help me understand Syriana.

And near the end, he's talking about this total criminal who tells him he can buy access to Clinton by donating money to his campaign. Soo much money for a lunch, so much for a night in the Lincoln bedroom, says the criminal/crook. Baer seems offended that a criminal can get access that way to the White House and goes on about it, even so far as to give testimony in Congress. But, I don't see anywhere where Baer verified the guy's story. He describes the guy as the scum of the earth but takes his word on campaign finance irregularities? Please. I got to the point where I really thought this guy had an ax to grind. Then found it funny that in his afterword he has to admit going after Saddam, at least the way Bush did, really wasn't the right thing to do.

The bottom line was, however, that big oil controls our government and our foreign policy and that was BEFORE Bush/Cheney came to power.

Go green.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

6. Baer's big thing is human intelligence

and he's angry (and was for a long time) with the notion that satellite's & telephone taps are enough when it comes to counterterrorism. His gripe with Clinton was one he has with US foreign policy historically -- namely the huge role oil companies play. Clinton came under the spotlight because of the specific examples Baer witness when he was stuck working at Langley. Baer's slammed Bush/Cheney very hard in the past four years for similar reasons & although I haven't seen it, I believe his take on US policy, oil & the Middle East is the backbone to Syriana.

Regards Iraq - Baer's quite hawkish (though not particularly bomb-happy) about going after Islamic terrorism. He was on British TV quite a bit in 2002/3 arguing that a war against Iraq was idiotic because it did nothing about the terrorist problem and would only serve to exacerbate it. Back in the nineties - when he was still in the DO - he (& my memory is a little hazy) got somewhat duped by Ahmed Chalabi into helping a Kurdish push to Bagdad (in the belief that there was a key general who would lead an internal coup against Saddam). He had the impression that this was supported by the NSC (a couple of years later - per Scott Ritter - there was a coup plot(*) against Saddam authorised by Clinton) but the day of the launch he got a message from Anthony Lake (?) that Clinton didn't support this and wouldn't offer any assisstance. Baer ended up getting into shit with the Justice Department accused of plotting to assassinate a foreign leader (or something like that).

(*)http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1579838,00.html

I've always got the impression that Baer supported the coup ideologically, as it would benefit Iraq and the region. It was at a relatively peaceful time for America so it could spare the resources and in the long term it would be a hopefully democratic ally which would allow some divestment from Saudi Arabia. Baer's not a pacifist, but he is a very knowledgeable bloke who I generally find interesting and worth paying attention too (along with Ray McGovern, Mel Goodman, Robert Scheer & even Milt Bearden).


Sleeping With The Devil is basically a J'Accuse against the House of Sa'ud and the sheer hypocrisy of a USA which believes in freedom & democracy having as such a close ally (who would crumble without its custom) a theocratic human rights disaster zone. I wouldn't spend too much money on it, but if you see it cheap it's worth an evening's read.

I noticed you said you got this via audible. Out of interest, did it alert you to passages & words that the CIA had censored (which are represented by black bars in the book)?

[pnorman]

7. As a Premium Subscriber,

I get 2 books per month for $20. Some of those books are pretty expensive, so at $10 a copy they're bargains. That one is sold there for $21 -- so-so, but still a minor bargain. At Amazon.com, a "like new" paperback is $9.00. Not bad, but I won't bother. As you indicated, it wasn't really "great". Like most here on DU, I'm pretty well familiar with the basic premises.

I seem to recall a spoken message about "deleted material" but I'm not sure. I'd have to listen to it all over again --- not likely, since it wouldn't be worth the effort. But with a book, I can just riffle through the pages, and I WILL find it if it's there. That's just one of the drawbacks of audible books.

pnorman

[Hamlette]

8. the reader said the word "x" for the deletions

sometimes you could tell it was just a word or two (a name or a location) but there were times when I suspected a bunch of stuff had been deleted.

that might have effected my opinion, but what bugged me was the thing about Cliton's fund raising and him taking the word of a guy he describes as the scum of the earth. I guess its the lawyer in me. If someone is a crook and scum, the question I want to ask is: "why would you take his word for it?"