Overview

Any serious study of the Vietnam War would be less than complete without accounting for the CIA's role in that conflict-a role that increased dramatically after the Tet offensive in 1968. We know most of the details of military engagement in Vietnam, given its greater visibility, but until recently clandestine operations have remained shrouded in secrecy. John Sullivan was one of the CIA's top polygraph examiners during the final four years of the war in Vietnam, where he served longer and conducted more lie detector tests than any other examiner and worked with more agents than most of his colleagues. His job was to evaluate the reliability of the agency's information sources, an assignment that gave him a more intimate view of the war than was afforded most other participants. In this book he tells what it was like to be an agency officer working in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos during those chaotic years, putting a human face on covert operations that helps us better understand why America lost the war. """"Of Spies and Lies"""" traces Sullivan's journey from dedication to disillusionment while serving in Southeast Asia. Although many CIA personnel lived better in Vietnam and made more money than ever before, their actual working conditions hindered effective intelligence gathering. A much larger and far more distressing obstacle, however, was the agency's failure to send its """"best and brightest"""" agents to Southeast Asia. On the contrary, as Sullivan notes, Vietnam became a kind of dumping ground for poor performers, alcoholics, refugees from bad marriages, and other """"problem agents."""" Through anecdotes and inside stories Sullivan provides new insights into CIA culture that debunk the """"James Bond"""" image of clandestine operations and show how in Vietnam the seamier aspects of that culture were allowed to grow even worse. He discusses the roles of the CIA's three most significant players--Ted Shackley, General Charles Timmes, and Tom Polgar--from a more personal perspective than previously available and candidly portrays a rogues' gallery of cheats, scoundrels, and libertines, while also giving due credit to those who fought hard to maintain professional standards. """"Of Spies and Lies"""" reveals why the CIA's efforts there were such a failure and allows a more complete assessment of its poor performance in a losing cause.

Full Product Details

9780700611683

Table of Contents

Reviews

A highly readable account that is a must for historians looking for lessons derived from the Vietnam conflict. And as a polygrapher who was obsessed with unveiling the truth, Sullivan makes every effort to give an accurate portrayal of the CIA and its key personnel in Vietnam-warts and all. KENNETH CONBOY, COAUTHOR OF SPIES AND COMMANDOS: HOW AMERICA LOST THE SECRET WAR IN NORTH VIETNAM. """"Provides a unique and interesting glimpse into a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War."""" DALE ANDRADE, AUTHOR OF AMERICA'S LAST VIETNAM BATTLE: HALTING HANOI'S 1972 EASTER OFFENSIVE """"A vivid and often insightful account of the CIA's role in Vietnam."""" TIMOTHY LOMPERIS, AUTHOR OF FROM PEOPLE'S WAR TO PEOPLE'S RULE: INSURGENCY, INTERVENTION, AND THE LESSONS OF VIETNAM

A memoir of CIA polygraph examiner Sullivan's turbulent 1971-75 tour in Vietnam. A career CIA employee (1968-99) and current lecturer at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, is among the most qualified people in America to write an intimate and frank account of the intelligence community's role in Vietnam. Sullivan, after a five-year stint in the army, shifted career paths and began study at Michigan State University. There, he became disgusted with the antiwar protesters and signed up with the CIA as a polygraph analyst. His calm and methodical approach to polygraph testing produced notably reliable results, and as he began to advance in the agency, his superiors assigned him to duty in Vietnam. Sullivan details his encounters with key players in Southeast Asia, such as Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker and CIA Station Chief Theodore Shackley, as well as various subordinate agents and analysts who actually executed the often dangerous American intelligence operations. He asserts that the majority of senior policymakers often refused to acknowledge or send forward negative reports about the war, despite the voluminous intelligence that the US was losing ground with the South Vietnamese population. Sullivan further recalls the depravity, corruption, and drunkenness that pervaded the lower echelons of the Southeast Asian intelligence community. These reactions to Vietnam complicated an already difficult job and threw him into conflict with agents and superiors that demanded specific polygraph results to further their individual agendas. Unfortunately, the complexities of Sullivan's Vietnam experience overwhelm his narrative. Rather than a compelling mosaic about his experience, Sullivan's story reads more like a chronicle of petty office squabbles. Too narrowly focused for general readers, Sullivan may find an audience among CIA or Vietnam scholars. (35 photos, 7 maps) (Kirkus Reviews)

A highly readable account that is a must for historians looking for lessons derived from the Vietnam conflict. And as a polygrapher who was obsessed with unveiling the truth, Sullivan makes every effort to give an accurate portrayal of the CIA and its key personnel in Vietnam-warts and all. KENNETH CONBOY, COAUTHOR OF SPIES AND COMMANDOS: HOW AMERICA LOST THE SECRET WAR IN NORTH VIETNAM. Provides a unique and interesting glimpse into a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War. DALE ANDRADE, AUTHOR OF AMERICA'S LAST VIETNAM BATTLE: HALTING HANOI'S 1972 EASTER OFFENSIVE A vivid and often insightful account of the CIA's role in Vietnam. TIMOTHY LOMPERIS, AUTHOR OF FROM PEOPLE'S WAR TO PEOPLE'S RULE: INSURGENCY, INTERVENTION, AND THE LESSONS OF VIETNAM

Author Information

John F. Sullivan was a polygraph examiner, recruiter, and team leader with the CIA from 1968 to 1999. He is presently a lecturer with Major, Capps & Associates, which manages the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies in Alexandria, Virginia.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available