cover image Intel Wars: The Secret History 
of the Fight Against Terror

Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror

Matthew M. Aid. Bloomsbury, $28 (272p) ISBN 978-1-60819-481-0

In this provocative survey, intelligence historian Aid (The Secret Sentry) offers “a snapshot of the U.S. intelligence community” since Barack Obama came into office. Relying on interviews with intelligence insiders, information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, and the trove of classified U.S. government documents released by Wikileaks, Aid argues that the sprawling intelligence community—208,000 employees spread across 16 agencies and operating in 170 countries—“remained “fundamentally unreformed” when Obama entered the White House. Moreover, in Afghanistan, the new president inherited a desperate situation from an inept Bush administration. While admitting that Obama has continued many of Bush’s policies, the author is unsparing in his criticism of the latter. Aid concludes that while Obama has enjoyed a couple of “notable intelligence success stories”—including Osama bin Laden’s death—the U.S. intelligence community has been struggling on other fronts. It has “dawdled in responding to the homegrown terrorist threat,” continues to suffer from weak leadership, and is drowning in a sea of data. Aid’s wide-ranging and timely assessment of the current state of U.S. intelligence should appeal to anyone interested in U.S. defense policy. (Jan.)