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The CIA as Organized Crime
- How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
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The CIA as Organized Crime
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Summary
The author of three books on CIA operations, Douglas Valentine began his research into the agency's activities when CIA director William Colby gave him free access to interview agency officials who had been involved in various aspects of the Phoenix program in South Vietnam. It was a permission Colby was to regret. The CIA would eventually rescind it and made every effort to impede publication of The Phoenix Program, which documented an elaborate system of population surveillance, control, entrapment, imprisonment, torture, and assassination in Vietnam.
While researching Phoenix, Valentine learned that the CIA allowed opium and heroin to flow from its secret bases in Laos to generals and politicians on its payroll in South Vietnam. His investigations into this illegal activity focused on the CIA's relationship with the federal agencies mandated by Congress to stop illegal drugs from entering the United States. Based on interviews with senior officials, Valentine wrote two subsequent books, The Strength of the Wolf and The Strength of the Pack, showing how the CIA infiltrated federal drug enforcement agencies and commandeered their executive management, intelligence, and foreign operations staffs in order to ensure the unimpeded flow of drugs to traffickers and foreign officials in its employ.
Ultimately, portions of his research materials were archived at the National Security Archive, Texas Tech University's Vietnam Center, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
This book includes excerpts from the aforementioned titles, along with subsequent articles and transcripts of interviews on a range of current topics, with a view to shedding light on the systemic dimensions of the CIA's ongoing illegal and extralegal activities. These articles and interviews illustrate how the agency's activities impact social and political movements abroad and at home.
A common theme is the CIA's ability to deceive and propagandize the American public through its impenetrable, government-sanctioned shield of official secrecy and plausible deniability.
Though investigated by the Church Committee in 1975, CIA praxis then continues to inform CIA praxis today. Valentine tracks the agency's steady expansion into practices targeting the last population to be subjected to the exigencies of the American empire: the American people themselves.
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- Neil Green
- 14-09-21
Great book.
Fascinating book about the CIA. should be read be listened to by everybody. Very well narrated.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- citizen smith
- 26-11-22
fascinating expose
I knew everything wasn't as it appears BUT now I've had the opportunity to listen to this remarkable book I'll never take anything a politician says on face value, thankfully I don't watch TV and their news propaganda channels! I'll certainly need to go through this again as it's very well detailed and I even repeated chapters this first time! I think it's a very clearly written book and although there's a bounty of detail I didn't find it an avalanche coming at me... I just want to absorb as much as possible [i listen on my 2hr bike rides so i know I've missed bits 🧐] I'll now have a look for his other book...
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- M. G. Riley
- 31-07-17
scary but sounds authentic given what we know. a
great narrator. what a book! extremely scary implications but seems accurate given what we know. for me i wanted a more thorough look at world events. this is very focused on Vietnam balanced with some very contemporary references to events in the us and middle east. despite this caveat, its a tour de force. should wake up any open minded person who buys into the mainstream media myth machine. valuable, essential read/listen.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Beelaow
- 16-05-24
Very interesting book
I really enjoyed this book, although it a shame he is so wrong about Syria. CIA’s role is hugely exaggerated and the crimes of Assad are glossed over. Although this is a small part of this book it was irking me listening to that part, but the rest is incredible
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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- Alasdair Barlow
- 12-08-19
poor
couldn't listen past the first chapter. boring and poorly narrated. not a good audio book.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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- Ross Parrott
- 06-05-24
The lack of evidence and limited statistical data.
The first half of the book was interesting and covers some well known topics. From chapter 13 onwards it seems to turn to referring to the us government as white supremacists and constantly references BLM etc.
It moved away from the topic mentioned in the title and I gradually lost interest and was waiting for it to finish. Even at 2x speed this could not come soon enough.
Throughout this book opinions are presented as fact and limited data or true evidence is presented to the reader/listener.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 16-03-21
Lack of Balance
Ultra anti-capatilst author quoting his high paid interviews, selling as many books as possible. Hypocritical.
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1 person found this helpful