Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing

by Tim Shorrock

In Spies for Hire , investigative reporter Tim Shorrock lifts the veil off a major story the government doesn't want us to know about -- the massive outsourcing of top secret intelligence activities to private-sector contractors. Running spy networks overseas. Tracking down terrorists in the Middle East. Interrogating enemy prisoners. Analyzing data from spy satellites and intercepted phone calls. All of these are vital intelligence tasks that traditionally have been performed by government officials accountable to Congress and the American people. But that is no longer the case. Starting during the Clinton administration, when intelligence budgets were cut drastically and privatization of government services became national policy, and expanding dramatically in the wake of 9/11, when the CIA and other agencies were frantically looking to hire analysts and linguists, the Intelligence Community has been relying more and more on corporations to perform sensitive tasks heretofore considered to be exclusively the work of federal employees. This outsourcing of intelligence activities is now a $50 billion-a-year business that consumes up to 70 percent of the U.S. intelligence budget. And it's a business that the government has tried hard to keep under wraps. Drawing on interviews with key players in the Intelligence-Industrial Complex, contractors' annual reports and public filings with the government, and on-the-spot reporting from intelligence industry conferences and investor briefings, Spies for Hire provides the first behind-the-scenes look at this new way of spying. Shorrock shows how corporations such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, SAIC, CACI International, and IBM have become full partners with the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Pentagon in their most sensitive foreign and domestic operations. He explores how this partnership has led to wasteful spending and threatens to erode the privacy protections and congressional oversight so important to American democracy. Shorrock exposes the kinds of spy work the private sector is doing, such as interrogating prisoners in Iraq, managing covert operations, and collaborating with the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans' overseas phone calls and e-mails. And he casts light on a "shadow Intelligence Community" made up of former top intelligence officials who are now employed by companies that do this spy work, such as former CIA directors George Tenet and James Woolsey. Shorrock also traces the rise of Michael McConnell from his days as head of the NSA to being a top executive at Booz Allen Hamilton to returning to government as the nation's chief spymaster. From CIA covert actions to NSA eavesdropping, from Abu Ghraib to Guantánamo, from the Pentagon's techno-driven war in Iraq to the coming global battles over information dominance and control of cyberspace, contractors are doing it all. Spies for Hire goes behind today's headlines to highlight how private corporations are aiding the growth of a new and frightening national surveillance state.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Espionage, War, Current Affairs, Military Fiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2008

Reviews

[Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of us, most of the time, are sheep. Sadly, we don't realize we're being marched to the slaughterhouse until we actually reach the door. Our lack of awareness. Our lack of curiosity. Our collective apathy. Unless we evolve to be more skeptical and watchful, we will not be effective stewards over any representative republic, let alone over an actual democracy.

Many of our unsurprisingly apathetic citizens seem to believe that Shorrock is raising the alarm about something that isn't important. As I write this, news about Snowden and PRISIM is everywhere, and the masses seem to finally be aware how far the security state has risen.

I put my money where my mouth is, and I'm 100% invested in the fact in spite of the short term "outrage", the american people's apathy will ultimately continue. The security state will become ever more invasive. The conflicts of interest between the security state and the citizens the state supposedly protects ever more stark, and the security state will continue to profit. Campaign contributions will continue to be quid-pro-quo kickbacks. The security state will continue fear-mongering because it boots it's own private profits.

Ultimately, the most important "intelligence" related question for the american people is whether or not our spies and dirty tricks against anyone opposed to our short term agenda actually generates long term value for us. I'm inclined to believe that a more diplomatic solution (ie, The State Dept and professional diplomats) would be a better long term investment, and ultimately cause less blowback. If you actually read the Ames book, you'll see that the CIA was deeply self serving and ineffective, long before private contractors further corrupted the organization.

If you doubt our reality as sheep, why have so many innocent civillians died in all of the conflicts throughout history? Few conflicts actually erupt suddenly. They usually simmer for a long time first. There are warning signs, just like the housing crisis. But those that point out the warning signs are always dismissed as conspiracy theorists, crackpots, or more recently "perma-bears".

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book does not have any truly surprising conclusions, and in parts cites unreliable sources. Often it seems as if the book is saying "We have a lot of contractors working for the government! That's shocking, right? Right? Well, I think it's shocking! You should too!" In parts the author definitely adds 2+2 and gets 10. What could have been an interesting book, perhaps even with interviews with contractors who have served in the positions he is writing about, there is simply a lot of guess work done on pamphlets he acquired at public conferences. I don't recommend this book. It's not revolutionary, well-written, or particularly exciting. I think he tried to stretch out the information he had into a book when it might have been only enough research for a concise article.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent chronicling of the process via which the nation's intelligence apparatus fused fully into an "intelligence industrial complex" through massive privatization and outsourcing in the wake of the end of the Cold War. Considering how rapidly up to 70% of the positions at various agencies were privatized, one wonders if the line between private industry and intelligence agencies even exists today. With the likes of Palantir, Anduril, and Tesla/SpaceX not only profiting massively from taxpayer funds to spy on us, but then diverting some of that money to ensure the election of their own people, modern neofascism is deeply intertwined with the national security state and it's profiteers. This is a helpful roadmap for the early days of the process.

[Douglas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The history is good in the book. However, if you didn't come into the book already believing that the outsourcing of the IC is, prima facie, a bad thing. If you don't believe that, however, the argument won't compel you.

[Pete Zilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched outside look at the contract intel community. The author did the best with what information was available to him in the public domain but in some ways only scratched the surface. I doubt those familiar with the community will be surprised by anything in this book, but I enjoyed learning the history of these contract companies and how we got to where we are today. I do think there is far more oversight over contractors and the intel community than the author asserts, but I have personal anecdotes of when that oversight failed. “Spies for hire” certainly aren’t going away anytime soon.

[Eva Lacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough but laborious

[Mark Cichonski]

This book is very interesting. It lays out the facts very well. The general gist is that by subcontracting out the intelligence business, the government loses the ability to provide oversight. In addition, it allows the government to do bad things, like violate our civil rights. Besides the fact that Mr. Shorrock and myself are on opposite sides of the politial spectrum, I agree with many parts of his analysis. However, there are some underlying themes that I do not care for. One is that if you make a proft, you are essentially bad. I understand that the need to satisfy the shareholders may be different than serving the country, but making a profit alone does not mean everything a company does is bad, whether they make pies or kill terrorists. Another area of disagreement is civil rights. Maybe I am just dumb,but I don't give a crap if the government wants to waste their time listening to my phone calls. To me, it's an academic debate. If I have nothing to hide, why would I be concerned. Just because they have the ability to listen to my calls, or read my email will they? I agree that these companies, like many companies out there end up creating a widget and selling it so they can set up to sell the next widget, but as far as subcontracting out the intelligence business, it seems like we need the manpower.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you were wondering how a private contractor Snowden or a lowly Private Manning could get access to top secret military or intelligence information this will help explain how our governmental alphabet soup of agencies (CIA, FBI, DIA, DEA, etc.) relies on private contractors for our intelligence gathering from cyber-spying to boots on the ground, up close and personal spying. The federal government has been woefully slow in keeping up with the advances in the use of computers and cyberspace, and in order to keep pace had to resort to out-sourcing much our intelligence gathering.

The writing is not smooth or polished and is at times repetitive. The book could have used a little better editing.

[Barry Eisler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that Dana Priest and William Arkin forgot to credit in their big Washington Post series on Top Secret America. Shorrock got there first, deeper, and more comprehensively, and anyone who wants to understand the causes and effects of the corporatization of America's military, intelligence, and security functions should read this excellent book.

[Cwhittall · Rating 2 out of 5]

A detailed but badly written account of the state of information technology contracting in the intel community and DOD. Based on my experience Shorrock's book is directionally correct. This is a topic that should get more attention in my opinion and hopefully it will.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's well researched and comprehensive (from the business perspective - it glosses over any technology) but written in a needlessly verbose and repetitive way. This book could be half as short without cutting any information.

[Elizabeth]

As heard on "Fresh Air" on WYPR.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent top-level view of the outsourced intelligence industry.

[Jeff Brailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

God damn I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Beltway Banditry but then this book came in and changed everything - a real look inside the revolving door of government contracting!

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me want to apply for intel career. Supposed to outrage, I got a "meh" out of it.