Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq

by Robert Parry

Describes the rise to power of George Bush and his son George W. Bush, and their impact on American history and politics.

Genres: History, Politics, The United States Of America, American

390 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

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Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting things to find in here
for example

Walter Raymond Jr.

'Raymond joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1952. According to Robert Parry (Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq) Raymond worked for the CIA's propaganda office. It is believed that he played an important role in Operation Mockingbird.'

'The following year President Ronald Reagan established its own propaganda campaign within the United States called "Project Truth." It later merged with a broader program that combined domestic and international propaganda under the umbrella of "Project Democracy." Raymond, as senior director of international communications and information, was placed in charge of this project.'

'In 1987 Raymond was appointed as assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency and senior coordinator for an initiative to promote democracy in Eastern Europe.'

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A quote from Parry's book

[Reagan turned to Raymond to manage the public diplomacy operations at home and abroad. The veteran CIA propagandist was a slight, soft-spoken New Yorker who reminded some of a character from a John le Carre spy novel, an intelligence officer who "easily fades into the woodwork," according to one acquaintance. Associates said Raymond's CIA career stayed close to headquarters because of special care required for a sick child. Still, he rose to senior levels of the CIA's Directorate of Operations - the DO which is responsible for spying, paramilitary actions and propaganda - where his last job title was considered so revealing about the CIA's disinformation capabilities that it remained a highly classified secret.]

[Critics would later question the assignment of a career CIA propagandist to carry out an information program that had both domestic and foreign components. After all, in CIA propaganda operations, the goal is not to inform a target population, but rather to manipulate it. The trick is to achieve a specific intelligence objective, not foster a full-and-open democratic debate. In such cases, CIA tactics include disinformation to spread confusion or psychological operations to exploit cultural weaknesses. A skillful CIA operation will first carefully analyze what "themes" can work with a specific culture and then select - and if necessary distort - information that advances those "themes." The CIA also looks for media outlets to disseminate the propaganda. Some are created; others are compromised with bribes to editors, reporters or owners.]

[Ryan Nary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minus half star for going too easy on Bill Clinton and another half star for being a book about the Bushes only 60 percent of the time

[Charlene Mathe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle discloses the content of the 23 chapters in this book -- the "Rise of the Bush Dynasty FROM WATERGATE TO IRAQ." Though I lived through these important years, the events of the time were a big murky mystery to me. I have been stunned to learn from this book about the back channel relationships of our government that BEGAN, not with the Obama administration, but with the Reagan administration. I haven't finished the book yet, but I am looking forward to reading the chapters on Sun Myung Moon, and his clandestine influence on American foreign policy during the George H. W. Bush years.