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Betrayal: The Story of Aldrich Ames, an American Spy
Aldrich Ames, according to this account by a team of New York Times reporters, was an incompetent, office-bound, alcoholic spy in the middle of an undistinguished career. Even so, he was promoted to lead the counterintelligence branch of the CIA's central Soviet division, and there, in 1983, he began calling for the files on every important CIA operation involving Soviet spies in every corner of the world. He sold these files to the Soviets in order to fund tastes not appropriate to his salary; dozens of U.S. operatives were exposed, and many were killed. Until his arrest and conviction for espionage in 1994, Ames received nearly $3 million for his treason, about which he was quite unsubtle. Yet the CIA took years to wonder why Ames could afford an expensive home in a Washington, D.C., suburb and frequent weekend trips to Europe. The agency was so slow to act, the authors suggest, because its leadership was more concerned with institutional self-preservation than with doing its job properly. This suspenseful book draws on interviews with Ames himself to show that major housecleaning is in order at Langley.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 1995
65 people are currently reading
1043 people want to read
About the author
Tim Weiner
14 books573 followersTim Weiner reported for The New York Times for many years as a foreign correspondent and as a national security correspondent in Washington, DC. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the National Book Award for LEGACY OF ASHES: The History of the CIA. His new book, out in July, is ONE MAN AGAINST THE WORLD: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
February 22, 2024
"Ames spent part of his first few weeks in federal prison auditioning a parade of network correspondents, deciding to whom he would grant a television interview. The networks all sent their most glamorous female stars. At the end of her conversation with him, Connie Chung of CBS News asked Ames if she could give him a hug. She did, to the disgust of the FBI agents and CIA officers in the room."
July 17, 2017
One of the best of its kind. If you love the works of John LeCarré, consider this a real life version.
December 6, 2025
Wow. This is still as absorbing as any thriller thirty years after it was published.
April 2, 2024
The story of an idiot who worked for the CIA and got about a dozen of his colleagues killed by telling the Russians which of their citizens were working for the CIA. He made a lot of money doing it. I think because of how nice the Russians treated him he started to be on their side so he didn't think he was doing anything wrong.
The worst part of this is how the CIA had no clue what he was doing. They didn't even check him when he left a secure building to see if he has classified materials. They said he was a real dunce but somehow came to work for the CIA. He must have been mentored by James Clapper in how to be such a stupid person.
The worst part of this is how the CIA had no clue what he was doing. They didn't even check him when he left a secure building to see if he has classified materials. They said he was a real dunce but somehow came to work for the CIA. He must have been mentored by James Clapper in how to be such a stupid person.
April 4, 2019
Ames routinely assisted another CIA office that assessed Soviet embassy officials as potential intelligence assets. As part of this responsibility, and with the knowledge of both the CIA and the FBI, Ames began making contacts within the Soviet Embassy. In April 1985, Ames provided information to the Soviets that he believed was "essentially valueless" but would establish his credentials as a CIA insider. He also asked for $50,000, which the Soviets quickly paid.[15] Ames later claimed that he had not prepared for more than the initial "con game" to satisfy his immediate indebtedness, but once having "crossed a line," he "could never step back."
Ames soon identified more than ten top-level CIA and FBI sources who were reporting on Soviet activities. Not only did Ames believe that there was "as much money as [he] could ever use" in betraying these intelligence assets, but their elimination would also reduce the chance of his own espionage being discovered.[16] By 1985, the CIA's network of Soviet-bloc agents began disappearing at an alarming rate. The CIA realized something was wrong but was reluctant to consider the possibility of an agency mole. Initial investigations focused on possible breaches caused by Soviet bugs or by a broken code.[17]
The CIA initially blamed asset losses on another former CIA agent, Edward Lee Howard, who had also been passing information to the Soviets. But when the CIA lost three other important sources of information about whom Howard could have known nothing, it was clear that the arrests (and executions) originated from another source.[18] As one CIA officer put it, the Soviets "were wrapping up our cases with reckless abandon," which was highly unusual because the "prevailing wisdom among the Agency's professional 'spy catchers'" was that suddenly eliminating all the assets known to the mole would put him in danger. In fact, Ames' KGB handlers apologized to him and also disagreed with that course of action but said the decision to immediately eliminate all American assets had been made at the highest political levels.[19]
Meanwhile, Ames continued to meet openly with his contact at the Soviet embassy, Sergey Dmitriyevich Chuvakhin. For a time, Ames summarized for the CIA and FBI the progress of what he portrayed as an attempt to recruit the Soviet. Ames received $20,000 to $50,000 every time the two had lunch.[20] Ultimately, Ames received $4.6 million from the Soviets, which allowed him to enjoy a lifestyle well beyond the means of a CIA officer.[17] When, in August 1985, Ames' divorce became final, he immediately married Rosario. Understanding that his new wealth would raise eyebrows, he developed a cover story that his prosperity was the result of money given to him by his Colombian wife's wealthy family. To help fabricate this, Ames wired considerable amounts of his espionage profits to his new in-laws in Bogota, as well as to help improve their impoverished status.[21]
In 1986, Ames told the KGB that he feared he would be a suspect after the loss of several CIA assets. The KGB threw U.S. investigators off his trail by constructing an elaborate diversion whereby a Soviet case officer told a CIA contact that the mole was stationed at Warrenton Training Center (WTC), a secret CIA communications facility in Virginia. U.S. mole hunters investigated 90 employees at WTC for almost a year and came up with ten suspects, although the lead investigator noted that "there are so many problem personalities that no one stands out".[22][23]
In 1986, Ames was posted to Rome. There, his performance once again ranged from mediocre to poor and included evidence of problematic drinking. Nevertheless, in 1990–1991, he was reassigned to the CIA's Counterintelligence Center Analysis Group, providing him with access to "extremely sensitive data", including information on U.S. double agents
Ames soon identified more than ten top-level CIA and FBI sources who were reporting on Soviet activities. Not only did Ames believe that there was "as much money as [he] could ever use" in betraying these intelligence assets, but their elimination would also reduce the chance of his own espionage being discovered.[16] By 1985, the CIA's network of Soviet-bloc agents began disappearing at an alarming rate. The CIA realized something was wrong but was reluctant to consider the possibility of an agency mole. Initial investigations focused on possible breaches caused by Soviet bugs or by a broken code.[17]
The CIA initially blamed asset losses on another former CIA agent, Edward Lee Howard, who had also been passing information to the Soviets. But when the CIA lost three other important sources of information about whom Howard could have known nothing, it was clear that the arrests (and executions) originated from another source.[18] As one CIA officer put it, the Soviets "were wrapping up our cases with reckless abandon," which was highly unusual because the "prevailing wisdom among the Agency's professional 'spy catchers'" was that suddenly eliminating all the assets known to the mole would put him in danger. In fact, Ames' KGB handlers apologized to him and also disagreed with that course of action but said the decision to immediately eliminate all American assets had been made at the highest political levels.[19]
Meanwhile, Ames continued to meet openly with his contact at the Soviet embassy, Sergey Dmitriyevich Chuvakhin. For a time, Ames summarized for the CIA and FBI the progress of what he portrayed as an attempt to recruit the Soviet. Ames received $20,000 to $50,000 every time the two had lunch.[20] Ultimately, Ames received $4.6 million from the Soviets, which allowed him to enjoy a lifestyle well beyond the means of a CIA officer.[17] When, in August 1985, Ames' divorce became final, he immediately married Rosario. Understanding that his new wealth would raise eyebrows, he developed a cover story that his prosperity was the result of money given to him by his Colombian wife's wealthy family. To help fabricate this, Ames wired considerable amounts of his espionage profits to his new in-laws in Bogota, as well as to help improve their impoverished status.[21]
In 1986, Ames told the KGB that he feared he would be a suspect after the loss of several CIA assets. The KGB threw U.S. investigators off his trail by constructing an elaborate diversion whereby a Soviet case officer told a CIA contact that the mole was stationed at Warrenton Training Center (WTC), a secret CIA communications facility in Virginia. U.S. mole hunters investigated 90 employees at WTC for almost a year and came up with ten suspects, although the lead investigator noted that "there are so many problem personalities that no one stands out".[22][23]
In 1986, Ames was posted to Rome. There, his performance once again ranged from mediocre to poor and included evidence of problematic drinking. Nevertheless, in 1990–1991, he was reassigned to the CIA's Counterintelligence Center Analysis Group, providing him with access to "extremely sensitive data", including information on U.S. double agents
August 6, 2025
Lots to think about here. First of all, the authors clearly absolutely despise Ames. In truth, there is much to despise about him, particularly the deaths that came directly from his betrayal. But the book dwells as well on his many personal failings. He's lazy, stupid, arrogant. He's an alcoholic and a smoker. He has no ambition or initiative. His teeth are rotten. He's a loser who would do anything for attention. He's greedy.
And yet, in one of the few times we actually hear from him, in his speech he gave at his trial, he is remarkably eloquent and insightful. This speech is worth quoting in full:
Then there's a section at the end about how the FBI caught Ames, which presumably is supposed to show how amazing the FBI is. The irony is there was a far worse spy at the FBI itself operating at the same time this book was written (Robert Hanssen), who wouldn't be caught until 2001. Indeed, if there's one thing I learned from this book, it's how different the reality of the CIA and FBI is from the Hollywood version. As the authors write,
What if the government had learned more from the failures of the Ames case? Could 9/11 have been prevented?
And yet, in one of the few times we actually hear from him, in his speech he gave at his trial, he is remarkably eloquent and insightful. This speech is worth quoting in full:
"I had come to believe that the espionage business, as carried out by the CIA and a few other American agencies, was and is a self-serving sham, carried out by careerist bureaucrats who have managed to deceive several generations of American policy makers and the public about both the necessity and the value of their work. There is and has been no rational need for thousands of case officers and tens of thousands of case agents working around the world, primarily in and against friendly countries. The information our vast espionage network acquires at considerable human and ethical cost is generally insignificant or irrelevant to our policy makers' needs. Our espionage establishment differs hardly at all from many other federal bureaucracies, having transformed itself into a self-serving interest group, immeasurably aided by secrecy. Now that the Cold War is over and the Communist tyrannies largely done for, our country still awaits a real national debate on the means and ends - and costs - of our national security policies. To the extent that public discussions of my case can move from government-inspired hypocrisy and hysteria to help even indirectly to fuel such a debate, I welcome and support it."There is no attempt in the book to fully grapple with any of these trenchant criticisms. Instead, most of the book is a chronicle of how supposedly stupid. But this speech doesn't sound this stupid. It reminds me of Kaczynski: a morally deranged person some of whose criticisms may have been right.
Then there's a section at the end about how the FBI caught Ames, which presumably is supposed to show how amazing the FBI is. The irony is there was a far worse spy at the FBI itself operating at the same time this book was written (Robert Hanssen), who wouldn't be caught until 2001. Indeed, if there's one thing I learned from this book, it's how different the reality of the CIA and FBI is from the Hollywood version. As the authors write,
Most people at the CIA have ordinary talents and ordinary problems. They suffered from midlife crises, drank too much, sometimes shirked hard tasks, and silently nursed grudges. Only on occasion did their work rise to the level of espionage fiction."Some of this incompetence is farcical, CIA/FBI agents as Keystone Cops. Agents miss clues that seem glaringly obvious in retrospect. The two agencies constantly fight over petty issues and hide things from each other out of spite. But of course all this is also tragic. Six years after this book was published, these exact same issues - inter-agency competition and incompetence - would allow 19 Al-Qaeda operatives to perpetrate the 9/11 attacks. Indeed, it's remarkable how many sections of this book foreshadow 9/11. The authors discuss the CIA withholding information from the FBI, as noted, but there's also several references to the CIA's support for the Mujahideen in the USSR's war in Afghanistan, as well as references to the 1993 attack on the WTC.
What if the government had learned more from the failures of the Ames case? Could 9/11 have been prevented?
November 12, 2023
This is the depressing true story of Aldrich "Rick" Ames, a CIA agent who was revealing secrets to the Soviets/Russians for about nine years and was responsible for the deaths of at least ten Russians who were willing to share their nation's secrets with Americans during the Cold War. That Ames was such a traitor is depressing enough, but the really depressing news is that he didn't get caught sooner because the CIA was convinced, despite all sorts of evidence to the contrary, that there couldn't be a mole in the CIA's ranks. Ames was incredibly sloppy at tradecraft, drank too much, obviously had and spent the millions the KGB paid him, didn't do his job at the CIA, left top secret documents lying around his office, and should have set off a lot of red flags. Apparently, there were so many alcoholic slackers with questionable money sources in the Agency at the time that he didn't stand out. Further, the CIA would do anything, including letting a traitor run murderously rampant in their ranks, to avoid inviting the FBI to investigate the possibility of a mole, and that went on for years. I hope that oversight has been taken care of. The book is well written; as a story it is a pretty good read. But I wanted to scream through the pages at the people who should have noticed the waving red flags. I read this book after reading Katherine Reay's novel, A Shadow in Moscow, about some Russian women who spied for the Americans during the Cold War, and it was much more satisfying than this history (as a novel should be).
March 14, 2024
Simple put, the authors set out to explain Aldrich Ames, the damage he did and how he managed to get away with it. They did an outstanding job.
The ineptitude of the CIA is clear from the very beginning and only gets worse as the timeline proceeds. Ames should not have last as spy for anywhere near as long as he because, well to put it plainly he was the world's worst spy. He broke every rule of trade craft but because the CIA operated like an ostrich with its head in the sand, he was able to condemn person after person to death all in the name of greed.
Ames tries to give a somewhat cover that he became disenfranchised with the CIA but in the end it was all about he Benjamins.
The authors do an excellent job of laying out, detail by detail, the entirety of Ames' betrayal. As you read through this, you will be flabbergasted at how the CIA over and over missed opportunities to shut Ames down even if by coincidence but instead chose the route of the ostrich.
The summation chapter was especially brutal in its blunt assessment of how the CIA handled the Ames case. There was many, many people that should have been, at minimum, show the door but all anyone got was a harshly worded letter and some of those were already retired. That will show them!
Overall, this book is not only a good real-life spy thriller, it is also a great example of government bureaucracy reaching a level of inertia that it cannot even see what was plainly in front of it.
The ineptitude of the CIA is clear from the very beginning and only gets worse as the timeline proceeds. Ames should not have last as spy for anywhere near as long as he because, well to put it plainly he was the world's worst spy. He broke every rule of trade craft but because the CIA operated like an ostrich with its head in the sand, he was able to condemn person after person to death all in the name of greed.
Ames tries to give a somewhat cover that he became disenfranchised with the CIA but in the end it was all about he Benjamins.
The authors do an excellent job of laying out, detail by detail, the entirety of Ames' betrayal. As you read through this, you will be flabbergasted at how the CIA over and over missed opportunities to shut Ames down even if by coincidence but instead chose the route of the ostrich.
The summation chapter was especially brutal in its blunt assessment of how the CIA handled the Ames case. There was many, many people that should have been, at minimum, show the door but all anyone got was a harshly worded letter and some of those were already retired. That will show them!
Overall, this book is not only a good real-life spy thriller, it is also a great example of government bureaucracy reaching a level of inertia that it cannot even see what was plainly in front of it.
July 25, 2019
Engaging, compelling, and riveting. That's why I read it in less than 2 full days. For a book with 3 authors, I thought it was "seamless": there were no sections written drastically different. What angered me was the fact that I had a Top Secret/Codeword clearance for 24 years and the jackasses before me were getting drunk AT WORK and even missing report deadlines. That shit didn't go down at the offices where I was assigned. I was just an administrative, contractor drone in Sector 7G, but I took my god damn duties seriously. As a gay man, it is clear to me that divorced, white, heterosexuals males should not be allowed to have god damn clearances.
July 9, 2022
I just read The Spy and The Traitor about Oleg Gordievsky so I figured I should read a book about the guy who turned him in. For a non-fiction book it’s well-written and interesting, but not as exciting as some action/thriller fiction books I’ve read. I really wanted to love this book but there are many inconsistencies in the writing, there are wild discrepancies between the writing styles of the 3 different authors, and at 2 different points the book seems to start over. I did enjoy the story though. 3.1 stars.
June 6, 2025
What a wild ride, this book.
Packed with facts from credible sources and firsthand accounts, it honestly reads like a mix of true crime and bureaucratic horror story.
Still mindblown at how badly the CIA handled the Ames case. So many missed chances. So many red flags. It’s almost impressive how often they looked the other way.
And Ames? Arrogant and delusional till the very end. Thought he was untouchable. Turns out he was just really lucky they were that blind.
Packed with facts from credible sources and firsthand accounts, it honestly reads like a mix of true crime and bureaucratic horror story.
Still mindblown at how badly the CIA handled the Ames case. So many missed chances. So many red flags. It’s almost impressive how often they looked the other way.
And Ames? Arrogant and delusional till the very end. Thought he was untouchable. Turns out he was just really lucky they were that blind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2019
Better than the other book I read by this auther, more compelling. The story is amazingly bland considering it is about high treason.
The telling of a bland story with a fascinating backdrop could go either way, but I found myself lookinf forward to picking this book up and each new chapter of the idiocy of Ames and the CIA's failure to audit itself is gauling.
The telling of a bland story with a fascinating backdrop could go either way, but I found myself lookinf forward to picking this book up and each new chapter of the idiocy of Ames and the CIA's failure to audit itself is gauling.
January 8, 2020
Interesting and Saddening
Having watched the Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen cases break and play out via the news, I read this book and "The Bureau and The Mole" to try to gain more understanding of the damage done to our national security. I hope both agencies have learned better how to look for and spot spies and similar security risks.
Having watched the Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen cases break and play out via the news, I read this book and "The Bureau and The Mole" to try to gain more understanding of the damage done to our national security. I hope both agencies have learned better how to look for and spot spies and similar security risks.
July 7, 2021
CIA - Aldridge Ames
This is my second book I've read about Aldridge Ames. I attended UW-River Falls and a building was named after Ames father. That got my interest. I actually liked the book Assets, about Ames better. Spy stories are interesting to me. If you like true stories, this book should intrigue you.
This is my second book I've read about Aldridge Ames. I attended UW-River Falls and a building was named after Ames father. That got my interest. I actually liked the book Assets, about Ames better. Spy stories are interesting to me. If you like true stories, this book should intrigue you.
December 13, 2022
This ranks with the best espionage fiction, except the astonishing case of Aldrich Ames is 100 per cent true. The account of CIA operator Ames’ nine-year campaign of spying for the Soviet Union was hard to put down. Even almost two decades after Ames went to prison for exposing at least 10 agents in Russia who were providing intelligence to the United States, each chapter offers chilling detail.
December 7, 2023
This story mostly focuses on the failures at the CIA that led to Ames getting away with things for as long as he did. A fascinating and unnerving story. I was a little disappointed by the lack of background information on Ames as he apparently was born just a few miles from where I grew up. Otherwise, it's an excellent read.
Read
December 30, 2017Great book about the biggest insider in Agency history. I appreciate the author's refusal to add "anonymous" source data to this book. I felt the end was a bit of a let-down. It just seemed to dry up.
All said, it was a great read.😊
All said, it was a great read.😊
May 6, 2021
Good read about a bright and twisted man.
Aldrich Ames is presented on many levels, as a ruthless traitor of his country, a betrayer of the CIA, and a clever yet careless self-promoter.
Aldrich Ames is presented on many levels, as a ruthless traitor of his country, a betrayer of the CIA, and a clever yet careless self-promoter.
February 28, 2024
Amazing book
This book is very well written and hard to put down. It was written so that anyone reading it would truly be able to grasp the seriousness of what took place so many years ago.
This book is very well written and hard to put down. It was written so that anyone reading it would truly be able to grasp the seriousness of what took place so many years ago.
March 27, 2024
I read The Spy and the Traitor and remember it being more suspenseful, but this one still led to a fairly dramatic conclusion. The unraveling of the case made for fascinating reading, the bureaucracy of the CIA less so.
July 19, 2017
A good read...
Mr. Weiner provides another winner! Very well written, with a coherent plotline. Well researched and very engaging, as are all his books.
Mr. Weiner provides another winner! Very well written, with a coherent plotline. Well researched and very engaging, as are all his books.
January 26, 2019
Breathtaking
I remember the case well .... I was aghast when it surfaced, and taken in by its size. This is a good story extremely well told.
I remember the case well .... I was aghast when it surfaced, and taken in by its size. This is a good story extremely well told.
February 27, 2020
Too bad the death penalty for treason wasn't available for him
June 25, 2020
Thorough coverge of a key point in history during the cold war. I will look for more history books by the author(s).
October 1, 2020
Amazing story
Incredible account of what really happened at the CIA. Recommended read for anyone interested in the topic. Immersive story, cannot believe this happened.
Incredible account of what really happened at the CIA. Recommended read for anyone interested in the topic. Immersive story, cannot believe this happened.
December 18, 2020
Great look into motivations behind the betrayal of America: Money and a high maintenance wife
December 23, 2021
Very good but a lot of names and details that slow down reading.
March 1, 2024
Good read, but frustrating. How a person overcome by greed can betray his country.
He has blood on his hands. But, he don’t care.
He has blood on his hands. But, he don’t care.
February 27, 2020
If John le Carre's novels didn't strip the glamour from the spy profession, this book certainly will. It is the true account of a drunken, sloppy, arrogant, disaffected traitor working in the heart of the CIA. He was actively passing intelligence to the Soviets for nine years. His information led directly to the outing of over a dozen agents working in the Soviet Union, and to the execution of twelve of them. All the while living blatantly way beyond his reported means, leaving the country without the knowledge of the CIA (a violation of Agency rules), and showing up drunk at work on a regular basis. His employers barely seemed to notice. However, once their network of spys in the Soviet Union is rapidly decimated, they begin to admit there is a problem. But, it is still years before they even accept that a mole might be in their midst. Even more time passes before they take a hard look a the Officer who is is living a lavish lifestyle on a government employee's salary.
This is a sad and disillusioning story that is well worth reading.
This is a sad and disillusioning story that is well worth reading.
April 21, 2012
Aldrich Ames was an American spy who turned traitor and served the USSR from deep inside his position inside the CIA headquarters in Washington DC. He helped the KGB nab the CIA's many Soviet spies who operated from Moscow and many other European capitals. He is billed as the most notorious American spy ever. This book slowly takes you through the nine years during which Ames met with his Soviet KGB handlers in DC, Bogota and Rome and supplied them with the names of Soviet spies who operated for the CIA thereby helping the KGB nab them all and send them to the firing squads. The CIA was flummoxed for eight years as to how they are losing their prize assets. They had little clue that there was a mole right in their headquarters in DC. Finally, they call in the FBI and share the full details with them. Over the next nine months, the FBI, through painstaking efforts, zero in on Aldrich Ames as the mole and arrest him.
The book is written in fast-paced style and rings with authenticity. All the players are identified with their real names and the espionage drama is brought out with absorbing detail at the end of the cold war. It makes no bones about the blunders and bloomers of the CIA as well. Contrary to the James Bond thrillers, Aldrich Ames turns out to be an ordinary spy who is sloppy in his work and drinks his way to stardom. He leaves behind a lot of clues to his treacherous endeavors but the CIA remains simply oblivious to his deeds in spite of losing most of their prized assets over just 24 months.
There are a number of aspects in this sordid episode that I found very interesting.
1. Early on in his training, Ames went through his routine psychological tests. His evaluators apparently reported that he lacked the 'right stuff' to make it as a spy! In the end, Ames turned out to be the most destructive spy that the CIA ever encountered. So much for the technical and scientific evaluations!
2. The ineptness of a large bureaucratic organization like the CIA is astounding. CIA's personnel and security offices had recommended that Ames should be kept out of extremely sensitive positions if he married a foreigner. The recommendation was ignored. All the disastrous elements of his stint in Mexico - the drinking, the sloth, an incident with a Cuban intelligence officer, flouting Agency rules - were also ignored. So was his station chief's request that Ames receive treatment for alcoholism. Dewey Clarridge, Ames' station chief in Ankara, alerted his colleagues that Ames is a ne'er-do-well and a problem but this was also ignored. None of this seems to have figured in the calculations when CIA's Soviet division hired Aldrich Ames for one of the most sensitive jobs in the entire Agency. The Agency had substantial data pointing to Ames being involved in exchanging secrets for money with the Soviets, but no one looked at it because the CIA was loathe to accept that there could be a mole in their midst.
3. Finally, Ames in his treason trial, makes some surprisingly far-reaching observations. He says, ..." the CIA is a self-serving and immensely secretive establishment run by careerist bureaucrats. There has been no rational need for thousands of case officers and tens of thousands of agents working around the world , primarily in and against friendly countries. The information our vast espionage network acquires at considerable human and ethical costs is insignificant or irrelevant to our policy makers' needs. Now that the cold war is over and communism is largely done for, our country still awaits a real national debate on the means and ends and costs of our national security policies...". Though he was a traitor, these observations did make an impact with the House of Representatives.
I enjoyed reading the book. Anyone who is interested in real-life espionage history, would love reading this book.
The book is written in fast-paced style and rings with authenticity. All the players are identified with their real names and the espionage drama is brought out with absorbing detail at the end of the cold war. It makes no bones about the blunders and bloomers of the CIA as well. Contrary to the James Bond thrillers, Aldrich Ames turns out to be an ordinary spy who is sloppy in his work and drinks his way to stardom. He leaves behind a lot of clues to his treacherous endeavors but the CIA remains simply oblivious to his deeds in spite of losing most of their prized assets over just 24 months.
There are a number of aspects in this sordid episode that I found very interesting.
1. Early on in his training, Ames went through his routine psychological tests. His evaluators apparently reported that he lacked the 'right stuff' to make it as a spy! In the end, Ames turned out to be the most destructive spy that the CIA ever encountered. So much for the technical and scientific evaluations!
2. The ineptness of a large bureaucratic organization like the CIA is astounding. CIA's personnel and security offices had recommended that Ames should be kept out of extremely sensitive positions if he married a foreigner. The recommendation was ignored. All the disastrous elements of his stint in Mexico - the drinking, the sloth, an incident with a Cuban intelligence officer, flouting Agency rules - were also ignored. So was his station chief's request that Ames receive treatment for alcoholism. Dewey Clarridge, Ames' station chief in Ankara, alerted his colleagues that Ames is a ne'er-do-well and a problem but this was also ignored. None of this seems to have figured in the calculations when CIA's Soviet division hired Aldrich Ames for one of the most sensitive jobs in the entire Agency. The Agency had substantial data pointing to Ames being involved in exchanging secrets for money with the Soviets, but no one looked at it because the CIA was loathe to accept that there could be a mole in their midst.
3. Finally, Ames in his treason trial, makes some surprisingly far-reaching observations. He says, ..." the CIA is a self-serving and immensely secretive establishment run by careerist bureaucrats. There has been no rational need for thousands of case officers and tens of thousands of agents working around the world , primarily in and against friendly countries. The information our vast espionage network acquires at considerable human and ethical costs is insignificant or irrelevant to our policy makers' needs. Now that the cold war is over and communism is largely done for, our country still awaits a real national debate on the means and ends and costs of our national security policies...". Though he was a traitor, these observations did make an impact with the House of Representatives.
I enjoyed reading the book. Anyone who is interested in real-life espionage history, would love reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews