[Marxism] Robert Baer: Iran did it

[Andrew Pollack <acpollack2@xxxxxxxxx>]

I read Baer's memoir, after seeing Syriana and enjoying it
so much. The memoir isn't nearly as good. Whereas the movie
was only liberal in its politics, and could be hailed by
those in the category Louis describes (i.e who believe "we"
should use "our" spies and military more efficiently), it
still had enough populist bashing of Big Oil and their friends
in DC to be fun.
Baer's memoir, on the other hand, has no obvious politics.
But in every episode, whether in Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, etc.,
he sees the hand of the regime in Iran behind everything.
What's more he portrays the CIA as completely without effective
agents in the region -- or pretty much anywhere in the world.
In fact he makes it seem like in the last two decades the
CIA has no resources anywhere in the world to do hardly anything.
Hard to believe.
-------------------------------
Louis wrote:
Robert Baer's memoir served as the basis for the misbegotten
"Syriana". I am not sure whether to blame this on the memoir (since I have not 
read it)
or on the adaptation. In any case, it falls into the category of the
literature that has sprung up since the occupation of Iraq turned sour,
namely one that calls for a more "intelligent" use of our spies and
our military. Richard Clarke wrote one of these books as have Michael Gordon
and Bernard Trainor.

                
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