See No Evil

The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism

By: Robert Baer

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

“See No Evil is a compelling account of America’s failed efforts to ‘listen in’ on the rest of the world, especially the parts of it that intend to do us harm.” (The Wall Street Journal)

In his explosive New York Times best seller, top CIA operative Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides startling evidence of how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA's efforts to root out the world's deadliest terrorists, allowing for the rise of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the continued entrenchment of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

A veteran case officer in the CIA's Directorate of Operations in the Middle East, Baer witnessed the rise of terrorism first hand and the CIA's inadequate response to it, leading to the attacks of September 11, 2001. This riveting book is both an indictment of an agency that lost its way and an unprecedented look at the roots of modern terrorism, and includes a new afterword in which Baer speaks out about the American war on terrorism and its profound implications throughout the Middle East.

“Robert Baer was considered perhaps the best on-the-ground field officer in the Middle East.” (Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker)

©2002 Robert Baer (P)2005 Books on Tape

The Best of Keyhole Voyeurism

I liked this book. Quite a bit. It’s probably one of the most authentic public works on the second half of the CIA’s history. It doesn’t talk down to you, preach up at you, or skew its message for political correctness. It has facts, information, and a point of view.

But it’s a little hard to not to feel a little perverted about liking it.

P.S. I think it’s a mistake to primarily understand this book as anti-Bush. It’s really anti-establishment.

Thrilling

I’ve read this book two or three times, and I learn new information each time I read it.

Great read

Total cloak and dagger stuff. Great story. The narrator’s pronunciation of some cities was slightly annoying, it did not deter the story nor intent. Phenom read.

See No Evil

This guy totally rocks! What a profession and what a life!

One valuable perspective of US foreign policy

I found this to be informative and interesting. Baer has certainly had a thrilling life. I believe he provided an honest assessment of US foreign policy, as he saw it as an agent on the ground. I have already recommended this book to my father and a close friend. I think anyone with an interest in intelligence or foreign affairs will find something in this book.

great story

this was an excellent story of what it's really like to be an operations officer or spy for the CIA. it shows some true examples of the day-to-day operations that an officer would conduct and the political BS that comes with it

Very Well Done

This is a great narrative of terrorism and of the CIA from an insider's point of view. Baer does a great job of connecting the dots in the tightly knit world of terrorism.

The only drawback I found with the book is that it can be hard to follow the names of the key players, but that is more of a linguistics issue than a beef about the book.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a greater understanding of what is really going on in our world and who is to blame.

Behind the Scenes of Behind the Scenes

Great story in all. There are a lot of minute details that never would have been thought about, but I guess that’s what COs have to do! It is a great deep dive into the real-world events that envelop the issues of modern terrorism. Robertson Dean’s narration gives a straight-forward, gruff, yet calm feel, but can get a bit monotonous and is easy to tune out from time to time. I’d recommend listening at 1.2x-1.5x the normal speed to help!

Required reading

Close up personal insights on what is wrong with American intelligence service in the middle east and how this leaves us vulnerable to terrorist organizations. Some of the things which Baer says, if they came from another source, I might view with suspicion. But his credentials of having worked for the CIA in the middle east, in the field, give him credibility to say that we need to find different ways to deal with Islamic terrorist organizations than what we are currently doing.

Great book but audible needs to fix it's chapters.

The chapters in the book do not match up with the chapters on the app and made it difficult to find your place at some points. Other than that, it's a great book.