The Assault on Intelligence

Publisher's Summary

A blistering critique of the forces threatening the American intelligence community, beginning with the president of the United States himself, in a time when that community's work has never been harder or more important

In the face of a president who lobs accusations without facts, evidence, or logic, truth tellers are under attack. Meanwhile, the world order is teetering on the brink. North Korea is on the verge of having a nuclear weapon that could reach all of the United States, Russians have mastered a new form of information warfare that undercuts democracy, and the role of China in the global community remains unclear. There will always be value to experience and expertise, devotion to facts, humility in the face of complexity, and a respect for ideas, but in this moment they seem more important, and more endangered, than they've ever been. American intelligence - the ultimate truth teller - has a responsibility in a post-truth world beyond merely warning of external dangers, and in The Assault on Intelligence, General Michael Hayden takes up that urgent work with profound passion, insight, and authority.

It is a sobering vision. The American intelligence community is more at risk than is commonly understood, for every good reason. Civil war or societal collapse is not necessarily imminent or inevitable, but our democracy's core structures, processes, and attitudes are under great stress. Many of the premises on which we have based our understanding of governance are now challenged, eroded, or simply gone. And we have a president in office who responds to overwhelming evidence from the intelligence community that the Russians are, by all acceptable standards of cyber conflict, in a state of outright war against us, not by leading a strong response, but by shooting the messenger.

There are fundamental changes afoot in the world and in this country. The Assault on Intelligence shows us what they are, reveals how crippled we've become in our capacity to address them, and points toward a series of effective responses. Because when we lose our intelligence, literally and figuratively, democracy dies.

©2018 Michael V. Hayden (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Edifying

I found this book most interesting and scary. I chose to read this particular book on the subject of intelligence problems in this country because it was written by General Michael V. Hayden. Hayden was the highest-ranking intelligence officer in the military. Like General Colin Powell, General Hayden went to college on the ROTC program. He got his degree in history and went into the Air Force. Hayden was the first commander of the Air Force Cyberwarfare Command. He has also been Deputy Director of the National Intelligence and Director of the National Security Agency as well as Director of the CIA. He is a visiting professor at George Mason University. He has served under four presidents and lists his political affiliation as Independent, but I feel he trends toward the conservative. I recently read James Comey’s book “A Higher Loyalty” and noted that Comey said he had high regards for Hayden.

Hayden’s book is an analysis from his professional perspective of what Trump and Trumpism means for the intelligence community. I don’t believe it covers new material, but I found the big picture he paints of our world most scary. Hayden did provide pros and cons of George W. Bush, Obama and Trump’s actions. He states that Trump does not trust or feel a need for the intelligence community. Hayden says the intelligence community has a big problem of speaking the truth to a power that does not want to listen. I found the section about how Russia decided to use information as a method of warfare extremely interesting. Hayden explains how they first used it on their own people and then the world. The author explains how Russia and other enemies take advantage of the social and cultural divide between the average American. Hayden demonstrates how they use social media and plant stories that are lies and repeat them until people believe them in spite of knowing they are lies. After reading this book I decided I needed to know more about informational warfare and the intelligence service. I will look for more books on the topic.

The book is eight and a half hours. General Hayden does an excellent job narrating his own book.

25 of 25 people found this review helpful

An essential read.

If you are interested in increasing your understanding of the history and context surrounding some of our time's most important issues, this is one of the essential reads, and time well-spent.

19 of 19 people found this review helpful

Patriotic Warrior for the Factual Truth

After over 20 years in criminal intelligence and combat arms, each; it is delightful to listen to a real patriot. The truth is out there in plain view; but under assault. The author is from a geographical with economic problems. He has identified the fact that certain citizens can't stand the truth. They are looking for scapegoats and will listen to anyone making that provision. I was always happy to see the U.S. flag after long seek and destroy missions. During ambushes, I fought for that troop next to me and not the Flag. As a Special Agent, every day was adhering to the Constitution. The author has identified a minority segment of the population with limited ideas and facts about the 2nd Amendment and forget the rest. They are like Jim Jones followers, looking for their Leader. The author in a world traveller, and has seen creeping fascism. The far right and left are shown not to work hard enough to save our Democracy.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great content from someone who understands intel

Hayden is an enlightened leader and someone who I trust with the facts. A great book on timely matters of freedom, democracy, truth and American values.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Informative and disturbing

The facts of this book are enlightening and disturbing. How did our country end up in this position? More importantly how do we get out of the Trump twilight zone as an intact and united nation. Although Mr Hayden offered some of his grave concerns, most of his book was a chronological documentary of fact and possible consequences on our society of laws and social divisions

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A Must Read

General Hayden presents an informed look at the status of truth in today's society. Full of objective thoughts on a myriad of relevant topics, this is a must read (or listen) for those who desire to keep our country safe by protecting the institutions needed to do the job.

18 of 21 people found this review helpful

Truth from someone who was there.

This work gives clear and systematic evidence on how we have been moved away from truth-based discourse into separate bubbles of imagined truth. Our enemy has weakened us to the point that we are no longer seem as the beacon of democracy.

15 of 19 people found this review helpful

Know What's Happening In Our Country

Even if you are up-to-date with the current news, this spells out with FACTS how and why our country is having the problems we do. A must read for anyone wondering where we went wrong.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

ALL AMERICANS MUST READ THIS BOOK !!!

OMG ... I read brilliant audible books all the time but this one was both brilliant and has huge implications for how our country moves forward and possibly whether not we survive intact from this Assault on Intelligence

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

All Americans should read this.

I think trump supporters should read it especially. But as naive as some are they would call it fake. The fact that trump has never not lied about anything and sometimes the most trivial things. And the fact that Russia and trump are so aligned it sure won’t surprise me if he is found to be a witting agent for Putin.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A must read for anyone that cares about the truth

With so much outrageous bullshit espoused from the POTUS, it's hard to keep it in perspective and remember what normal decency is about. This book remind one of how extreme the less are and how dangerous Trump is to civil society. It's a balanced review of how it all appears from the point of a very intelligent voice who should know. well written and narrated.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful