The Assault on Intelligence

American National Security in an Age of Lies

By: Michael V. Hayden

Narrated by: Michael V. Hayden

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

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

Critic Reviews

“For a longtime spook, Hayden is a breezy and direct writer. He reduces complex issues of cyber and information warfare to essentials, and his polemic is leavened with humor and sympathy. He is at his best, though, when he shifts to a purely analytical tone. He coolly forecasts the direction of America under Trump, explains the intelligence that foreign governments are likely to collect from the president’s Twitter feed and describes the benefits Russia drew from the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Kremlin-connected Russian attorneys and senior Trump campaign officials.” (The New York Times)

“The more important, absorbing and disturbing aspect of Hayden’s book is the analysis from his professional perspective of what Trump and Trumpism mean for the intelligence community. It is sober, nuanced and, quite frankly, scary as hell.” (Mark Galeotti, Washington Post) 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Great title...

Title got me, but just turned into a rant on Trump. Not that I’m against that, loved Comey’s book, but this is dry and jumps around a lot. Hard to follow. Made it 2 hours in. Maybe it gets better but I won’t find out. Would be great as a sleep aid.

required reading for all Americans! Hayden

Hayden is an excellent author and tells his story in a way that in grosses the reader. He also explains some of the details of intelligence in a digestible manner.

awesome!!!

everyone should read this book. it is an exceptional critique on how fake news and lies effect the national discourse

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.

An excellent glimpse of intelligence community

A view of the Trump impact on the intelligence community, America and foreign policy, but what is so important here is who wrote the book and how concerned he clearly is for his country.

Like stopping by a warm fireside

The author is a smart empathetic and dedicated man. This book and him reading it reflects that. The content is insightful and clearly put. He warns but also reassures. Probably the best book covering this era of fact averse thinking because it didn't make me want to give up.