About book Body Of Secrets: Anatomy Of The Ultra-Secret National Security Agency From The Cold War Through The Dawn Of A New Century (2002)
After reading "The Puzzle Palace," James Bamford's opus about the NSA (National Security Agency), I thought I would never find anything to compare to it...until I came across "Body of Secrets." Not unexpectedly, it is also by James Bamford, who seems to have carved out his own little niche in chronicling the life and times of America's super-secret electronic spy agency.In examining all the facets, all the nooks and crannies, even the obscure and well-hidden ones, Bamford approached the Agency as if it were a living organism, which when you come to think of it is not that difficult a stretch...with computing power measured in terms of acres, it probably is only a matter of time before the NSA develops both sentience and self-awareness, as in "The Forbin Project" or television's "Person of Interest," and then wonders about all the parasitic creatures around it. In the chapter entitled "Memory," Bamford looks at the history of the agency, it re-invention after America too hastily dismantled its signal intelligence following the Great War. In other chapters, Bamford examines the Agency's sweat, nerves, fists, eyes, muscle, heart, soul, spine, etc., using incidents and personal histories to illustrate those aspects of the Agency that best be understood as being those anthropomorphic analogues.The completeness of the book is demonstrated not just in the answers Bamford provided for the questions I held, but the very many number of times he answered questions I would have never thought to ask. As the NSA (though not yet known by that name) picked up the pieces left after WW1, helped to shorted WW2, and entered the fractal mirror house of the Cold War, the Agency leaves behind rather simplistic notions of good and evil, and begins reflecting the complexity of the world upon which it spied and the nation it was supposed to serve. If there is one important thing I learned from this book, it is that no matter how much the NSA seeks to cloak itself in secrecy, to insulate it and its staff from the morass of politics and cultural concerns, it will always reflect the concerns and fears and biases of the society that runs and maintains it, which, for me, certainly goes a long way toward explaining many of the NSA's problems.The book carries the NSA to 2001, the first year of the 21st Century, and the final chapter ("Afterword") is devoted almost entirely to the events of September 11th. For me, it was the most difficult chapter to read, for time has done little to lessen the impact of that day on me. While some people seem to have followed the advice of CAIR operatives to "get over it," I find myself still haunted by the images I saw that Tuesday morning; the farther we get from September 11th, the closer most people seem to get to September 10th, but for me that day is, as the Doctor might say, a fixed point in time...it's always there. Yet, for all the emotion, stirred up by that last chapter, it was an important one in understanding the course of the Agency into the future. I suspect that Bamford, also, might have been touched by the events of that day, but perhaps in a different way, for there are times in the reportage when his mask seems to slip and we see something more (or less) than an astute journalist and analyst.For those who have a cryptological bent, each chapter (except the last) begins with a block of code, such as Chapter 3, which contains the line: JFKH WRXSHN WRLFGJN USKH FXZHQNL EFI (IFYX) OZL NJYFI, ENXTNL. Like all other examples, these are taken from various issues of the NSA's newsletter, but reveal no national secrets. This one translates as: LAST MINUTE MIRACLE JUST ANOTHER DAY (YAWN) FOR ELWAY, DENVER. While they are fun to translate, there is always something of a let-down when the apparently exotic devolves into the mundane.If you are truly interested in how the US gathers signal intelligence, how things stay secret (or don't), and all the triumphs and tragedies of the NSA and it many code-gnomes, then you have to get this book. Though it follows "The Puzzle Palace" in publication, it is a stand-alone book, but once you read it, you might be motivated to also read "The Puzzle Palace," as well as Bamford's third book, "The Shadow Factory."
Possibly the best an outsider could do (if behind the times).Ages ago, when I was a kid, I read David Kahn's Codebreakers. And there was this photo of an elongated A-shaped building and one chapter. Haven't been inside, but have visited the bldgs next to it. Then Jim Bamford writes The Puzzle Palace which is set before 1980 (I can easily tell), and he tries to describes an organization he can't get inside. I was able to take a photo of both just a couple years ago at an NSA history meeting.Of the various books Bamford has written, the idea of structuring a book based on systems of the human body is an interesting idea. I've read a number of the other reviews criticisms of this structure. But I seriously doubt that any single person can describe and identify the parts and functions (methods) even if the Director has to. The best quote in Body of Secrets comes from Tammy the editor of the NSA Newsletter in that it's a boring place.I've seen the Turing Chapter sign Bamford mentions (we couldn't have been visiting at the same time could we?), and non-NSA friends are quoted (I know where these quotes came from). But NSA is probably far from the most secret government agency (I'd don't have a clearance), but what does the reader know of the NRO? It wasn't even declassified until the mid-90s.The NSA places a emphasis on computers (and are more important to the history and development of computers than most people realize). Jim gets invited back to NSA to give its employees a sense of continuity. And Bamford is the best guy to do this? Go figure. So be satisfied with this book. I think his subsequent ones haven't put the pieces together just yet.
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Be prepared to keep track an incredible array of organization names; the NSA is the archtypical bureaucratic labyrinth. The author relates the history of the NSA from its origins in the 1930s up to 2001 (the book clearly was written and published before 9/11. Now there's a tale I'd like to hear!). Startling revelations: the US communications security during the Vietnam war was completely compromised and made, for example, the bombings by B52s ineffective. The Israeli attack on the NSA intercept ship Liberty during the Six Day War (1967) was no mistake, but was deliberate in order to hide the massacre of surrendered Egyptian solders by Israel Defense Forces. The US decided to suppress the evidence, since 1967 was an election year and LBJ didn't want to anger the Jewish community. Of course, the NSA is about cryptology and has had more impact on the development of computers than I had realized. Basically, the NSA's needs drive the rapid technological development we've witnessed over the past 30 years.There is a competing need for defense and so the need for secrecy and the need for transparency for accountability. The author relates a number of abuses and outright illegalitys committed by NSA personnel and directors. NSA officials have often invoked the "trust us" mantra; the problem is that such trust is inevitably abused. So the pendulum of accountability swings back and forth. Who guards the guardians at the NSA? The history of the NSA suggests, "No one."
—Kirk Lowery
This was a grueling read, but I'm glad I made the effort. In fairness, the first half or so was great: an excellent blend of facts and action that gave shape to several significant historical incidents--many of which I was not aware of. However, the second half seemed to drag on...and on and on. I would recommend the latter half to any potential NSA employee or a public administration student (a healthy dose of NSA budgeting, leadership analysis, organizational culture/change), but I felt I could have better invested the time spent. Overall a solid read and worthy of 3.5 stars; I'll round to four on account of (in spite of?) Bamford's attention to detail.
—Matt
This is a very accurately and intensely researched well-written book. It is probably more interesting to me personally as I served in the ASA (Army Security Agency) which manned field listening stations for the NSA. I've read this book twice and learned almost everything about what we were doing and why from reading it; we never discussed anything even between ourselves about work, and even then we only knew the mechanics of the particular equipment we worked with and virtually nothing about what happened at higher levels. The NSA gets a bad rap in the movies alluding that it runs 'black ops' etc. but this is pure fiction. The NSA mission is entirely passive: signal interception and analysis. I think Bamford did a very good job of describing the organization and its history. There is also a NOVA documentary "The Spy Palace" that is heavily based on this book and it is excellent.http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/701...(less)
—James Bray
