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A Spy For All Seasons: My Life in the CIA
A former Deputy Director of the CIA provides a behind-the-scenes look at the American intelligence community, the Reagan administration's secret war against the Sandinistas, the covert operations he conceived, and the battle against world terrorism.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 27, 2014
This is a difficult book to assess. Leaving aside the author's controversial involvement in Iran-Contra (if you can) and flights of egomania (which may not be totally overblown: he was a one-star equivalent at 42), I still think it's a fascinating insight into Agency operations and a worthwhile read. Also interesting to note his prediction, back in 1996, of the military establishment's interest in subsuming as many Intelligence functions as possible...
January 28, 2009
My take away -- Duane Clarridge has a huge ego. CIA has been viewed for years as a clannish, Ivy-league organization that, by the 1980's and '90's turned into a WASP-ish echo chamber. Clarridge's book basically confirms that view.
Contrast Clarridge with the description of Gust Avrokotos in Charlie Wilson's War. Clarridge comes off as a snooty desk jockey next to the working-man Avrokotos who actually defeated the Soviets.
Contrast Clarridge with the description of Gust Avrokotos in Charlie Wilson's War. Clarridge comes off as a snooty desk jockey next to the working-man Avrokotos who actually defeated the Soviets.
March 27, 2021
An intriguing look at the Iran-Contra issue. The truth typically isn't what the media make it out to be.
What a chilling prediction on the last page. It took 9/11 for the US to get its act together.
What a chilling prediction on the last page. It took 9/11 for the US to get its act together.
March 19, 2015
He is the highest ranking American spy directly and personally involved in espionage, war, counterterrorism, and intrigue to make public his life. Dashing and flamboyant, with mettle akin to the granite for which his home state of New Hampshire is known, Duane "Dewey" Clarridge became a master spy right out of a Tom Clancy novel. In a spy for All Seasons, we follow Dewey Clarridge on his trajectory through the CIA. His no-holds-barred style carried him to Nepal, India, Turkey, Italy, Nicaragua, Panama, Iraq, and beyond, in situations both terrifying and exhilarating. With legendary candor, Dewey describes the role he played in the international espionage scene: his days as Dax P. LeBaron, when he pressed Saddam Hussein to turn over a terrorist; the inner workings of the CIA; the creation of his brainchild, the CIA's Counter-Terrorist Center; his admiration for William Casey and his contempt for William Webster; and his alleged involvement in the Iran-contra affair, for which he was indicted and then pardoned. Along the way he developed a talent for recruiting foreign agents and smiled in the face of his enemies.
October 5, 2017
از نظر من فوق العاده ست. خوندن خاطرات این شانس و به شما میده که بتونید اون حسی که یه نفر از زندگی خودش داشته و تا حدی بچشید.
با کلاریج تو اوج جنگ سرد میتونید به کاتماندو ، دهلی ، استانبول ، رم و خیلی جاهای دیگه برید درگیری های امنیتی و درک کنید و صد البته گاهی اوقات دلتون براش بسوزه.
یادتون بمونه حتی تو لنگلی هم زیرآب زنی و پدر سوخته بازی هست و این زیرآب زن ها هستن که پیشرقت می کنن و مدیر میشن و ....
کلا حال میده من هیچی از اوضاع نیکاراگوئه و درگیری هاش زمان جنگ سرد نمی دونستم که قطعا بهم اضافه کرد. ماجرای ایران کنترا و می شه از یه زاویه دیگه دید.
به کسانی که به جنگ سرد ، سازمان های امنیتی و شیوه کارکرد تشکیلات های تروریستی و ضد تروریستی علاقه دارن توصیه میشه ولی اگر دنبال جیمز باند بازی می گردین سراغش نرید هیچ ربطی به اون داستان ها نداره.
با کلاریج تو اوج جنگ سرد میتونید به کاتماندو ، دهلی ، استانبول ، رم و خیلی جاهای دیگه برید درگیری های امنیتی و درک کنید و صد البته گاهی اوقات دلتون براش بسوزه.
یادتون بمونه حتی تو لنگلی هم زیرآب زنی و پدر سوخته بازی هست و این زیرآب زن ها هستن که پیشرقت می کنن و مدیر میشن و ....
کلا حال میده من هیچی از اوضاع نیکاراگوئه و درگیری هاش زمان جنگ سرد نمی دونستم که قطعا بهم اضافه کرد. ماجرای ایران کنترا و می شه از یه زاویه دیگه دید.
به کسانی که به جنگ سرد ، سازمان های امنیتی و شیوه کارکرد تشکیلات های تروریستی و ضد تروریستی علاقه دارن توصیه میشه ولی اگر دنبال جیمز باند بازی می گردین سراغش نرید هیچ ربطی به اون داستان ها نداره.
January 11, 2008
A Spy for All Seasons is a fascinating memoir. Clarridge has a life that reads like, well, a spy novel. It is intense and full of action. The reviews on the back of the book are from a former head of MI6 and Oliver North. He was a major player in the Iran-Contra scandal, and dealt extensively with counterterrorist forces back when they really were counterterrorist forces. One of the better “I used to be a spy” books.
October 6, 2023
Released in 1997, I finally got around to reading this in 2022 and the timing is actually pretty good. His first assignment overseas was in Nepal, which I read about earlier this summer and then he was later stationed in Turkey, which I also read a little about this summer in the novels by Elif Batuman. After his Asian assignments he goes to Nicaragua during the 1980s and assists with the Contra War against the Sandinistas there. He mentions Brooklyn Rivera, who he said "already had loose ties to the FDN, and the Hondurans accepted him. (Rivera later aligned with (Eden) Pastora, but contributed almost nothing to the southern front." (Pastora is also known as Comandante Zero.) He does not mention Comandante Coleman Blas, who I also met in Bilwi along with Brooklyn. Blas has a new memoir out about his service in the war - in Spanish only.
I think Clarridge takes a bit too much credit at times, though he acknowledges that the Clandestine Services, for all its efforts, is not always very effectual. This is sometimes due to failures on the ground but he also places a lot of the blame on DC analysts with DI who are reluctant to make concrete predictions, even with detailed intelligence. He says this is a problem that persists today. That and the wog factor. (Wog stands for "worthy Oriental gentleman" and became a derogatory term to describe the "inexplicable (and inferior) non-Anglo-Saxon behaviors" of non-Europeans.) The wog factor is used to explain why countries take certain actions that the West views as illogical, such as Sedat's invasion of Israel.
Ultimately, this book is Clarridge's attempt to clear his name for alleged involvement in the Iran-Contra scandel (for which he eventually received a pardon from Bush Sr.) and to bemoan the decreased capacity (at least in the mid-1990s) of the CIA. He assumes a reader who has some knowledge of events in the 70s and 80s, which I do have, but I fear will be lacking in most future readers.
I think Clarridge takes a bit too much credit at times, though he acknowledges that the Clandestine Services, for all its efforts, is not always very effectual. This is sometimes due to failures on the ground but he also places a lot of the blame on DC analysts with DI who are reluctant to make concrete predictions, even with detailed intelligence. He says this is a problem that persists today. That and the wog factor. (Wog stands for "worthy Oriental gentleman" and became a derogatory term to describe the "inexplicable (and inferior) non-Anglo-Saxon behaviors" of non-Europeans.) The wog factor is used to explain why countries take certain actions that the West views as illogical, such as Sedat's invasion of Israel.
Ultimately, this book is Clarridge's attempt to clear his name for alleged involvement in the Iran-Contra scandel (for which he eventually received a pardon from Bush Sr.) and to bemoan the decreased capacity (at least in the mid-1990s) of the CIA. He assumes a reader who has some knowledge of events in the 70s and 80s, which I do have, but I fear will be lacking in most future readers.
February 12, 2023
3.8 stars
جاسوسی برای تمامی فصول: زندگی من در سیا " عنوان کتابی است که به شرح خاطرات دوآن کلاریج از کارکنان برجسته سیا می پردازد ...... او در دهه نود بازنشسته و درسال ۲۰۱۶ درگذشت
در این کتاب که ظاهرا از تیغ سانسور رسته است، او به شرح ماموریت هایش در نپال، هند، آمریکای جنوبی و اروپا می پردازد و مطالبی چند در مورد ایران و حزب الله و سایر گروهای شبه نظامی در خاور میانه عنوان می کند
در این کتاب به ماجرای مک فارلین و جریان موسوم به ایران - کنترا به تفصیل پرداخته می شود . جریانی که موجب فروش سلاح توسط آمریکا به ایران از طریق اسرائیل در سال ۱۹۸۶ و در دوران جنگ ایران و عراق شد که قرار شد در عوض ایران با گروه های شیعه مبارز در لبنان که اقدام به گروگانگیری اتباع آمریکا کرده بودند مذاکره کند و اسباب آزادی آنها را فراهم کند
این موضوع سبب رسوایی در کاخ سفید شد به طوری که آمریکا متهم به رفتار دو گانه شد... آنها ایران را تحریم کرده بود و از بقیه کشورها میخواستند که ایران را تحریم کنند اما خودش با ایران وارد معامله شد و سلاح فروخت
ریگان اگرچه از ماجرا مطلع بود اما حمایتی از کارکنانش که در شورای عالی امنیت ملی بودند، افرادی مثل الیور نورث و مک فارلین نکرد و موجب متهم شدن آنها در دادگاهی شد که کنگره به این منظور برای افراد دخیل در فروش سلاح به ایران برپا کرده بود، شد چهار نفر از این افراد که در قضیه ایران کنترا، متهم شده بودند در دوره ریاست جمهوری بوشِ پدر مورد عفو قرار گرفتند و ماجرا مختومه شد و روسیاهیش برای ریگان ماند... آمریکا به واسطه فروش سلاح به ایران در سال ۱۳۶۶ و واگذاری پول حاصل از فروش سلاح به انقلابیون کنترا که علیه ساندنیست ها در نیکاراگوئه می جنگیدند و مورد حمایت شوروی بودند، بسیار مورد تقبیح قرار گرفت طوری که کنگره و حتی خود سیا اقدام به واکاوی و شناسایی مقصرین این قضیه کرد
در این کتاب ضمن آشنایی با نظام بروکراسی گسترده در ایالات متحده که سبب کُندی در اجرای ماموریت ها می شود با سیستمی آشنا می شویم که کاملا اصول تفکیک قوا در آن اجرا می شود به طوری که هیچ یک از بخش های نظام سیاسی قدرت مطلقه ندارند و این نشان دهنده وجود ساختار دموراتیک به معنی واقعی کلمه است
جاسوسی برای تمامی فصول: زندگی من در سیا " عنوان کتابی است که به شرح خاطرات دوآن کلاریج از کارکنان برجسته سیا می پردازد ...... او در دهه نود بازنشسته و درسال ۲۰۱۶ درگذشت
در این کتاب که ظاهرا از تیغ سانسور رسته است، او به شرح ماموریت هایش در نپال، هند، آمریکای جنوبی و اروپا می پردازد و مطالبی چند در مورد ایران و حزب الله و سایر گروهای شبه نظامی در خاور میانه عنوان می کند
در این کتاب به ماجرای مک فارلین و جریان موسوم به ایران - کنترا به تفصیل پرداخته می شود . جریانی که موجب فروش سلاح توسط آمریکا به ایران از طریق اسرائیل در سال ۱۹۸۶ و در دوران جنگ ایران و عراق شد که قرار شد در عوض ایران با گروه های شیعه مبارز در لبنان که اقدام به گروگانگیری اتباع آمریکا کرده بودند مذاکره کند و اسباب آزادی آنها را فراهم کند
این موضوع سبب رسوایی در کاخ سفید شد به طوری که آمریکا متهم به رفتار دو گانه شد... آنها ایران را تحریم کرده بود و از بقیه کشورها میخواستند که ایران را تحریم کنند اما خودش با ایران وارد معامله شد و سلاح فروخت
ریگان اگرچه از ماجرا مطلع بود اما حمایتی از کارکنانش که در شورای عالی امنیت ملی بودند، افرادی مثل الیور نورث و مک فارلین نکرد و موجب متهم شدن آنها در دادگاهی شد که کنگره به این منظور برای افراد دخیل در فروش سلاح به ایران برپا کرده بود، شد چهار نفر از این افراد که در قضیه ایران کنترا، متهم شده بودند در دوره ریاست جمهوری بوشِ پدر مورد عفو قرار گرفتند و ماجرا مختومه شد و روسیاهیش برای ریگان ماند... آمریکا به واسطه فروش سلاح به ایران در سال ۱۳۶۶ و واگذاری پول حاصل از فروش سلاح به انقلابیون کنترا که علیه ساندنیست ها در نیکاراگوئه می جنگیدند و مورد حمایت شوروی بودند، بسیار مورد تقبیح قرار گرفت طوری که کنگره و حتی خود سیا اقدام به واکاوی و شناسایی مقصرین این قضیه کرد
در این کتاب ضمن آشنایی با نظام بروکراسی گسترده در ایالات متحده که سبب کُندی در اجرای ماموریت ها می شود با سیستمی آشنا می شویم که کاملا اصول تفکیک قوا در آن اجرا می شود به طوری که هیچ یک از بخش های نظام سیاسی قدرت مطلقه ندارند و این نشان دهنده وجود ساختار دموراتیک به معنی واقعی کلمه است
August 16, 2018
If I were more of a history buff, I would surely have given this book an extra star. The first half of the book dealt a lot with tradecraft and the CIA and how things operated. The author was based overseas, and we got to see how he recruited assets and did his job in that setting. The second half of the book dealt largely with the setup and scandal of the Iran Contra affair. I'm afraid I feel that far less interesting because it was really just a history lesson. The writing overall is reasonably good. As I would expect from such a careerman. I just wanted more action less history.
May 6, 2021
A Spy for All Seasons by Duane R Clarridge 3/10/2021 Paper
I picked up a hard cover version of this book as I enjoy spy stories and remember some of the political intrigue mentioned in the introduction and description. I was turned off early by the author’s over the top ego. With over four hundred, 500 word pages, I wasn’t sure I could put up with his bragging. I really tried, but alas, I didn’t get beyond his first two assignments. Unless someone is truly interested in this now near-forgotten political escapade, the story is far too detailed for a casual read. Sorry, I can’t recommend
I picked up a hard cover version of this book as I enjoy spy stories and remember some of the political intrigue mentioned in the introduction and description. I was turned off early by the author’s over the top ego. With over four hundred, 500 word pages, I wasn’t sure I could put up with his bragging. I really tried, but alas, I didn’t get beyond his first two assignments. Unless someone is truly interested in this now near-forgotten political escapade, the story is far too detailed for a casual read. Sorry, I can’t recommend
May 21, 2022
A riveting story, direct and personal. This could be the best book on CIA trade craft. Only reason it's not five stars is the straight from the gut writing style is just that, even if it is pretty good.
September 17, 2017
Read of world machinations from the inside, vetted of course, from a self-apologist who never apologises, and often gloats.
June 9, 2022
Such a fantastic book, written by a patriot in the truest sense of the term! For a liberal like myself to say that, that’s really saying something. Do yourself a favor and pickup a copy and dive in!
September 3, 2008
interesting perspective on iran-contra
January 18, 2009
I thought that this was a good read, told from tne view of a station chief who had to roll up his sleeves and make things work; caught between the bureaucracy of DC and the realities in the field.
July 22, 2012
So far, so good. Clarridge can be a bit self-promoting in the way he tells stories and conveys his role in them. Nonetheless, it's an interesting look at the spy craft of the Cold War.
June 5, 2016
Stopped reading at about 50% the way through. Eventually just too detailed.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews