I have serious problems with John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hitman. My reservations about this dysfunctional book are so serious that I must admit I only read about half the book. It was so ridiculous and loaded with so many problems that are easily recognized by any professional intelligence officer. I will not go into the disservice that Perkins does to US interests abroad. Many people who read this book will believe there is truth behind his claims, particularly people in foreign countries who see themselves at targets of US covert foreign policy. Some people are prone to believe in plots, blaming others - the US CIA and NSA, for example, for everything that is wrong in their lives and in their country. They will believe the book regardless of the evidence against Perkin's claims. Some who read the book, I hope, will have a mind open to evaluating the evidence against his claims. Here are just a few of my concerns:
1. John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hitman is a total fabrication. I was shocked that the TV news media gave him credibility by interviewing him on so many news shows. First, I do not believe Mr. Perkins was ever employed by the National Security Agency (NSA) or any other US intelligence service!! All former employees of US intelligence services virtually sign all their rights to publish away when they join the service and again when they resign or retire. They must submit any manuscripts to their parent organizations for review BEFORE contacting a publisher. They must accept the review and censorship of the parent organization UNLESS they can find sources already in the public domain that has the same information censored by the review process. If they violate this requirement the parent organization can take legal action in several forms depending on the degree of harm to national security including fines, confiscation of proceeds from sales, blocking further publications and even criminal prosecution. The NSA - the organization which Perkins claimed to have worked for - is even more strict than the CIA about censorship. There are very, very few books written by former NSA employees. Many by former CIA employees. I am absolutely certain that if he had been a former NSA employee, the book would have never made it to press.
2. The activity Perkins described that he did would have been classified as covert action - not human intelligence collection. All covert actions require a presidential finding and an executive order. The NSA does not have in its charter any covert action function of this nature. Only the CIA is authorized by its charter to conduct covert action, at times in association with certain military elements such as the special forces or seals, delta force, etc. The assignment Perkins claims to have done would have been carried out by the CIA, not NSA, if such a covert action program were even possible, which I do not believe is in the realm of possibility.
3. The position Perkins claimed to have held - the economic officer of a major engineering firm - would be classified as a Non-Official Cover (NOC) position - deep commercial cover. The NSA does not use NOC positions and does not have any such internal organization that could support such. Only the CIA has NOC's overseas. Now, the NSA does occasionally use something that the CIA calls NOC's of convenience in certain countries but the NSA officers under such cover are declared (known) to the intelligence services of the host country in such cases and are usually working in liaison with the host country's own "NSA" equivalent. Their cover is a cover for status, not a cover for action.
4. Perkins also claimed that he was trained by a woman who was an NSA employee also temporarily working under cover at the engineering firm that supposedly employed him and that when he tried later to locate her, she mysteriously disappeared. This goes against all rules of tradecraft. At no times during the 1970-80 period were two NOC's ever allowed under the same cover. Circa 1991 exceptions were made by the CIA, but only rarely. Also he claimed to have been a supervisor of other employees in that firm. NOCs are not allowed to supervise real corporate employees of their cover firm because of many reasons, least of which is that they are NOT REAL employees of the corporation.
5. Perkins claimed that the NSA had him at one time under cover with the Peace Corps. FALSE! The US Congress in its bill to create the Peace Corps specifically forbid any intelligence agency from using the Peace Corps or any Corps personnel in any type of intelligence function, passive or active. Even former professional intelligence officers cannot after the fact of their intelligence employment join the Peace Corps. If the claim had been true, Congress would have had the NSA before some committee fast. He would have been called to testify. Besides the Peace Corps issue, Perkins describes many instances where he had violated US laws. Well, believe it or not and despite counter-culture belief, neither the NSA nor the CIA put up with nor cover for any employees who break US laws.
6. Well, these are just a few problems I have with the book. There are many more. I hope you did not waste too much time reading this trash!
2. The activity Perkins described that he did would have been classified as covert action - not human intelligence collection. All covert actions require a presidential finding and an executive order. The NSA does not have in its charter any covert action function of this nature. Only the CIA is authorized by its charter to conduct covert action, at times in association with certain military elements such as the special forces or seals, delta force, etc. The assignment Perkins claims to have done would have been carried out by the CIA, not NSA, if such a covert action program were even possible, which I do not believe is in the realm of possibility.
3. The position Perkins claimed to have held - the economic officer of a major engineering firm - would be classified as a Non-Official Cover (NOC) position - deep commercial cover. The NSA does not use NOC positions and does not have any such internal organization that could support such. Only the CIA has NOC's overseas. Now, the NSA does occasionally use something that the CIA calls NOC's of convenience in certain countries but the NSA officers under such cover are declared (known) to the intelligence services of the host country in such cases and are usually working in liaison with the host country's own "NSA" equivalent. Their cover is a cover for status, not a cover for action.
4. Perkins also claimed that he was trained by a woman who was an NSA employee also temporarily working under cover at the engineering firm that supposedly employed him and that when he tried later to locate her, she mysteriously disappeared. This goes against all rules of tradecraft. At no times during the 1970-80 period were two NOC's ever allowed under the same cover. Circa 1991 exceptions were made by the CIA, but only rarely. Also he claimed to have been a supervisor of other employees in that firm. NOCs are not allowed to supervise real corporate employees of their cover firm because of many reasons, least of which is that they are NOT REAL employees of the corporation.
5. Perkins claimed that the NSA had him at one time under cover with the Peace Corps. FALSE! The US Congress in its bill to create the Peace Corps specifically forbid any intelligence agency from using the Peace Corps or any Corps personnel in any type of intelligence function, passive or active. Even former professional intelligence officers cannot after the fact of their intelligence employment join the Peace Corps. If the claim had been true, Congress would have had the NSA before some committee fast. He would have been called to testify. Besides the Peace Corps issue, Perkins describes many instances where he had violated US laws. Well, believe it or not and despite counter-culture belief, neither the NSA nor the CIA put up with nor cover for any employees who break US laws.
6. Well, these are just a few problems I have with the book. There are many more. I hope you did not waste too much time reading this trash!
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