How The CIA Really Works

As pundits argue over abstract judgments on the value of the Central Intelligence Agency, the actual blocking and tackling of clandestine operations are generally ignored because they are, well, secret. However, as the age of declassification carries on, former intelligence case officers and paramilitary operatives are now free to tell their own stories – with certain restrictions imposed by the CIA, including place names.
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These accounts are usually easy to comprehend A to Z chronologies carrying readers to the hot spots of the Cold War. For CIA officer Stuart Methven - as recounted in his new book Laughter In The Shadows - the arc of his career landed him in Bushido (Japan) while intrigue reigned after the American occupation; and on to Cham (Laos) in the late 1950s when this tiny country bordering Cambodia and Vietnam grew into a large international hot potato as Khrushchev’s USSR was flexing its muscles in Berlin. In the highland regions, Methven organized the Montagnard Mountain Rangers, one of the bravest and most loyal combat irregulars on the American side of the Vietnam conflict.

From Laos, Methven operated in Vietnam for four years before arriving in Samudra (Indonesia), a hot-spot of East-West tensions during the Cold War. Then it was on to Buwana (The Congo) as Head of Station where the syncretic native politics of Africa collided with Cold War turf-building with a vengeance. The brew of guerilla warfare and coup manqué included neighboring Angafula (Angola) where the Soviets deployed Cuban mercenaries, including the infamous Che Guevara.

This book, and the others like it written by intelligence officers in the field, will finally tell the tale when the arguments end over the value of the CIA. The Cold War was real; the Soviets were indeed the bad guys – and hey, we won didn’t we? The guys and girls on the ground like Stuart Methven are the reason why.

Laugher In The Shadows, published by the Naval Institute Press www.nip.org., will be available for sale at the 6th Raleigh Spy Conference, March 25-27 (www.raleighspyconference.com).

--- Bernie Reeves