This document provides a review of two books about covert CIA operations: one on operations in Indonesia in the 1950s, and one on operations against North Vietnam. The reviewer critiques the books for their lack of analysis of strategic failures by US leaders and decision-makers. They argue the books provide great operational details but fail to adequately assess why the larger covert campaigns ultimately failed due to lack of resolve by the US to destroy its adversaries. The reviewer draws parallels to later US failures in Afghanistan, arguing the same lack of strategic resolve and unwillingness to use unrestrained violence against enemies of the state undermined efforts.

2. The CIA in Indonesia and the Secret War in Laos-Book Reviews
• January 2014
• DOI:
• 10.13140/RG.2.2.20263.44960
• Project:
• Intelligence Organisations
• Agha H Amin
Journal of Book
Reviews
Volume 12
Agha Humayun Amin

3. L19aircraft@gmail.com
ISBN-13: 978-1500939854
ISBN-10: 1500939854
BOOKS TO BE REVIEWED IN NEXT
VOLUME

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ECT ARE REVIEWED AT NO COST.

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CIAs AUDACIOUS INTERVENTION IN INDONESIA
Feet to the Fire-CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia-1957-58
by Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison, US Naval Institute
Press,1999

9. Brief Introductory note by Agha H Amin
Personal Note:--
My fascination with Indonesia started after reading about my
regiments inolvement in Indonesia from 1945 to 1946 .PAVO
Cavalry started the war in North Africa and after Battle of Gazala
, came to fight in Burma at Battle of Imphal Kohima , occupation
of Burma and Malaysia and finally Indonesa. PAVO Cavalry
rescued and evacuated countless Dutch civilians and how half of
my regiments soldiers got infected with all types of Venereal
Diseases dallying with all kinds of women in Indonesia .By and
large PAVO Cavalry did extremely well in evacuating Dutch
civilians and did in the process kill hundreds or even thousands of
Indonesians attacking Dutch noncombatants. It is possible that
some Muslim soldiers deserted to join Indonesians but more of it
later.As far as I could see PAVO Cavalry was not affected by this
issue but some other British Indian Army units in Indonesia had
this issue.

10. Background:-- Indonesia had a left -right problem .This became
acute in 1948-58.
Operation HAIK was launched by US to deal with the leftist threat
in Indonesia.
The operation envisaged DESTABILISING PRESIDENT SUKARNO
regime and NOT OVERTHROWING HIM.SUKARNO WAS AN
OPPORTUNIST CUM POPULIST WHO SAW DALLYING WITH
LEFTISTS AS USEFUL WAY TO GET FINANCIAL AND MILITARY AID
FROM USSR ETC.
The central idea was to support Indonesian dissident separatist
officers based in Sumatra and Sulawesi Islands.
The book is unbeatable in wealth of details of how the war was
fought and is by and large the best account of how this was was
fought.
HOWEVER THE BOOK IS WEAK IN STRATEGIC DETAILS , THE
FLAWS IN US HIGHER STRATEGY AND WHY THEY OCCURRED .

11. THE BOOK FAILS IN SERIOUSLY ANALYSING WHY DULLES
FAILED IN THIS GRANDOIS PLAN WHICH WAS NOT BASED ON A
REALISTIC ASSESSMENT.
IN SHORT THE BOOK IS OUTSTANDING WHERE DETAILS OF
HOW THE WAR WAS FOUGHT IN INDONESIA BUT VERY WEAK IN
ANALYSING THE GRAND FAILURES IN ASSESSMENT THAT
OCCURRED IN WASHINGTON DC AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY.
NOTE ON AFTERMATH LESSONS OF THIS WAR DOWN TILL US
AFGHAN WAR
IN RETROSPECT ONE MAY STATE THAT THIS WAR ALSO TAUGHT
US INTELLIGENCE MANY LESSONS .THAT IT WAS A FAILURE
STILL DID NOT DIMINISH ITS INSTRUCTIONAL VALUE AND THE
CIA AS IT FUNCTIONED AT THAT TIME WAS GOOD IN LEARNING
FROM ITS FAILURES.
ONE LESSON WAS THAT SUCH WARS ARE BEST CONDUCTED BY
PLACING A STATE ACTOR PROXY IN THE MIDDLE WHICH OPENLY
SUPPORTS THE REBELS IN THE ADJACENT STATE.

12. THIS WAS ADMIRABLY DONE IN SOVIET AFGHAN WAR BUT IN
THIS PARTICULAR CASE US WAS LUCKY IN FOLLOWING ASPECTS
:--
US PENETRATION OF PAKISTANI MILITARY AND CIVIL SERVICE
WAS VERY STRONG IN PAKISTAN RIGHT FROM 1951.
US HAD ALREADY SUCCESSFULLY PLAYED A ROLE IN REMOVING
PAKISTANS POPULIST PREMIER BHUTTO IN JULY 1977 .THUS
WHEN AFGHAN LEFTISTS TOOK POWER IN KABUL IN APRIL 1978
US POSITION IN ITS ABOUT TO BECOME PROXY WAS VERY
STRONG , WITH PAKISTANI MILITARY REGIME BEING ISOLATED
BEACUSE OF HAVING REMOVED A POPULAR DEMOCRATIC
GOVERNMENT.
A fact ignored by many analysts of CIAs Afghan War is the fact
that in this particular case CIA got as its proxy/junior partner a
state (pakistan) which already had a continuous 139 years history
of being base of British operations in/against Afghanistan .The

13. Pakistani intelligence and military were a British creation and
could function with Americans .This was missing in CIAs failed
covert wars in Indo China ,Indonesia,China,USSR etc .Also the
fact that Afghan War had a positive connect with Pakistani
military regimes survival and was internally popular in Pakistan
helped CIA .
The long term strategic implications of CAPACITY BUILDING OF
ISLAMIST IRREGULAR FORCES WERE NOT UNDERSTOOD BY
MOST , although Afghanistans Dr Najeeb on record made many
speeches that CIA and ISI were turning Afghanistan into a future
bastion of world terrorism.
Ironically Bush senior missed the point when US withdrew with a
knee jerk reaction from Afghanistan that , all trouble creators (1)
state actors (2) or non state actors , need a piece of land as a
base and US policy by lack of action in 1989-2001 gave non state
actors this piece of NO MANS LAND in Afghanistan .After all real
estate is needed to train , manoeuvre and breed ? Unfortunately
in 1989 US policy makers did not assess all these things . With

14. some US presence and money in Afghanistan in 1989-2000 many
of the problems that USA faces were avoidable ?
Where USA failed was in (a) firstly investing in a huge war,the
biggest covert war in US history (b) allowing proxy assets created
with US taxpayers money to be taken over by Pakistani ISI and
by wealthy Arabs (c) It was a political failure of US state headed
by Bush and Clinton who just thought in terms of withdrawal , a
thoughtless withdrawal for which the US was to pay a very heavy
price later on . That who did 9/11 , is not part of this discussion
but how US state behaved in Af Pak after 1989 was a grand US
policy strategic failure.

15. HOW US LOST ITS SECRET WAR IN VIETNAM AND NOW IN
AFGHANISTAN
BY
AGHA H AMIN
Note- I started with a book review but the theme was so closely
connected with events which I saw closely that it was not possible
to discuss the Afghan faux pas of USA.
Spies and Commandos-How America Lost the Secret War in North
Vietnam
By Kenneth Conboy and Dale Andrade
University of Kansas
2000

16. Short Book Review
by Agha H Amin
The US expects too much from SPECIAL OPERATIONS. THIS
FAILING WAS NOTED BY EMINENT AUTHOR BRADLEY SMITH in
his SHADOW WARRIORS (1983).
Spies and Commandos-How America Lost the Secret War in North
Vietnam
By Kenneth Conboy and Dale Andrade
University of Kansas
2000
Short Book Review
by Agha H Amin

17. The US expects too much from SPECIAL OPERATIONS. THIS
FAILING WAS NOTED BY EMINENT AUTHOR BRADLEY SMITH in
his SHADOW WARRIORS (1983).
As you read this book you realise the same tendency in action
again.US decision makers were placing too many expectations in
SPECIAL OPS in this case.
The authors believe that major part of US failure in this operation
resulted from failings at the operational execution level in
Vietnam.Thus they think that the major faults were committed by
handlers of US operatives as well as US agents launched in North
Vietnam.

18. This view is in contrast with the view of another eminent author
Richard.H.Schultz who in his monumental Secret War against
Hanoi finds the central failings in top US decision makers i.e JFK ,
Lyndon Johnson, Mc Nmara (the 200 % let down bureaucrat good
only in self advancement-typical US failing but common
worldwide).
On page 271 the authors conclude that the SECRET WAR
AGAINST NORTH VIETNAM FAILED in achieving its MISSION VIZ
MAKING HANOI LOSE ITS STRATEGIC RESOLVE TO CONDUCT
THE CONFLICT IN SOUTH VIETNAM AND GIVE IT UP BECAUSE IT
WAS TOO EXPENSIVE OR A FUTILE UNDERTAKING.
THE AUTHORS FEEL THAT US GOVERNMENT LACKED THAT
BURNING DESIRE TO BEAT THE ENEMY. THAT KILLER RESOLVE
TO ANNIHILATE NORTH VIETNAM GOVERNMENT INTO DUST .IN

19. SHORT UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WAS NOT RESOLVED TO
TOTALLY DESTROY NORTH VIETNAM
THE AUTHORS TERM IT AS SOMETHING LIKE OVERTHROWING
NORTH VIETNAM
THE AUTHORS FEEL THAT US MISSION FAILED BECAUSE :---
US GOVERNMENT LACKED THE SINGLEMINDED STRATEGIC
PURPOSE TO DESTROY NORTH VIETNAM-PACIFISM ONE MAY
STATE OR FAINTHEARTEDNESS OR LACK OF STRATEGIC
RESOLUTION .I CALL IT ABILITY TO DEAL WITH COLD BLOODED
PROFESSIONAL ASSASINS LIKE PROFESSIONAL ASSASINS -NO
HEARTS AND MINDS BS
US COMMAND STRUCTURE OF THE SECRET WAR OPERATION
WAS TOO COMPLICATED , THUS UNWORKABLE LACKING

20. DYNAMISM AND FLEXIBILITY AND THUS ABILITY TO LAUNCH
DECISIVE ACTIONS OR COUNTER ACTIONS.
SEVERE CAVEATS , COMPLICATED RULES OF ACTION THUS
ROBBING SECRET WAR OPERATIVES OF ALL INITIATIVE WAS A
MAJOR CAUSE OF FAILURE OF US SECRET WAR
ACTUAL RESULTS
• Most US agents and teams were captured.
• Before the so called SECRET WAR could have any affect US
government lost the resolve .
• In 1968 irresolute Lyndon Johnson prohibited secret attacks
on North Vietnam army altogether when US bombing was
stopped !
In Afghanistan I met a US spirited operative from State
Department , a Second Secretary.He described his superiors as

21. WET PUSSIES HIDING BEHIND E MAILS WHO WOULD HAVE A
HEART ATTACK IF EVEN CONFRONTED WITH A THOUGHT OF
UNDERTAKING ANY REAL COVERT OPERATION AGAINST IRAN
!. So what we see here are the same 2006 WET PUSSIES .
Things did not chnage much between 1968 and 2006.Great
poet Iqbal well described this phenomena MAN NEVER
SUFFERS DEFEAT, WITHOUT FIGHTING REALLY SERIOUSLY HE
GOES INTO RETREAT , I SLIGHTLY MODIFIED THE VERSE TO
DESCRIBE US SECRET WAR.
COMMANDO RAIDS WERE OVERTAKEN BY LARGE SCALE US
OPERATIONS.
THE BOOK IS EXTREMELY RICH IN MILITARY DETAILS ABOUT
OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE SECRET WAR.WHICH TEAM
WENT WHERE AND DID WHAT . CONTAINS WEALTH OF DATA
BASED ON LARGE NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS WITH DIRECT
PARTICIPANTS.
HOW TO DEFINE THIS FAILURE

22. AT A PERSONAL LEVEL I SAW THIS FAILURE IN 1979-89 ON
SOVIET SIDE IN AFGHAN WAR. THE SOVIETS HESITATED FROM
UNDERSTANDING THE FACT THAT REAL CENTRE OF GRAVITY OF
AFGHAN WAR WAS PAKISTAN. IN 1984 THEY CAME CLOSE TO A
SOLUTION WHEN INDIA WAS ABOUT TO ATTACK PAKISTAN, BUT
TO PAKISTANS GOOD LUCK INDIRA GANDHI GOT POLISHED OFF
BY HER OWN SIKH GUARDS.ACTUALLY THE SOVIETS AND
INDIANS HAD LOST THE STRATEGIC BATTLE IN 1971 WHEN
AFTER SURRENDER OF EAST PAKISTAN THEY DID NOT OVERRUN
WEST PAKISTAN AND SHIFTED INDIAN PAKISTAN BORDER TO
CHENAB RIVER.THIS WOULD HAVE REDUCED PAKISTANS
STRATEGIC DEPTH AND THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO NUCLEAR
PAKISTAN IN 1985 OR 1987. BUT INDIAS INDIRA GANDHI WAS
A MIDGET AT STRATEGIC LEVEL. YES US PRESSURE PLAYED A
PART IN SAVING PAKISTAN IN 1971 BUT IF INDIA AND USSR
HAD THE RESOLVE THEY COULD HAVE OVERRUN WEST
PAKISTAN IN 1971 . THE FORCE RATIOS ALLOWED IT.THUS IN
1979 WHEN USSR CAME TO AFGHANISTAN PAKISTAN WOULD
HAVE BEEN A TRUNCATED , FRAGMENTED STATE AND NOT AN

23. EFFECTIVE BASE FOR AFGHAN WAR THAT IT ACTUALLY PROVED
IN 1979-89.
IN 1979-89 USSR ALSO LACKED THAT COLD BLOODED RESOLVE
TO GO ALL OUT IN COVERT OPERATIONS INSIDE PAKISTAN AND
ALSO CONVINCE ITS ALLY INDIA TO PHYSICALLY OVERRUN IN
PAKISTAN IN A WAR IN 1979-87 WHEN FORCE RATIOS
FAVOURED INDIA.
BY 1987 THANKS TO US SUPPORT PAKISTAN HAD DEVELOPED A
NUCLEAR WEAPON AND THUS AFTER 1987 INDIA COULD NO
LONGER OVERRUN PAKISTAN.
IN AFGHANISTAN WAR OF US ALSO , CENTRE OF GRAVITY WAS
PAKISTAN BUT AGAIN SAME WET PUSSIES OF 1968 CAME IN
ACTION !
WHEN US CIA WAS APPROACHED BY MANY PARTIES IN 1997-99
WITH PLANS TO KILL OBL THESE OFFERS WERE JUST BRUSHED
ASIDE. STEVE COLLS GHOST WARS NARRATION IS WEAK AND
FALLACIOUS . THE FACT IS THAT US STATE SIMPLY LACKED

24. THAT COLD BLOODED KILLING URGE TO POLISH OFF ITS MAJOR
ENEMIES.
WHEN IN 2006 AN AFGHAN COLONEL APPROACHED NATO WITH
EIGHT FIGURE COORDINATES OF HAQQANI HE WAS JUST
IGNORED.
AT THAT TIME US INTEL WAS REGULARLY TRYING TO ENGAGE
HAQQANI VISITING HIS HOUSE NEAR INDIRA GANDHI HOSPITAL
IN KABUL !
THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE SIMPLE LESSON IN HISTORY
OF ASIA AND HISTORY OF MUSLIM STATES THAT IN THIS PART
OF THE WORLD ONLY PEOPLE AND STATES WILL ACCEPT YOU AS
THEIR STRATEGIC FATHER IF YOU STRATEGICALLY F_________
THEIR MOTHERS.SADDAM HUSSAIN , HAJJAJ BN YOUSUF AND
AURANGZEB ARE CHARACTERS THAT SUIT MUSLIM STATES .
WHY THERE WAS NO SUCCESSFUL JIHAD AGAINST STALIN !
WHY ! BECAUSE STALIN KNEW THE IMMENSE POWER OF
UNCONTROLLED VIOLENCE LEASHED WITHOUT ANY MORALITY !
HE EVEN DID NOT ATTEND HIS OWN MOTHERS FUNERAL ! HE

25. DID NOT GIVE A DAMN THAT HIS SON WAS TAKEN A PRISONER
BY THEWEHRMACHT !
SO WE SEE SAME WET CHARACTERS IN ACTION IN US AFGHAN
WAR . ALL ALONG FROM 2001 TILL TODATE :--- (1) DRONE
ATTACKS ARE CARRIED OUT ONLY IN ONE DISTRICT WHERE
ONLY KILLERS OF 5 % US TROOPS LIVED (2) CIA ADVICE TO US
COMMANDERS THAT MAIN TALIBAN BASES IN PAKISTANI
BALOCHISTAN ARE HIT ARE NOT ACCEPTED (3) BUSH SECOND
DOES A GENEROUS DEAL WITH MUSHARRAF AND PAKISTANI
ECONMY EXPERIENCES ITS GREATEST GROWTH IN ITS HISTORY
. BUT NOW PAKISTANI STATE SHEDS CROCODILES TEARS THAT
IT LOST 25 BILLION USD AS US ALLY AND IN MAKING
RESIDENCE OF OBL IN ABBOTTABAD. MC CHRSTALS RAIDS IN
AFGHANISTAN WERE USELESS AND POINTLESS AS ALL MAJOR
TALIBAN FACILITIES WERE IN PAKISTAN.EVEN THE BORDER
WAS NOT FENCED AS US BUREUCRACY (DOUG SCHERERS WET
PUSSIES) WERE HAND IN GLOVE WITH DRUG MAFIA.

26. IN READING THIS BOOK I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT US
FAILURES OCCURRED ONLY BECAUSE OF INTERNAL US FACTORS
:---
BAD DECISION MAKING
BAD EXECUTION
PLACING CAVEATS ON US OPERATIONS BY RULES OF
ENGAGEMENT
PETTY SENTIMENTALITY
US SYSTEM WHICH IS SELF DEFEATING , THAT IS WINNING
ELECTIONS AS FIRST PRIORITY OF LEADERS AND WINNING
WARS AS LAST PRIORITY
AND IN THE END A USA WHERE THE 2 % ENJOY , MIDDLE CLASS
IS DYING , US DEMOGRAPHY WILL BE TOTALLY TRANSFORMED
INTO AN AFRO-LATINO STATE BY 2040 AND US STATE WILL
DECLINE AND FALL ONLY BECAUSE OF INTERNAL REASONS
Americans should sub contract leadership to 1500 Britishers from
Britains most educated families , younger sons of lords and clergy

27. ! The best brains from Sandhurst ,Baillol College , Eton and
Harrow .
Or US government should sub contract War College at Carlisle
and even the CIA to a British team ?
Its a harsh conclusion but somehow US lacks that Imperial
mindset and is under the threat of degenerating into a Mexico or
Brazil !
I hold the conviction that with good leadership Vietnam Fiasco
was avoidable .It could have been a Malaya or Indonesia with
British leadership ?
Iraq and Afghanistan could have been US successes ?
Its BULL SHIT that no power succeeded in Afghanistan !
A British company chastised it and made its proud muslim rulers
a lollipop of 13 lacs rupees per year over which they sold their
mothers and surrendered afghanistan claims on peshawar valley
in 1855-56 !

28. US decision makers are the issue ? Not the Taliban or Al Qaeda !
God help this world when worlds strongest and most pluralistic
state suffers this sad fate of degenerating into a Mexico or Brazil .