A blistering critique of the forces threatening the American intelligence community, beginning with the president of the United States himself, in a time when that community’s work has never been harder or more important
In the face of a president who lobs accusations without facts, evidence, or logic, truth tellers are under attack. Meanwhile, the world order is teetering on the brink. North Korea is on the verge of having a nuclear weapon that could reach all of the United States, Russians have mastered a new form of information warfare that undercuts democracy, and the role of China in the global community remains unclear. There will always be value to experience and expertise, devotion to facts, humility in the face of complexity, and a respect for ideas, but in this moment they seem more important, and more endangered, than they’ve ever been. American intelligence – the ultimate truth teller – has a responsibility in a post-truth world beyond merely warning of external dangers, and in The Assault on Intelligence, General Michael Hayden takes up that urgent work with profound passion, insight, and authority.
It is a sobering vision. The American intelligence community is more at risk than is commonly understood, for every good reason. Civil war or societal collapse is not necessarily imminent or inevitable, but our democracy’s core structures, processes, and attitudes are under great stress. Many of the premises on which we have based our understanding of governance are now challenged, eroded, or simply gone. And we have a president in office who responds to overwhelming evidence from the intelligence community that the Russians are, by all acceptable standards of cyber conflict, in a state of outright war against us, not by leading a strong response, but by shooting the messenger.
There are fundamental changes afoot in the world and in this country. The Assault on Intelligence shows us what they are, reveals how crippled we’ve become in our capacity to address them, and points toward a series of effective responses. Because when we lose our intelligence, literally and figuratively, democracy dies.
The lamenting of the death of truth An eye opening insider’s view of the death of truth and analytical fact based thinking in America in general and the Trump White house in particular. The extent to which Russian exploit of social media impacted the 2016 election is frightening and incontrovertible. The only think more scary is the willful ignorance of the President and those duped by their own shallow ignorance. The world is a complex place where we need the expertise if the best and the brightest. Hayden shines as one of…
Presidential Understanding of Intelligence Before and After Trump The Assault on Intelligence is not just another polemic about a truth free President with a lack of intelligence as to information and cognitive skill. The reason is that it can be read in conjunction with his earlier book Playing on the Edge. Playing was written prior to this presidency and so contains analysis that can not be said to be shaded by the inadequacies of the present incumbent in the White House. These books should be read together.The discussions with President Bush…
Exceptional writing on Intelligence warning General Hayden writes very well. There are many informed people writing books about the state of the U.S.; but of those I’ve read none other is laid out in a chronology, vocabulary and style that will make sense to the general public. Hayden’s “Assault on Intelligence” moves as only first class prose can.The warning he sounds isn’t the first we’ve heard since Donald Trump took office; but maybe this one is so clear, so fact-based and so chillingly frightening that…