Deep State, livre ebook

There is a hidden country within the United States. It was formed from the astonishing number of secrets held by the government and the growing ranks of secret-keepers given charge over them. The government secrecy industry speaks in a private language of codes and acronyms, and follows an arcane set of rules and customs designed to perpetuate itself, repel penetration, and deflect oversight. It justifies itself with the assertion that the American values worth preserving are often best sustained by subterfuge and deception. Deep State, written by two of the country's most respected national security journalists, disassembles the secrecy apparatus of the United States and examines real-world trends that ought to trouble everyone from the most aggressive hawk to the fiercest civil libertarian. The book: - Provides the fullest account to date of the National Security Agency’s controversial surveillance program first spun up in the dark days after 9/11. - Examines President Obama's attempt to reconcile his instincts as a liberal with the realities of executive power, and his use of the state secrets doctrine. - Exposes how the public’s ubiquitous access to information has been the secrecy industry's toughest opponent to date, and provides a full account of how WikiLeaks and other “sunlight” organizations are changing the government's approach to handling sensitive information, for better and worse. - Explains how the increased exposure of secrets affects everything from Congressional budgets to Area 51, from SEAL Team Six and Delta Force to the FBI, CIA, and NSA. - Assesses whether the formal and informal mechanisms put in place to protect citizens from abuses by the American deep state work, and how they might be reformed.

Authors’ Note xi

Introduction: Asleep under Fire 1

1. Need to Know 12

2. The Curious Case of Primoris Era 21

3. From Inception to Eternity 33

4. Fairly Modest 48

5. Vital Information 67

6. The Horrors Book 78

7. Conspiracies 91

8. Inside the Enclave 101

9. The Tip of the Spear 110

10. Necessary Secrets 122

11. The Tools for the Job 136

12. The Known Unknowns 147

13. The Structure of Secrecy 159

14. Partisan Transparency 176

15. Open Source Strikes Back 187

16. Resistance 194

17. The Flicker of a Piercing Eye 213

18. Olympic Games 254

19. The Next Battlespace 261

Conclusion: Shooting at Ahmadinejad 280

Acknowledgments 291

Notes 293

Index 311