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Betrayal:: The Story Of Aldrich Ames, An American Spy

The inside story of the biggest molehunt in the history of American intelligence: the search for and discovery by three New York Times journalists of Aldrich Ames, who was paid by the Soviets for years to spy in America. 16 pages of photos. Index.

Hardcover: 308 pages

Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (June 6, 1995)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 067944050X

ISBN-13: 978-0679440505

Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 6.5 x 9.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #465,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #116 in Books > History > Military > Canada #455 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > Public Affairs & Administration #722 in Books > History > Military > Intelligence & Espionage

I picked up Betrayal on a whim and although I was initially just casually interested, I was surprised how engaging the book was from first sentence to last.I learned a lot about how this bureacracy worked during the time of Aldrich Ames' treason. I was amazed that hardly anyone was even fired even if they were an incompetent, lazy, dissatisfied, alcoholic misfit like Ames was. Even though Ames wasn't very good at his job, he still expected to be promoted. Amazingly, he was, even into some very sensitive areas where he could do the most damage. Ames' dissatisfaction with his job and the agency was one of the reasons he began working for the "other spy company", the KGB. He thought that all the spy games were meaningless.Some interesting moral situations are brought up such as when a Soviet diplomat is entrapped by making him look like he is traitor to his country, when he isn't, so that he would be forced to spy for the US. Soviets who betrayed their corrupt country were praised as heroes in the US, but were executed in the USSR. It brings up questions of how loyal you should be to your country. Also, the CIA is supposed to be devious in another country, but expected to be totally honest when dealing with US government. Lastly, defectors can't be considered honest or sincere, they could still be spies. I can see how someone could end up morally warped after awhile.The CIA didn't want to face the reality that they had a mole in their own camp working against them, so the investigation took years to pinpoint Ames. One guy did think so, but it was generally viewed as too paranoid a viewpoint, even in this place where people are paid to be paranoid. But eventually the paranoid proved to be right, which is heartening for all us paranoids out there.

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