Original sins

摘要

THIS INTRIGUING book is an indictment. From its first page it argues that the CIA ost its way, in all senses, in the first decade of the cold war. Its witnesses are four courageous and initially idealistic patriots. Frank Wisner oversaw some of the earliest efforts to "roll back" communism in Europe. Michael Burke was a daredevil figure in the same game. Edward Lansdale (pictured) was an eminence grise in the Far East. Peter Sichel, a German-born Jewish wine-merchant and Wunderkind-and the only one of the four still alive-held his nose as he co-opted former Nazis into the agency, an initiative cited as one of its original sins. Scott Anderson, a veteran foreign corre- spondent and novelist, weaves a beguiling if sometimes puzzling narrative from their criss-crossing careers. He takes in the Philippines, Vietnam and the CIA'S early venality in Central America. He traipses along the Iron Curtain to unveil a string of early disasters in eastern Europe. His verdict is damning, yet also imprecise.