Deep State

Inside the Government Secrecy Industry

Marc Ambinder, D.B. Grady

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118235737
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Authors’ Note
• Introduction: Asleep under Fire
• Chapter 1. Need to Know
• Chapter 2. The Curious Case of Primoris Era
• Chapter 3. From Inception to Eternity
• Chapter 4. Fairly Modest
• Chapter 5. Vital Information
• Chapter 6. The Horrors Book
• Chapter 7. Conspiracies
• Chapter 8. Inside the Enclave
• Chapter 9. The Tip of the Spear
• Chapter 10. Necessary Secrets
• Chapter 11. The Tools for the Job
• Chapter 12. The Known Unknowns
• Chapter 13. The Structure of Secrecy
• Chapter 14. Partisan Transparency
• Chapter 15. Open Source Strikes Back
• Chapter 16. Resistance
• Chapter 17. The Flicker of a Piercing Eye
• Chapter 18. Olympic Games
• Chapter 19. The Next Battlespace
• Conclusion: Shooting at Ahmadinejad
• Acknowledgments
• Index