Book Review | Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency from the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century

Tales of ‘Crypto City’

Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency from the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century

James Bamford. New York: Doubleday, 2001, 721 pp. endnotes, appendices, index

Reviewed by Hayden B. Peake, curator of the CIA's Historical Intelligence Collection

The outcry was prompt and intense when former Naval Security Group communications technician cum lawyer, James Bamford, turned investigative journalist and wrote The Puzzle Palace (1982). Widely viewed as an exposé about the National Security Agency, reviewers were quick to point out--without specifics--that ‘knowledgeable sources’ said it was full of errors and exaggerations distributed amongst a mind-numbing assortment of obscure detail “everything but the combination to the Director’s safe,” said the New York Times Book Review. On the other hand, many agreed it “was an important and well documented work” that made a serious much needed and valuable contribution to the public debate about cold war intelligence.

In Body of Secrets, Mr. Bamford has once again turned his attention to NSA. This time, the government, media and public responses are likely to be in broad agreement--he has produced another important contribution. It is nearly half again as long, well documented and describes what NSA does and how they do it in non technical terms. Some of what he writes has appeared elsewhere but he adds new details--sometimes embarrassing--that produce a clear and comprehensive picture of the organization he now calls crypto city.

A curious exception to ‘clear and comprehensive’ criteria is the table of contents with its enigmatic even inscrutable chapter titles--Memory…, Sweat…, Fists…, Fat…, Soul…, to name a few of the fourteen. They are not helpful in communicating what topics the books covers. But, not to worry, after an introductory chapter describing the origins of NSA, Body of Secrets is structured roughly chronologically with functional topics that soon become apparent. Chapters discussing operational problems associated with various types of SIGINT collection against new targets--international terrorism and information warfare for example--are intermixed with accounts of NSA’s role in well known operations and more familiar targets--Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Korea, the Pueblo incident, Vietnam, anti-Vietnam actions, China and the middle east to name a few.

Approximately half the book deals with events prior to 1980 some of which were not mentioned in Puzzle Palace, while those that were contain substantial new material. The capture of the Pueblo is good example of the latter. Bamford tells of the Navy Chief at NSA who wrote that his superiors had to be ‘blithering idiots’ to send the Pueblo to North Korean waters. There is also speculation about the added value to the Soviets of the Pueblo capture when considered in light of John Walker’s treasonous acts. Was the ship’s capture a serendipitous coincidence or a planned operation to acquire the hardware necessary to use, with minimum effort, the keying material he provided the KGB?

But the most significant example in this category is the case of the Israeli attack on U.S.S. Liberty. In his recent PhD. Dissertation,[1] A. Jay Cristol (USNR Ret.) concludes, based on his very extensive research of the incident, that it was “the result of a series of tragic mistakes.” That virtual minority of one assessment is not supported by the detailed non-technical common sense evidence to the contrary in Body of Secrets. There is nothing surprising in Bamford’s conclusion that the Israeli attack was deliberate; Liberty crew members have made that case convincingly for years. But the well documented reason he gives--an attempt to cover up Israeli war crimes--is both new and shocking. He follows up this revelation with evidence that both governments--for political reasons--agreed to perpetuate the lie that the attack was an accident.

NSA’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis will be new to many as will the contribution of CIA scientist Gene Poteat to the Palladium operation, a successful scheme to inject false targets into Soviet radars causing them to track ghost aircraft. There is also attention given to the role of NSA’s sister agencies in allied countries, with Britain’s counterpart agency GCHQ taking the lead in that regard. The evolutionary impact of the computer, the persistent battle with security--note Cal Ripkin Jr.’s role--and secrecy, are common to each chapter. NSA’s physical plant, and Congressional oversight are dealt with as are the difficulties and changes inherited, or brought about, by the various Directors.

There is new material too bearing on the question of whether the Chinese intervention in Korea really surprised the West. According to documents cited in Body of Secrets “No one who received Comint product, including MacArthur’s G-2 in Tokyo, should have been surprised…. MacArthur’s zeal to press ahead to the Yalu probably caused him to minimize the Comint indicators of massive PRC intervention…. He thus drove his command to great defeat in Korea.”

Perhaps the most startling asserton in the book is the story of Operation Northwoods, that in Bamford’s words, “may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. Government.” It called for terrorist attacks by the American military on citizens in the United States and on Cubans trying to reach the United States. By blaming the violence on Castro’s terrorists, it was reasoned, the US would have an excuse for an invasion of Cuba and the overthrow of Castro and his communists.

Particularly timely are Bamford’s chapters on SIGINT surveillance using planes, ground stations, ships, and satellites. Intercepts from these platforms provide the government with data on commercial and military matters. These systems monitored Iran’s attempts to acquire China’s C-802 missile or build one of its own. China, it would seem, kept its commitments to the United States, much to the dismay of Iran.

On the code breaking side of NSA, Bamford reveals that the VENONA project was not the only instance where Soviet traffic was broken. The post WWII Target Intelligence Committee (TICOM) missions were aimed at acquiring German cryptographic material and personnel and keeping them from the Russians, something they did very well. An unexpected by-product was the acquisition of a German built device that deciphered traffic encrypted by the so-called Soviet-FISH machines--an advanced Enigma apparatus. America and Britain were thus able to monitor Soviet traffic in the early post war years, though just what was learned remains classified. Then came Black Friday (1948), the day the Soviets changed codes thanks to their agent William Weisband who had penetrated the Army Security Agency; the same agent who revealed the VENONA program. Back to square one.

In the related field of scrambled voice communications, Bamford tells of successful German efforts tap the undersea cable from England to the United States and then decrypt conversations between Roosevelt and Churchill.

During his treatment of how and what NSA collects, Bamford asserts that the United States intercepts signals of its friends and enemies--ECHELON--and he discusses what is done when US corporations become targets of foreign countries. A description of United States policy dealing with this activity is given in a few simple declarative sentences by former DCI James Woolsey whom he quotes:

Yes my continental friends, we have spied on you because you bribe… you bribe a lot. So complicit are your governments that in several European countries bribes are tax-deductible. When we have caught you at it we have not said a word to the U. S. companies in the competition. Instead we go to the government you’re bribing and tell its officials we don’t take kindly to such corruption…. This upsets you and sometimes creates recriminations between your bribers and the other country’s bribes, and this occasionally becomes a public scandal. We love it. (p.425)

The natural follow-on to this subject is what happens when NSA intercepts traffic involving U.S. persons. Bamford relates the development and implementation of the current protective policies, the abuses often at the presidential level that led to them, and operational difficulties that they created.

A topical thread that runs throughout the book is the role of the computer at NSA--especially when combined with fiber optic cables and satellite links--and the impact it has had on the volume of traffic, the techniques for analyzing the take, and the Herculean problems associated with storing the result and getting rid of the material no longer needed. These developments have led to major increases in NSA’s physical plant and its ability to actually manufacture certain critical components.

All this is discussed in conjunction with the accompanying problems of hiring qualified personnel--scientists, linguists, meeting ethnic diversity requirements--and dealing with Congress in its oversight and budgetary roles. Of special interest are the data associated with the volume of background investigations and the administration of the polygraphs. The responsibility for all these endeavors rests with the NSA Directors and Deputy Directors and Bamford examines their contributions in some detail providing short biographies on each one (Appendix 1 contains a complete list of NSA Directors).

The formidable document research accomplished for the book is impressive, especially considering that much of it was performed in NSA National Cryptologic Museum library. Add to that interviews with retired and serving senior NSA officers, including the current director, LTG Michael V. Hayden--something not possible when writing The Puzzle Palace--and the balanced approach achieved is understandable. The amount of organizational detail is such that one could conclude NSA did not want any organizational charts--there aren’t any in the book¾but that did not stop Bamford from describing the main functional components in narrative form--building names, office titles, floor and room numbers--with sufficient detail that the reader may drawn his own.

At first glance, Bamford’s description of NSA with its multi-billion dollar programs, might lead the reader to conclude that this biggest and most costly member of the intelligence community has not really endured the budget constraints placed on its sister organizations. But that would be incorrect and he describes the various programs developed to accomplish its mission by applying new technology aimed at providing faster and better service with reduced operating funds. One example is the decision for go online with the distribution of the data collected and analysed. The secure and encrypted Intelink network reduces even worldwide communication tasks to seconds and makes databases available throughout the community.

In a book devoted to exposing former secrets, it may come as a surprise that the author has succumbed to the temptation of secrecy. At the beginning of each chapter, he has included a five line cryptogram obtained from the NSA in-house newsletter. No decryption is provided nor are they mentioned elsewhere in the book. Web surfers will, however, find some clues at the book’s web site (www.bodyofsecrets.com).

Whether one is considering a career in cryptology, is just interested in SIGINT, wants to learn about NSA’s role in the intelligence community, or some combination of the above, reading of Body of Secrets will be a rewarding experience. It is a major contribution to the literature of intelligence.

[1] A. Jay Cristol, The Liberty Incident (Coral Gables,FL, 1997), dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Miami. Available from UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, MI