None So Blind: A Personal Failure Account of the Intelligence in Vietnam [Hardcover]

He tells (what seems like) all in this wide-ranging, illuminating memoir.Illuminating!Valuable...an important piece of the Vietnam puzzle.A unique work by a unique author.... Allen had the guts to speak truth to power.The CIA's premier Vietnam intelligence expert reveals the inside story of disputes on the war.... Don't miss this book!Indispensable.... A must book.If the reader can only read one book about the problems of strategic intelligence in Vietnam, this one is recommended.In this personal account of the intelligence failure in Vietnam, Mr. Allen reveals specifically how American leaders largely excluded intelligence from important policy deliberations until it was too late.? Dont miss this book!John PradosFrom the first large-scale Viet Minh offensive against the French in 1950, to the fall of Saigon in 1975, the United States tried desperately to understand the nature of the fierce Communist-led struggle to create a unified, independent Vietnam. American intelligence played a key role in gathering information on the political and military situation in Vietnam and on the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. But as George Allen shows in this eye-popping memoir, intelligence appraisals were consistently ignored or rejected by policymakers in every administration from Eisenhower through Nixonbecause these assessments undermined the mistaken assumptions of the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon. From his vantage point as a chief official with the CIA and army intelligence, Mr. Allen reveals specifically how American leaders, unwilling to face up to bad news from intelligence sources, largely excluded intelligence from important policy deliberations until it was too late. None So Blind is a remarkable contribution to the history of the Vietnam War.George W. Allen was from 1949 to 1979 an intelligence analyst for the army, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the CIA. He specialized in the Vietnam wars, served almost three years in Vietls