Deep State - 9781118146682

An unprecedented look inside darkest corners of the American government

The number of secrets and secret keepers of the United States government and military have grown exponentially in recent years, and yet secrets today are harder to keep than ever. Why? Blame the Internet and the cultural embrace of transparency. From spies and commandos to weapons contractors and government functionaries, Deep State examines the secrecy apparatus of the United States up close, and explores the profound ramifications of the ease with which sensitive information can be gathered and presented to the world. Too often, secrets are strategically held or revealed for political gain. Cover-ups and leaks are designed to make the president or the opposition party look good or bad, strong or weak. The partisan atmosphere in Washington only exacerbates the problem, and things grow worse every day. Just as often, simple incompetence and fears of embarrassment explain the pervasiveness of secret-keeping. Deep State looks at how secrets have been kept over time, reveals a few of them, and explains whether this is hurting?or helping?America and its democracy.

• Delves into key elements of the America's secrecy apparatus, based on the authors' research and unprecedented access to lawmakers, intelligence agency heads, White House officials and program managers, as well as on thousands of recently declassified documents and interviews with more than 100 officials. Many of the interviews are on-the-record, remarkably candid, and thoroughly insightful.
• Explains how the increased exposure of secrets affects everything from Area 51 to Congress to Seal Team Six, Delta Force, the FBI, CIA, NSA, and organizations so secret most people have never even heard their initials
• Provides the fullest account to date of the NSA's controversial surveillance program, including the parts that haven't been declassified.
• Asseses whether the formal and informal mechanisms in place to protect Americans from abuses by the American deep state work???and how they might be reformed
• By the bestselling authors of The Command: Deep Inside the President's Secret Army: Marc Ambinder, a contributing editor at GQ and the Atlantic, who has covered Washington for CBS News and ABC News, and D.B. Grady, a correspondent for the Atlantic, a national security columnist for the Week, and a former U.S. Army paratrooper and a veteran of Afghanistan