Traitors Among Us

A fascinating insight into US Army Counter-Intelligence responses of the 80's to foreign recruitment of US military. By telling the true tale of the detection and arrest of two soldiers who sold out their country for money, Colonel Herrington brings the reader a "can't put it down" thriller. For the ex-Military Intelligence reader it is a good insight into new developments in the field. A must read. One weakness: No index or references to other publications covering these two cases.

This well-written eyewitness account of our military's counterintelligence operations during the Cold War will stand as a classic. Stuart Herrington was there and, as a former Intelligence officer myself, I can attest that no one had greater respect or credibility in the counterintelligence world. The only fault I find with this terrific book is that Herrington understates his own indispensible--and often heroic--role in these actions. While his humility is becoming, it limits the reader's knowledge of his incalculable contributions. But that is by the way--this book tells a dramatic story that long needed to be told, and it tells it splendidly. While I have written fiction about this shadowy world, no fictional tale can equal the remarkable reality of what a handful of men did for our country behind the curtains of the world stage. As a fellow officer, I admire Herrington; as a fellow author, I envy his skills and achievement. I strongly--STRONGLY--recommend this fine book to all Americans interested in how the Cold War was really waged. Excellent!

I am not an aficionado of the spy genre, but this book held my interest throughout. I would guess that that's because of it's realism. The world of spies and spycatchers appears to be much drabber than what is portrayed in the novels of Le Carre. I don't quite understand why I like that better, but it's probably because I read such books to find out about the real world rather than for escape into a fantasy world.I found the amount of politics and bureaucratic hurdles Herrington and his team had to go through appalling, particularly the Justice Department insistence on a 100% airtight case against a traitor of the magnitude of Clyde Conrad. On p.212 an attorney of the Justice Dept. says they will not authorize the arrest of Conrad in spite of an overwhelming pile of evidence, and Herrington asks if that is the attorney's personal view or the position of the attorney general. The attorney answers ambiguously that it is the view of the Justice Department. I find it very, very hard to believe that either Ed Meese or William French Smith would hesitate to go after an enemy agent like Conrad out of fear of failing to obtain a conviction. That sort of timidity in defense of the departmental resume just wasn't characteristic of the Reagan appointees. No, this sounds more like eunuchs guarding their little piece of turf. Failing to arrest and prosecute Clyde Conrad on the grounds that you might not get a conviction is tantamount to letting Timothy McVeigh run free because he wasn't seen at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. I would only fault Colonel Herrington for not putting the names of those cowardly Justice Department lawyers into this very fine book for all to read.

I urge people interested in espionage and counterespionage to read about how competent CE investigations are actually run. Most spy-catcher books are maddeningly vague, but not this one. My hat is off to all of the agents who contributed to these complex investigations. Compliments to the author for a very exciting and readable book; it seems a worthy tribute. I highly recommend it as a professional development tool for younger folks in the business.

Stuart Herrington's book is a textbook on how to catch spies. I have not read a single book on counterintelligence that describes in detail the painstaking work -- sometimes combined with a stroke of luck -- that goes into making a solid case against traitors willing to sell their country's security. Although there have been very few casesof espionage against the U.S. uncovered except through defectors or through a mole the U.S. had inside a hostile service, the hard part is proving it. Colonel Herrington is to be commended for his generous and unstinting praise of the U.S. Army's counterintelligence special agents, the CIA and the FBI. His step-by-step review of operations involved in the the cases he cites show the complexities involved and the necessity for close cooperation among the various security agencies which more often than not have been portrayed as glory-seeking turf battlers. Criticism that Colonel Herrington went overboard with citing the good work of his special agents and praising the general officers whom he had to keep up-to-date, is entirely misplaced. Instead, the colonel did the honorable thing: He gave credit where credit was due. In the silent war of espionage this must be a first. In researching my book "Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police", I interviewed a number of German offcials who told me that they were awed by the dedication and professionalism of Stuart Herrington and his special agents. As a former intelligence officer, I tip my hat to Stuart Herrington. A well-written must read.John O. Koehler author, Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police, Westview Press.