The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA

303 Pages·2000·1.35 MB·English

by  Antonio J. Mendez

The MASTER of DISGUISE
My Secret Life in the CIA
Antonio J. Mendez
with Malcolm McConnell
To all the Masters of the Game; some whom I met or engaged during the
Cold War and others I came to learn about or know while writing this book.
To all the members of our families who also served the cause.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
1 A Letter Slipped in the Door
2 Border Crossings
3 Onto the Shadowy Battlefield
4 Murky Waters, Southeast Asia
5 Kipling’s Beat
6 HONOR and GAMBIT
7 Pinball
8 Moscow Rules
9 RAPTOR in the Dark
10 Endgame
Epilogue
Glossary
About the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
Acknowledgments
I UNDERTOOK THE WRITING OF THIS BOOK WITHOUT FULLY
REALIZING the complexity of such a project. Although many others have
written books about their careers in intelligence over the years and several have
done so since the end of the Cold War, none could have been so blessed with
encouragement and help from colleagues, friends, and family. Also I received
excellent assistance and advice from many highly qualified and understanding
people as this project unfolded.
My wife, Jonna, who was Chief of Disguise more recently and worked at the
CIA for twenty-seven years, was fully engaged in this project. I penned the first
lines in November 1997 and the last change to the manuscript was made on the
fifth and final draft a year and a half later. Her writing and editorial advice
greatly enhanced the process and final product and her creative judgment and
political sense helped ease my way more than once.
My collaborator, Malcolm McConnell, proved he has infinite patience. He
first called me about Reader’s Digest’s interest in doing an article about my
rescue of the six U.S. diplomats from Iran, and mentioned he had always wanted
to write a book about CIA successes during the Cold War. “So do I,” I answered,
and so we did. His wife and able partner, Carol, was also a joy to work with and
proved a marvelous cook and hostess as well.

My agent, Andrew Wylie, and his assistant, Jeffrey Posternak, have earned a
well-deserved reputation as the top guns of the literary trade. It is no wonder
their legions of well-known clients trust them to run interference.
My editor, Betty Kelly, and her assistant, Alice Lee, have made this project
first among many at William Morrow. Their thoughtful review and deft editorial
changes, line by line, have added infinite value, well beyond what one might
expect in the hectic world of publishing. They also developed and spread an
interest and excitement for the book throughout their organization that bodes
well for the further success of the project.
Thanks also to my friends and associates, formally or currently in the CIA,
who read and made corrections on the various chapters. Everyone in this group
was there in the midst of the Cold War with me. They each appear as one of the
major players in their respective stories. All have been given pseudonyms as a
matter of courtesy or good security practices. Some are still serving in harm’s
way while others are in CIA’s most senior positions. They all took time away
from busy operational schedules to help me write this book because they believe
it is important.
A special thanks to the reviewers of the final draft. Their comments and
suggestions helped ensure an independent point of view, plus the historical
accuracy and technical quality of the work. This group includes: H. Keith
Melton, author of The Ultimate Spy Book, noted espionage expert, and military
historian; A. Denis Clift, president of the Department of Defense, Joint Military
Intelligence College, and a senior staff officer in the National Security Council
in the White House during many years of the Cold War; John Hollister Hedley,
retired chairman of the CIA’s Publication Review Staff and senior career
intelligence officer; Gordon E. Smith, a scholar and professor of Russian studies
who studied and did research in Moscow in the late 1960s and early 1970s; and
Catherine Eberwein, a senior staffer on the U.S. House of Representative’s
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and an expert on
counterintelligence and counterterrorism.
Finally, my regards to the chairman of the CIA’s Publication Review Board,
Scott Koch, and his staff, who led me through the wilderness of the review
process. Also my regards to the members of the board who have a tough job and
little time to do it. By federal statute they have only thirty days to complete their
review of sensitive material. The month they reviewed my final manuscript, they
completed their review on over four thousand pages of material.
The board obliges me to include a disclaimer stating that “CIA’s Publication
Review Board has reviewed the manuscript for this book to assist the author in
eliminating classified information, and poses no security objection to its
publication. This review, however, should not be construed as an official release
of information, confirmation of its accuracy, or an endorsement of the author’s
views.”
The entire experience of preparing this collection of Cold War tales, while
often harrowing, in the final analysis turned out to be as smooth as silk; not
unlike my twenty-five-year career in the CIA.
Antonio J. Mendez
Preface
I DECIDED TO WRITE THIS MEMOIR IN SEPTEMBER 1997, WHEN THE
Central Intelligence Agency publicly celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. During
three of the Agency’s five decades, which spanned the Cold War years, I served
as a professional intelligence officer, creating and deploying many of the most
innovative techniques of the espionage trade.
My purpose in writing this book, however, is not to bring credit to myself. I
have already received ample recognition in the intelligence community. Vanity is
not at stake in this project. Rather, I want this book to describe as accurately as
memory permits a few of the operations my colleagues and I conducted. The
reader can judge for himself the quality of our service in the cause of freedom.
Some of those we worked with are no longer alive. Others prefer to celebrate
their achievements privately. Others are still actively engaged and must remain
in the shadows. I have changed certain details of their identities so that they can
remain anonymous. But, willing to err on the side of openness, I chose the
potential risks of telling our story. I trust that doing so will also serve the cause
of freedom.
Almost since its inception, the American intelligence effort has been either
vilified by the world’s news media—sometimes as part of Soviet disinformation
operations—or romanticized by spy novelists with only vague notions of the
nature of espionage operations. Yet for more than fifty years, Americans have
been asked to support—both morally and financially—a large and active
intelligence effort of which they have had little concrete knowledge. Several
Directors of Central Intelligence and many of my colleagues have concluded that
it is time to share more details of the earnest endeavor we made in the name of
the American people. I agree.
I realize that my decision alarms certain intelligence professionals who see no
need to breach the principles of silent service that I and others instilled in them
during their training. But those who know me best will realize that I would never
knowingly betray a trust or reveal a secret that would jeopardize a comrade, a
source, or my country’s interests.
Secrecy, of course, is the lifeblood of espionage. I am not a reckless renegade
intent on exploiting clandestine operational methods to promote a book, nor do I
feel it necessary to apologize for the U.S. government or the CIA’s past errors or
excesses. In telling my story, I intend to help redefine the CIA’s traditionally
stringent disclosure position. Although I will reveal much of what I know to be
the Agency’s ongoing contribution to preserving the world’s peace and
democracy, I intend to be consistent with sound security practices.
I must also adhere to the spirit of the law. Anything I write or say for public
consumption is subject to scrutiny by the CIA’s Publications Review Board.
Further, I must consider the needs of intelligence professionals who continue to
uphold the integrity of the service.
Publication review does not mean censorship. I have the same First
Amendment right as any American citizen to express my opinion, positive or
negative, about declassified details of our business. The review process is
designed to determine whether any present or former Agency officers have
violated the trust placed in them. We must all protect the appropriately classified
aspects of the procedures and individuals used to collect intelligence vital to our
country’s security. The secrecy agreement we signed represents this contract of
trust. We all signed it willingly, fully realizing that we would never be able to
divulge certain details of our profession.
But attendant to this lofty obligation is a more practical concern, first
expressed by veteran American intelligence officer Sherman Kent in 1955. He
was proud of his leadership position but ambivalent as a scholar. Writing in the
first issue of Studies in Intelligence, then a classified Agency in-house
publication, Kent noted:
Our profession, like older ones, has its own rigid entrance requirements
and, like others, offers areas of general competence and areas of intense
specialization. People work at it until they are numb because they love it,
and because the rewards are the rewards of professional accomplishment.