Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From the award-winning and acclaimed author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, the epic story of an exchange of spies and unlikely alliance between the United States and Poland in the twilight of the Cold War.
In 1990, less than a year after the Polish people participated in their first democratic election since 1946, the young Polish government sent a veteran spy, who had battled the West for decades, to rescue six American officers trapped in Baghdad. The CIA had asked the Polish government for help, as the United States was desperately cobbling together allies to counter Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The captured Americans held valuable intelligence that could have spelled ruin for the US response. This episode was the first and, to date, only operation where CIA officers were placed under the command of a foreign intelligence agency, which came to save them.
John Pomfret's gripping account reveals that the roots of this unlikely alliance stretch back into the Cold War, when Polish spies pilfered secrets from the United States. The CIA highly respected the tradecraft of its Polish foes, and when the Berlin Wall fell, the CIA quickly moved to turn Poland's communist-era spy agency into a force for the United States. Pomfret reveals that intelligence cooperation only grew after Iraq. Polish spies worked for America in hotspots around the world; Polish special forces captured war criminals. And in 1999, Poland was ushered into NATO's ranks.
Pomfret's account also shows the downside of Poland's alliance with America. After 9/11, Poland was so eager to aid the United States that it allowed the CIA to place a "black site" on Polish soil where terrorist suspects were tortured. But still Poland continued its cooperation.
As the United States teeters on the edge of a new cold war with Russia, Pomfret, who uncovered the Iraq story in 1995 during his long career at the Washington Post, revisits these little-known events as a reminder of the importance of allies. America remains a superpower because of, not despite, its friends.
Synopsis
From the award-winning and acclaimed author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, From Warsaw with Love tells the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War.
In 1990, soon after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Polish government sent a veteran spy, who'd battled the West for decades, to rescue six American officers trapped in Baghdad. As the U.S. cobbled together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, the CIA asked the Polish government for help. The American officers held valuable intelligence that, if discovered by Saddam, could have spelled ruin for Desert Storm.
John Pomfret's gripping account of the cliffhanger in Iraq is just the beginning of a saga about intelligence cooperation between Poland and America, cooperation that a CIA director would describe as "one of the two foremost intelligence relationships that the United States has ever had." Poland's ex-communist spies snooped for America from Havana to Moscow, Pyongyang to Tehran. Pomfret also reveals shocking details about the CIA's "black site" program that held suspected terrorists in Poland after 9/11 as well the role of Polish spies in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
As the U.S. teeters on the edge of a new cold war with Russia and China, Pomfret explores these little-known events as a reminder of the challenges and importance of alliances in a dangerous world.
Synopsis
The epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War, told by the award-winning author John Pomfret
Spanning decades and continents, from the battlefields of the Balkans to secret nuclear research labs in Iran and embassy grounds in North Korea, this saga begins in 1990. As the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm if it is obtained by the brutal Iraqi dictator. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland, a longtime Cold War foe famed for its excellent spies, for help. Just months after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Solidarity government in Warsaw sends a veteran ex-Communist spy who'd battled the West for decades to rescue the six Americans.
John Pomfret's gripping account of the 1990 cliffhanger in Iraq is just the beginning of the tale about intelligence cooperation between Poland and the United States, cooperation that one CIA director would later describe as "one of the two foremost intelligence relationships that the United States has ever had." Pomfret uncovers new details about the CIA's black site program that held suspected terrorists in Poland after 9/11 as well as the role of Polish spies in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
In the tradition of the most memorable works on espionage, Pomfret's book tells a distressing and disquieting tale of moral ambiguity in which right and wrong, black and white, are not conveniently distinguishable. As the United States teeters on the edge of a new cold war with Russia and China, Pomfret explores how these little-known events serve as a reminder of the importance of alliances in a dangerous world.