Quoting from the Publisher's description on Amazon.com:
“A true story as exhilarating as a great spy thriller, as turbulent as today’s headlines from the Middle East, A Time to Betray reveals what no other previous CIA operative’s memoir possibly could: the inner workings of the notorious Revolutionary Guards of Iran, as witnessed by an Iranian man inside their ranks who spied for the American government. It is a human story, a chronicle of family and friendships torn apart by a terror-mongering regime, and how the adult choices of three childhood mates during the Islamic Republic yielded divisive and tragic fates. And it is the stunningly courageous account of one man’s decades-long commitment to lead a shocking double life informing on the beloved country of his birth, a place that once offered the promise of freedom and enlightenment—but instead ruled by murderous violence and spirit-crushing oppression.”
The book truly fascinated me. You feel inside the workings of the Revolutionary Guards. You witness torture, beatings and killings. You meet many personalities that are still around today. You are at the front during the Iran – Iraq War. You, too, question why America and the West are supporting the Iraqi thug dictator, Saddam Hussein. The book teaches history from an inside perspective.
Mr. Kahlili weaves a great story. He plays on all of my prejudices about the “democratic” government of Iran. He makes me feel justified in all of my biases. Then I came to an event that just seemed too timely. The event is the death of his friend Kasem. I am not going to reveal exactly why this bothered me but if you read the book you may feel the same. This one incident makes me question all of the other facts in this book. Is Mr. Kahlili really who he says that he is? Did he really work for the Revolutionary Guards? Did he really work for the CIA? Is he just a gifted bard telling us that fiction is fact?
Believe it or not, I enjoyed reading this book. I love spy thrillers. When I started this book, I thought that it was real. I took the publisher's description, stated earlier, as fact. When I finished, I am doubtful.
As always, I appreciate people's comments. Let me know what you think.
Perhaps this will help you. Review by David Ignatius in the Washington Post:
ReplyDeleteSo I did some checking. And I am happy to report that the author did indeed have a secret relationship with the CIA. That's a relief, because the story he tells -- of the Iranian revolution and how he came to despise it -- is genuinely powerful.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/09/AR2010040903638.html?wprss=rss_print/bookworld
I am reading the book now. It is indeed an engrossing read, and seems mostly plausible, if horrifying. One aspect bothers me, however. Mr. Kahlili provides a LOT of detail about himself in the book, in fact so much so that it is hard to believe that the Iranians couldn't figure out who he was, and take revenge on his remaining family. I don't know if what I am saying will make sense to intelligence professionals, but even accepting that names are changed, and various details obscured, there is a hell of a lot there (studied computers in America, became a computer engineer in the Guards, visited the front and was hit by an artillery shell which killed one of his companions, who was in the intelligence section, had another friend in the intelligence section, had a friend in the Mujahedin who was caught, imprisoned, murdered along with his two younger siblings). How many IRGC members could fit this description, or even part of it?
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