Talk:Robert Baer

Political Leanings
From Robert Baer page (emphasized text mine):


 * Despite his political leanings, Baer often makes observations that support both conservative and liberal viewpoints.

What are is political leanings? --ErikStewart 18:50, 12 July 2005 (UTC)


 * maybe he doesn't play the party game - wouldn't that be great!! www.mollymagdalain.com


 * I just finished reading See No Evil. Baer makes no mention of his political leanings; he seems pretty neutral--equally disgusted with both parties, that that is.--Daveswagon 11:21, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

But the article, which has made no mention of his political leanings, seems to expect us to know what they are. That sentance needs re-writing.

What the article really expects the reader to understand is that members of the U.S. Intelligence community are supposedly "Apolitical" because they are not policy makers per se but rather just collectors of information.


 * The ignorance implied by that statement is mind-boggling. Which former chairman of the Republican National Committee was appointed DCIA?  Hint: "41".  Individual employees all have their leanings, some say largely liberal, but I have no information to support that.

They are "supposed" to be Apolitiical but it is a bit naive to assume they are. How many former intelligence officers have made profitable second careers as demagogues?

I agree that the sentence ought to be rewritten. Whether or not Baer is neutral, fair-minded, issue-oriented, etc., it remains that the sentence ("Despite his political leanings") does assume that Baer has political leanings which the reader is aware of. If not, it would make more sense to lop off the opening clause and let the sentence stand as "Baer often makes observations that support both conservative and liberal viewpoints."

In addition, there should be a discussion of the Tamraz affair, which was certainly a major event in Baer's career, and links to related articles. (There are links from Tamraz to this, but not the other way around.) Juglice25A 17:47, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I have seen Bob Baer on Australian TV last night, in a Syriana promotion. I have a problem with 'political leanings'. Maybe he prefers to be issue focussed rather than studying a party line and then follow that, come rain or high water? I consider myself an issue focussed person, as opposed to ideology aligned.

It should be noted that Syriana is very loosely based on See No Evil. In fact the movie plot appears to be different than the "plot" of the book.


 * Movie different from book? Shocking.  Stop the presses!

Having recently read See No Evil and Sleeping With the Devil, I count myself amoung the Baer neophytes. I feel almost too eager to accept all of his criticisms of the CIA and US foreign policy without question. But then again, I've only heard his side of the story. Does anyone have a credible critique of Baer?

_____

Yes, you should read The CIA at War by Ron Kessler. Unfortunately you'll find your self questioning his thoughts on Baer as his work reads as a praise of everything Baer found disconcerting about the CIA.

The CIA at War referring to Robert Baer
After reading the last comments here I went to the library and checked out The CIA at War by Ronald Kessler to read his comments about Baer. There's about 4 pages where Kessler mostly discusses the failed plot against Saddam Hussein in 1995. The few pages are interesting to see how the other side felt about Baer's opinion, also why there was no backing for the plot. Kessler quotes George Tenet several times labeling Baer as a 'cowboy', and basically describes him as a descendent of old school CIA who planned assassinations and toppling governments. (My words, not his.)

There was no support for the plot because (even Baer mentions this) the 'plan had been compromised' due to Chalabi's forged letter concerning a Robert Pope (also mentioned in See No Evil). There appeared to be no support for the plot in Washington, but also a belief that Baer was doing all he could to support it. Washington didn't believe the plot would succeed and Baer's reputation as a 'cowboy' didn't help.

Baer's cowboyism makes him a better read, but it also feels more honest than Kesslers party line. The majority of reviews for The CIA at WAR on Amazon.com (for what they're worth) are not very glowing. --Labajas 01:47, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Russia House
There is some speculation that Bob Baer is the model for the CIA agent "Bob" in John Le Carre's novel Russia House. Jake b 02:11, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Other interviews
Baer is being interviewed in the two french documentaries, The world according to Bush and CIA: Secret wars (which are among the best documentaries i have ever seen). I think they should be mentioned. --85.226.201.208 00:29, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

List
I added the list tag because it doesn't seem well orginized and is like reading a long list. Tyler Gothier 15:11, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Baer's views on the death of Osama Bin Laden
Hi,

What about including Robert Baer's views on the death of Osama Bin Laden?

www.prisonplanet.com/flashback-former-cia-operative-of-course-bin-laden-is-dead.html

ChrisH48 (talk) 12:44, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Comment on revert
Dear Mr Sclossberg or whoever is on duty.

Slow: it took you 1.5 hours to revert.

I know I'm right and you are wrong.

This fact is addeec to my list of "Criminal Intelligence Agency" criminality.

Get real! You lost.

C — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.189.176.241 (talk) 17:42, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Gaps in info
Seen him last night in the docu 'Shadows of Liberty' (docfactory, GB) and wondered how his activities would tally with what I have heard about the CIA, which they call 'omerta' (forgot how to do the accent on the a) in Italy. They are sworn to secrecy; some are killed or ruined for telling, but here he is having his own international glasnost festival. It is somewhat inconceivable that he does not have permission from Langley and in this case he'd only tell what's allowed - or disinformation, or some of these, or all of these in a variation of mixtures. While it is all very interesting and seemingly sheds some light on the mysteries that we've been wondering about, I personally wonder if what we get is what there is.

Curious also, that there's no father in the bio. Well, maybe better no father than a disinformation father when the real father may have also been in some service. Curious further: 'He spent many years of his childhood with his mother in Europe before returning to the US.' What would one live on in this instance? I lived 'in Europe' (where?) at the time and I can tell you that it was expensive to live there, rent, food, gas, etc. An American woman and a kid would have stuck out like a sore thumb, unless of course she worked for CIA, including AID, or the forces, or in Bonn. There may be nothing mysterious, but whatever someone says now is hardly believable after obscuring it. I just hate it when people write about someone 'living in xyz', spending 'years in whatsitsname' and not saying where rent and bread came from. There could be rich relatives, working, working the streets with little packages or selling your own body, benefactors, or ....... It's simply incomplete info leaving those gaps. 144.136.192.55 (talk) 04:20, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

Verification
As nearly as I can tell, all the information in this article, when tracked back, originated with Robert Baer.

Has anyone come across any verification that Robert Baer was ever in the CIA? 96.60.219.172 (talk)

Citations needed in some sections
There are some sections that have no citations at all. For example, "Early Life" has no citations and "Career" is a long section with only two citations. "Books and Media" also has no citations and while some of the information can be verified elsewhere, for example checking with imdb provides verification that Syriana is based on Baer's book(s) as well as of the Golden Globe and Academy Awards. However, a factual assertion like this is not easily verified:


 * To better resemble Baer, Clooney gained weight. When Baer learned of this, he was inspired to get back into shape.

Ileanadu (talk) 03:21, 13 January 2015 (UTC)

Targeting
Please add a section on the frequent targeting briefings given on CNN by Bob Baer, to earn his CNN consulting fees. As repeatly on CNN, Bob Baer, AND all the other e.g. former military generals CNN military intel advisors, will do this. They will spell out in detail what and how they would be targeting US targets if they were terrorists. And they might reply all we say is well known to any terrorist; but in fact, many e.g. lone actors e.g. here in USA (we have seen do massive attacks both here and e.g in Nice, France) are NOT trained global terrorists and all this targeting info by CNN and its CNN advisors, clearly PUTS IN THE CROSS HAIRS, US Citizens, US targets. And you can quickly come up with a nice descriptive term for anyone giving such a targeting briefing to terrorists, it would be obvious trait**, doncha think, Mr Baer. al karashi al saud sr 24.44.215.132 (talk) 07:13, 7 August 2016 (UTC)

Timber Sycamore
Baer continues to support aid to the supposed moderates in Syria. The absence of a section dealing with his role in the creation, arming and the generation of political support for these supposed moderates is regrettable, given these "moderates" record in terms of genocidal violence against minority groups in Syria and Iraq. This is important because Baer's understanding of the region is debatable were he ignorant of their motives, ideology and methods.

?
(1960s)...travelled through Europe and Russia - ? - Seems not very likely. And, what "Russia" ? --88.217.98.122 (talk) 09:01, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

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Fake News in the article de:Robert Baer in the German version of Wikipedia

 * Robert Baer never wrote a book The Secret of the White house'],
 * The unreliable source Telepolis was used, which reproduced a fabricated interview. (Der Staat Jugoslawien stand dem strategischen Entwurf der USA im Wege Ex-CIA-Agent Robert Baer über die Strategien der CIA während des Jugoslawien-Krieges)
 * Like some other propaganda websites Secrets of the White House - Confession of a CIA Agent, azvizion.az, 24 December 2015
 * A fictional interview with a former CIA agent has been circulating in the Balkans for a decade, Raskrinkavanje.ba (BiH), seecheck.org, March 24, 2023
 * "Cupurdija claimed that he interviewed Baer in Canada, where he was promoting the book “The secret of the White House”. Baer never wrote or promoted such a book, nor was he in Canada at the time the interview was published. On the other hand, Baer did publish several books about his experiences working for this agency, in which he never claimed anything close to what the obscure author of the fake interview wrote. Finally, Robert Baer confirmed for Raskrinkavanje that he never gave the said interview." Intervju sa Robertom Baerom - Kraj Jugoslavije	PDF	Štampa	El. pošta, Napisao Miloš Ćupurdija, četvrtak, 06 septembar 2012 --Noebse (talk) 17:06, 29 March 2023 (UTC)