The original work that may be more exciting than the movie

Many people think that this movie is a book created by the director. It is too naive. Just like many American movies, there are professional experts behind this movie. I happened to come into contact with the original book "See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism" behind this movie because of my research on international politics. Amazon link: https ://www.amazon.com/See-No-Evil-Soldier-Terrorism/dp/140004684X ). The author of this book is Robert Baer, ​​a former CIA veteran agent in the Middle East, and is also the prototype of the agent Bob that Clooney played in the movie. Robert Baer participated in a series of secret CIA operations in the Middle East from the 1970s and 1980s to the Bush era, witnessed many historic events, and participated in the so-called assassination plan of Saddam. The author is well versed in the operation of the entire US intelligence system and Middle East affairs, and has compiled several books based on his own experience. His memoir, "See No Evil", published in 2003, was made into the movie Cirina. Robert Baer is also an influential public media figure in the United States, often participating in current political commentary and related programs. It is worth mentioning that Robert Baer himself represents a group of people in the CIA who are dissatisfied with government policies. He often criticizes the inefficiency caused by the CIA's bureaucracy and the decline in intelligence capabilities caused by the post-Cold War reductions. In addition, he also criticized the United States for ignoring a lot of obvious intelligence that led to the occurrence of the 9/11 incident, and he was also quite dissatisfied with the alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia. He believed that Saudi Arabia not only lacks a stable future but also exports extreme ideas that lead to terrorism.

The memoir "See No Evil" can be said to be one of his masterpieces. It basically uses himself as a clue to review the evolution of the entire CIA's intelligence work since the 1970s. The film integrates the contents of his own other books and related information, and outlines the context of the U.S. war on terrorism from the perspective of a local intelligence worker. The film caused great repercussions in the United States after the Iraq War, mainly because it fits with the conspiracy theory prevailing among those who opposed the war at the time, that the United States attacked Iraq for the benefit of oil (the actual reason is not so) . The film focuses on the interest entanglement of Middle Eastern countries and American oil companies. Obviously, it borrows from Robert’s other book "Sleeping with the devil". The author believes that the alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia and other Arab oil-producing countries is to ensure their own energy security ( This is largely true). On the other hand, the dignitaries of the Arab oil-producing countries have consolidated their power through economic cooperation with high-level Americans. At the same time, they must also consider the interests of the United States to a certain extent on the issue of heirs, that is, the assassinated prince in the movie. As suggested by his brother.

Another impressive allusion in the article is the "Iran Liberation Committee" of the United States (if I remember correctly). The existence of this organization has aroused discussion among American audiences, and many people have asked whether it is true. If it is true, it means that a group of people in the US government have been working to overthrow the current regime in Iran. I think the prototype of this organization should be Iran’s overseas exile organization "National Council of Resistance of Iran" (National Council of Resistance of Iran). It was this organization that exposed the so-called Iranian nuclear program in 2002 and opened up the Iranian nuclear issue. prelude. This organization has also received the support of conservative lawmakers in the United States with the goal of changing the current regime in Iran as the goal of its policy toward Iran, in an attempt to use force against Iran. There are many details from the original works in the movie, and I can’t list them one by one. These details restore the real life of the agent as much as possible, instead of making the protagonist invincible or simplistic like most agent movies. Of course, in addition to the details of the intelligence work in the original book, the private goods of international political analysis carried by the author seem to be questionable in the industry. In short, for lovers of international politics, this book and movie are both excellent works that I strongly recommend.

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