Devlin, Larry. Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone. New York: Public Affairs, 2007. Devlin, Larry. Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone. New York: Public Affairs, 2007.
Clark comment: This is an invigorating read about a curious corner in the Cold War, written by a man who lived it closely. There is certainly plenty of Devlin's opinion on U.S. foreign policy of the era spread about in his memoir, but such does not represent more than momentary pauses in the narrative of the story he unfolds. This was neither the first nor the last time that officers (whether CIA or State Department) in the field and Washington had different views of developing situations. Devlin writes an easily read brand of English, introduces his colleagues and the Congolese leaders with both candor and sensitivity, and seeks to put to rest canards directed at the CIA institutionally and him personally for such actions as Lumumba's death and Mobutu's coup. It is, perhaps, easy at this late date to wonder "who cares" about these actions of long ago; it is, however, even easier to agree with Devlin's deepseated belief that it really did matter at the time. I am grateful that fate placed Larry Devlin in the Congo at this juncture as Africa began to move beyond its previous colonial existence.
EAB, AFIO WIN 06-07 (12 Feb. 2007), notes that when the author arrived in the Congo in 1960, there was "no central authority ... and local strongmen were struggling for power." As the chaos grew, "Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba began courting the Soviets. Devlin received orders from Washington that Lumumba had to go. Within weeks Lumumba was not only out of power, but dead. However, Devlin devotes a large portion of the book refuting his or the agency's part in Lumumba's death."
A Publisher's Weekly reviewer (via Amazon.com) finds that the author uses his last chapter for "a point-by-point refutation of his or the agency's involvement in Lumumba's death.... Devlin's straightforward, plainly written approach ... lends credence to his assertion of innocence."
Rogers, CIRA Newsletter 32.1 (Spring 2007) and Intelligencer 15.2 (Fall/Winter 2006-2007), calls Chief of Station, Congo "an important piece of history about the United States' skirmishes with the Soviet Union and other Communist countries during the Cold War as specifically played out in the Congo.... The Congo experience is a textbook lesson on how CIA can and should work with the Department of State, and how Department of State diplomats can use effectively intelligence resources."
For Cassilly, IJI&C 21.1 (Spring 2008), "this is the first report written exclusively from the CIA's point of view and, as such, a valuable contribution to the history of the time.... [A]s the Cold War recedes further, the time may soon arrive for a reexamination of the situation in a less emotional context. When doing so, Devlin's book will be required reading, if perhaps not the final word."
See Scott Shane, "Memories of a C.I.A. Officer Resonate in a New Era," New York Times, 24 Feb. 2008, for the journalist's interview of the 85-year-old Devlin at his home in Virginia.
De
Witte, Ludo. Trs., Ann Wright and Renée Fenby. The Assassination of Lumumba. New York: Verso, 2001.
Lippman, Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2001, finds this to be a "brief [224 pages] but well-documented" work. The author's argument is that "the Belgian government and major Belgian corporations -- with the support of the Central Intelligence Agency and the United Nations -- conspired with corrupt Congolese to get rid of Lumumba because he threatened their capitalist order." Along the way De Witte engages in some "over-the-top Marxist rhetoric." Nonetheless, "he has assembled a staggering amount of detail to support his allegations of direct [Belgian] government participation in Lumumba's murder."
Enahoro, Peter. "Did the CIA Kill Lumumba?" Africa, Oct. 1975, 11-13. [Petersen]
Holm, Richard. "A Close Call in Africa." Studies in Intelligence (Winter 1999-2000): 17-28. CIRA Newsletter 25, no. 1 (Spring 2000): 36-41.
The author recounts the circumstances surrounding his frightful injuries in a plane crash in the Congo in 1965.
Loeb, Washington Post Online, 15 May 2000, uses the publication of Ted Gup's Book of Honor (2000) to tell the story of Holm's crash, recovery, subsequent career, and frightful treatment at the end of his career by then DCI Deutch.
See Gregory L. Vistica and Evan Thomas, "The Man Who Spied Too Long: The Inside Story of How a Cold-War Hero Became a Fall Guy for a Troubled CIA," Newsweek, 29 Apr. 1996, 26, 31.
Kelly, Sean. America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire. Washington, DC: American University Press, 1993.
From advertisement: "The first detailed account of the 30-year relationship between the United States and Mobutu. Kelly reveals the CIA's role in putting the dictator in power and keeping him there. He describes the CIA's military and financial backing that enabled Mobutu to invade neighboring Angola, assassinate his enemies, and become one of the richest men in the world." Kelly was an "Associated Press correspondent in Namibia and a former Voice of America correspondent in Africa."
Gerhart, FA 73.5, calls America's Tyrant a "lively book..., drawing on interview material and unpublished documents in the presidential libraries." But it does not contain much new material. "Mobuto ... remains shadowy as a personality."
Weissman, Stephen R. "CIA Covert Action in Zaire and Angola: Patterns and Consequences." Political Science Quarterly 94, no 2 (Summer 1979): 263- 286.
Lowenthal finds this article useful "for showing the wide range" that CIA covert actions can take. The author argues that the type of covert operations seen in Africa were pretty much the same as those being used elsewhere in the world.
Whitelaw, Kevin. "A
Killing in Congo: Lumumba's Death No Longer Seems a CIA Plot." U.S.
News & World Report, 24 Jul. 2000, 63.
Citing a new book by Ludo de Witte, The Assassination of Lumumba (2001), the article notes that "new evidence suggests that Belgium [not the CIA] ... was the mastermind" behind the killing of former Congo prime minister Patrice Lumumba in January 1961.
Return to Covert Action Table
of Contents
