The CIA's Secret War in Tibet

By Kenneth J. Conboy and James Morrison

Book Overview

Defiance against Chinese oppression has been a defining characteristic of Tibetan life for more than four decades, symbolized most visibly by the much revered Dalai Lama. But the story of Tibetan resistance weaves a far richer tapestry than anyone might have imagined. Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison reveal how America's Central Intelligence Agency encouraged Tibet's revolt against China--and eventually came to control its fledgling resistance movement. While the CIA's presence in Tibet has been alluded to in other works, the authors provide the first comprehensive, as well as most compelling account of this little known agency enterprise. The CIA's Secret War in Tibet takes readers from training camps in the Colorado Rockies to the scene of clandestine operations in the Himalayas, chronicling the agency's help in securing the Dalai Lama's safe passage to India and subsequent initiation of one of the most remote covert campaigns of the Cold War. Establishing a rebel army in the northern Nepali kingdom of Mustang and a para-commando force in India designed to operate behind Chinese lines, Conboy and Morrison provide previously unreported details about secret missions undertaken in extraordinarily harsh conditions. Their book greatly expands on previous memoirs by CIA officials by putting virtually every major agency participant on record with details of clandestine operations. It also calls as witnesses the people who managed and fought in the program--including Tibetan and Nepalese agents, Indian intelligence officers, and even mission aircrews. Conboy and Morrison take pains to tell the story from all perspectives, particularly that of the former Tibetan guerrillas, many of whom have gone on record here for the first time. The authors also tell how Tibet led America and India to become secret partners over the course of several presidential administrations and cite dozens of Indian and Tibetan intelligence documents directly related to these covert operations. Ultimately, they are persuasive that the Himalayan operations were far more successful as a proving ground for CIA agents who were later reassigned to southeast Asia than as a staging ground for armed rebellion. As the movement for Tibetan liberation continues to attract international support, Tibet's status remains a contentious issue in both Washington and Beijing. This book takes readers inside a covert war fought with Tibetan blood and U. S. sponsorship and allows us to better understand the true nature of that controversy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0700617884
• ISBN13: 9780700617883
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

"Secret" is the word

This is another work I thought I had already reviewed. Having a special interest in airlift, particularly C-130s, I found this book to be very interesting and informative about a mission the United States carried out in secret in the 1950s-60s. The authors truly did their homework. I highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in America's world-wide secret wars.

Tibet, the Dali Lama & the CIA

Good news & bad news. The good: This book is FULL of information...I mean like dense-pack. Every other page I was using either Google or Google Earth to check details. The bad: It's NOT a page-turner like a good novel if you really want the information. Quite the opposite. For this fascinating side-bar of American history, it's well worthwhile. Then one realizes this was happening all over the world with more commitment.

CIA secret operations

This is an excellent primer on how the CIA and other "intelligence" agencies function inside foreign countries. This book can be used as a guideline for understanding how secret wars and destabilizations are done. In itself, the Tibet story is very interesting and relates to 2009 protests held there by Buddhist monks as well as alerting readers to the destruction of Tibet by China.