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Federal Intelligence Service: Difference between revisions
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The fact that the BND could score certain successes despite East German communist Stasi interference, internal malpractice, inefficiencies and infighting, was primarily due to select members of the staff who took it upon themselves to step up and overcome then existing maladies. Abdication of responsibility by Reinhard Gehlen was the malignancy; cronyism remained pervasive, even nepotism (at one time Gehlen had 16 members of his extended family on the BND payroll).<ref name="Höhne & Zolling, p. 245">Höhne & Zolling, p. 245</ref> Only slowly did the younger generation then advance to substitute new ideas for some of the bad habits caused mainly by Gehlen's semi-retired attitude and frequent holiday absences.<ref name="Höhne & Zolling, p. 245" /> | The fact that the BND could score certain successes despite East German communist Stasi interference, internal malpractice, inefficiencies and infighting, was primarily due to select members of the staff who took it upon themselves to step up and overcome then existing maladies. Abdication of responsibility by Reinhard Gehlen was the malignancy; cronyism remained pervasive, even nepotism (at one time Gehlen had 16 members of his extended family on the BND payroll).<ref name="Höhne & Zolling, p. 245">Höhne & Zolling, p. 245</ref> Only slowly did the younger generation then advance to substitute new ideas for some of the bad habits caused mainly by Gehlen's semi-retired attitude and frequent holiday absences.<ref name="Höhne & Zolling, p. 245" /> | ||
Gehlen was forced out in April 1968 due to "political scandal within the ranks", according to one source.{{who|date=July 2022}}{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} His successor, [[Bundeswehr]] Brigadier General Gerhard Wessel, immediately called for a program of modernization and streamlining.<ref>Höhne & Zolling, p. 255</ref> With political changes in the West German government and a reflection that BND was at a low level of efficiency, the service began to rebuild. Years later, Wessel's obituary in the '' | Gehlen was forced out in April 1968 due to "political scandal within the ranks", according to one source.{{who|date=July 2022}}{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} His successor, [[Bundeswehr]] Brigadier General Gerhard Wessel, immediately called for a program of modernization and streamlining.<ref>Höhne & Zolling, p. 255</ref> With political changes in the West German government and a reflection that BND was at a low level of efficiency, the service began to rebuild. Years later, Wessel's obituary in the ''Los Angeles Times'', reported that he "is credited with modernizing the BND by hiring academic analysts and electronics specialists".<ref name="latimes.com">{{Cite web |last= |date=2002-08-03 |title=Gerhard Wessel, 88; Did Espionage Work for Hitler, West Germany |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-03-me-passings3-story.html |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> | ||
Reinhard Gehlen's memoirs, ''The Service, The Memoirs of General Reinhard Gehlen'' (English title), were published in 1977, (World Publishers, New York). A Review of the book published by the CIA makes this comment about Gehlen's achievements and management style:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100327044932/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol16no3/html/v16i3a06p_0001.htm CIA.gov] The Service: The Memoirs of General Reinhard Gehlen by Reinhard Gehlen. Book review by Anonymous</ref> <blockquote>"Gehlen's descriptions of most of his so-called successes in the political intelligence field are, in my opinion, either wishful thinking or self-delusion. ... Gehlen was never a good clandestine operator, nor was he a particularly good administrator. And therein lay his failures. The Gehlen Organization/BND always had a good record in the collection of military and economic intelligence on East Germany and the Soviet forces there. But this information, for the most part, came from observation and not from clandestine penetration".</blockquote> | Reinhard Gehlen's memoirs, ''The Service, The Memoirs of General Reinhard Gehlen'' (English title), were published in 1977, (World Publishers, New York). A Review of the book published by the CIA makes this comment about Gehlen's achievements and management style:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100327044932/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol16no3/html/v16i3a06p_0001.htm CIA.gov] The Service: The Memoirs of General Reinhard Gehlen by Reinhard Gehlen. Book review by Anonymous</ref> <blockquote>"Gehlen's descriptions of most of his so-called successes in the political intelligence field are, in my opinion, either wishful thinking or self-delusion. ... Gehlen was never a good clandestine operator, nor was he a particularly good administrator. And therein lay his failures. The Gehlen Organization/BND always had a good record in the collection of military and economic intelligence on East Germany and the Soviet forces there. But this information, for the most part, came from observation and not from clandestine penetration".</blockquote> | ||
=== 1970s === | === 1970s === | ||
The agency's second president, Gerhard Wessel, retired in 1978. According to his obituary in the '' | The agency's second president, Gerhard Wessel, retired in 1978. According to his obituary in the ''Los Angeles Times'' in August 2002, the "former intelligence officer in Adolf Hitler's anti-Soviet spy operations" ... "is credited with modernizing the BND by hiring academic analysts and electronics specialists".<ref name="latimes.com"/> ''[[The New York Times]]'' News Service obituary lauded the BND's many successes under Wessel but noted that there had been "a number of incidents of East Germans infiltrating the West German government, particularly intelligence agencies, on Gen. Wessel's watch".<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 5, 2002 |title=Gerhard Wessel, 88 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-08-05-0208050063-story.html |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> | ||
==== Munich Olympic bombings ==== | ==== Munich Olympic bombings ==== | ||