The reality picture the CIA wouldn't want leaked: "The Cucumber Factory"

Former CIA officer Oiken has published a satirical book that he claims exposes serious failures within the American intelligence agency. The book describes a management culture that prioritizes accounting over operational espionage, and cites the case of a senior agency official stealing $40 million in gold bars. Oiken, who was fired in 2010, claims the agency has become mediocre.

Former CIA officer Oiken has published a new satirical book presenting a grim picture of the American Central Intelligence Agency. The book, symbolically titled "The Cucumber Factory," allegedly reveals a failed management culture where managers prefer agents to be accountants rather than risk-taking spies. Oiken, who was fired from the agency in 2010, filed a $25 million lawsuit claiming he was dismissed due to a romantic relationship, a lawsuit that was dismissed. The book is based, among other things, on the arrest of a senior agency official, David J. Rush, last May, suspected of stealing $40 million in gold bars from the state treasury. According to Oiken's former colleagues, the agency's deep cover program after the September 11 attacks received massive budgets of billions of dollars but became a failure where financial expenditures were more important than operational results. Oiken himself concludes that "it is almost impossible for outsiders to understand how mediocre the agency has become."