Into Tibet : The CIA's First Atomic Spy and His Secret Expedition to Lhasa

Into Tibet is the incredible story of a 1949-1950 American undercover expedition led by America's first atomic agent, Douglas S. Mackiernan -- a covert attempt to arm the Tibetans and to recognize Tibet's independence in the months before China invaded. It recounts a harrowing and unprecedented two-thousand-mile trek on foot and camel across China and the deserts of inner Asia. For the first time, Thomas Laird reveals how Mackiernan helped establish a covert intelligence pipeline from China to India; how he gathered atomic intelligence for the United States; how his partner Frank Bessac urged the Tibetan government to request covert U.S. military aid and then carried the signed request out of Lhasa; and, finally, how Dean Rusk and the CIA responded. Laird reveals how the clash between the State Department and the CIA, as well us unguided actions by field agents, hastened the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Commenting on American motivations during this operation for the first time, the Dalai Lama says bluntly, "The courage was not there." U.S. government actions were ultimately a kiss of death for Tibet and Mackiernan -- the first CIA agent ever killed during a covert operation. A gripping narrative of survival, courage, and intrigue among the nomads, princes, and warring armies of inner Asia, Into Tibet rewrites the accepted history behind the Chinese invasion of Tibet. "Laird does an exemplary job of investigating, reporting, and shaping the events and personalities that compose the tragic story." -- Bob Shacochis, author of The Immaculate Invasion For Over Fifty Years The Cia Has Closely Guarded The Identity Of The First Agent Killed In The Line Of Duty - The Unnamed First Star On The Outfit's Wall Of Honor. That Agent Was Douglas Mackiernan. His Unprecedented Atomic Intelligence Operations Helped Shape Both Central Asia And The Cia As We Know Them Today. His Work Remains So Sensitive That The Agency, Even Now, Will Neither Confirm Nor Deny His Existence. A Riveting Expose Of International Intrigue, Into Tibet Reveals The Extraordinary Still-classified Missions That Sent Mackiernan And His Partner, Frank Bessac, Into The Heart Of The Cold War.--jacket. Why They Went -- Shegar-hunglung, Tibet, April 29, 1950 -- An Atomic Monopoly, An Atomic Peace, 1945 To 1949 -- Strategic Services Unit, Hq, Peking, March 5, 1946 -- U.s. Embassy, Nanking, March 1946 -- Alphabet Soup, 1946-1947 -- The American Consulate, Tihwa, March 25, 1946 -- Murray Hill, 1943-1950 -- Koktogai, Etr, May 15, 1946 -- At The Chingil River Ford, April 10, 1947 -- The White House And The Potala, March 1947 -- Osman Bator, Douglas Mackiernan, And Uranium, May And June 1947 -- Pegge Lyons And Douglas Mackiernan, Tihwa, Sinkiang, July And August 1947 -- Cia Headquarters, Washington, D.c., July 1947 -- The Aec And Afswp, July 1947 -- Pegge And Doug, Shanghai And Tihwa, September 1947 -- The U.s. Army Advisory Group Hq, Nanking, China, September 25, 1947 -- Shanghai To Peking, September 25-29, 1947 -- Uss President Polk, Off The China Coast, October 4, 1947 -- Bessac's Cover, Peking, China, October 15, 1947 -- The Crag Hotel, Penang, Malaysia, October 21, 1947 -- Frank Bessac And Prince De, Peking, China, October 1947 -- The Green Lantern, January To August 1948 -- Douglas Mackiernan And Atomic Explosions, 1948 To March 10, 1949 -- Department Of State, Washington D.c., April 19, 1949 -- The Raid On The U-2 Mine, Sinkiang And The Etr, April Or May 1949 -- Hawaii, June 1, 1996 -- The Russian Atomic Test Site, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, August 29, 1949 -- The Journey To Tibet -- Tibet, Summer Of 1949 -- Dingyuanying, Inner Mongolia, August 1949 -- Hami To Tihwa, Sinkiang, September 9, 1949. Thomas Laird. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 335-344) And Index.