Uncompromised: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of an Arab-American Patriot in the CIA
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4.0 • 20 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Nada Prouty served her country loyally, with distinction, and, as universally acknowledged by her colleagues, with great personal courage as a CIA covert officer. This tale of rampant trampling of citizen's rights is a vivid reminder of the responsibility of citizens to be vigilant against unaccountable government overreach if we hope to keep a strong democracy, where the rule of law prevails and where a citizen is presumed innocent until proven guilty."
-Valerie Plame, author of Fair Game
When Nada Prouty came to the United States as a young woman, she fell in love with the democracy and freedom of her new home. After a childhood in war-torn Lebanon with an abusive father and facing the prospect of an arranged marriage, she jumped at the chance to forge her own path in America-a path that led to exciting undercover work in the FBI, then the CIA. As a leading agent widely lauded by her colleagues, she worked on the most high-profile terrorism cases in recent history, including the hunt for Saddam Hussein and the bombing of the USS Cole, often putting her life on the line and usually getting her man.
But all this changed in the wake of 9/11, at the height of anti-Arab fervor, when federal investigators charged Prouty with passing intelligence to Hezbollah. Lacking sufficient evidence to make their case in court, prosecutors went to the media, suggesting that she had committed treason. Prouty, dubbed "Jihad Jane" by the New York Post, was quickly cast as a terrorist mastermind by the relentless 24-hour news cycle, and a scandal-hungry public ate it up.
Though the CIA and federal judge eventually exonerated Prouty of all charges, she was dismissed from the agency and stripped of her citizenship. In Uncompromised, Prouty tells her whole story in a bid to restore her name and reputation in the country that she loves. Beyond a thrilling story of espionage and betrayal, this is a sobering commentary on cultural alienation, the power of fear, and what it means to truly love America.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former FBI special agent and CIA operative Prouty recounts her bittersweet immigrant success story in this sobering memoir. Prouty escaped a life of chaos and abuse in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon, when she came to the U.S. in 1989 on a student visa. She earned an accounting degree, married a physician, and attained U.S. citizenship. She joined the FBI as a special agent in 1999 and was assigned to work on "an international terrorism squad." Despite the "endemic gender bias of the FBI," Prouty enjoyed her work at the bureau that included several high-profile cases. In 2003, she transferred to the CIA and was soon working in Iraq. But Prouty's American dream became a nightmare in 2007 when she learned that the Justice Department was investigating her for treason. Hounded and threatened by overzealous prosecutors, Prouty accepted a "farcical plea agreement deal" that kept her out of jail but cost her U.S. citizenship. Despite her harrowing ordeal, the author never lost faith in her adopted country and was exonerated. By turns uplifting and chilling, but never bitter, Prouty's unflinching memoir is the story of a particularly resilient American patriot.
Customer Reviews
Uncompromised
Excellent ! Then truth had to come out!
Great American Story
There is nothing worst than being betrayed and wrongly accused by a system you served and valued. Too little, too late justice, but nevertheless something.... " We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace." Obama