A fine new book - Operation Chaos - about war resisters in Sweden (topic of my novel, Exiles)

Those who've read Exiles will know of my interest in the American war resisters, including so-called deserters, living in Sweden in and about 1970; I tried in that novel to capture the sense of fear and paranoia that permeated every moment of the lives of those in this community, and their allies and supporters. I based these feelings and ideas on my best memory of my contact and association w/ these brave men and their equally brave partners. There was always a sense in the resister community that maybe, just maybe, people were playing up and exaggerating the possibility of government surveillance and worse, that they were over-estimating the importance to the U.S. government of this tiny group of activists. But in any event, the paranoia and fear was omnipresent. I've been reading Matthew Sweet's excellent new book, Operation Chaos, by far the most detailed and well-researched account of the deserter community in Sweden, and Sweet's book makes it absolutely clear that the war resisters in Sweden were not paranoid at all - the CIA and other government agencies had implanted moles and spies among the deserters and had done everything possible to split the community into factions and to make life in exile for these men as miserable as possible. Honestly, I never thought the attempt to disrupt this community and to halt the exodus of American soldiers could possibly have been this pervasive and malicious, but Sweet nails it down, though extensive historical research and equally extensive contemporary interviews and meetings w/ members of the community, some still in Sweden, others back in the States. I was surprised among other things at the extent of the community in Sweden in the early 70s; I set Exiles in Uppsala (in earlier drafts called Upland, because I never meant it to be a real city - publisher pushed for the change), and had thought that there were no deserters living in Uppsala at that time (those I knew were in Stockholm). Apparently there were a few in Uppsala, and many more in Malmo and perhaps other cites. I didn't follow news of community in the Swedish press, which I could barely read anyway - but it was apparently a pretty hot news topic at the time (I do remember a TV special - which I "copied" in the novel). One thing that Sweet does not discuss is the # of war resisters and deserters from many other countries who'd come to Sweden in exile; these other communities were a major part of the novel (and of my life, when I lived in Uppsala). Anyway, for those who have any doubt about the long read of the CIA in the Nixon era and about the "nefarious" (a word Ann Beattie used in her much-appreciated blurb) actions of the U.S. government at that time, Sweet's book will show you the light.