W. Patrick Lang

In December 2022, Lang released an anthology of his writings on intelligence, the Iraq War, Islam, the Middle East, and other critical topics. The volume, published by iUniverse, featured previously unpublished historical fiction, as well as his most important writings and speeches. The book is titled "The Portable Pat Lang."

In 2021 Lang published an updated book-length version of an earlier work under the title "The Human Factor: The Phenomena of Espionage." It was published by iUniverse. The book is a primer on the art of human intelligence, drawing on Lang's extensive experience recruiting agents while in the US Army in Vietnam, and later as head of the Humint section of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The book draws upon the history of successful spy recruitment, including a critical review of the Cambridge Five spy network.

In December 2020, Lang published his memoir under the title TATTOO—A Memoir of Becoming. It was published by I-Universe. The 406-page autobiography offers a first-hand account of some of the most important events of the 20th century, starting with his uncle John Lang's Navy service in China during the pre-World War II period, his father's Army service in the Philippines and Germany, and Lang's own lengthy career after graduating from Virginia Military Institute, first in Army Special Forces, later in Military Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Lang's account of his two tours of duty in Vietnam are vivid and capture the agony of that conflict from both a personal and strategic standpoint. His accounts of his service in the Middle East as a special advisor to the Iraqi Armed Forces during the Iran-Iraq War, as Military Attache in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and his other special missions in the region is equally gripping and full of personal insights into U.S. policy.

The third volume, Down the Skies', was published in 2012. Confederate spy Devereux, by now Brigadier General of the Volunteer Union Forces, not only gained the confidence of president Lincoln but is also getting deeper and deeper insights into the whole administration. But he is suspected of disloyalty, and the Union's Counter-intelligence is on high alert.

The second volume, Death Piled Hard, was published in 2009. Devereux's brother Patrick is killed at Gettysburg. But there is not much time to mourn for Claude Devereux, who is slowly finding his way into command circles behind enemy lines.

In an interview in 2007, he stated that "the U.S. has no plans to bomb Iran," to mean that intensive planning is at an advanced stage but no final decision has been made to push the button. He said the forces are largely in place. The bombing could be carried out by naval air from the aircraft carriers in place, missiles from the screening ships of the carrier groups, and air force assets. He said there is dissent in the U.S. administration at high levels whether to bomb Iran, and it is possible for high level resignations to occur even in the uniformed services. He said the concentration of forces has a dual purpose, to prod Iran toward serious negotiations and to be there as a resort if negotiations fail.

The first volume, The Butchers Cleaver, was published in 2007. In this book Claude Devereux, who like his whole family in Alexandria does neither support slavery nor secession, is forced by events into his role as Confederate agent.

Continuing his work on the peace process, he participated in work of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. As an example: Imagining the Next War. The foundation sponsors individuals for "scholarly research on violence, aggression, and dominance." In 2006, Lang was appointed to the foundation's board of directors. Lang edits a personal blog Sic Semper Tyrannis on the subjects of intelligence gathering and analysis, military affairs, and war and peace.

Lang has written and discussed the 2006 Lebanon War, in which he described the Hezbollah defense as a defensive belt which he called the "Tabouleh Line". In an interview with Helena Cobban, he said:

In 2006, Lang said that he thought an American attack on Iran would have deadly repercussions on U.S. occupation troops in Iraq. He noted that "troops all over central and northern Iraq are supplied with fuel, food, and ammunition by truck convoy from a supply base hundreds of miles away in Kuwait. All but a small amount of our soldiers' supplies come into the country over roads that pass through the Shiite-dominated south of Iraq." Iraqi Shiia could easily interdict these supplies, not easily replaced by air, once hostilities start.

The original edition, Intelligence: The Human Factor, was published by Chelsea House, Philadelphia (2004) as a social sciences textbook on Human Intelligence Collection Operations.

At the Defense Intelligence Agency, he was the defense intelligence officer (DIO) for the Middle East, South Asia and counter-terrorism, and later, the first director of the Defense Humint Service. At the DIA, he was a member of the Defense Senior Executive Service. He participated in the drafting of National Intelligence Estimates. From 1992 to 1994, all the U.S. military attachés worldwide reported to him.

Walter Patrick "Pat" Lang, Jr. (born May 31, 1940) is a commentator on the Middle East, a retired US Army officer and private intelligence analyst, and an author. After leaving uniformed military service as a colonel, he held high-level posts in military intelligence as a civilian. He led intelligence analysis of the Middle East and South Asia for the Defense Department and world-wide HUMINT activities in a high-level equivalent to the rank of a lieutenant general.