Rating: 
Summary: Persuasive case for the use of American Power
Review: This book presents the background surrounding the war in Iraq from the perspective of how both the right and the left have gotten it wrong in the past. The application of American Power in the support of our values as opposed to a narrow definition of the national interest is argued to be the most appropriate response to a world where deterence and containment are no longer feasible. This is a convincing case for preemption as a policy as well as an indictment against Hussein's regime. The case is built on analysis of failed policies in both the first Bush administration and the Clinton administration.This should be required reading for those who have a reflexive abhorhance of any use of American power and support the subordination of American initiatives to the the dictates of multilateralism and approval of the "international community". As the events of the next few weeks unfold we will see r the principles outlined here tested. I believe that they will prove to be correct.
Rating: 
Summary: The harsh spotlight of judgement casts upon Kristol
Review: This book should forever remain in print just to illustrate, in black and white, how immoral, calculated, and disgraceful the rightwing element is in America.
Like Mein Kampf before it, this book justifies war as simply another instrument of policy, just another tool among many to implement change. Of course, all the rationales used in it are false, and the absence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq lays bare for all to see the arrogance, wrongness, and decadence of this rightwing element. It is sad that, though we thought we had rid the world of fascism, there are those who, wittingly or otherwise, fall under its spell.
Kristol absolutely has the sticky blood of fallen American troops on his hands, lives lost futiley and vainly for an obscure, unnecessary cause. There will be no domino chain reaction of democracy in the Middle East, we are not seen as liberators, and Bush, devoid of an exit strategy, continues to bumble his way through the slog of quagmire.
The only thanks we can give to Kristol, et al is the satisfaction of knowing that, in their pursuit to make war just another instrument of policy, they have ensured that America will not be willingly going to war again for a very, very long time.
Rating:
Summary: Very timely and on target
Review: This book was published at the perfect time. It is a major, up-to-date contribution to the debate on whether to go to war against Saddam. Also, it is a quick read. Congratulations to the authors and the publisher--well done.
Rating:
Summary: Finally! something that explains the big picture.
Review: This book will give you the back-story. It will delve into the history of our foreign policy in Iraq, the Middle East and the world as a whole. By accurately abridging our foreign policy practices for the past 3 decades it will take you on a ride through three distinct camps of international thinking. Specifically, it will take you through the realist policies of the first president Bush, the liberal approach of president Clinton, and the new president Bush's internationalism. Though it does paint internationalism as an auspicious policy in light of today's events it nevertheless give you the facts that have brought us to our current situation. If you feeling in the dark or if your protesting in the belief that it's all about oil then you will benefit from the contents of this book. Read it with objectivity and then build a case for you stance from the facts presented here.
Rating:
Summary: Propaganda for the Neo Left and the Neo Right
Review: This is a progaganda piece for William Kristol's pet project "The Project for a New American Century". You can go to their website...and read all about their agenda. All to often we look for books to read to justify our values or beliefs. Unfortunately, too few of us have the time to investigate authors or "experts" on issues and find out their real agenda. This booklet is not journalism but a long editorial. This is agenda for the what the neo cons and the neo liberals promote: The UN, globalization and social welfare for multi national corporations who trade in arms, technology and finance. The PNAC as it is called, is a champion of old style liberal ideals as the IMF, the World Bank and the EU. William Kristol's Project for a New American Century is too a propaganda machine for the New World Order, the old Illuminati, the world elitists. The PNAC has nothing to do with spreading democracy or fighting terrorism. These are smoke screens. Their goal is to insert pro Globalists regimes (not democractic by the way) who will continue their agenda of corporate social welfare throughout the world.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book at least twice!!
Review: This is an absolute must read, regardless of your postion on the war. Kristol and Kaplan clearly layout the case against Sadaam. They then point out the foreign policy flaws of not just Bush 41 and Clinton but also of pre-9/11 Bush 43. You will more fully understand the philosophy that layed the framework of foreign policy for each president. You will also clearly grasph how President Bush's view of the world has changed since 9/11. Finally, you will be presented with the arguments and facts that form the backbone of our current stance towards Iraq. Even if you do not come to the same conclusion as that of the authors, you will better understand why our country is embarking on a path to the liberation of Iraq. My only complaint is that there are only 125 pages of riveting reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Informative But Limited Argument For Attacking Iraq
Review: This, unfortunately, is a book of very few surprises and precious little fundamental gravity in terms of providing the objective reader with anything but the same old tired and limited arguments we have heard forwarded by the fulsome gaggle of Washington "chicken-hawks" (career politicians, think-tank intellectuals and businessmen who are wanna-be pseudo-macho bureaucrats, guys and gals who have themselves never tasted life in the military nor suffered the experience of war up close and personal). The problems with their well-presented and well-documented arguments is that they are unconvincing and nowhere near substantial enough to convince an objective third party of the need to take the action the United States and the so-called "coalition of the willing" are now embarking upon. The authors do provide yeoman service by way of placing the actions of Saddam hussein and his bloody regime in perspective, and are forthright in admitting, at least to a certain degree, the degree of complicity the American government had in creating and sustaining this monsteer over a spate of years in the 1970s and 1980s. Yet they are less than forthcoming in describing how the events of "9-11" make Hussein any more of a clear and present danger to the American polity or the American people than he has been for over twenty years. Given the fact that we have sporadically bombed him over the intervening years without provoking him into teroristic action should argue against the idea he is somehow out there actively plotting with fundamentalist muslim terror cells to do evil to us or our friends. Yet short shrift is paid to such considerations here. Instead we have the usual litany that the world is now somehow so much more dangerous that we cannot afford to take the chance he might harm us, and have to take preemptive action to smash him before he surrenders to his evil instincts somewhere down the line. The argument is limited, tailored more to convince rather than to educate and inform, and there are a whole raft of considerations and counter-cutting considerations never broached here. My recommendation is that you read this more to gain an understanding for the philosophical underpinnings of all these war-mongering neo-conservatives, most of whom like Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice and Richard Pearle, never felt enough of an obligation to the country or its needs to ever volunteer for military service themselves. Why the American people trust such men enough to trust a generation of young American fighting men and women to their judgement is beyond me. Enjoy!
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