Rating: 
Summary: They begin to Wag the Dog....
Review: Before you open this book, you need the primer: "Wag the Dog." Then, perhaps you have a chance of seeing the revenge vented here. I see many so- called liberals review conservative books with deliberate misleading information and vitriolic statements. Let's not go there. It's not well written, nor well documented - mostly defensive posturing - that you can SEE as you read.
It doesn't take long to get thru this - it's also repetitive.
Then, there is the timing: as campaigns for this year's election begin. Now is when you're knowledge of the 'Wag the Dog' routine come into play. This is just one step in the process. This book will have a short life.
If you truly read current events, you can even remember some of the discrepencies here.
Rating:
Summary: Disgruntled Employee
Review: (...)this book is a propaganda book from a man that was demoted by the National Security Advisor "Condi Rice". Questions need to be asked i.e. where was the former president Bill Clinton when the USS Cole was bombed, the first bombing of the towers in 93', and the offer by the Sudan to recieve Osama Bin Laden? This book is not backed up by facts and it is sad that such a propaganda laden book was ever allowed to be published.
Rating: 
Summary: Credible Confirmation of Washington Rumors
Review: For quite some time, chatter has been circulating regarding just how predetermined the war in Iraq was, before he terrorist attacks of 911. I found O'Neil's book to be credible, as were the Wesley Clarke's interview in the New Yorker, and several other pieces of investigative journalism. This book IS the comprehensive look at this adminstration's ineptness from a qualified, dedicated Washington insider.I finished this book in about 5 hours, and was not surprised by what I discovered: an administration ready to twist all evidence against al Queda into an advance against Iraq. I can also imagine George Bush saying, just after the attacks, "We're going to kick some ass," as he is quoted in this book. The character of the cabinet (or lack thereof) did not surprise me, but the last seventy or so pages are the real story. It is a shockingly pathetic list of everything they haven't done to bolster their on-air claims to be "fighting the war on terror." We are all biased in this realm, and so that you know my bias, I will say that I agree with Mr. Clark. We are not safer than we were before 9/11. We have done little to curb international terrorism. If anything we are more vulnerable.
Rating: 
Summary: With Incredible Courage and Honesty Clarke Speaks Out
Review: Richard Clarke was the top advisor on Terrorism to Bush, and served under Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton also. What he has to say is so devastating to the credibility of the Bush Administration, that noone in their right mind would continue to support them. And major damage control is underway.
Clarke lays out in his book how he warned of Al Queda well before 9/11 and Condoleeza Rice ignored him. He kept pressing Bush for a meeting on terrorism and it was finally granted...one week before 9/11...too little too late.
After 9/11 Bush in private meetings with Clarke confirmed by 2 other independent witnesses, told Clarke to find an Iraq connection even though there was none. We already know from Paul O'Neill's revelations that Bush was obsessed with an Iraq invasion right from January, 2001.
Clarke lays out how 9/11 could have been prevented had Bush took his warnings seriously, rather than pursuing the Rumsfeld/Cheney/Wolfowitz Iraq plan.
No amount of damage control will fix Bush now, as Clarke is the smoking gun which reveals Bush's dangerous foreign policy. So, like father like son, one term and then you're done!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!!
Review: Absolutely fascinating insider's story of what really happened at the White House on 9-11, plus much much more. Packed with behind the scenes details I have never seen elsewhere. Superbly written account by the key player in counterterrorism for both Clinton and Bush. A true must-read for anyone interested in national security.
Rating:
Summary: Complete and Total Nonsense!!!!
Review: Richard Clarke's book "Against All Enemies" is nothing more than an attempt by Clarke to cover his own failings in the fight against terrorism by blaming President George W. Bush. Don't you believe it!(...) Clarke is completely unbelievable and his veracity is certainly in question. For example, he writes that President Bush made clear to him that he wanted Clarke to find a connection between Iraq and September 11. The reader is left with the impression that President Bush wanted Clarke to find such a connection at all costs. What a load of garbage. After an attack like September 11, which was unparalleled in American history, it was President Bush's obligation to thoroughly examine every possible connection between the terrorists and state sponsors of terrorism, such as Iraq. It would have been negligent for him not to do so. Iraq was a serious threat that had been recognized as such by the Administrations of both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. But Clarke seizes this as an opportunity to misrepresent the facts to meet his own agenda against President George W. Bush, much like Paul O'Neill in his recent book. It is clear that Clarke is a career civil servant with a God complex who was against the war in Iraq. "If only everyone had listened to me" is the subtext of his book. However, it was Clarke's obligation as a counterterrorism chief to make certain that September 11 never happened - and yet it did. Indeed, why didn't Clarke stop the bomings of the U.S. Embassies in Africa in 1998 (3 years before Bush became President) -- or the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 (3 1/2 mos. before Bush became President)? Why wasn't Osama Bin Laden aggressively targeted by the U.S. after these attacks, or after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center? These are the questions that Clarke needs to answer, yet he does not. Blaming President Bush for his own failings is an act of cowardice. Clarke's book is a waste of time and money.
Rating:
Summary: A Scathing Indictment of a Reckless Administration
Review: Regardless of whatever mud the Bush administration tries to spatter on Mr. Clarke in retaliation for this book, there is little question that this author has written a thorough and scathing indictment of this administration's actions both before 9/11 and in the war on terror since then. This book leaves no doubt in the reader that this administration is one of the most inept and ideological that Americans have ever seen, and that such characteristics make all of us significantly less safe. Make no mistake: Clarke's charges and writing are marked by thoroughgoing disgust, but he supports all of his accusations - including the more incendiary ones - with grounding. Clarke's brand of argument is a refreshing break from the exercises in circular reasoning of the last several months that have attempted to lay all responsibility for the terrorist threat at the doorstep of President Clinton. Clarke's book diverges sharply from such ideological screeds as Rich Lowry's "Legacy," and in a positive way: Clarke is not pushing an agenda and is, in fact, strenuously non-partisan. There is no doubt that Clarke vociferously disagrees with the manner in which the Bush administration has conducted the war on terror, but his concerns are not political in nature; rather, they are the concerns of a rigorous professional who has dedicated 30 years of his life to government service and who can't believe the utter recklessness of his former employer. It must be noted that, while Clarke savages the Bush administration, he does not withhold some serious criticisms of the Clinton Administration in this book. Overall, the picture he paints of the Clinton administration is one of a methodical and thorough group of officials trying to get their arms around an emerging threat that few understood at the outset. Clarke doesn't spare details on the Khobar Towers, Embassy and U.S.S. Cole bombings, but he also does a fine job of outlining notable successes, such as the foiling of a plot to blow up LA-X during the turn of the millennium. With little question, the Clinton administration comes across as far more earnest and genuinely interested in finding a solution than the ideologues of the current administration. In sum, Clarke's book is a thorough and judicious indictment of the Bush administration and its recklessness. Though the book doesn't have that much new for readers who have paid close attention to investigative newspaper reporting over the last several months, the insider details are helpful.
Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!
Review: From the few chapters of this book I have just read, I can recommend that anyone who is a true patriotic citizen of the United States, and not just a person who blindly follows their political party, should buy this book. These issues are too important to ignore or place on the "partisan" shelf. Mr. Clarke has served his country for 30 years, the last 10 in an official capacity that carries great responsibility. For the Bush administration to scoff and try to pooh-pooh his book as just a book from a "disgruntled" former employee is wishful thinking on their part. Kudos to Mr. Clarke. YOU, MR CLARKE, are a true patriot.
Rating:
Summary: A Sad Case Of Administration Incompetence...
Review: Having just bought, and read this book, and after having read Mr. O'Neill / Mr. Suskind's earlier book, it is obvious that the current administration was definitely not preparing for a cataclysmic attack by Al Quada. Much of this information has been available for a long time (see the July 2002 Time Magazine Cover Story "The Secret History), but seemingly ignored by most of the media. No one will ever know if the 9/11/01 massacre could have been avoided. But Mr. Clarke's strongest point is that without question, the Iraq war has only incited Al Quada and similar groups, and established Iraq as a terrorist center that did not exist before. The book is clearly written, and argued, should be read by everyone, regardless of your political leanings.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the trees it killed to print it on.
Review: Political hacksmanship at its best. The author releases a book on CBS sixty minutes, who is owned by viacom who owns the publisher. It slams the Bush adminstration who is atleast pro active in the war on terror and gives the Clinton administration a pass on a multitude of terroism sins that happened while on the watch of Mr Clarke. It should be pointed out that he taught at the Kennedy shool of Law and is a candidate for a position in the Kerry Adminstration. (...)
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