Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic book !
Review: I never realised how influential the Saudi's were with the Bush family until i read this book. Great book to read but politically biased in his observations.
Rating:
Summary: Follow the Money indeed
Review: Follow the money indeed...years and years of our hard earned tax dollars funneled off to create the monsters we are currently spending additional billions and blood to stop. How could this "free" democratic country let something like this happen?
Rating:
Summary: Terrifying Truth Behind Today's Headlines
Review: From April 19, 2004: "NEW YORK (CNN) - A top Saudi official has assured President Bush that his country will increase oil production to lower gas prices before November to help the president's re-election prospects, according to a broadcast report Sunday." This book is well-written, meticulously researched and very, very scary. I am a moderate Republican, but in the past four years I have become shocked at the actions of the Bush/Cheney White House. There was a time when I thought the idea of America invading Iraq on a WMD pre-text and then giving the lucrative oil contracts to Cheney's Halliburton was nothing more than leftist rhetoric. Then it actually happened. I've spent the past four years with my jaw literally agape as this administration has schemed (and succeeded in many ways) to undo 100 years of environmental progress, gone to war on fabricated evidence (uranium in Africa), alienated key allies (and lost potential support for its trillion-dollar nation-building), and budgeted billions for Mars Exploration (why now?) and Nuclear Weapons improvements (not missile defense, but weapons improvements, for God's sake). Never before have so many pillar Republicans (O'Neil, Jeffords, McCaine, Whitman) come forth to warn the American people about the madness that is the Bush/Cheney White House. I stand aghast at what goes through Bush-supporters minds. 9/11 was conceived and carried out by Saudi Arabians - a kingdom which has our White House in its back pocket.
Rating: 
Summary: The political & economic consequences of dynastic bonding
Review: House of Bush, House of Saud : The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties by Craig Unger is in many ways eerily similar to Kevin Phillips recent book, American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush. Unger focuses his area of consideration as compared to Phillips, as he considers only the Saudi connection the Bush family has cultivated over the past 30 years, whereas Phillips considers these sorts of dynastic connections by the Bush's on a much more expansive scale. The two men come to very similar conclusions. Given their very different motivations, backgrounds and political orientations, that fact alone causes one pause as one considers what truly underlies the Bush family pursuit of political power. To my mind, Unger's book has serious flaws. These flaws pertain less to the manner of investigation he follows than they have to do with how his politics color his analysis. The fact that the Bush's have in fact deliberately cultivated ties with individuals and their associates whom even that must have recognized had very unsavory histories does not equate to protecting and harboring terrorists, as Unger seems to think. (Being oil men, the Bush's have had to dael with lots of despicable sorts, both domestic and foreign-it just goes with the territory, a situation not solely limited to the oil and gas industries anyway.) And, as President, Bush's responses to the actions of the house of Saud have to be guided and colored by the interests of the nation over a wide continuum of concerns and considerations. Unger here colors and evaluates both Bush presidencies too much from the standpoint of the family to family relationships and not enough through the prism of official channels and obligations. And, his tenor here notwithstanding, many of the less savory and more unfortunate aspects of the US/Saudi relations ship date back to FDR and WW II and clearly predate the Bush/Saudi family bond. Incestuous, underhanded deals have always been part of the bargain, as has been looking the other way as regards Saudi internal affairs. In that respect, Saudi Arabia's not all that different than China. The key question as this all relates to current events is if and how the family dynastic relations blinded Bush to seeing the evil that was growing within Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world and the threats they posed to the US. Unger puts forward a lot of information that suggests it did but by that point in the text his obvious personal political biases are so poignant that one has to question if he has colored the facts to fit his word view. On the other hand, the facts are myriad, manifest and persuasive if only in their expansiveness. All in all, despite the flaws, one has to concur with Unger for the most part. So in the end the book is persuasive but still has the unfortunate under taste of a bit of a political hatchet job. Given that it appears that Unger did not have to color things to make his point, the book also stands as something of a failure for Unger professionally.
Rating:
Summary: Euclidean Logic--unique concept these days.
Review: If you are looking for a book that barks back at the conservative pro-Bush pundits with innuendo and conspiracy theories, House of Bush House of Saud is not for you. What it does offer is an historical narrative of how the two sets of families and associates have interracted over the years, sliding down a slippery slope of influence peddling, rationalization, and placating of fringe elements on both sides. When there is no evidence of wrong doing, Unger plainly states it instead of blowing smoke and implying a fire. Those with an attention span in excess of 30-second sound bites will be amply rewarded as Unger's postulates and theorems lead up to his conclusions which he saves for the last few pages. So what did Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem have to do with 911? How did Islamic extremists tilt the election in Florida? Read the book and find out.
Rating: 
Summary: Nonsense
Review: Total fabrication of the truth. Why not read a book on the subject like Morgan Norval's "The Fifteen Century War, Islam's Violent Heritage"?
Rating:
Summary: Seduction & Corruption Of The Bushes By Saudi Royal Family!
Review: This superbly written and carefully documented book by Craig Unger, a noted author and investigative journalist, adds handsomely to the burgeoning list of substantive tomes covering the somewhat seedy and troublingly fulsome state of contemporary Saudi-American relationships, warts and all, and impressively serves the reader by masterfully describing and detailing the manifest ways in which the rise in the Bush family fortunes (both in terms of political and financial capital) is inextricably intertwined with that of the Saudi royal family. Indeed, the specter of blatant double-fisted corruption and cronyism depicted here is difficult to understand without understanding the kind of systematic familial linkages and connections that are explained and described here. As with Robert Baer's recent "Sleeping With The Devil", author paints such a picture of consistent influence-peddling and access-enhancements at the highest levels of the federal government that the reader begins to see just how massively both American foreign policy on the one hand, and American electoral politics on the other, have been affected by the naked avarice and greed displayed by our one-time public officials such as James Baker, George H. W Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, and other Bush family associates. Of course, most often this level of crony capitalism is cloaked under the self-serving flag of life-long public service, and an apparent confusion over where the public interest ends, on the one hand, and their own selfish profit begins, on the other. In Baer's terrific book, the overall policy of Saudi influence peddling through use of money and highly valued services to its friends and allies is described and placed in context in terms of its potential impact for American foreign policy. Herein, the author masterfully illustrates how the Bush family has acted as the sword's edge for such Saudi efforts, providing the entry point for Saudi financial and political goals within the American polity in exchange for nearly 1.5 billion dollars in rewards from the Saudi royal family and its entourage. Indeed, such the extent to which the corruption has progressed can be gauged in the unrivaled personal access the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Bandar, enjoys at the White House, having virtually unfettered free access to the Oval office 24/7. Given the close financial ties between the houses of the Saudi royal family and the Bushes, one wonders to what degree the Faud family has been allowed either illegal or unethical influence over critical matters of commerce and state within this country.
Needless to say, this kind of personal political access is unique, and is more than any of our closest allies such as Britain or Israel, can claim to enjoy. Given the fact that fifteen of the nineteen terrorists involved in the attack on 911 were Saudis, and that the government of Saudi Arabia has never cooperated in helping us to learn more about these individuals, or the individuals involved in any of the other Saudi-related terrorist incidents, the situation is indeed quite peculiar. Even more peculiar is the mysterious fashion in which dozens of Saudis were literally systematically spirited out of the country in the immediate aftermath of the 911 attack; and agencies like the state Department, the FBI, and The White House all aided and abetted these somewhat hurried efforts by Saudi nationals to leave before they could be either questioned or detained in connection with the events and circumstances surrounding the terrorist attacks. Likewise, the willingness of the Bush administration to significantly alter Middle East policy in favor of Palestinian interests based on a Saudi threat serves as an object lesson in just how powerful and fateful the sudden confluence of personal interests and foreign policy can be. Something appears to be rotten in the state of contemporary foreign policy as it pertains to Middle East affairs, and the economic and political ties between the Saudi royal family, on the one hand, and the Bush family on the other may well be a quite significant element in the ongoing calculus of competing domestic and international interests and concerns.
The very fact that George W. Bush was a 'business success' is due in no small measure to repeated efforts by Saudi business dealers aligned with the royal family acting as angels in bailing Bush out of the exigent circumstances surrounding several business situations gone awry, from the ill-fated Armbruster oil deals of the late 1970s to the puzzling deals associated with Harkin Oil in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Only through the graces of Saudis absorbing significant financial losses could the scion of the Bush family muddle though one collapsing venture after another and yet emerge with enough "profit" and financial gain to buy into the Texas Rangers and the myth that he was a self-made millionaire. As the author wryly observes, Dubya was a man born on third base who somehow deduced he had himself hit a triple. One must ask why the Saudis were so willing to subsidize the young Bush, unless they thought there would be a handsome political and financial dividend somewhere down the road. And in this book, the nature of that dividend is richly explored. This is a terrific book, and one I can heartily recommend. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT BOOK VERY HONEST
Review: AFTER READING ALL THE REVIEWS I FOUND ONLY 1 NEGATIVE DOESNT LOOK LIKE THE FAR RIGHT HAD ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT.. SO IT MUST BE TRUE AND GOOD. ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THE BOOK ONLY LET ME KNOW THAT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS TRUE IS TRUE AND IT'S TIME TO CHANGE PRESIDENTS.. READ THE BOOK AND SEE HOW YOU FEEL WHEN YOUR DONE, AND YOU WONT HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO IN THE NEXT ELECTION YOU WILL KNOW THANK YOU
END THE WAR STOP LETTING OUR YOUNG 19 AND UP MEN AMND WOMEN GETTING KILLED FOR A POLICY THAT A LOT OF US DON'T AGREE ON..
PLEASE BRING THEM HOME NOW NO MORE DEATHS AND BY THE WAY HAS ANYONE SEEN OUR PRESIDENT AT SOMEONE'S FUNERAL? HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THE COFFINS BEING TAKEN OFF THE PLANE AND SHOWN RESPECT? NOTHING NOTHING COMEO N MR PRESIDENT WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON YOU CAN'T FOOL US IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GO
Rating:
Summary: Just Follow the Money
Review: House of Bush House of Saud is the most shocking indictment of an American President that I've ever seen in print. It's an incredibly well documented history of the business and personal ties that bind these two clans and their many associates. Here is the money trail. It's the money that connects one generation to the next, it buys the influence, it buys respect, it side steps the grasp of corruption. It's the true allegiance of everyone on the inside, and it's the missing piece of the puzzle that completes the picture. House of Bush House of Saud exposes the private dealings and the hidden policies that contradict the public face that each house must show to its own people in order to remain in power. Have you ever wondered how the Saudi elite can be the playboys of the Western world, have homes in the United States, and still be the rulers of a strict Islamic nation that openly and vehemently despises anything Western and especially American? How do they do that? There's an equally disturbing and shocking paradox behind the Bush family and friends. Here you'll find the arms sales that include conventional, chemical, biological, and even nuclear technology to crazed despots like Sadaam and fanatic revolutionaries like Ossma Bin Ladin. Exchanges of arms, technology, and intelligence that contradict public policy, override US statutes, and even dodge common sense. Here are the jets gathering together Saudi citizens, members of the Bin Ladin family and their associates just days after 9/11, even during a nation wide flight ban, and whisking them safely out of the US without any investigation. Here we see a nation consumed by homeland security and still supporting a visa express program that allows anyone to fly from Saudi Arabia to the US with zero scrutiny. Here is a conflict of interest of unimaginable proportion that defies logic, law, and morality. Now it makes sense; just follow the money.
Rating:
Summary: The Big Puzzle--and the missing piece
Review: Into the middle of all the confusions, deceptions and disinformations of the war on terror, and Middle East affairs and commentary generally, comes the coup de grace: hidden connections between the House of Saud and the Bush cohort. The term 'fleabed' comes to mind. It seems less than surprising all at once that with such Byzantine minds something is awry with the overall strategy of the war on terror as the book ends with a conclusion close to what Richard Clarke has been saying. The account here contains a complement, and a missing piece, to K. Philipps' American Dynasty. After all the books exposing the Bush shadows, it was hard to be shocked any more. One goes limp and sits in a chair staring at the wall. But this book did it, and back to normal indignation.
|
