Rating: 
Summary: In Their Own Words: (By Tom Tommorow):
Review: "I believe demoloshing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk"
- Defense policy Board Member Ken Adleman, 2/13/02
"Simply Stated there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of Mass Destruction"
-Vice President Dick Cheney, 8/26/02
"We do know that (Saddam) is actively pursuing a Nuclear Weapon."
- National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, 9/10/02
"It is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you kow, six days, six weeks, I doubt six months."
- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 2/7/03
"My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators." - Cheney 3/16/03
"We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon." - Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, 3/27/03
"We know where the weapons are. They're in the area aaround Tikrit and Baghdad and East, West, North and South somewhat." - Rumsfeld, 3/13/03
"Iraq will not require sustained aid." O.M.B Director Mitch Daniels, 3/28/03
"Major combat operations have ended." - GWB
"A year from now I'd be surprised if there's not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush." - Pentagon Advisor Richard Perle, 9/22/03
"I don't know anyone in the executive branch of the government who believes it would be appropriate or necessary to reinstitute the draft." Rumsfeld 2004-
The last one is the only statement that hasn't been totally contradicted in reality by now. Let's hope it never is.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly intelligent
Review: A thoughtful discourse, Frum is a master at looking at subjects from multiple perspectives. Especially understanding those that he may not necessarily agree with.
Worth a read- no matter your political view.
Rating: 
Summary: a good assesment but not very comprehensive
Review: A very good book on neoconservative foreign policy. It is honest, criticizing the administration where it thinks it has faults and praising the President where he is right on.
I found the case for an invasion into Iraq to be good based on the original reasons: weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, two things you don't want combined.
An End To Evil was written in the year 2003 and therefore is a little dated and does not deal with the obvious problems of current Iraq. Instead, the Iraq it portrays was just recently liberated and the insurgency had not yet gotten into full swing.
It is not very comprehensive. It goes over broad topics without a lot of detail (or some anecdotal evidence) as opposed to picking a few topics and diving in deep. This is either good or bad depending on how you look at it. For the average reader, you will understand where conservatives are coming from when they support Bush.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it and would read it again.
Rating:
Summary: Substantial Agreement
Review: Frum and Perle are quite convincing in their approach and reasoning on the issue of terrorism. End to Evil is perhaps the best short explanation of the Neo-Con view. In essence, America will be successful only to the extent they are willing to use unilateral power to erradicate the terrorist groups and the states that habor and protect them. They imply, correctly I think, that the enemy is radical islam, regardless of their incarnation. This is really the same approach the US took to the Axis Powers in World War II. There was no attempt to connect the Germans to the attack on Pearl Harbor or the Japanese to the atrocities happening in Europe. FDR, and the public at large, saw them as cut from the same facist cloth. Terrorism is a method, not an ideology. While we may deplore the violence of the IRA, they are not related in the same way as Hizzbolah or Hamas. Although there will be vigorous disagreement with these arguments on the left, this is one side of the debate elegantly reasoned.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative and Interesting, But I'm Not Persuaded
Review: I am opposed to the U.S Invasion of Iraq. I remain opposed after reading this book.That's not to say there isn't value in this book. I picked it up looking for a fair presentation of a viewpoint contradictory to my own, and would recommend this book to others of my political persuasion. The book lays out clearly the intentions of the Bush Administration in their war, and contrary to what Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky have to say, oil is only a small component of the reason the United States invaded Iraq. Frum and Perle do well at explaining their reasoning behind an activist policy in the Middle East. I find them credible, and am convinced after reading the book that the Bush Administration was doing what it believed to be best in the War on Terror, not playing some game to enrich the oil barons. The book does not, however, bring me around to their way of thinking, because it does not adequately address my fundamental objection to the war, namely, would the Arab World leave the United States alone if our military stayed entirely out of the region, including the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? Near the end of the book, the authors address this question, but only tangentially, and with an air of righteousness that makes me suspect they are not confident in their own answer.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbed
Review: I find that neoconservatives are generally disturbing, at least because they feel they are objectively right, but above all because they are totally wrong. This sloppy arrangement of thoughts espouses world domination and exhibits ethnocentrism at its deepest and most chilling levels. Feel free to read this book, but beware that Hitler could also convince the masses. Can we assume that Nazis were all stupid? Or were they were misled, cheated, hateful and taught to fear? This book needs more than a grain of salt.
Rating: 
Summary: Handbook for the 21st Century Crusade
Review: In a nutshell, authors Frum and Perle advocate what can only be characterized as a 21st Century crusade against Islam. While the authors suggest immigration reform, budgetary constraint and other aspects of 21st Centry America that may have left us susceptible to terrorist attack, it is clear that the proverbial 'fountain of all evil' is situated in Riyadh with the Saudi Royal family and what the authors characterize as their hypocritical embrace of Wahhabist Islam in order to maintain their grip on power. A significant part of what the authors discuss in this book is true in general terms: the Saudis are perhaps not the "true friend and ally" of America that they portray themselves to be but are rather hypocrites who have financially supported terrorist groups from Al-Qaeda to Hezbollah and Hamas; the Wahhabist brand of Islam is the most fundamentalist and anti-Western and is arguably the breeding ground for most of the jihadists who threaten America's security; the biggest threat to the security of America and our allies emanates from rogue governments such as that of Kim Jong Il in North Korea; and America's lax immigration policies essentially opened the door to terrorist infiltration of our society. However, in attempt to apportion blame for 9/11 for example, the authors oversimplify the Clinton Administration's alleged failure to react to the terrorist threat. Contrary to what authors Perle and Frum suggest, at no time would it have been possible for the United States to "invade" Afghanistan to decapitate the Taliban regime even after the attack on the U.S.S. Cole or the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Only the horror of 9/11 and a direct attack on U.S. soil provided the United States with the popular mandate and impetus to launch an invasion of another country at the inception of the war on terror. In the view of authors Perle and Frum, the antidote to the evil of terrorism is not a critical re-examination of America's role in the Middle East (because according to the authors America is essentially blameless), but rather an exaggerated hybrid of an application of the Monroe Doctrine through the eyes of the Bush Administration which is an aggressive program of regime change beginning with the authors' advocated overthrow of the Islamic government in Iran, the Ba'athist Assad government in Syria, to tacit support for the succession of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia that is predominantly Shi'ite and the location of 90% of Saudi Arabia's petroleum reserves. The authors are correct that the United States needs to reexamine critically its relationship with Saudi Arabia. The authors are also correct that the Islamic world needs to critically reexamine such issues as its treatment of women as well as the the tendency of Islamic societies to close themselves to western ideas. The authors are also correct that the United States needs to restructure its immigration program. Finally, the authors are correct that the United States should use its power and influence to promote a resolution of the Palestinian problem once and for all. However, contrary to the positions of the authors, the solution will not necessarily come from simple elimination of Hezbollah and Hamas but also from promoting mutual rerspect between the Palestinians and Israelis. As a sidenote, the authors are correct that the Palestinian issue has been exploited by various anti-Western forces in the Middle East who have done nothing to promote lasting peace in the region. The biggest failure of the authors' argument is that it ignores the essential principle of American society which is that America is not an imperial power in the 19th Century sense nor is the American military the bulwark of a new crusade against Islamic fundamentalism. The authors also ignore the basic reality that that such an aggressive use of American power under the guise of stopping terror in its tracks would find little if no support among America's allies. Even the Iraq War was "legally" justified by enforcement of U.N. Resolution 1441. Regime change by force of arms in Teheran, Damascus, Pyongyang and Riyadh lacks even an arguable legal justification. Terrorism is a global problem. An isolationist, "go it alone" approach is doomed to failure.
Rating:
Summary: Offers remarkable insight and wisdom in our changing times
Review: Many journalists and writers proffer psudeo insight masquerading as wisdom concerning the current George W. Bush presidency. Far fewer have the depth of understanding, the gift of clear written prose and the mental firepower to write a book such as this.Although opinions on this Presidency are more polarized than any other Presidency in recent memory this book makes a lucid and convincing argument that the underlying foundation of the Bush war on terrorism is solidly rooted in progress and a brighter future. After reading this book you will better appreciate the historic nature of the Bush's presidency. In the realm of foreign policy post Iraqi election the scope and boldness of the Bush vision coupled with the political risks W took during the last presidential election appear all the more impressive and historic. Seems like David Frum's other book - The Right Man - is all the more prophetic.
Congratulations on a job well done !
Rating:
Summary: Neocon Jihad
Review: Neocon jihad
How dumb does it get? This diatribe presupposes the Psy Ops trade secret that transparent nonsense can be converted to radiant patriotic allegiance by the right combination of spin and intimidation. This happens on a daily basis. Thus at a key moment in the Iraq war, America was given the heart-rending, up-lifting story of Pvt Jessica Lynch, who shot till she dropped, and was rescued from her brutal captors by a Rambo team who flew her out of harm's way to a hero's homecoming. Jessica was said to have been shot, stabbed, and raped, but now was being primed for the celebrity circuit to promote war against ever-so-evil Saddam Terrorists. In the weeks and months following, the glam story fell apart. Jessica, rather than fighting fiercely until her weapon jammed, didn't fire a shot; instead she fell to her knees and prayed. She wasn't wounded, stabbed, or raped. Instead she sustained multiple fractures when she smashed her truck into the vehicle in front. She wasn't abused by her captors. Instead she was given the best available medical care. The hospital staff attempted to return her to American lines, but this was thwarted when the Americans fired on them. The under the cover of darkness rescue, filmed in dramatic infrared, was a Reality TV imposture: there were no Iraqi troops in the area to interdict the rescue in broad daylight. The real female heroes of the story, Shoshana Johnson, a black, and Lori Piestewa, a Native American, came to notice only when hill billy Lynch denounced the Pentagon for faking her story. What a PR disaster! (Aside: Lynch's home town is Palestine, West Virginia!!! Poetic justice.)
This episode is a cameo of the Iraqi Freedom initiative. Eighteen months after President Bush declared `Mission Accomplished', the Iraqis have yet to greet Coalition troops as liberators, as Neocons promised they would. Instead the Coalition's mired in an insurgency that controls a quarter of the country and mounts numerous daily attacks. Another two or three combat divisions are needed to subdue the resistance (exactly as the generals said), but this force is not available because the reserves have already been cycled through the war zone. The next step is to call up the National Guard. Troop morale sags despite the attractive pay. The morale of senior officers is even lower because they are regularly over-ruled by the politicals. There are numerous defections from the war policy by top talent-generals, security chiefs, cabinet members, Congressmen, and high level administrators. The original justifications for the war (WMDs, terrorism) have been conspicuously refuted by the President's own fact-finder (the Duelfer Report). The freedom justification is compromised by the stubborn insurgents while heavy civilian casualties and the brutality of Abu Ghraib blurs the line between Saddam's sadism and Coalition humanity. Opinion sampling shows that support for the war is close to nil everywhere but in Israel. The American public is deeply divided. Even traditional conservatives have repudiated the Republican Party and are among the most vocal critics of the neocon hegemony. So, as of now, the Iraq war looks like becoming a foreign policy calamity of Vietnam magnitude. Maybe bigger.
This book's cover matter commend the authors as key contributors to Bush foreign policy (true in Perle's case) and forecast that its analysis will set the election issues agenda in foreign policy. That it hasn't done. The Bush campaign rests its appeal on a single issue: that the 9/ll attack presses the policy restart button that compels the nation to make `war on terrorism' the fundamental issue at home and abroad. This is a defensive posture as one sees by comparing it with the original war rationale as set out by Perle and Frum. Here it is: The Neocons would have America assert global hegemony and instruct lesser players-the UN, the EU, France-to mind their manners. (In a speech last year, Perle actually pronounced the UN dead). They spell out the original war plan. Iraq is the beginning of the march to democracy that will topple terrorist Syria, then terrorist Iran. Saudi Arabia, that long time ally, will be instructed to mend its ways while subversion insures that this will happen. The US military will become the permanent occupier to assure the flow of oil. The Israeli-Palestine Road Map to Peace, with its unrealistic call for an independent Palestinian state, is to be abandoned (as has now happened; but the original Neocon proposal dates to the infamous 1996 memo, A Clean Break, presented to the Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu. Perle was a signatory of the memo). The authors don't say so, but the flux consequent to these initiatives will give Israel the opportunity to implement its long-standing solution to the Palestinian problem--expel them to Jordan. The Chinese gallop toward military and economic superpower is to be contained by whatever measures might work, and Axis of Evil North Korea will be told to abandon its nuclear program, or else. At home, our patriot gladiators will clean the stables of liberal and internationalist obstruction. Heading the hit list are the CIA, the FBI, and State. Once the FBI has been brought into line, its vigorous enforcement of the Patriot Act will subdue `terrorists', including those who give aid and comfort through anti-Israel `thought crimes'.
An end to evil? Probably not.
Rating:
Summary: Imagine there's no bad guys, it's easy if you.......
Review: One always gets the chilly feeling that in the mire of 'international politics' and 'international law' lies the membership requirement of the suspension of disbelief. Today we all cheer an Iranian 'dialogue' that will supposedly, somehow, lead to them not acheiving nuclear status. This is a fools wish, and if pressed, I find that most anyone of any political persuasion will admit as much.
In step Perle and Frum who tell you what you already know: don't be silly...these agreements have a flawless track record of failure for you to ignore at your peril. Wish all you'd like, but the truth just sits there, whether you choose to recognize it or not. By the ever-lofty and sadly humorous standards of 'world-opinion', this book would somehow be considered extreme. However, if we can't muster the backbone to realistically stare a problem down and see it clearly at this moment in history, in a decade this books suggestions will seem very practical, indeed.
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