Why America Slept : The Failure to Prevent 9/11

Rating:
Summary: Asleep At The Wheel
Review: Keep on pushing through the first couple of dull chapters and the never ending list of difficult to pronounce names, because the book is full of information that will alternatively aggravate and astound you. The author gives the reader a fairly good review of the Al Queda and Osama bin Laden terrorist history against he U.S. and the sad history of missed opportunities to prevent 9/11. In you are interested in this topic then you have probably heard some of these facts here and there, but to have then all lined up end to end in one reading is eye opening if for no other reason then to detail just how lucky this band of terrorists has been. The author also covers the possible links between the Oklahoma City bombing and Middle East terrorists and the interrogation of the operational leader of Al Queda.

The real meat of the book is the detailed history the author lays out of Al Queda actions against the U.S. Time and again there were leads and missed opportunities to both bag Osama and stop or at least hinder the 9-11 plot. The author is not openly critical of the Clinton or Bush administrations, but he does spell out the items that he thinks were mess ups and is not shy about stating just how badly the FBI and CIA worked in this area. I think the author was fair in his treatment of both Presidents, he really focused most of his finger pointing at the FBI. This is not to say that he gave Clinton and Bush a free pass, he makes them look bad also, just not as directly tied to the failures as the FBI. He also does a good job of detailing out to the reader out these groups operate. From gathering money to moving people into place for attacks, the author provides some interesting facts.

The one area that raised my eye brows was the link the author implied was there between the Oklahoma City bombing and Middle East terrorists. He never comes out and says the link is fact nor who the direct sponsor would have been, he just dances around it leaving the reader to draw the conclusion that someone in the Middle East was directing the action. Two things bothered me with this section of the book. First the author tied in Iraq, Iran, Al Queda and just about any other Muslim nut job to the attack. If the evidence was strong enough to put in the book then I would have expected the author to at least directly implicate one benefactor. Secondly the author never actually makes the claim that any outside the U.S. group was involved in the bombing. He hints at it and, because the author is not sticking his name to the claim then I was confused as to why he wanted it in the book. It seamed a little sly to me.

Overall I did like the book. The information on the capture and interrogation of the Al Queda operational leader is very interesting. The book is full of items that are as close to shocking as one is going to get on this topic. This book is the proof that hind sight is 20/20 and that us Americans almost systematically fail to prepare for items much past the foreseeable and immediate future.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good And Balanced
Review: Why America Slept, although quite a slow start in the first few chapters, caught my attention as I started to fully understand all the appalling information displayed in front of me. Posner's book is not completely loaded with tons of details on every page, but is more just a map of explaining the how's and why's of 9/11. It may infuriate you and also make you want to discuss the facts given with anyone and everyone. You believe every fact and detail on each page because of how heavily annotated and thoroughly researched this book is.
It is mostly in chronological order starting with the feud between the Muslim and Jewish communities in New York. The formation of al Quaeda is explained, yet it is somewhat confusing. So many different people were all inter-connected through al Quaeda. I was astonished as to how al Quaeda got all their funding to follow through with the attacks...from America.
It was very surprising to me how the CIA and the FBI never worked interchangeably regarding all the information both had and how that put such a strain on the relations and security of the United States as a nation. So much of the information was known by one group and not by another. When reading, it seemed to me that they had so much valuable information and didn't act on anything, just pushing it aside, and that was one of the most frustrating things. I guess we learned though, didn't we?
This book would be a good read for anyone who is just slightly interested in the scandals that went on and are still persistent in our government today, much succeeding without recognition. This book is just right for the difficult times we are going through today and could possibly help change your opinion on what you feel we should be focusing on as a country with the real threats we have to face.