Rating: 
Summary: Why so many people hate the Americans
Review: "Why do they hate us?" In this brief book, easy reading for a short evening, Bill Bennett offers an eloquent, timely and concise explanation of why so many people outside the United States -- not just in Islamic societies -- hate Americans. It's the same reason so many people hate the lager louts of European sports. Both have an arrogant desire to trash anyone and anything that does not share their limited views. Bennett is the poster child of the modern Ugly American, an image created by Eugene Burdick in the 1950s which is even more relevant today. The attitudes expressed by Bennett are precisely why so many non-Americans love to see this country in trouble. When Arab mobs cheered at images of the World Trade Center towers collapsing, they were cheering the symbolic collapse of puffed shirts such as Bennett. But where is Bennett's outrage to the US-financed Catholic terrorists known as the IRA who killed people throughout Northern Ireland and England for half-a-century? "Why We Fight" is full of the usual patriotic platitudes. No one objects to such expressions of loyalty to one's country, or one's team. What is objectionable, to many Americans and almost all foreigners, is Bennett's persistent trashing of everything outside the US as being second-rate or worse to the US. It's similar to lager louts; while other fans find their drunken cheers sometimes amusing, it's when their lager-fueled courage beats up rival fans and destroys their property that foreigners get upset. It's admirable to be proud of one's country, its achievements and ambitions; but, no one makes friends by asserting that anything non-American is trash and second rate. I've been to about 15 - 20 different countries; many people realize the US has many fine qualities, but the don't think this makes their own attitudes and their own country second-rate. It's how lager louts think, and it's the attitude Bennett expresses in this book. Granted, Bennett thinks everyone who doesn't support his views is subversive; he cites case after case of silliness and outright stupidity to prove his point. In a nation of 280 million people, where more than half of the voters picked someone other than George Bush in 2000, it would be bizzare if anyone couldn't find enough examples of stupidity to fill a slim book of this nature. No one has to look far to discover stupidity in ANY society. This book is the evil dark side of the conservative movement, the reverse of the "morning in America" optimism crafted for President Ronald Reagan by speechwriter Peggy Noonan. It's why Reagan was so popular, despite the anomie of evil expressed by a few sorry satraps of silliness such as Bennett. Granted, lager louts will love this book. It says everything just as they want it said, "Rah! Rah! Rah! We're No. 1! You're Doo-Doo!" It will be eye-opening for patriots, who want real answers to the question, "Why do they hate us?" Hand this book to any non-American, and it will validate their reasons for hating this country. The tragedy is that people shouldn't hate America for the jingoism of a few louts such as Bennett. But they do. Bennett gives them good reason.
Rating: 
Summary: "Tyranny of the Minority"
Review: An excellent primer for those who truly want to understand why we are making the difficult sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan. The book also describes the mindset of domestic groups that undermine our self-defense efforts by consciously or unconsciously supporting the terrorist's campaign against the US.
Bennett speaks to the strong anti-US feeling among those who advocate pacifism in the current struggle against terrorism. He richly details how universities, dominated predominately by the liberal/left establishment, have sown confusion in our youth so that they can no longer differentiate between the just and unjust use of violence. Professors who basically advocate appeasement, accommodation, and surrender to a degree that becomes self-destructive for our nation. Bennett uses the words of John Stuart Mills to powerfully capture the self-destructiveness of avoiding conflict at all cost, even at the expense of our freedom.
He effectively details the extremes that political correctness has gone to, and the liberal relativism and nonjudgementalism that basically excuse the acts of 9/11, while putting much of the blame on America. Bennett also discusses how it's a minority that is forcing this belief system on our society, establishing the aptly named "Tyranny of the Minority." In discussing the role of Islam, Bennett provides a thoughtful assessment of that religion's historical enmity toward the West, as manifested in its current assault on the US. To his credit, Bennett is fair when criticizing political hacks on both sides of the spectrum that harshly attacked the administration's efforts. His weakest argument comes in using Christian teachings to defend the use of force. Otherwise, the book contains a very strong, clear-headed, common sense advocacy for defending ourselves via the War on Terror. As I read the vicious reviews attacking the book, I couldn't help but remember Bennett's lament at the behavior of those who undermine our current international struggle. It's an almost mindless rage devoid of decency and rational, balanced thought. Reading "Why We Fight" will reveal the forces that are destroying our national fiber, while giving the reader a focused, thoughtful defense of our nation's actions. Buy the book, you'll enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: unbelievably bad
Review: Good grief! Totally unbelievable nonesense to try to justify war, racism, and U.S. foreign policy, which is basically to send the military everywhere to rule people at the point of a gun, kill people, and rip off the natural resources and cheap labor of other countries. Does anyone really believe this nonesense? The "war on terrorism" is a totally phony thing, and is just a war for empire, a racist war to boot, especially, at the moment, against Arab and Muslim people, especially the Palestinians. Luckily, increasingly millions of people here in the U.S. are standing with, supporting, and identifying with the people of the world, not the billionaire racist rulers of amerikkka like Bush and Kerry. William Bennett is the same person who wrote disgusting books about "morality" supporting the christian fascists and the anti-abortion movement that wants to take away all rights from women. The publication of this book is really like a hate crime.
Rating:
Summary: The right side
Review: It seems odd that after the evil attack of September 11 on the United States, that it would be necessary to write a book convincing Americans on the importance of fighting back. But like all democracies opinion is divided in the US about almost everything. Bennett writes as an American patriot and I think it is fair to say that his common sense views are supported by a great majority of Americans. He sees the international terror alliance against freedom and democracy and knows it must be resisted. He is not afraid to see Islamic fundamentalism as a major problem confronting the US today , though the book is written before the time that Iran was on the verge of becoming a nuclear power.
What is most important however is that Bennett clearly sees the nature of the struggle it is in. And how the challenge of the years ahead is not turning away from it, but meeting it with ingenuity and courage.
Rating:
Summary: Why do "they" hate us?
Review: It's interesting that most reviews on this site are either rated maximum - 5 stars - or the lowest rating - 1 star. The conservatives who probably hold Bennett's views will find his eloquent writing agreeable and give it 5 and the liberal minded - who probably harbor a dislike for Bennett to begin with, will give it one star and berate Bennett in the process. Perhaps the only way to give a true "rating" on this book would be to get an educated adult - who had never been exposed to politics in his life - Perhaps someone who had been raised on a remote island, receieved the finest education, but never was exposed to news coverages......or politics of any kind. You would then give him a history lesson with nothing but unbiased facts. After this hypothetical experimental adult was exposed to all facts, including the attacks of sept 11 through present day..........you would then let him read the book and make a determination. Albeit, this person doesn't exist......but the point is......I don't think he'd rate it one star or five stars.......but his rating of the book would be more based on what IS.....that is reality......than his paradigm of reality.....or how a politically saturated mind PERCEIVES reality. I believe that hypothetical individual would rate the book closer to 5 stars than 1. I believe this because if you look at history....all of history...specifically regimes, factions, sects, religions ....whatever you call them...that have wanted to kill those who disagree with their way of life....as do Muslim fanatics.....and then you look at the only way to successfully deal with this form of evil.....you will conclude that Mr. Bennett's conclusions are correct. Now I know some will say 'they want to kill us because we are imperialistic oppressors who occupies their land, blah blah blah...." And to that I say "just who's side are you on buddy?" Seriously, ask yourself that question....."who's side are you on?"
Rating:
Summary: A moderate and well-written essay
Review: Let's try to judge this book on its merits. I just voted for Kerry for President, and while he got plenty of votes, he still lost. I read this book without judging the author on his politics or his gambling record.
We Americans were attacked by thugs on September 11, 2001. That put us at war, whether we wanted to admit it or not. Whether we fought back or not, we were still in a war. And this book is something of a pep talk for us as we try to take proper action.
Bennett's first topic is pacifism. He makes the point that at some point, those who refuse to fight are putting their fates in the hands of those who do fight. And, of course, he points out that some so-called pacifists are simply using that term as a cover for anti-Americanism: saying you are a pacifist does not guarantee that you are one.
The next issue deals with the fact that we have an enemy. Bennett shows that we have to regard those who attack us as our enemies. The question is how to define that group. Is it all radical anti-American Islamists? All Arabs? All Muslims? If we pick too narrow a group, we're letting our enemies join our alliance. If it is too large a group, we're alienating and attacking our friends. Bennett shows the core of the problem: those groups who are truly extreme automatically try to confuse the issue by saying that in going after them, we're being unreasonable, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and racist. And that in fact some groups that purport to represent many American Muslims, including the American Muslim Council (AMC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have defended or supported the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas. I think he's making an excellent point here: we need to know where to draw the line.
Bennett also discusses a potential consistency problem we face: can we truly oppose terrorism and at the same time declare our determination to help create a state for Yasir Arafat, whom Bennett refers to as "simultaneously a terrorist himself, an instigator of terrorism, and a supporter and harborer of terrorists?" No, we can't. Bennett does a good job of explaining the terrorist attacks on Israel and the folly of appeasement with regard to them.
A final issue Bennett takes on is the reaction to patriotism in our universities. And his issue here turns out to be academic freedom. That greatly surprised me. I had expected Bennett, of all people, to take risks with our freedoms in order to fight the enemy. But he didn't. Instead, he merely advised us to be careful about having one of our best universities accepting funds (with strings attached) from the bin Laden family. And said that it might be a good idea for Harvard to restore giving credit for ROTC classes.
Bennett may not have a reputation as a moderate, but in this book, he took a very moderate and inclusive stance. If you read this book, I think you'll notice that.
Rating: 
Summary: Very persuasive, but emphasizes the extremes
Review: Subtitled "Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism", the author makes no apologies for patriotism and his righteous anger after the attack on the World Trade Center. This is a short book, in which he applauds the American ideal of democracy and deplores the liberal self-criticism that calls for blaming ourselves for all the problems in the world. He's quite persuasive. But yet, the entire book is just his opinion - an opinion for which he finds plenty of examples to support. He's a man who sees the world in terms of black and white. And he wants to convince you to follow him. Mr. Bennett is angry and this comes through loud and clear. He's angry that education, with its emphasis on multi-culturalism, is not the way it used to be. He's angry that a young college student, interviewed in Washington Square Park while the smell of the burning fires were still in the air, was more interested in pursuing his future career as a filmmaker than rushing off to join the military. And he can't stand it that those intellectual elite college professors who are former Vietnam War protesters, are preaching more about American misdeeds than they are about American accomplishments. He views Islam as a threat because of its emphasis on killing unbelievers. And he thinks Israel is right in all its choices. When he bundles all this together with the heroism of the passengers aboard the flight that forced a crash in Pennsylvania rather than become a missile to target Washington, it brought tears to my eyes. Mr. Bennett wanted to express his feelings. And he did. But he emphasized the extremes of both sides of the equations. And not the wide variety of truths that lie someplace in the middle. He says nothing new that hasn't been said before. And even though he says it well, it's just another voice. Another American who wants to say something that he thinks is important and wrote a book about it. I spent a few hours reading the book. I'm not sorry. It's always worthwhile to experience a wide variety of points of view. It's logically constructed and he writes with passion. But unless you're like me, intent on reading everything about everything, it's not worth the trouble.
Rating:
Summary: Moral Miasma
Review: The terror that blinded Congress after September 11, leading to the sanctioning of an American invasion of Iraq, was not that of the pitiful kamikaze pilots who took out the towers but of vengeful Americans themselves. Not merely the sign of a lack of moral clarity, it demonstrated the absence of logical-semantic clear-headedness as well. What is a "war against terror," or for that matter a war against hatred or some other abstraction, but an excuse to deploy arms wherever American leadership or nationalistic priorities feel it is in our interest to flex military muscle? It's hard for me to believe that Bennett is someone for whom I once reserved trust and admiration--this self-proclaimed philosopher-king who ranks Clinton's sex lie as a greater calamity than our present leaders' costly lies about terror's place of origin. If you wish to know the heart of a terrorist, read Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Agent." If you wish to see with stunning clarity the greater horrors attendant upon those who first dignify terror by giving it a place and then succumb to its horrible grip, read the same author's "The Heart of Darkness."
Rating:
Summary: Bill Bennett Tells It Like It Is
Review: This is an excellent book, and Bennett shows much more moral clarity than even the Bush administration, which rightfully took action against the Al Qaeda butchers yet has restrained Sharon in Israel from doing the same to the homicide murderers of Arafat's PLO. Osama = Arafat. No difference. As for those who took issue with Mr. Bennett's book, either you 1.) Never bothered reading it or 2.) Hate America. I truly feel sorry for you. I also found it interesting that those who slammed the book or Mr. Bennett's own personal courage (especially when he was beaten by White Racists during the Civil Rights struggle) don't even have the courage of their convictions to post their names or e-mail. Truly sad. A must-read for all Americans to know exactly "Why We Fight"...
Rating:
Summary: Speaking Truth to Power
Review: Why is it that so many intellectuals and media-elites are uncomfortable with patriotism? Why do they fail to recognize that, despite its flaws, America remains a beacon of freedom to the oppressed and downtrodden around the world? And why do the elites cheer on America's enemies as those enemies seek to extinguish the rights that enable us to speak our minds, criticize the government, and determine our own destinies? Bill Bennett tackles these nagging questions, and more, in his excellent short book "Why We Fight." Bennett also explains the moral, philosophical, and theological justifications for using force to avert evil. He respectfully and thoughtfully examines the underpinnings of various strains of pacifism, and describes how many pacifists, including some Quakers, have come to recognize that there are times when force is not only justified, but required. In the end, the explanation of why we fight is easily understood. We fight to preserve freedom's foothold against the forces of tyranny and despotism. America's moral failings, including slavery, are the exception rather than the rule. Those who do not understand that will never understand this book, and deserve our pity rather than our contempt.
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