Rating: 
Summary: Shame on you for Buying this book Don't make him rich
Review: I think Clarke should go to jail for lying under oath. I hope
you people think twice before you pay good money for this book of lies. Don't make him rich if you have to read it go to your library.
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea: read the book before you write a criticism of it
Review: ...This won't convince any Bushie, but then nothing would. But for anyone in the middle, it will leave your jaw hanging open. Clarke traces the roots of terrorism and US responses from the brilliant ploy that Reagan did (Arms for Hostages! what a great lesson for terrorists), to the non-response of Bush Sr., to Clinton taking it as a top priority, and then to Bush Jr. When they got in, Rumsfeld was pushing Star Wars; Ashcroft wanted the main emphasis on drugs, violent crimes and child porn and not terrorism; Rice had a cold war mentality. But the most important charge, I think, is not so much the Bush Administration's failure to give al Qaeda the emphasis it had in Clinton's admin but rather their enduring, [...] to get Iraq. Clarke explains and gets CIA confirmation in meetings that Iraq has no connection with al Qaeda and still they press for Iraq as a link. But read it and make up your own mind. He's got a lot of information. Clarke sounds reasonable and credible to me. The scene in Chapter 1 where Bush pulled Clarke aside on Sept 12 and wanted him to look at Iraq for a connection was denied by the Administration during the books first week. Later in the week they reversed themselves and said it probably had taken place (someone else came forward and repeated what Clarke wrote).
Rating:
Summary: Republican stooges posting one-star reviews
Review: Look at "Helen Lamar" and "Sara Loren" below. Gee, could they be the same person? Republicans are selling out their country for the benefit of their party.
Rating: 
Summary: Bloody liars
Review: A reader from arvada, writes "Richard Clarke has absolutely no credibility" Helen Lamar from Altamonte Springs writes "In anycase at least we know that Clarke is a unqualified liar!" A few points come to my head when reading the Amazon reviews.
1. republicans are qualified to lie.
2. WMDs exist in Iraq
3. Iraq was a haven for al-Quaeda
4. Richard Clark, a former counter-terrorist czar has no credibility If you believe any of the above are true, you must be as thick as a brick because Iraq was not an imminent threat. The Bush administration has always had a beat against Iraq and all they needed was a pretence to attack. Sadly, September 11 was that pretence. If I was a victum of 911, I would be outraged that my grief was cynically used by my government to pursue an agenda that would not only have nothing to do with preventing another 911, but could actually increase the risk of another 911 style attack on home soil. Richard Clark was right to apologise to the victums, the war on terrorism has been highjacked by a bunch of political radicals who cared more about Saddam Hussein than the safety of the American People. And yes, I read the book and it was worth $25 I paid for it.
Rating:
Summary: Against All Enemies
Review: I just finished the Richard Clarke book. It is an extordinary book. It takes us on an historical journey which demonstrates the contradictions of our foreign policy, some brilliant, and some inane. (...)They seem to attack the messenger, not the substance. The book starts at 9/11, and works through the historical foundations of al queada. (...)The FBI destroyed this man who worked with Clarke, and was extremely close to discovering the 9/11 plot when the FBI fired him. For six years John O'Neill was the FBI's leading expert on al qaeda. He warned of its reach, but to people at the FBI he was too much of a maverick, and they stopped listening to him. He left the FBI in the summer of 2001, and took a new job as head of security at the world trade center, where he died on 9/11. This should be required reading for all students.
Rating:
Summary: DICK, FIND ME A WAY TO DO THIS...
Review: Clarke's book detailing the one-track mind of the Bush administration vis a vis Iraq is frightening. Indeed this book along with Paul O'Neill's recent effort may prove devastating to President Bush's reelection plans. The White House seems to be on the defensive (rather than offensive) concerning these revelations, preferring to attack Clarke on a personal level rather than deal directly with his accusations. Clarke has the documents to back up his claims and appears to be extremely credible under questioning. Meanwhile back at the ranch...Condi Rice refuses to testify under oath and Sen. Bill Frist unleashes stinging rhetoric against Clarke on the Senate floor. Clarke has requested that all documents pertaining to his stint as terrorist czar be declassified for examination. He also requests the same be done for Condi Rice and others on the president's team. This book combined with O'Neill's paints the president with a broad Nixonian brush. Bush's preoccupation with finishing off Saddam via broad scale military action is presented as incompetent at best and megalomaniacal at worst. This scenario has all the makings of another "All The President's Men" - only with much more serious ramifications for our physical and economic well-being and our status as a trusted world leader.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo
Review: Well anything that gets those right-wing loonies foaming at the mouth must be good. After those three "liar, liar" (hair on fire ;-) reviews, I'm definitely buying his book.
Rating:
Summary: Clarke is a Whistleblower Hero
Review: Clarke reminds me of the whistleblower Roger Bojalais, the Morton-Thikol engineer who tried to speak up about the defective O-rings that led to the Space Challenger shuttle disaster. Bojalais was also discredited and even fired for blowing the whistle on Morton Thikol and NASA. The Bush Administration suffers severely from groupthink; where anyone who disagrees is immediately branded a traitor and liar. I rarely have much patience for politics, but Clarke's book reveals just how dysfunctional the Bush administration, and government bureaucracy is....the whole machine is set up to squelch dissent, and discredit anyone who, like Clarke, attempts to tell a different point of view of events. This book is worth pondering; it certainly prodded me to write a letter to my senators calling for Condoleeza Rice's resignation.
Rating:
Summary: Getting Real
Review: First off, let's head off any partisan attacks. Reactionaries are understandably upset with Clarke and will be upset with me for praising his book. Let's be clear though that this is NOT a political book. Clarke is NOT a "liberal" or a Democrat. He is a Republican who worked for Reagan and Bush Sr. and was held over, as a number of Republcians were, by the Clinton administration. So despite the sudden rush by the Bush Administration to discredit Clarke, he is not politically motivated. Clarke does have an axe to grind. As a career government bureaucrat who had risen to a post of significant responsibility, he had a vested interest in seeing that he was allowed to do what he was paid to do. What person wouldn't, after spending so many years of diligent work, be annoyed at suddenly being ignored by the very people who need to listen to him? So, while Clark is definitely writing from a biased perspective, it is an honest bias that comes from experience - from conclusion rather than prejudice. What Clarke gives in his book is a valuable perspective on the intersection of intelligence and politics. This is not a "tell all" book as we are used to seeing from former officials but is a well reasoned and fair appraisal of the inner workings of the highest levels of government. It is well written, well defended, and highly educational. Clarke confirms what many people have long suspected, that the reactionary agenda of the Bush Administration was cast by a small number of key officials and advisors before taking office. That agenda, toppling Hussein in Iraq being a major component, was dogmatically held to without regard to realities or intelligence information. One gets the distinct impression that the 9/11 attacks were seen by the administration as a boon and a justification of pre-set aims. Clarke's criticism is especially poignant when pointing to how the administration has been seeking to run a political campaign based on the tragedy of the terrorist attacks - the same administartion who cared so little about terrorism before the attacks. He is seeking to raise the alarm and tell the truth, and all but the most politically extreme will be alarmed at what Clarke reveals. Clarke writes the book not as an atatck on Bush and the "vulcans" in his admininistration, but as an experienced person who knows of what he speaks and is trying to alert the country. "Against All Enemies" will rank in history as an important book written by a true public servant.
Rating:
Summary: The spin machine is at max speed
Review: Richard Clarke is a highly respected Washington insider, a registered Republican and deserves to be heard. I think the man is honorable, but I'm sure he knew what would be thrown at him for speaking up. The present administration will not tolerate anyone disagreeing with them. I think people have gone insane the way they try to prop Bush up and put a reverse spin on anything that comes out on him that reveals him maybe not to the the knight in shining armor they envision.
| 
