The Age of Sacred Terror

Rating:
Summary: solid facts, no specific ideas
Review: The book offers a good, even if partisan, account of the American anti-terrorist activity. However, it leaves a different impression from what the authors probably attempted to achieve. Instead of appreciating the heroic struggle of American government with terrorism, the reader sees a patent account of bureaucratic stupidity, bizarre inefficiency and cheap ambitions governing the national defense policy. The book is a practical invitation to terrorists to act as they wish, a statement of inability to cope with a dynamic threat, virtually guaranteeing the impunity for perpetrators.

Rating:
Summary: First half of the book is very good, second half not so
Review: The first half of this book I found very informative and interesting. The authors discuss the historical basis behind what bin Laden and those that agree with him believe and just why they claim to have a religous backing to their beliefs. It is not an indictment of Islam or a witch hunt, but a very informative discussion of the various interpretations of Islam over the thousands of years of its history. In particular, the authors discussion of Wahhabisim and why countries such as Saudi Arabia allow its existance, and even to some extent support it in order to legitimize their own repressive regimes.
The first half of the book is also very good in substantiating how long the US government has known about bin Laden and tracked his movement and his hatred of the United States, including prior attempts to organize terrorist attacks against US interests which culminated in the bombings of US embassies in Africa. Also very interesting is the authors discussion of the problems of institutional culture which permiated the FBI before September 11th and how it contributed to the lack of needed available information given to those in the CIA and in the Executive branch that were in a position to analyze it and act on it to stop attacks in America and against Americans abroad.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from major faults. Either through the lack of available documentation, or simple failure by the authors, much of their information is not documented other than by quotes from those in the Clinton adminstration, most notibly Sandy Berger. However, its left to the reader to simply believe these quotes and the information included in them, and support provided by the authors, is true.
The second half of the book while plausable, is problematic and ideologically driven. The authors, again using unsubstantiated quotes from Berger and others in the second Clinton administration, attempt to assert that the Bush administration did not take their repeated warnings about terrorism seriously, and therefore are at least in part responsible for allowing the September 11th attacks. Due to the fact that both of these authors, as well as the people they quote, were out of government, their assertions about what the Bush team did or did not do concerning terrorism and bin Laden in particular are dubious. The authors then go off the deep end, accusing the media and the US population of focusing too much on the scandles and lies of Bill Clinton and not what was important, terrorism. This part of the book makes one's eyes roll, it's totally unsubstantiated and reads like a political ideologically driven diatribe, not good solid scholarship that should be expected of these authors.
This book would have been much better had it simply been concluded with the end of the Clinton administration and their efforts to track bin Laden and supposed, undocumented, attempts to bring him to justice. While believable, and plausable, these assertions ultimately also fail due to lack of available documentation and evidence. Evidence which may or may not ever be available, and certainly won't be available for many years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Good account of Islamic Extremism
Review: This a well written book that traces some of roots as well as consequences of Islamic Extremism. It is rather long, but reads easily. It has a nice account of origins of Wahhabism, a concise Bin Laden bio, and the actions taken by terrorist cells in the past as well as their ambitions. The authors review what actions have been taken by security services, pointing out their inadequacies. This is a good first book to read about the topic, and in its substantive account will offer something to a reader already familiar with the topic.

Rating:
Summary: Why Character Matters
Review: This is a fairly good book that gives the Clinton Administrations view of Americas struggle with Islamic terrorism in the late 90's. The one insight I took away from the book was that President Clinton REALLY wanted to catch Bin-Laden but was unable to convince those around him to act decisively. After reading this worthwile book you will understand why character in our President matters.