Ett nytt al-Qaida har uppstått och det växer sig allt starkare,delvis på grund av vad vi har gjort och det vi inte har gjort. Det här är en fiende som på många sätt är svårare än den vi ursprungligen hade mot oss innan den 11 september ...

Det finns ingen som har mer belägg för att påstå det än Richard A. Clarke, den person som vet mer om Usama bin Laden och al-Qaida än någon annan i USA och som har vigt tjugo år av sitt yrkesliv åt att bekämpa terrorism. Han har arbetat i Vita huset för bl.a George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton och George W. Bush tills han sade upp sig i mars 2003.

This is a very interesting and compelling account of Clark's experiences in counter-terrorism in the decade or so leading up to 9-11. Clark's main point is that U.S. leadership was slow to wake up to the threat, especially Republicans. He has some criticism for Clinton but generally gives him good marks for attempting to institute a comprehensive program.

Clark savages the Bush (43) Administration, saying that Bush used 9-11 to fulfill long-held agenda items, including invading Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9-11. Clark puts the blame on a conspiracy theory that linked Hussein to the 1993 WTC bombings and subsequent Al Qaeda attacks, links which had no evidence to support them. He also criticizes Bush for his cheapness, refusing to put substantial resources into the war in Afghanistan because he was saving them for Iraq. He also comments that the newly formed DHS was also done on the cheap, making a flawed project that much harder. In essence, he argues that Bush wasn't serious about defeating terrorism because he didn't take time to understand the problem and didn't want to spend the money to counter it.

It is remember that this is a memoir and like most memoirs, it paints the author in a good like while taking shots (in this case with howitzers) at the people he didn't like. So take it with a big grain of salt. But with that said, it is difficult for anyone who reads the book to think highly of George W. Bush or his administration, and even harder to take their national security policy seriously. ( )

Now long outdated, this was a useful guide to the politics and conflicting priorities that plagued our foreign affairs and national security community in dealing with the thread of terrorism. ( )

Inside the White House's War on Terror - what really happened

Excellent and level headed analysis. ( )