Against All Enemies

Inside America's War on Terror

By: Richard A. Clarke

Narrated by: Richard A. Clarke

The real war on terror has happened largely behind closed doors, run by the White House, drawing on secret intelligence and operations around the world. There is no man who knows more about it than Richard Clarke, the former Counterterrorism Czar for both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the man who has led our efforts against al Qaeda and all other terrorist enemies for years, serving under seven presidents and in the White House for George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, until he resigned in March 2003. He has had a front-row seat at every major battle in this war, from the first World Trade Center bombing, to 9/11, to Afghanistan, to Iraq.
Clarke knows the secret stories of Bill Clinton's great victories -- shutting down anti-U.S. terrorism sponsored by Iran and Iraq -- and his great frustrations -- failing to kill Usama Bin Laden despite many attempts. When President Bush took office, Clarke was ready to present him with a master plan to roll back and destroy al Qaeda -- yet the president did not grant a briefing for months. His aides had little interest in Usama Bin Laden, preferring to talk about Saddam Hussein at every turn. Clarke knows why we failed to shut down terrorist financing within our borders prior to 2001.
After ignoring existing plans to attack al Qaeda when he first took office, George Bush made disastrous decisions when he finally did pay attention. Thanks to the determined, even conspiratorial views of Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, and Bush, we went after the wrong enemy.
The charges Clarke levels against the current administration must be taken seriously by every American, Democrat or Republican. Our security depends upon it.©2004 RAC Enterprises, Inc.; (P)2004 Simon & Schuster, Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Truth

Which you never get from this crooked administration and an unelected president.

An Eye-Opening Book

After listening to this audiobook, I am more convinced that the the war with Iraq is both foolish and tragic for the future of America. Richard Clark makes the point quite clearly that by entering into an invasion of Iraq, we have made ourselves much more vulnerable to future attacks by Al-Qaeda. His description of the Bush administration's obsession with Saddam Hussein and their lack of interest in bin Laden is sobering. It is hard to listen to this audiobook and not be concerned that we are failing in the war against terror. We need more people like Richard Clark in government service.

Insider's account of the years up to 9/11

Richard Clarke sets out a highly factual, detailed, and credible account of events and reactions during the Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II administrations relevant to 9/11.
Brought into the White House by Republicans, Clake loyally served those administrations, and was one of the few Republican holdovers to serve during the Clinton administration. His Republican roots, his intelligence, the story he relates, and 30 year record as a dedicated, hard-working civil servant, make his account of the actions of the last four presidents highly credible. Clarke is no dummy. He knew that writing this book would burn a lot of bridges and open himself up to personal attacks by those who value their political agenda more than they value the truth. This is yet one more factor that cuts in favor of his credibility.
The book is crisp, clear, passionate, witty, and insightful. Clarke is able to recreate the drama and intensity of each event and crisis as if you were part of the action. Excellent book.

Who really has sour grapes?

Several of the reviews are not so much about the message of the book as much as they are personal attacks on the author. At this writing the hearings on 9-11 are still in process and much of the events that led to the tragedy have yet to be explored. Clarke?s book is a small flashlight that guides us down a dark path that many prefer not to traverse for fear of finding the truth.

Save your money if you are convinced that you know the truth. If you have the wisdom to keep an open mind and the discernment to filter personal acrimony, then this is indeed a worthwhile purchase.

Great book

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook and learning about the events that happened prior to 9/11. When trying to follow along though with the actual book on my Laptop the author skips around so I would lose my place. I would recommend either read it correctly or fix the book to match the audiobook version. Maybe have someone else read it who would read it correctly