Against All Enemies, Richard A. Clarke
Against All Enemies, Richard A. Clarke
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Against All Enemies
Inside America's War on Terror

Author: Richard A. Clarke

Narrator: Richard A. Clarke

Abridged: 6 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/22/2004


Synopsis

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.

About Richard A. Clarke

Richard Clarke was appointed by President Clinton as the first National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism in May 1998 and continued in that position under George W. Bush. Until March 2003 he was a career member of the Senior Executive Service, having begun his federal service in 1973 in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as an analyst on nuclear weapons and European security issues. In the Reagan administration, Mr. Clarke was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence. In the first Bush administration, he was the Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on June 28, 2023

This was the center of the controversy. Clarke is the most informed insider when it comes to the federal government's response to and planning for terrorism. He should know. As the White House anti-terrorism Czar he was in a central position from the 90s to 2003, and was in the business for 30 years......more

Goodreads review by Derrick on November 24, 2020

Another clear-cut critic of George W. Bush's policy on terrorism or lack of it, an assessment on the bureaucracy, internal wrangles and politics within various security agencies in the US, and the build-up that led to September 11 and its aftermath. Clarke, an "insider", who has worked for both the......more

Goodreads review by Jrobertus on July 19, 2007

a must read for the limited number of intelligent americans. clarke relates his history as a presidential advisor from reagan to w bush. the pace is brisk and breezy, like a thriller, but crammed with fascinating facts about government operations. the payoff is that w appears as a gullible dimwit ma......more

Goodreads review by Kurt on August 27, 2016

A fascinating, riveting, and compelling indictment of the Bush administration. Its obsession with invading Iraq and its refusal to seriously address and deal with the al-Qaeda problem are brilliantly described by Richard A. Clarke - a terrorism expert and White House insider. No one has more or bett......more

Goodreads review by Diána on June 27, 2018

This book is at the same time a captivating tale of USA's involvement in the Middle East that started during the Soviet-Afghan war and a scathing indictment of Bush the son and his moronic, ineffectual, demagogue 'advisors' - Cheney, Rumsfield, Wolfowitz, Rice. It is useful and educational to unders......more