palula

I totally devoured this book. I wish I would have read it three years ago. Essentially, it's a stripped down memoir of former White House counterterrorism expert Dick Clarke's career as a civil servant. I say stripped down, because it focuses almost exclusively on the bureaucratic struggles and politiciking behind the hunt for al Qaeda before 9/11. No time for coffee or breakfast; this guy has four administrations to get through. But is it ever riveting. While I had read stories in the papers and seen Clarke (and fellow whistle-blower Paul O'Neill) on TV, I didn't fully understand what had been done to counter terrorism before 9/11. Holy shit, this guy was hardcore. He even analogizes, comparing his quest for bin Laden to Ahab's hunt for good ole Dick. He says a lot of good people that really wanted to fight al Qaeda got stiffarmed at every opportunity, and not just by the White House during the four administrations he served under - Defense, CIA, FBI (which comes off as particularly ineffective), Homeland Security, Treasury, Justice - no one seemed all that interested in fighting terrorism until it was too late. Clinton, surprisingly, comes off as something of a hardass, signing off on just about every anti-terrorist bill or directive put in front of him. If Clarke is to be believed, Clinton did much more to fight terrorism than is commonly assumed. And apparently, the Black Hawk Down incident was more or less a result of a reluctant military not wanting to involve itself any more than absolutely necessary in the ugly Somali conflict. Not the first time this has been postulated, but coming from an insider, it's particularly convincing. And while this is more or less agreed upon now, Clarke's review of the current administration is not positive. He argues that the war in Iraq distracted us from the task of addressing America's vulnerabilities and eliminating al Qaeda; furthermore, the invasion of Afghanistan was needlessly hampered by bureaucratic infighting, costing lives and valuable time. He also wonders whether or not long-standing alliances with European nations and relations with Islamic societies may have been irreperably damaged by unilateral action. Indeed, it is the last portion of the book that is the most chilling. Clarke tells us that by invading and occupying an Arab nation, we have fed the fires of fundamentalist Islam and provided all the propaganda al Qaeda needs. An interesting book.

2022-11-14 14:06