I couldn't put it down until I finished it at 4:30PM this morning. It is more than a tell-all; it is a firsthand account of the modern history of terrorism, by someone who fought against it the entire time. Fascinating. You've all heard the most sensational charges, but here are a few interesting details that I haven't seen mentioned:
- As a young man, Clarke marched in protest against Vietnam.
- In the 80s, Clarkes personally appealed to a key Israeli leader to not sell weapons to South Africa by pointing out the evil inherent in its policy of apartheid.
- Clarke documents Clinton's growing realization of the dangers of terrorism and the reader realizes at the same time that Clinton saw those dangers almost presciently. Clarke makes the case that Clinton was not only better than BushCo on terrorism, but that he was better than Reagan, Bush I and Bush II combined. And obviously far better than he's given credit for even today in the news. The level of detail on this is staggering and shows convincingly that there is NO comparison. The press has not read the book and checked out its claims if they keep claiming that the two administrations are equally culpable. The historical record says differently.
- The Clinton Whiite Houses freewheeling style actually comes across as a strength, not a weakness. Whereas it could seem undisciplined, it was also very modern in that it flattened hierarchies, distributed input and allowed for information to bubble up from anyone in the room. BushCo brought in the old organizational model and enforced old hierarchies. No one has pointed this out yet (Stirling? You around?) but IMHO that seems to be the crux of its problem--the Bush administration did not allow for information to travel through the administration as quickly as this new information age we're living in requires. The terrorists were organized to take advantage of a distributed networks (cell phones and the internet) and a similar operation. BushCo was and is not. The result was the endless delays and inaction that meant no one did anything to prevent 9/11, and that no facts could bubble up to refute the fixation on Iraq. Truly chilling.
Forget about Clarkes the man. Anyone concerned about this stuff should read the book to better understand the historical record. If it doesn't set your hair on fire, nothing will.