Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror [Paperback]

Richard Miniter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2004

Journalist Rich Miniter brings us the shocking story of how Clinton repeatedly let Osama bin Laden slip through his fingers. Using his unparalleled access to sources and stories throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the U.S. he paints a devastating portrait of how close the U.S. military was to killing bin Laden - on multiple occasions - and how, each time, Clinton allowed him to grow stronger and more dangerous. This is a dramatic and riveting account of a terror war that bin Laden openly declared, but that Clinton left largely unfought. With a pounding narrative, up close characters and detailed scenes, it takes you inside the Oval Office, the White House Situation Room and within some of the deadliest terrorist cells ever faced. If Clinton had fought back, the attacks on September 11, 2001 might never have happened.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...Losing bin Laden is an insightful and invaluable read. This is the Clinton administration I knew and lived. -- Lieutenant Colonel Robert

...a valuable history that should serve as a training manual in how not to run a foreign policy. -- Caspar Weinberger, Washington Times, September 2, 2003

...based on direct, on-the-record quotes from participants.... Miniter has written a bitter indictment of the American president. -- Robert D. Novak, The Washington Post, September 1, 2003

I am so happy to finally see this book by Richard Miniter titled, "Losing Bin Laden." -- Rush Limbaugh, September 2, 2003

I am so happy to finally see this book by Richard Miniter titled, "Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures -- Rush Limbaugh, September 2, 2003

Losing bin Laden is an insightful and invaluable read. This is the Clinton administration I knew and lived. -- Lieutenant Colonel Robert

The author tapped an extraordinary array of sources.... This book delivers a devastating blow to the former President's reputation. -- Steve Forbes, Forbes, September 15, 2003

based on direct, on-the-record quotes from participants.... Miniter has written a bitter indictment of the American president. -- Robert D. Novak, The Washington Post, September 1, 2003

remarkably well-researched.... "Losing bin Laden" is a valuable history that should serve as a training manual in how not -- Caspar Weinberger, Washington Times, September 2, 2003 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Years before the public knew about bin Laden, Bill Clinton did. Bin Laden first attacked Americans during Clinton's presidential transition in December 1992. He struck again at the World Trade Center in February 1993. Over the next eight years the arch-terrorist's attacks would escalate, killing hundreds and wounding thousands--while Clinton did his best to stymie the FBI and CIA, and refused to wage a real war on terror.

Why?

The answer is here in investigative reporter Richard Miniter's stunning exposé that includes exclusive interviews with both of Clinton's National Security Advisors, Clinton's counterterrorism czar, his first Director of Central Intelligence, his Secretary of State, top CIA and FBI agents, lawmakers from both parties and foreign intelligence officials from France, Sudan, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as on-the-scene coverage from Sudan, Egypt, and elsewhere.

In Losing bin Laden you'll learn:

1)The never-before-told story of the Saudi government attempt to assasinate bin Laden 2)Why Bill Clinton refused to meet with his first Director of Central Intelligence 3)Drawn from secret Sudanese intelligence files, the never-before-told story of bin Laden's role in shooting down America's Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu, Somalia--and how Clinton manipulated the news media to keep the worst off America's TV screens 4)How Clinton ignored intelligence and offers of cooperation against bin Laden from several Muslim countries 5)The 1993 World Trade Center attack--why Clinton refused to believe it had been bombed; why the CIA was kept out of the investigation; and how one of the FBI's most trusted informants was actually a double agent working for bin Laden 6)Why the CIA never funded bin Laden--despite the liberal myths 7)The untold story of a respected congressman who repeatedly warned Clinton officials about bin Laden in 1993--and why he was ignored 8)Revealed for the first time: how Clinton and a democratic senator stopped the CIA from hiring Arabic translators--while phone intercepts from bin Laden remained untranslated 9)How the Predator spy plane--which spotted bin Laden three times--was grounded by bureaucratic infighting 10)Plus much more, including appendices of secret documents and photos, as well as the established links between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein's Iraq

Losing bin Laden is a dramatic, page-turning read, a riveting account of a terror war that bin Laden openly declared, but that Clinton left largely unfought. With a pounding narrative, upclose characters, and detailed scenes, it takes you inside the Oval Office, the White House Situation Room, and some of the deadliest terrorist cells that America has ever faced. If Clinton had fought back, the attacks on September 11, 2001 might never have happened.

Losing bin Laden is a story--and one hell of a lesson--that the reader will never forget. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (August 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895260484
• ISBN-13: 978-0895260482
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,394,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 115 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Why This Book is Outstanding September 25, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Here's a list of the reasons this book is simply outstanding:

1. It has the goods on what Clinton did and didn't do from Clinton's own people. High-level, in the Situation Room kinds of people.
2. It has the goods on what Clinton did and didn't do from court records, government documents, and extensive research.
3. It has the goods on what Clinton did and didn't do from the CIA and the FBI. Even from foreign intelligence services that were involved!
4. It's fair. It really is. The author actually tells you the things Clinton got right, even though there are very very few of them. But you can't blame the author that there are so few things Clinton did right! But the fact that it's fair makes the failures even more powerful.
5. It's a serious piece of work. Lots of fact and little opinion. That's the way indictments should be.
6. It deals head-on with the "Reagan/CIA created bin Laden myth," and debunks it. (That's for all the reviewers pretending to have read the book who complain the book doesn't deal with that issue.)
7. You learn alot about how all the pieces fit together right up to the Oval Office.
8. It's a page-turning read.
9. It's suspenseful.
10. It has fascinating characters.
11. And the final reason that it's outstanding is that it's got the Clinton lovers running scared for all the reasons above.

P.S. If you want a test for someone who didn't read the book writing a review, just look for the words "polemic," "rant," "boring," "screed," "badly researched," etc. You get the picture

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Shows How Law Enforcement Approach to Terrorism Fails October 29, 2003

By Jim Liston

Format:Hardcover

This book documents how the indecisive Clinton administration missed numerous chances to capture or kill Bin Laden and severely damage or destroy his terror organization. It also shows how Clinton's decision, backed by his top advisors who were all lawyers, to deal with Bin Laden as a legal/law enforcement problem rather than a foreign intelligence/military problem was a major factor in missing foreign intelligence about Bin Laden and in squandering opportunities for capturing or killing Bin Laden. Also, indecision and endless debate and counterdebate caused the Administration to miss, ignore, or misinterpret opportunities to capture Bin Laden from Sudanese authorities.

From the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 to the USS Cole in 2000, this book shows how Bin Laden and his terrorists were embolden because the US did not overwhelmingly retaliate. After the attack on the USS Cole, the Clinton administration developed plans to eliminate Bin Laden, which in retrospect seemed very likely to succeed, but in the end the political risks deterred the poll-driven Clinton from acting. Clinton has said the failure to capture or kill Bin Laden was the biggest failure of his presidency. How right he was. How different the world may have been if he had captured or kill Bin Laden.

The final chapter is about the attack on the USS Cole. It documents how Clinton's advisors debated and counter-debated whether the US should respond militarily to the attack. Michael Sheenan, former State Department counterterrorism coordinator, was exasperated and baffled by the 7-to-1 vote by Clinton's national security advisors not to retaliate and by the Defense Department's conclusion that our ships just needed better protection. This frustrated advisor was prophetic when he stated: "What's it going to take to get them to hit al Qaeda in Afghanistan? Does al Qaeda have to attack the Pentagon?"

The appendix documents the connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda is good, but the Iraqi-Al Qaeda connection is more fully described in "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America" by Yossef Bodansky.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Evidence Does Not Lie September 15, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

This book honestly examines why we are where we are today as far as terrorism is concerned.

History is 20/20 hindsight and the author, Richard Miniter, pieces together information from all sides, including interviews from individuals from both parties - democrat and republican - as well as loads of documents from international sources.

This book about a President focused on domestic issues while the rest of the world focused on "going global." This book examines the fact that we could have stopped bin Laden if we had listened to Sudan, but we didn't. Even after our embassies in Africa blew up, the Sudanese continued to try, but our intelligence organizations failed time and time again. And it was those agencies who briefed Clinton.

The title may focus on Clinton alone, because "the buck stops (t)here" but the book explores the hows and whys this system failure happened.

"Losing bin Laden" is well worth reading no matter who you are if we want to make sure these things never happen again.

This book is something of a tribute to those who lost their lives on 9-11. We should not forget them or why they died.