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

Richard Miniter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0895260743 | ISBN-13: 978-0895260741 | Publication Date: August 1, 2003 | Edition: First

Journalist Rich Miniter uses his unparalleled access to sources and stories throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. 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 dropped the ball and allowed bin Laden to grow stronger and more dangerous.

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

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 317 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing; First edition (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895260743
• ISBN-13: 978-0895260741
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,217,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

This review is from: Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror (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

59 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating resource on pre-911 Osama bin Laden, November 2, 2003

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror (Hardcover)

In this book, investigative journalist Richard Miniter looks at the activities of terrorist Osama bin Laden during the tenure of the Clinton administration, and looks at the administration's responses. Every terrorist attack, from the 1992 bombing at the Aden Hotel in Yemen, to the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, is covered in fascinating detail. Along the way, the reader is treated to a great deal of information about the roots of the present "War on Terror."

This book is somewhat hard to review. Starting with the introduction, the author seems to make it clear that he had intended this book to be a resounding indictment of President Clinton, and balance was not what he was aiming for. However, that said, I did find this book to be a fascinating resource on the pre-911 activities of Osama bin Laden. I did not realize how much there was to know about what Bin Laden had been up to, and am quite glad that I read this book.

Yes, supporters of the Clinton administration will find this book too unbalanced to enjoy, whereas opponents of the previous president will relish it. But, for anyone who is simply interested in the pre-911 activities of Osama bin Laden, I would recommend this as a fascinating resource.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

This review is from: Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror (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.