Customer Reviews

Seeds of Fire: China And The Story Behind The Attack On America

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Gordon Thomas's Seeds of Fire is a thorough and frightening expose of Israeli and Communist Chinese intelligence operations against the United States. Thomas documents the role of the Israeli Mossad and LAKAM intelligence agencies in stealing the PROMIS computer software program from Inslaw, Inc., doctoring the program with a backdoor computer microchip, and subsequently employing British media magnate and Mossad asset, Robert Maxwell, to sell the pirated copies to intelligence agencies and commercial banks worldwide, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Communist Chinese CSIS. This operation enabled Israeli and Chinese intelligence to siphon American nuclear secrets from the Los Alamos computers, courtesy of the PROMIS computer software. Establishment Republican figures like Ed Meese and former Texas United States Senator John Tower also play a disturbing role in the PROMIS tragedy, chronicled in detail by Seeds of Fire.

Thomas also provides over 300 pages of eyewitness accounts and original documents pertaining to the events at Tiananmen Square in China in June of 1989, with a disturbing analysis of the compromising character of the political and business relationship of key figures in the American corporate and governmental establishment to the Communist Chinese government. He follows this with disquieting information about the links of Communist Chinese intelligence to both Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

This book is to be particularly valued for the reprints of original investigative documents, including the account of the Israeli theft of the PROMIS software by the Inslaw company, redacted FBI documents pertaining to the investigation of Robert Maxwell, original foreign correspondent dispatches from Tiananmen Square in June of 1989, and excerpts from the official CIA document used by CIA Director George Tenet to brief incoming President George W. Bush at the beginning of his current term.

The reader will be amazed at the comprehensive information presented by Seeds of Fire, along with the absence of this information in the mainstream American media up to the present time. It is a must buy-and-read.

As a longtime observer of politics, particularly those of the British, Irish and American varieties, I am fascinated by Gordon Thomas's book, Seeds of Fire, for two reasons. First, through his meticulous research, information sources, and informed sense of how the world works, Thomas has given us a remarkable insider's picture of what goes in in Beijing, Washington, Afghanistan, and other sensitive spots - a picture that one cannot hope to receive from normal perusal of national and global media. Second, one has to ask the question - if we didn't have knowledgeable insiders like Gordon Thomas to give us at least a glimpse of what goes on in governments of democracies (as well as in less tolerant systems), how on earth would we know what our leaders are really doing in our collective name?

At least in the United States (and to a lesser extent in Ireland), Freedom of Information Acts provide some purchase on the vast amounts of information that governments and their bureaucracies wish to keep from the public they allegedly serve. In the case of Britain, despite his fine promises, Prime Minister Tony Blair has yet to introduce similar legislation, in spite of being re-elected with another overwhelming majority this year. One has to wonder why.

When Thomas's superb reporting of the cataclysmic events in China during the student uprest, and the horrors of Tiananmen Square, are laid beside the CIA briefings on that country up to 2015 (provided for the incoming Bush administration), the reader is invited to come to his or her own conclusions about the future role of China in world affairs - conclusions that could easily interfere with a good night's sleep. And his handling of the manner in which the U.S. Department of Justice, the Israeli spy network, and the infamous Robert Maxwell, all jockeyed for ways of stealing the extraordinary Promis ultra-surveillance software from its authors, equally gives cause for sobering reflection. If that was then, what's going on now?

There is nothing simple about Thomas's book, because he deals in complex, and not always fully visible, subject matter. But his handling of the material is such that its clarity of expression allows the interested, alert reader to review and absorb an amount of data as would qualify one for a good university degree in current affairs. If an informed citizenry is essential for the preservation of democracy, then Seeds of Fire should be essential reading for all citizens.

Don't let the three stars fool you, as Seeds of Fire is, I believe, essential reading for those who are interested in the consequences of reform in hostile nations. It's also key to understanding the brutality of some nations, in particular those that practice communism, in their pursuit to quell the masses. Nobody can be certain that their rights (in this case the student's constitutional right to demonstrate as per the Chinese constitution) will forever be secure; no matter where they live.

However, the deduction of two stars was for the following reasons. First, this book is NOT a compilation of reasons why some believe that China will go to war against the US by 2015. That is the premise under which the book is promoted, but it simply isn't true. Not only does the author not provide a modicum of reasoning as to why China would even want to do this, but he tries to demonize China by pointing to its domestic policy in the handling of the student uprising to claim that it is indicative of potential conflict in the realm of foreign policy. Clearly, how a nation handles the affairs of it's own people is going to differ from how a nation handles the affairs of citizens from other countries. Basically, if you are looking for a book which discusses the threats of China on the US in the possibly near future, you had better look elsewhere.

Next, the book is a little disjointed. It can basically be broken into three parts:
1) The sale of enhanced PROMIS to foreign countries by Mossad agents to steal national secrets.
2) The Student uprising of 1989 in Tiananmen Square and the resulting massacre
3) A Pentagon report on the status of many nations (not just China) dealing with their potential threats to the US.
Unless the author had some highly sophisticated and transcendental writing style which I simply could not comprehend, the three sections, in my opinion, are loosely joined.

There were some aspects about the Tiananmen massacre which were left out that I feel would be of interest to the reader. One example is that many of the leaders, such as Wang Dan and Wuer Kaixi, profited by all the publicity by becoming successful businessmen.

Overall, the story is captivating, but I wonder how much of it really happened and how much is the author filling in holes that resulted in interviewing many different people who each had their own, and sometimes conflicting, history of the events leading up to the Tiananmen massacre.

It is with great joy and intellectual curiosity that I unfolded this description of the human drama and crisis that the world currently finds itself in. Gordon Thomas's is in a league of his own when it comes to writing quality and sincere and skilled discovery and display of the truth. It is truth as the old saying goes that sets us free; but it also said that the truth hurts. Both are applicable in this well researched and documented book. The Truth only hurts when it is resisted and it set's us free when it is embraced and acted upon.
This book with it's complex intertwining of polital figures and Governments puts a magnifying glass upon those who fear the truth the most. For those that have the courage to look behind the scenes, this book illuminates not only the history of modern conflict, the present players within the conflict and also the inevitable future if this wise advise is not embraced and acted upon.
Yes! it's true that this book might be unsettling to those steeped in the comfort zone of denial and complacency, but deal with it we must if we choose to enjoy and celebrate the freedom that is spoken from the loftiest positions.
Gordon Thomas is a modern Thomas Paine who exorts us as Paine did so long ago,
"These are times that try men's souls---Tyranny like hell is not easily conquered, yet we have this consolation with us, The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: "Tis dearness only that gives everything it's value.. Heaven know how to put a proper price upon it's goods; and it would be strange indeed , if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."
This book should be a must read for all who hunger for the truth to make som sense of the world that we live in

Robert J. O'Connor
United States Army Veteran --- and Lover of Freedom

Thomas scores yet another victory in his newest tome. He lays bare, for anyone brave enough for the truth, the real threat China poses to the United States of America. Thomas makes the case that by 2015 we'll be eating more rice, fewer burgers and be driving rickshaws instead of Mercedes and Fords. That is, if the radiation levels are low enough to allow freedom of movement. This is a must read. Clearly, the WTC attack was just the beginning. With China poised to stike, books like this will prepare us for the dark future which lies ahead.

Read the back of the book first and then start from the beginning! Seeds of Fire has nothing of what it promises to the reader. I was thoroughly dissappointed and am sorry I was taken in by the title. Seeds of Fire took me six months to get through because it was not at all about China and the Attack on America, it was about Tiananmen Square! I give this book a YAWN! Tianamen Square is an interesting subject yet I did not bargain for it. Don't buy it unless you want to know about the assault on China's citizens by it own communist government. VERY SAD!

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SEEDS OF FIRE, like Gordon Thomas's previous bestsellers, lifts the lid of unelected government - the world of secret intelligence that covertly guides too much of our lives. In its pages are a small library of never-before-published documents that help confirm all this. The book goes to the very core of what should concern each of us: the very real threat to the way we live. And then it goes further. By showing the links between China and bin Laden, it points to massive failure in our own intelligence networks. This is a book that should be sent to every D.C. Congressman and Congresswoman, and to those working in the White House who are not aware of the secrets this book reveals. If there is one book to start off your reading in the New Year, it's SEEDS OF FIRE. Having the information Thomas provides can give concerned readers a way to fight back against those who seek to dominate, erode and subvert our freedoms through highly illegal, covert means and methods.

This book is recommended reading for everyone who wants to learn and understand the real stories behind the headlines. It confirms the importance of investigative writers like Thomas, who ensure that when the media is blind to international conspiracies, intrigue and downright deception, we the public will have an accurate source to turn to. Seeds of Fire is written with color and the pace of a thriller yet it leads the reader through a complex web of new information and CIA documents, which have been hidden from us. Thomas drags the story from the shadows with a Le Carre style, exposing international alliances between very unlikely bedfellows.... the intelligence agencies of China and Israel. He illustrates the vulnerability of the United States to Israel's Mossad spies, and demonstrates how China and Israel formed a pact to steal nuclear secrets from Los Alamos, the most classified nuclear installation in America.
The story takes us through the shadows of international deception. It proves how China, prior to the tragedy of September 11, was prepared to supply the Taliban and Bin Laden's Al Qaeda with the most advanced weaponry.
Classified CIA documents, unearthed by Thomas, catalogue China's treachery and paint a bleak future for US-Soviet relations.
One of the most fascinating threads in Seeds of Fire is the theft by Israel and China of US computer software that allowed those countries to steal the most highly classified US nuclear secrets.
This book is a must for all those who wish to know the truth about international alliances that threat the stability of the US and its Western allies.

This book explores the case of Johnaton Pollard, an evil man who spied on behalf of our supposed ally Israel...against the United States. It tals about how Pollard stole vital US. Secrets and then attempted to undermine the brave members of the US intelligence community. The fact that incompetent Israeli leaders such as Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Mossad chief Rafi Eitan support this man is a travesty, and proves they are traitors who are NO friends of America. According to the book Netanyahu even tried to blackmail Bill Clinton to get Pollard out of prison. But America has made clear that Pollard will rot in Jail for the rest of his life as well he should.

Seeds of Fire is an entertaining book, although it was not what I had expected. The book is approximately 500 pages long (with several pages devoted to press clippings, government documents, etc.), but the majority of these pages is dedicated to the story of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. This clearly is what Thomas originally meant for the book to focus on, as most of his research and interview subjects come from the Tiananmen ordeal. Thomas sandwiches the several hundred pages concerning Tiananmen in between introductory and concluding segments that relay his investigative reports on such topics as the Los Alamos espionage case, the activities of the Mossad relating to theft of American intelligence, and the fairly recent American spy plane downing in China. Only in the final few pages of the book does Thomas attempt to tie Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban to the Chinese government, and even then, he makes no direct tie between China and the September 11th massacre which is Bin Laden's ultimate feat to date.

My feelings on this book ranged from highly incredulous to thoroughly fascinated. I found some of Thomas's sources to be seriously flawed, including the woman (an admitted sufferer of multiple personality disorder) who has written to Thomas accusing the CIA of crimes such as having "placed her in an adult-sized gyroscope and spun her to split her personality further" as well as having "forced her to perform in bestiality films, to be sold on the black market." Even Maxine Waters would shy away from accusations as far-fetched as those. By including this lady's letters to him, Thomas makes his claims of sordid American and Israeli espionage that much harder to believe, since most of it can only be documented by Thomas as having come from anonymous intelligence sources.

The best part of the book, which Thomas should have limited the topic to, was the Tiananmen Square massacre account. This is the heart of the book and Thomas's witnesses to the demonstrations and subsequent slaughter were on the scene early, very involved, and highly credible. His research included many trips to China to meet with numerous documentable sources which included Chinese citizens and foreign press that covered the story. The writing in this section of the book is also more colorful, less repetitive (although excessive use of certain phrases is a problem throughout), and more passionate. Contrasting this part of the book with the hastily added, 2001-till-current day, conclusion shows where Thomas's original inspiration for writing this book was. Somehow, even White House Senior Advisor Karl Rove made it into this sloppy addendum as "Carl Roe".

Overall, "Seeds of Fire", for its in-depth, emotionally personal retelling of the events and politics that led up to the Tiananmen Square massacre, is a very entertaining book. Thomas just should have known better and left the peripheral Hollywood spy-drama accounts on the editing room floor.