Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 [Hardcover]

Gerald Posner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2003

The story of the years leading up to 9/11 is the story of what might have been, and also serves as a call to the defense of America’s future. Since 9/11, one important question has persisted: What was really going on behind the scenes with intelligence services and government leaders during the time preceding the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks?

After an eighteen-month investigation that uncovered explosive new evidence through interviews and in classified documents, Gerald Posner reveals much previously undisclosed information:

• the identity of two countries that might have had foreknowledge that a terrorist attack was scheduled for September 11 on U.S. soil
• a startling account of the interrogation of a leading al Qaeda captive
• facts about a series of deaths that point to an ongoing conspiracy by some governments to hide the extent of their earlier relationships with al Qaeda
• how the U.S. government missed several chances to kill or capture bin Laden
• evidence that German intelligence may have protected an informant who was involved with many of the 9/11 plotters
• how the CIA tracked—and then lost—two of the hijackers when they entered the United States more than twenty months before the attacks
• the devastating consequences of the crippling rivalry between the CIA and FBI as the United States moved unwittingly toward 9/11

In a dramatic narrative, Why America Slept exposes the frequent mistakes made by law enforcement and government agencies, and demonstrates how the failures to prevent 9/11 were tragically not an exception but typical. Along the way, by delving into terror financing, the links between far-flung terror organizations, and how the United States responded over the years to other attacks, Posner also makes a damning case that 9/11 could have been prevented.

Why America Slept lays to rest two years of conjecture about what led up to the worst terror attacks in America’s history. This breakthrough book presents an infuriating review of how incompetence and misplaced priorities made America an easy target for terrorists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In the end, the central question that remained was what did American intelligence and law enforcement know and what did they ignore? What mistakes were made along the way on the ground by police, FBI and CIA, and in Washington and state capitals by policy makers? While hunting for those answers, there were unexpected discoveries about some American allies, and what they might have known, and not told anyone, before 9/11. The result is a far more infuriating book than originally expected. The failure to have prevented 9/11 was a systematic one. It is not just that investigators failed to get a lucky break early on, nor is it really even dependent on a series of blunders in the immediate run-up to the attack. The seeds for failure were sown repeatedly in almost twenty years of fumbled investigations and misplaced priorities. After a while, the revelations of ineptitude presented in this book no longer cause surprise, but only anger.
—from Why America Slept

From the Inside Flap

The story of the years leading up to 9/11 is the story of what might have been, and also serves as a call to the defense of America?s future. Since 9/11, one important question has persisted: What was really going on behind the scenes with intelligence services and government leaders during the time preceding the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks?

After an eighteen-month investigation that uncovered explosive new evidence through interviews and in classified documents, Gerald Posner reveals much previously undisclosed information:

? the identity of two countries that might have had foreknowledge that a terrorist attack was scheduled for September 11 on U.S. soil
? a startling account of the interrogation of a leading al Qaeda captive
? facts about a series of deaths that point to an ongoing conspiracy by some governments to hide the extent of their earlier relationships with al Qaeda
? how the U.S. government missed several chances to kill or capture bin Laden
? evidence that German intelligence may have protected an informant who was involved with many of the 9/11 plotters
? how the CIA tracked?and then lost?two of the hijackers when they entered the United States more than twenty months before the attacks
? the devastating consequences of the crippling rivalry between the CIA and FBI as the United States moved unwittingly toward 9/11

In a dramatic narrative, Why America Slept exposes the frequent mistakes made by law enforcement and government agencies, and demonstrates how the failures to prevent 9/11 were tragically not an exception but typical. Along the way, by delving into terror financing, the links between far-flung terror organizations, and how the United States responded over the years to other attacks, Posner also makes a damning case that 9/11 could have been prevented.

Why America Slept lays to rest two years of conjecture about what led up to the worst terror attacks in America?s history. This breakthrough book presents an infuriating review of how incompetence and misplaced priorities made America an easy target for terrorists.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (September 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375508791
• ISBN-13: 978-0375508790
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,137,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Martin of ABC News says "Gerald Posner is one of the most resourceful investigators I have encountered in thirty years of journalism." Garry Wills calls Posner "a superb investigative reporter," while the Los Angeles Times dubs him "a classic-style investigative journalist." "His work is painstakingly honest journalism" concluded The Washington Post. The New York Times lauded his "exhaustive research techniques" and The Boston Globe determined Posner is "an investigative journalist whose work is marked by his thorough and meticulous research." "A resourceful investigator and skillful writer," says The Dallas Morning News.

Posner was one of the youngest attorneys (23) ever hired by the Wall Street law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. A Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (1975), he was an Honors Graduate of Hastings Law School (1978), where he served as the Associate Executive Editor for the Law Review. Of counsel to the law firm he founded, Posner and Ferrara, he is now a full time journalist and author.

He is the Chief Investigative Reporter for the Daily Beast (www.thedailybeast/author/gerald-posner). In the past, he was a freelance writer on investigative issues for several news magazines, and a regular contributor to NBC, the History Channel, CNN, FOX News, CBS, and MSNBC. A member of the National Advisory Board of the National Writers Union, Posner is also a member of the Authors Guild, PEN, The Committee to Protect Journalists, and Phi Beta Kappa. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, author, Trisha Posner, who works on all his projects (www.trishaposner.com).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST Read!!!!, November 13, 2003

By 

Richard D. Cappetto "RickDC" (Moodus, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 (Hardcover)

I have been reading many books on Bin Laden, Al Quada, Muslim extremist and also on the above in relation to law enforcement (CIA, FBI, INS, NSA, etc.), Our Presidential Administrations and to Congress (law makers) as it all relates to 9-11. Those books include Catastrophe by Chris Ruddy and Carl Linbacher, Jr., Breakdown by Bill Gurtz, The Sword Of the prophet by Serge Trifkovic, American Jihad by Steve Emerson, among others; and I must say this book; Why America Slept by Gerald Posner, is one of the best. It is completely documented and thoroughly sourced. It centers on the History of major terrorists attacks on the USA, and our allies in relation to the response of our intelligence agency's, State department, and the all our presidential Administration's dating from the Carter years (1976-80) to Now (2003). In Why America Slept by Gerald Posner, He details both the Political and Law enforcement's responses to Islamic based terrorism and what mistakes were made all along the way. the book does not make wild charges but details the mistakes so that we can learn from them. This book documents all of Al Quada's attacks on the US and American citizens all over the world; Documents the History of this declared war on US; and How each attack was handled my the FBI, CIA, INS And by the administrations. He shows how weak responses to terrorism emboldened the terrorists and He also documents some of the missed opportunities to get Bin Laden and Stop his organization long before 9-11. There is also a great chapter on the capture and interrogation of Abu Zubaydah which is must reading. Yes, the Book is critical; but not in any political way, there is no ax to grind hear, against any one individual or administration, its sober and reflective and is a must read for anyone and everyone who wants to know how 9-11 happened.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and Energetic Reporting - Valuable Read, September 16, 2003

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 (Hardcover)

"Why America Slept" is excellent and vital reporting of the isolated, but mutually contributing failures of management, policy, regulation, politics, will, and luck that culminated in the awful tragedy of 9/11. It is concisely told in a clean style with energy to spare. Posner starts the book with a seemingly minor event (the murder of Emir Shalabi) that turns out to have major implications in the power shift among the participants in the extreme elements in the Islamist war against the West.

We also get interesting information about the events around the trial of the Blind Sheikh Omar Rahman, the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the '93 bombing of the World Trade Center, the embassy bombings, the attack on the Cole, the lessons the terrorists took from our cutting and running from Somalia, and so many more of the preliminary incidents and battles in the War on Terror. More sad than the events themselves is our collective delusion at the time that these were isolated incidents (such as the shooting on the Empire State Building Observation Deck). The author reports these events clearly and with just enough intelligent analysis and insight to show us how all these flow into the same river of violence without ever letting the narrative getting bogged down.

Posner doesn't play the easy blame game of trying to make any one person or any one agency or administration THE fall guy. There are so many failures leading up to the towers crashing to the ground that each and every one of us can take at least a cupful of blame. Yes, some of our public servants and political leaders deserve barrelfuls or even a lake full of blame, but when you and I paid more attention to the OJ Simpson trial or to the circus around the murder of JonBenét Ramsey than the trial of Sheikh Rahman, well; none of us can really claim innocence because we were telling our leaders we weren't serious about this issue.

We can't hide saying we weren't told. There were voices in the wilderness warning us, but we at least have to be honest enough to admit that, at the time, we really didn't want to know. We wanted to continue believing everything would be OK. We wanted to believe that the first bombing of the WTC was done by some crazy dolts who couldn't get it right. We wanted to believe everything was somehow under control. This book helps us understand the consequences of such willful ignornace.

Posner gives us the facts behind the scandals that led to the Congressional attacks on the FBI and CIA that put them on a short leash and gave what amounted to aid-and-comfort to our enemies. But there were (are) also inter-agency rivalries and deep-seated distrust that kept (keeps) vital information filed away and away from where it would do good. We learn about Presidential tough talk that carefully avoided tough action because of the possible political fallout. And when a decision to get real is finally made, the bureaucracy around the President moves too slowly until the horror finally hits home.

The book is a gripping read and culminates in the fascinating interrogation of Abu Zubaydah. You will never forget this chapter because it reads as if it should be in a novel or a big budget movie. As this book has been promoted I have heard weaselly denials from certain foreign authorities that the things discussed in this chapter ever took place. However, when you actually read this book you will believe that this stuff did happened. Especially when you read what actually followed right on the heels of this interrogation this chapter rings as true as a huge and beautiful church bell.

This is a book I wish everyone would read, but watch your blood pressure. This book is just right for our times and will help you make better judgments about what we should be focusing on as a country to deal with the very real threats we continue to face.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Book That Every American Should Read, November 26, 2003

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 (Hardcover)

As a detailed, carefully documented exposé of ignorance, complacency, shortsightedness and negligence, WHY AMERICA SLEPT is perhaps the most important of the recent books addressing various aspects of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

A similar case could be made for James Bovard's TERRORISM AND TYRANNY, which examines not causes but effects, specifically the government's response to 9/11, which has consisted largely of an unprecedented assault on the Bill of Rights, especially in the areas of privacy and due process. It is a vastly important book that every American ought to read.

Gerald Posner's concern, however, is with life-and-death issues, primarily the question of why the intelligence community failed to discover the al-Qaeda plot to hijack civilian airliners and crash them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Although Posner's approach is generally detached and restrained, he has conceded that he was "infuriated" by some of his discoveries and "disgusted" in particular by President Clinton's failure to neutralize the threat posed by the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Posner provides details of opportunities to capture bin Laden, opportunities that he says Clinton either ignored or rejected. Moreover, he says, Clinton declined offers by both Sudan and Qatar to arrest bin Laden and deliver him to the United States. Perhaps for purposes of comic relief, Posner also quotes Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, as saying that as early as 1996 the administration was "trying to get bin Laden with everything we had."

In this carnival of boneheadedness and floundering incompetence, Posner recounts one outrage after another. Among the worst, in terms of consequences, was the unwillingness of the FBI and CIA to cooperate and share information. Each had information of vital importance to the other, but the rules of their long-standing rivalry prohibited mature behavior. An FBI agent who asked the CIA for information about Zacarias Moussaoui received an official reprimand for doing so. Moussaoui was one of those aviation students who wanted to learn how to steer large airliners but had no interest in learning how to take off or land. The FBI agent was Coleen Rowley, one of the very few figures in this bleak history who behaved intelligently and honorably.

WHY AMERICA SLEPT is filled with evidentiary specifics that attest to the thoroughness of Posner's research, and one suspects that this former Wall Street lawyer might have been happier as a prosecutor. But having turned to investigative reporting --- he is now the author or co-author of ten books --- Posner apparently finds sufficient satisfaction in fulfilling the imperative of the people's right to know, and in this book, most decisively, the people's need to know.

He has pinpointed individual anomalies and systemic weaknesses that made America vulnerable to attack. This much and no more lies within the bounds of investigative reporting; readers have a shared responsibility to press for the necessary corrections to the problems he has identified.

--- Reviewed by Harold V. Cordry