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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why America Slept - America's Alarm Clock is Clanging, September 22, 2003
By A Customer
Why America Slept - America's Alarm Clock is Clanging Loudly (And Boy, Are They Annoyed!)From the time of the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon to the near-assassination of former President Bush to the destruction of the World Trade Center, the footsteps of a menacing enemy have grown ever nearer, and Americans have literally slept through the warnings. They stirred at each shaking of slumber, and then promptly went back to sleep again. Posner's new book is a wake-up call, a reminder of many things that we knew, and were able to read about for ourselves, but just as quickly dismissed again, and forgot about. Ostensibly concerned with the devastation of September 11, 2001, Posner guides the reader through a crucial analysis of the relationship between America's domestic and international intelligence agencies, the CIA and FBI. He details the inner political intrigues of both agencies, and the fundamental differences in their priorities and goals that set them at odds like two dissimilar, feuding brothers, and ultimately cause them to fail the country they're sworn to protect. Posner also chronicles the most significant of the many pre-September 11 terror attacks, noting America's failure to deliver a strong, decisive response. Conservative readers, weary of the media's love affair with liberals and the Democratic party, will be delighted with the way Posner holds Clinton accountable for his apathetic responses to terrorist attacks (his answer to an attempt on the life of former President George H. Bush was to bomb an empty building in Baghdad in the middle of the night) and the many opportunities he missed to capture Usama Bin Laden. The current President Bush is not entirely let off the hook, nor is former President Ronald Reagan. There is no one in America who ultimately does not bear some responsibility for the attack, including the American people themselves. But this book is such a page-turner for those fascinated by the political intrigue, the taking-to-task of politicians and bureaucrats, and by the inside look at the behind-the-scenes bureaucracies, the secrets the media failed to properly inform the American public of, that Americans don't realize how much they are to blame until they come to Posner's bibliography at the end, and see the endless list of news stories and books they could have read to keep themselves informed, and either didn't read or had forgotten about until it was too late. So Posner reminds us of the terrorist attack on the observation deck of the Empire State Building and how it was dismissed as merely the action of a loner. He takes us back to the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, the Kenya embassies, Pan Am Flight 103, which had three CIA agents aboard coming home for Christmas. He even returns us to the Oklahoma City bombing, teases us with a few eyewitness accounts that were ignored and then shows us how the distraction with the case led to such a strain of the FBI's resources that they were unable to follow the leads of more serious terrorist threats. He examines TWA Flight 800, though unaccountably makes no mention of the stories that were prominent in the days' papers about an FBI terrorism expert who was aboard that flight, and leaves readers to draw their own conclusions, despite the official determination of what might have caused the flight's destruction. Readers will find the interrogation of an actual terrorist the most fascinating, an account worthy of a James Bond movie or a Tom Clancy novel. Clancy has predicted for years what kind of things could happen. Posner's book isn't fiction. Nor is it Nostradamus. Unfortunately for us, it's all history. Somewhat troubling is that fact that Posner makes no mention of the interrogation of Khalid Mohammed, mainly because the FBI wasn't very forthcoming with the details. Mohammed's accounts, in any case, may not prove to be as reliable as someone lower in the ranks and less practiced at evading an interrogator's questions. But in Posner's style, it would have made very interesting reading. Posner's book is a page-turner that will have readers shouting, "Unbelievable!" every few pages. Most readers will be downright furious. Liberals will grumble and dismiss it as conservation sour grapes. To those few who'd been paying attention all these years, the fangs of rage won't bite quite so deeply, and will be mixed with bemusement, though there are still a few ironic surprises, like the FBI agent who spoke at a terrorist convention, thinking it was the Rotary Club. Posner writes that Usama Bin Laden's contempt for Americans has its roots in their apathy. After reading this book, no one can say that they didn't know. Posner is to be commended for his attempt, though perhaps not entirely perfect, to set the record straight. Let us hope Americans will keep Posner's book for posterity and heed it, unlike the many newspaper accounts that for years heralded the events of September 11 only, if read at all, to wind up lining bird cages.
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by Gerald Posner
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