"Your government failed you . . . and I failed you."
Richard Clarke's dramatic statement to the grieving families during the 9-11 Commission hea...
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Jun 27, 2008
Tripp
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Richard Clarke worked for decades in the United States government's national security world. He reached the upper levels of government serving as an Assistant Secretary State and as the chief counter-terrorism official. He left government in 2003 over his disagreements overIraq policy. Shortly thereafter he wrote Against All Enemies, a memoir of his service, as well as a sharp critique of the Bush Administration's terror policy. In his latest book, Your Government Failed You, expands his critiqu
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Apr 21, 2011
Elizabeth
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Must reading for those wanting insights into what lead up to 9-11, how 9-11 has been used for harm as well as somewhat for good purposes, how complicated the business/industrial/government complexes are in the 21st Century. Clarke's writing is clear, moves quickly with great detail, and is well measured. He states that not only has our country failed us but that he also failed us in not getting the influence and power to keep the Bush administration from basing foreign and war policies on lies
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Nov 09, 2008
Downhill
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As much as Clarke likes to toot his own horn, I can easily overlook that when thinking about some of his ideas and that there aren't very many as qualified experience wise as he is, to actually understand the subjects he writes about.
It's complicated and he's been in the drivers seat when it comes to Washington insiders and Pentagon highups for a long time.
Cheers for having the guts to take on some hard issues facing this country.
It's complicated and he's been in the drivers seat when it comes to Washington insiders and Pentagon highups for a long time.
Cheers for having the guts to take on some hard issues facing this country.
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Jul 13, 2009
Clarke is the counter-terrorism expert who resigned in protests from the Bush administration. In his earlier book he talked about how Rice and others simple ignored the proglems. In this book he talks about failures of the intelligence community. I was particularly interested in how he shows the lessons drawn by the military from the war in Vietnam - intended to show that in a future war we would have to reinstitute the draft or else call up the national guard. They thought we would never call t
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Oct 23, 2008
Paul
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This book takes an uncompromising look at the inability of the government to prevent security and intelligence failures, like those that occurred before 9/11.
Prior to the invasion of Iraq, the US Army had no counter-insurgency strategy. Part of the reason was to not resurrect unpleasant memories from Vietnam, and part of the reason was the absolute belief among top officials of the Bush Administration that it would not be needed, that the US troops would be greeted as liberators. It More...
Prior to the invasion of Iraq, the US Army had no counter-insurgency strategy. Part of the reason was to not resurrect unpleasant memories from Vietnam, and part of the reason was the absolute belief among top officials of the Bush Administration that it would not be needed, that the US troops would be greeted as liberators. It More...
Jul 29, 2011
Beth A
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Yes, I'm a Richard Clarke fan even though he can sound preachy at times. I found Against All Enemies was quite preachy, but in this work Clarke is much less so. He offers so many really sound, well thought out strategies (policy, social, economic, infrastructure) to fix our national security and revamp our image in the Arab world. I hope someone in the new administration reviews this work.
Jul 26, 2011
I liked getting a viewpoint from somebody who was in the trenches. I found the book a little dry and academic, but it was a fascinating look into how the current military and foreign policy positions our government practices were developed in the wake of the Vietnam War, and how they affected the Iraq and Afghanistan deployments.
Oct 05, 2010
Kristina
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Clarke discusses America's national security situation, pre-9/11 and post. He addresses the problem areas (just about everything) and what possible solutions are. This isn't a difficult read (although the acronyms got to be a bit much) and it's enlightening. Basically, our governmnent, bloated with political appointees and overpaid, underqualified civilian contractors, won't take security seriously until there's a few more 9/11s. Then the military, Congress, the President will stop fooling aroun
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Apr 15, 2009
Thomas
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The last thing I expected to find in this book was repeated exonerations of Cheney. Yet there they are. In this and many other ways, this was not the book I expected to read (and dislike.) Perhaps my confusion was due to the title. If the publisher had fired "Your Government Failed You", eliminated the position of Subtitle, and promoted "Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters" to the office of Title, the result would have been briefer, more clear, and almost as sna
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Mar 01, 2010
Read by ACRL Member of the Week Peter Hernon. Learn more about Peter on the ACRL Insider blog.
Feb 21, 2010
columbialion
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Highly credible push back from former National Security Chief Clarke on the root causes of the massive American intelligence failure precipitating 911.
Mar 22, 2011
Chris
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I like Clarke's books, I think it's interesting to see an insider's perspective on the situation. Given how things went, it's illuminating to say the least.
Jul 29, 2009
Matt
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"I first became aware of the author when he was the top cybersecurity official in Washington DC. A career public servant in the intel community, his honest post 9-11 indictments of the intelligence community made it easy to trust him. Unfortunately, when reading about the bumbles and foibles of politicians and insular intelligence officials, you won't think any more positively about the future."
Jul 04, 2008
John
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Not sure I'd recommend the audio version this book - author reads well, but much of the material is fairly dry, along the lines of a public policy textbook (although the points/suggestions themselves are spot on!); the print version would work better for those tempted to skim, as I was during the first half, dealing with post-Vietnam military policy.
Sep 14, 2009
Alex
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Richard Clarke is a big time bureaucrat who has a few good ideas about improving U.S. national security. He spends too much time disagreeing with the frivolous detail of Bush 43s national security implementation (e.g. jumbo trons at the NCTC) and too little on substance.
Aug 12, 2008
BC
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Much more of a textbook or extended white paper than Against All Enemies. I would recommend Against All Enemies instead of this unless you are very interested in national security/current affairs.
Oct 09, 2008
Pam
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You can't trust your government. If you think you are middle class, you are probably poor or you will soon be poor. Your country is going to hell.
Oct 16, 2011
Johnbh46
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Clarke continues to be one of the best commentators and analysts on the actions of the U.S. government related to security.
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