The Age of Sacred Terror

Great read (listen). Great perspective to understand where terrorism has come from and where it is going. Authors clearly prefer Clinton foreign policy to Bush (current) foreign policy.

Everyone should read or listen to this book. It is about the reality of the terrorist war being waged and the warped "religious" extremist minds behind it. I found the book to be basically apolitical (although some would contend it is a slam on both the Bush administration and to a lesser degree on the Clinton administration). Politics aside, the stark reality is that no administration would have had the political power and backing of the populace without a cataclysmic event. It took Pearl Harbor to galvanize America for WWII. This war is different of course, but it is a tragedy that Clinton was tangled in his own zipper while terrorists were finalizing their plans to lay seige on America. The national distraction and the paralysis of the Clinton administration during the Lewinsky scandal ultimately may have cost many innocent lives and allowed terrorists a free reign in Afganistan and others harboring them. Why? because Clinton could not get himself, the US military, US Congress and US people to focus on hunting down and destroying the biggest threat national security. That is a collosal failure of leadership. Later, when the reins were turned over to the Bush administration, the Republican president kept two key Democrats on board: both focused on national security. If Richard Clark did not think the Bush administration was focused enough on the terrorist threats-- then why did he not resign and make a huge issue of it at the time? It is far too easy now to point fingers(and sell books during an election year to cash in). The most important point of this book (The Age of Sacred Terror) is not political. It is the chilling reality that we are dealing with cold-blooded fanatics who will stop at nothing in their twisted quest to destroy the West's infidels. In order to stop them, it is critical to understand their methods and thinking. And have leaders who recognize the new reality and then act decisively.