This book is not so much an eye opener, as for most of the world it was always clear that the 11th September attacks were just used as a pretext to prosecute a war against Iraq that was never justified by the events. However it was a clear vindication of all that many many people were saying, based on testimony from some very well placed sources. As such this was a good piece of journalism in book form.

From the opening pages it was clear that Suskind was going to take no prisoners. He tells us that Bush was never much of a reader (despite the efforts to project an image that he was), and that he based his decisions on gut reactions based on face to face meetings.

The genius of Suskind is that he writes in a way that shows he is not just twisting a knife in the dying corpse of a discredited administration. In fact he makes a good case for Bush's strengths in his use of gut feeling - something that served him well over the years. Yes, the author is fairly clear that Cheney was really pulling the strings in the US administration (with the help of Rumsfeld et al.), but we see Bush fighting to assert his own authority, and his strengths and weaknesses laid bare.

The result is, of course, a fairly damning indictment on men who followed an obsession against the evidence, leading America into what we can all now see to be the biggest American foreign policy disaster ever. Nevertheless it is written in a way that is not anti American. It is well informed, compassionate and articulately written.

My biggest problem with the book though was the slight;y piecemeal way it is laid out. The timeline jumps forward and back a little. As this is essentially a narrative history based on primary sources, I would have liked it to be laid out in a slightly more logical and chronological order. But that is not a reason not to read this book. In fact this book or something like it should be used in all future courses on American history! ( )

Very disturbing book about a very insular white house.

The eponymous one percent doctrine of the title was Dick Cheney's concept brought into effect after U. S. intelligence discovered that Osama bin Laden had a conversation with Kahn [the "father of Pakistan's atomic weapons program] concerning obtaining a nuclear weapon. The intelligence source reported that Bin Laden had said he had some nuclear material; however, he needed help to build and deliver a bomb. Cheney then formulated the doctrine that if there were only a one percent chance that a threat is real, it had to be treated as a certainty.

Suskind details some of the early successes of intelligence gathering before the bad guys caught on to the fact that we could hear their telephone conversations and read their e-mail. Western Union was very helpful in tracing monetary transfers. Since the jihadis discovered our technological expertise, they have used more primitive means to communicate. It may take them longer to plan, but that hasn't diminished their determination.

The combination of nuclear threats and fanatical Muslims makes Cheney's doctrine seem to me to be a sensible approach. Suskind's book, however, shows the dark side of the doctrine. He shows how, over time, the doctrine allowed the U.S. to stop verifying leads and react even where there was little or no reason to suspect a threat was real. It also lead to manufacturing evidence [Iraqi purchase of yellow cake uranium from Niger] to justify the goal of further action--the invasion of Iraq.

Suskind tells a good story of bureaucratic in-fighting as the C.I.A., N.S.A., and F.B.I. battled each other as rivals. The author feels that some of the best men in the intelligence agencies have left because of the administration's use of intelligence to justify pre-ordained plans rather than as a guide for setting policy. That may in part because most of his sources seem to be disgruntled former intelligence professionals.

Suskind concludes that the Doctrine has damaged morale and is contrary to America's national ideals. He fails to give Cheney credit where credit was due in two respects: (1) recognizing the enormity of the threat and changing a mind set from criminal law enforcement to aggressive war fighting and (2) compelling rival agencies to co-operate.

Whatever the validity of Suskind's conclusions, this is an important book in providing hair-raising details of the resourcefulness and viciousness of America's enemies, including some in the current administration.

(JAB) ( )

I listened to the audio version, abridged (all that was available in my library). One of the best political books I've ever read/heard. Frightening, re the takeover of our government by fanatics who are incompetent at execution. ( )

http://www.peskyapostrophe.com/index.... ( )