This is the first book I have read by Miniter. I have followed foriegn policy and terrorism since the late 70's. I felt I knew quite a bit of what there was to know about terrorism and foriegn policy but this book should scare anyone. I think it is illustrative of some of the depths of depravity terrorists will descend to and how they drag those without the intestinal fortitude to stand up to them down with them.

You will hear a lot of hand wringers and people without the stomach to fight the war on terrorism say a lot of things that are either wholly partisan, hateful or just plain inaccurate about this book. Read it, look at the footnotes, look at the references and decide for yourself.

I think Miniter nailed it, much as I hate that saying. Bill Clinton was concerned about terrorism but only as long as it could hold his rather short attention span. The bottom line is he never followed up and was too busy looking out for number one to keep his focus on what has become the #1 evil of our time.

Don't listen to the minions of the Leftist moon bats who regurgitate anything Michael Moore says ad nauseum and without the benefit of the first piece of serious research. Bill Clinton wasn't all that and he let us down. It wasn't just him, our entire government failed to recognize the threat for what it was and is. Many people still do not realize what we are up against or the dire consequences we will face if we do not stand up to this evil here and now.

Miniter did Clinton more than fair and nobody can call this a partisan hack job. At least not anyone who has a semi-open mind. Read it and make up your own mind. If it doesn't scare the bejeebus out of you, you weren't paying attention.

I found this book to be based on a kernel of truth wrapped in innumerable layers of unconfirmable speculation (how many people really have access to intelligence agency archives?) and one-sided 'analysis'. It is clear the Bin Ladin was 'lost' at Tora Bora when our troops were called back to garrison, allowing him to escape. This goes even farther to the right than Micheal Moore goes to the left.

If you want a look at the subject from someone who was involved through several Administrations, read "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror" by Richard Clarke.

If you buy this book, you are paying for propaganda.

The author, Richard Miniter, provides a fair treatment of the Clinton adminstration's lack of going after terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and lays out his case in a 241-page book, entitled "Losing bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror." The title is a bit of a stretch, since President Clinton alone cannot be blamed for what happened on 9/11/01. But according to his ex-advisor, Dick Morris, Mr. Clinton never wanted to lead the charge to bring bin Laden and his Islamofascist minions to justice because he was acutely aware of how the American public would perceive his use of the military, and even refusing a Sudanese offer to take bin Laden into custody because of a short-sighted belief that there was nothing to pin on the Saudi-born terrorist. Miniter disagrees with this inaction.

Though it is true that Regnery Publishing is responsible for releasing Miniter's book, and therefore making those who lean left in the political spectrum naturally leery of reading it, this reviewer believes that Miniter treats the administration fairly; for instance, he refutes the long-held belief by those on the right that President Clinton ordered a retaliatory strike on Sudan to deflect his oncoming domestic problem due to the Lewinsky affair; Miniter notes that Clinton's order to strike bin Laden's headquarters and the Sudan was given immediately, even as he was aware the House could vote to impeach him for a variety of reasons.

Miniter does, in fact, argue that Mr. Clinton knew full well that something had to be done to counter the mounting terrorist attacks, and he had done some things...just not enough of them and often not the right amount. The author lays out the events chronologically to give the reader the right historical perspective. Whenever certain news items were found to be incorrect, Miniter clarifies them in his notes section, which is copious and quite helpful.

Miniter notes that a large problem in fighting the fledgling War on Terror had been also directly attributable to the lack of dialogue and sharing of intelligence between the NSA, the CIA, and the F.B.I., not even figuring in the gridlock common between the administration and the three bureaus. The author is quick to note that Clinton was not often eager to discuss possible threats to national security with his bureau chiefs. Interviews with National Security Advisor and former N.S.A. Tony Lake, along with those of Counter-Terrorism czar Richard Clarke go a long way in helping the reader to form his/her own opinion.

While this reviewer is inclined to believe, based on abundant evidence presented in this book and many others, that the Clinton Administration is found wanting when it comes to aggressively fighting the Islamic terror threat, one will come to realize that mistakes were made in previous administrations too. But Mr. Clinton had an opportunity to strengthen his presidential legacy by campaigning aggressively against bin Laden & Co., but squandered numerous chances to do so. Even Clinton supporter, Mansoor Ijaz, who was used by the administration as an unofficial diplomat to bring Sudan's intelligence files to Mr. Clinton's attention, could tell of the disappointments he encountered in dealing with Berger and the rest of the administration hacks.

This reviewer found this book to be a great read, engaging and thought-provoking to the max. It contains 28 pages (in Appendix B) of passports and intelligence files that the Sudanese government had offered gratis in an attempt to clean up its image and gain the trust of the administration, according to Miniter. As one reviewer also noted, it does read like a Tom Clancy novel; meaning, it is not dry reading in the least. My only caveat would be that it needed to focus a chapter or two more on the moribund tactics of the aformentioned national-security bureaus, as much as on those presented of the Clinton Administration.

The one thing I have noticed about the majority (not all) of the negative reviews is that they don't address the exhaustive amount of collected evidence in this book. Instead, they attempt to smear the author, the current President, anyone associated with ideas contrary to their own. But the author here presents an incredible amount of research that is footnoted and referenced, and if readers care to, can verify on their own. I had questions on some sections of this book, and used the references in the back to do my own research. While some evidence can indeed be interpreted in different ways - the majority is straightforward and overwhelmingly supports the author's conclusions. It's sad to see the level of discourse, especially over books like this, reduced to childish name-calling and rants that have absolutely nothing to do with the contents of this material.

Miniter presents a startling story of political expedience that put Americans and the world at greater danger and led to numerous deaths and injuries that could have been prevented. Obviously, those responsible are more than just a single man in the office of the President. Clinton suffered from extremely poor advice from unexperienced political appointees who were more interested in winning elections and securing a 'legacy' than in the important job of protecting the citizenry. And as one reviewer noted, the attacks that followed Clinton's inauguration were partly the fault of the Bush Sr. administration as well.

Rather than being a 'hatchet job' on a single administration, as some have put it, this book points to a greater failure of intelligence agencies and political officials who failed to do all they could to protect the people they are sworn to. Clinton's administration, while not fully culpable for all terrorist attacks in the last 20 years, did exacerbate the problem and contribute to the inaction that led to the tragedy of September 11th. This book hilights those failures and shows the path that Osama bin Laden traveled to bring the worst attack on American soil in history.

Readers of this book are presented with the story that shows the difference between administrations and how they handle crises that makes this reader truly greatful for the outcome of the 2000 election.

This book is a must read for those who want to uncover the truth of how 9/11 came to pass, and what we MUST do to avoid similar attacks in the future. Eight years of escalating terrorist attacks, compared to the absence of attacks in the US in the last 4 shows that hopefully, the political structure has learned the lessons of previous failures.

So Richard Miniter fancies himself an "investigative journalist." It's sad that in today's world the label is a cover for someone conveying an obvious partisan political agenda.

It's very convenient that Miniter chose to overlook the obvious: That the Bush family has slept with the enemy for many years, making a very tidy profit from their ties with, the very people behind the 9/11/01 terror attacks, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya: Osama bin Laden (funded by members of the Saudi Arabian royal family - you know, Saudi Arabia, the country that hates Americans with a passion yet visa lotteries continue there).

Dubya was clearly warned by the FBI and CIA in August 2001 about suspicious individuals in flight schools in the midwestern and western US who were more interested in steering airplanes than flying them and he chose to ignore them. Why? Well, apparently, shoveling cow dung on his Texas ranch was more important than national security.

On the other hand, Bill Clinton wanted to take care of business and assassinate Osama but congressional Republicans were too busy worrying about his sex life (while a Chinese scientist came in through the backdoor and stole nuclear secrets, while Osama and company had time to get their game plan together. "Morality" was more important than national security and it's all Bill Clinton's fault? Is this guy kidding me???).

And it's unreal how Clinton is to blame for the 9/11/01 terror attacks yet Dubya's daddy is never to blame for the 1993 WTC bombings (Clinton, being three weeks in office, was completely responsible for letting that happen, too, according to these right-wing hacks).

Hey, Richard, let's do some quick deductions that all your years of "investigative journalism" couldn't do: Those 1993 WTC bombers (who planned their assault during Bush 41's presidency) were quickly rounded up and are now in prison for the rest of their lives (courtesy of, guess who, Bill Clinton). Osama, Dubya's friend and longtime business partner, continues to live free as a bird while Americans' civil liberties are cancelled everyday in the "quest" to find him when Cheney (who's really running the show), Bush, and Company know exactly where he is.

So who's winning the war on terror? Clinton-1, Dubya-0.

Try again, dude.