A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies

In A Pretext for War James Bamford builds his case against America's intelligence agencies from the ground up, which makes for devastating reading not only for his subjects, but for anyone concerned with the nation's security or simply smart use of taxpayer dollars. Indeed, one can't help but cringe as the veteran journalist records the alarming post-Cold-War floundering of the CIA, NSA, Defense Department and succeeding administrations in the face of burgeoning terrorist threats that culminate with the attack on 9-11. Seemingly caught flatfooted by the demise of the Soviet Union, the US intelligence community stumbles through the 1990s as it becomes institutionally hidebound and sluggish. During relatively peaceful times, its shortcomings, while not unnoticed, remain largely unaddressed.

As Bamford sees it, with the arrival of George W Bush the situation goes from bad to worse. With the neocons in power, intelligence gathering is corrupted and politicised to create the grounds for going to war with Iraq. While much of what appears here has appeared earlier in works by Joseph Wilson, Richard Clarke and others, Bamford pulls the loose ends together and adds new reporting to create a wide-ranging yet taut and absorbing exposé of an American security apparatus that combines vast power with stunning ineptitude. --Steven Stolder, Amazon.com

" Probably the best one-volume companion to the harrowing events in the war on terrorism since 1996." - "Time"

" Highly readable and well-researched. . . . Bamford does a superb job of laying out and tying together threads of the Sept. 11 intelligence failures and their ongoing aftermath, using original research, the public record and a light, fast-paced writing touch." - "The Washington Post Book World"
" A damning portrait of the country's intelligence agencies. . . . Bamford unearths new details . . . to create a vivid, unsettling narrative. . . . Highly persuasive." - "The New York Times"
" Not only contains significant new information, but also combines that information with previously known material to make . . . sense of Sept. 11 and its aftermath. . . . A vital book." - "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"

"Probably the best one-volume companion to the harrowing events in the war on terrorism since 1996." -"Time"
"Highly readable and well-researched. . . . Bamford does a superb job of laying out and tying together threads of the Sept. 11 intelligence failures and their ongoing aftermath, using original research, the public record and a light, fast-paced writing touch." -"The Washington Post Book World "

"A damning portrait of the country's intelligence agencies. . . . Bamford unearths new details . . . to create a vivid, unsettling narrative. . . . Highly persuasive." -"The New York Times"

"Not only contains significant new information, but also combines that information with previously known material to make . . . sense of Sept. 11 and its aftermath. . . . A vital book." -"Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "

Probably the best one-volume companion to the harrowing events in the war on terrorism since 1996. Time

Highly readable and well-researched. . . . Bamford does a superb job of laying out and tying together threads of the Sept. 11 intelligence failures and their ongoing aftermath, using original research, the public record and a light, fast-paced writing touch. The Washington Post Book World
A damning portrait of the country s intelligence agencies. . . . Bamford unearths new details . . . to create a vivid, unsettling narrative. . . . Highly persuasive. The New York Times
"Not only contains significant new information, but also combines that information with previously known material to make . . . sense of Sept. 11 and its aftermath. . . . A vital book." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "