5 comments about The Twilight of Democracy: The Bush Plan for America.

1. Author & lawyer Jennifer Van Bergen's thought provoking book "The Twilight of Democracy" "ferrets out principles of constitutional law and juxtaposes them with ... statutes, regulations, international laws, legal strategies and actions of the Bush administration." There's no love lost here for President Bush, and the author isn't shy about giving her personal opinion. With blistering criticism of the Bush administration, Van Bergen argues that America is well on the road to fascism, and that we are experiencing an erosion of democracy through a systematic attack on the constitution. Taking Laurence W. Britt's handy-dandy 14-point guide to fascism, Van Bergen systematically examines current trends in American political, social and legal systems.
   
   The book is subdivided into two distinct categories: Book One "Deciphering the Democratic Code" and Book Two: "The Bush Plan." Book One is basically an overview of various aspects of the constitution, international law, due process, the 1st, 4th and 6th Amendments, types of courts, etc. In Book Two, the author tears into (amongst other things) the Patriot Act, America's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, the Abu Ghraib scandal, detentions in Guantanomo Bay, the coup in Haiti, and the Free Trade of Americas Agreement.
   
   Of particular interest is Van Bergen's argument that there's a movement underfoot "to clear the way for the concept that 'activists = terrorists'." According to the author, it's all about the administration's goal to achieve "control, suppression, and eradication of opposition." And there are some mind-boggling examples here--including the "sailor-mongering" charge levied against the Greenpeace protestors, and the use of the Patriot Act against activists who simply express their beliefs. Van Bergen also touches on the Lynne Stewart case. Ms Stewart was the court-appointed attorney for Sheik Abdul Rahman, who was subjected to electronic surveillance, and her offices raided. This, Van Bergen argues, is a direct challenge to the Sixth Amendment rights. (Interestingly enough, after finishing the book, I looked up Stewart's case on the Internet, and I did discover that many in the legal profession are indeed concerned about exactly how one is supposed to represent a terrorist suspect after what happened to Stewart. I found many sites pro and con Stewart's case, and found it much more difficult to find out what she is actually accused of.)
   
   The book also includes information about the MATRIX "data mining system" (Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information exchange)--a system which according to the ACLU "is controversial because it involves not the attempt to learn more facts about known suspects, but mass scrutiny of the lives and activities of innocent people ... to see whether each of them shows any signs of being a terrorist or a criminal." The MATRIX creates a "terrorist quotient" that "measures the likelihood that individuals in the databases are terrorists." In theory, we could all have our own "High Terrorist Factor" (HTF). According to the author, those with the highest scores have their names passed on to such agencies as the INS, FBI, and the Secret Service. MATRIX is "financed and managed" by the Dept of Homeland Security. The book goes into detail about the MATRIX system, and the information here is startling. The ACLU states that the MATRIX system "constitutes a massive invasion of privacy, and a violation of the core democratic principles."
   
   Another fascinating chapter is devoted to the Patriot Act, which, the author argues, allows the government to stomp on the Fourth Amendment (right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures). By redefining the standards of "terrorist investigations", categories are expanded and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Acts (FISA) allows investigators "without probable cause to get your library records, your educational, financial, or medical records as long as an FBI agent" claims the records are required "in connection with an ongoing foreign intelligence investigation."
   
   The book finally, and appropriately ends with a chapter on torture and abuse, and the author touches on the historical significance of the Geneva Conventions (they were never called the Geneva Suggestions).
   
   There's a mine of information here, and it's a good thing the author follows the text with scrupulous chapter-by-chapter notes. I'm not a lawyer, so I can't defend or oppose the merits of the legal arguments here, but I would be fascinated to see how lawyers feel about the book's arguments. As a non-lawyer, however, I can honestly say that I learned a great deal from reading this well-written, eye-opening book---displacedhuman



2. The one point on which Jennifer Van Bergen as author of "Twilight of Democracy" and George W. Bush agree is over the assertion made by the latter that "America has been changed forever by the tragedy of 9-11." From that point forward Van Bergen, an attorney active in the South Florida branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Bush travel widely disparate ideological paths.
   
   Van Bergen shrewdly delineates the path traveled by the Bush Administration in the wake of September 11, 2001 as it declared war against terrorism and sought to acquire powers held by chief executives in totalitarian states and denied them in democratic nations. Only Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California voted against granting the executive branch the sweeping powers it sought in the wake of 9-11 as the House and Senate voted in an otherwise unanimous manner.
   
   One important point that Van Bergen makes that has been mentioned all too infrequently is that the entire war on terror announced by Bush after 9-11, and used as an immediate basis to launch a fierce military attack in Afghanistan, is predicated on spurious constitutional and common law grounds. In any military or police action a specific nation or organizational entity needs to be identified. Bush's war on terror does not meet that important criterion since its fails the specificity test.
   
   As Van Bergen carefully delineates, by declaring war on a non-specific entity and stating that such a conflict has no measurable end in sight, the opportunity is ripe for an octopus-like executive branch to, in the interest of preserving democracy, bring about its demise in the interest of safeguarding the nation and its people from terrorism. The instrument of accomplishment was the infamous Patriot Act, which left the Bill of Rights in tatters.
   
   The sweeping arm of the law swooped down on innocent citizens and aliens in America who were Arabs and practiced Islam. The umbrella expansiveness of the Patriot Act permitted them to arrest suspects without a warrant and detain them for non-specific periods of time without charging them. The dangerous abrogation of rights extended beyond this slippery slope and into the constitutional guarantee of right of counsel. In instances where attorneys were permitted to speak with such defendants, authorities were permitted to listen in on the conversations, rendering the privilege of counsel essentially null and void through destroying confidentiality. Again, these tactics are hallmarks of totalitarianism and anathema to democracy.
   
   A tactic used to circumvent dealing with defendants in traditional constitutional circumstances is to declare any individual suspected of terrorist acts or giving support to terrorist groups as enemy combatants. This has been used in the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison to evade American constitutional or international safeguards such as the U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Code. Democracy is denied on the pretext of saving the institution, a tragic contradiction through which freedoms have been trampled and America has come closer to representing apartheid South Africa than a constitutional democracy.
   
   In addition to laying out the legal case against the usurpation of democracy by the Bush Administration, Van Bergen also lists fourteen basic points cited earlier by Lawrence W. Britt as dangerous common threads associated with Fascism.
   
   They include such totalitarian hallmarks as excessive nationalism, media control, pervasive scapegoating, obsession with militarism and national security, protection of corporations and denial of workers' basic rights, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism and corruption, and fraudulent elections.
   
   Americans should remember with caution the words spoken by Benjamin Franklin when he left Constitution Hall and was asked what kind of government had been bestowed on the new nation called America, t o which he responded, "A Republic if you can keep it."



3. An attorney with the South Florida Branch of the ACLU and an adjunct faculty member at the New School for Social Research, Jennifer Van Bergen understands that making the case for her position is essential to having the American people understand the danger which we and the country remain in.
   
   Van Bergen uses factual evidence to demonstrate how the Bush administration is eliminating democracy under the guise of 'homeland security'. Using very loaded flag-waving rhetoric, this government is attempting to have people believe that any criticism of their actions is infact support for 'the terrorists'.
   
   The problem is that 'the terrorists' are never actually identified and remain annoymous masses in this same scenario. After all, the real focus of the Bush administration is keeping people scared so many will not question the actions of their government and there is a greater chance that those who do dissent can be labeled as 'troublemakers'.
   
   During the 1960's the federal government used 'red menace' rhetoric to justify the wiretapping and surveliance of left wing activists. The 'remote' possibility of communist infiltration (and subsequent social impacts) in these organizations were considered enough to justify the actions. Following Hoover's death, Congress placed long-needed restrictions on the FBI's ability to place American citizens under surveliance and made that information available through public request. To read the administration's support for the PATRIOT Act honestly feels like we are ignoring all of this history and failing to learn from the past.
   
   This failure is also how a 'conservative' administration squares the obviously expanded bureacracy against their public promotion of limited government. PATRIOT Act expansions are a big exception to their usual rules specifically because the conservatives are the ones who are doing the government expansion and surveliance. The ultimate impact on citizen freedoms is secondary (if weighted at all) to the president and his buddies getting and maintaining their absolute power over everybody else.
   
   The conclusions in this book are chilling---and ever more accurate with each passing day. It is an accessible read for people wanting affirmation that they are not reading into things, but is also important for audiences who need to know what their government is really doing.



4. Jennifer Van Bergen has written a most important book that is a must read for all Americans who cherish freedom.
   Miss Van Bergen,a member of the ACLU and The National Lawyers Guild,is a most articulate spokesperson for the point of view that under the leadership of President Bush America is drifting slowly,but surely,toward a corporate state(read fascism).She points out that it is NOT only the so called "Patriot Act"that threathens the rights of Americans(circumventing the 4th amendment)but also such things as The North Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) and the lesser known The Free Trade of (the) Americas Agreement(FTAA),both of which deny benefits to the average person,curtails labor rights,but also hands over all kinds of new "rights" to "corporate bloodsuckers"(my term), so that they can continue to plunder the environment and enforce "wage slavery" on 90%+ of the population.She examines the state of the courts,and the three separate,but equal branches of our government,and with the GOP already claiming The Presidency and a having a majority in both houses of Congress the independence of the judiciary is in great question,and with the Democrats sitting back and allowing Bush to stack the courts with hard right thugs,the future of this country as a free democratic republic is in great jeopardy.For all their talk about opposing "judge made law",and being in favor of "strict construction"(original intent) the GOP members of Congress are making the road to fascism easier by NOT OPPOSING Bush's vision(as if he ever had a vision concerning anything)of a unitiary goverment,which if allowed to proceed will only lead to dictatorship,slavery,and death. Ms Van Bergen book was written before the (anti)immigration debate really started with its harsch provisions conerning "aid to illegal aliens".These provisions are so reactionary and hateful that key leaders of the Catholic Church(Cardinal Mahoney,of L.A.for one) urge Church members NOT to cooperate with these fear-mongering articles,of the new immigration bill.For once a Church leader standing up for the teachings of Jesus!
   This 228 page book includes the very helpful Britt's List -the fourteen points common to fascist regimes,and "The Cheney Plan for Global Dominance,a truely frightening scenario.
   As I write this CBS News reports that the governments wants all internet companies to keep the records of ALL internet users,in order to fight terrorism and sexual abuse cases.I sure believe that one!1984 is here!!
   Ignorance is Strength.
   Slavery is Freedom!
   War is Peace!
   This is an excellent book!!!



5. Jennifer Van Bergen has given us a book that should be must reading for every American. If you think we might be on our way towards a Fascist state in America, you need to read this book. Ms. Van Bergen explains how the PATRIOT Act has damaged the United States Constitution. She also tells us what we must do to correct the current state of America.
   The book is very well done, in easy to understand language. This book should be on the reading list of every American.

No comments about Understanding Terrorism: Groups, Strategies, and Responses (2nd Edition).

5 comments about Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq.

1. An academic asked to review a ponderous tome of literary criticism penned one of the the best short reviews ever, when he said, "This book weighs 17 pounds." The problem with Cobra II is not that it is inaccurate in its tale of how the easy military conquest of Iraq turned into a complicated and sticky insurgency. It is not wrong in its judgement that those in the field increasingly "got it" while their superiors in Washington did not. It is that the tale is told in such overwhelming detail and in such a boring way that slogging through it becomes a chore instead of a pleasure. A look at Fiasco, which is nearly equally detailed, shows how a similar narrative, fair but impassioned, keeps the reader turning pages.



2. Amazing book full of very detailed accounts of the planning of the Iraq war and actual battles during the invasion. Stories in this book that i have not heard anywhere else. Being an Iraq war vet myself, I really enjoyed this book.



3. "Having failed to prepare for post-combat burdens, undertaken the war with the minimal acceptable forces, and canceled the deployment of badly needed reinforcements, the Bush Administration compounded the problem by disbanding the Iraqi army, putting more than 300,000 armed men on the streets, and denying local elections that would have allowed the Iraqis a measure of control over their own affairs."
   
   Not to mention the oversold and flat wrong reasons we went to war in the first place.
   
   The men who wrote these words are Lt. General Bernard E. Trainor (Marine Corps, ret.) and Michael R. Gordon, chief military correspondent for the New York Times. No knee-jerk Bush-bashers, the authors also wrote what is considered to be the definitive history of the first Persian Gulf War, a book Dick Cheney recommends to his friends. I'm surprised to report that a definitive history of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, is here in our hands. Already. And the war is still going on.
   
   Written with military precision but with little jargon, Cobra II swoops and dives between the blinding dust of desert warfare and faraway, high-level, secure conference rooms in Washington DC and coalition headquarters in Kuwait. It's the difference between flying at a strategic 50,000 feet and rolling with the grunts in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team that surprised everyone by showing up in downtown Baghdad before they were supposed to. Reading Cobra II, you've got to love the American soldier. These are the men and women who arrived in Nasiriyah, short on sleep, having been told to prepare for parades with the city fathers, but are instead confronted with the Fedayeen and their rocket propelled grenades and AK-47s, the "insurgents" of today. US soldiers and field commanders adapted and did their job. The top brass, primarily Donald Rumsfeld, General Tommy Franks and George W. Bush, did not.
   
   Stronger at the 50,000 foot level, as when telling the tale of the immense and impressive planning effort that began in late 2001 or when describing the battles between field commanders and Franks, the authors present, in well documented and annotated detail the invasion's story and the increasingly evident five major strategic blunders on the part of the war's planners and managers. "Rumsfeld and his generals misread their foe by viewing the invasion of Iraq largely as a continuation of the Persian Gulf War....the CIA was not only wrong on WMD, but failed to identify the importance of the Fedayeen." Or "the troops' training and the leadership in the field and at the allied land command paid off. But the American war plan was never adjusted on high. Tommy Franks never acknowledged the enemy he faced, nor did he comprehend the nature of the war he was directing." It's evident, that despite Franks' later claim of credit for the winning war strategy, he got us to Baghdad but that's about it. Now what?
   
   Marine Lieutenant Therral "Shane" Childers, veteran of the first Gulf War, was leading a platoon in the early hours of the invasion in southern Iraq. Across the desert, a single, tan Toyota pickup truck sped towards them. The Marines held their fire since they were told to engage Iraqi armor, not civilians in pickups. The Iraqis raised their AK-47s and sprayed the Marines with bullets, one of which killed Childers. He was the first American soldier killed in enemy action. Prophetically, he was killed by insurgents, not by Saddam's Republican Guard. Too bad we didn't pick up on that.
   
   Read this book. It's your duty to be well-informed.



4. The authors have done an exhaustive resource that provides the reader with most of the background for the preparation of the invasion of Iraq and its subsequent developments.
   
   A very interesting book.



5. Although some may say this book is "too detailed" or "too boring to read", I would say that that is what you'd want from a hot topic that is at the top of the news every day.
   
   Aside from enjoying the book because I was there in 2003 during the invasion, I enjoy how the authors paint a picture of what was happening at different levels. We read about the strategic planning done by the President and the Secretary of Defense, down to the operational level with the war planners at USCENTCOM, and down further to the tactical level with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in the trenches. We get to be the "fly on the wall" as we learn what was discussed in the war room and feel the gutsy calls by the commanders in the field taking Baghdad, block by block.
   
   I recommend this book for anyone involved in the conflict or those who wish to get an account of how the planning to invade Iraq went down. Whether you're for or against the war, this is a good read to expand your knowledge base of what's going on right now in the Middle East.
   
   -GM
   Gregory M. Kuzma
   Author, On the field from Denver, Colorado...The Blue Knights!: One member's experience of the 1994 summer national tour (N)

5 comments about Red Storm Rising.

1. This book was lauded as a realistic piece in its day, but this is one of the most far-fetched works of military propaganda ever written, and one must wonder if the U.S. military did not have a hand in the book in order to sell the need for more conventional arms to the American public through a secondary source. Sure, this novel is classified as fiction--but honestly--anyone who visits globalsecurity.org for more than three or four hours will discover just how ludicrous some of the scenarios presented in the book would have been in the reality of 1987 (as if WWIII would have gone forth without nuclear weapons to begin with).
   
   For example, almost the entire book is based on a scenario whereby the Soviet Union is able to take Iceland from NATO extremely quickly, but there is no possible way the Soviet Union could have taken Iceland from NATO in 1987 without the soviets having suffered significant naval and air losses in the process. But if the Soviets could have accomplished such a task, the United States could have conducted a quick counterstrike with cruise missiles, F-16s, and F-18s [i]at minimum[/i] shortly afterward from Thule Air Base in nearby Greenland (the U.S had significant warning and was at Defcon 2 for quite some time beforehand in the book); instead, in Clancy's world, the U.S. waits for days after the Soviets establish themselves all over the island with a mere shipload of supplies: what is more, the Americans then limit their counterstrike to a small force of archaic F-4s and B-52s! Is it reasonable to assume that the Soviets could have created a greater defensive presence on Iceland within two weeks than the United States and NATO could have when the U.S. had months (if not years) to do so?
   
   It is not as if Tomahawk missiles and stealth fighter aircraft are missing in Clancy's book--they are simply mentioned in unrealistic scenarios. For some reason, the U.S. Navy can creep near Soviet territory to fire off cruise missiles--but they could not do so near Iceland, as has been mentioned previously.
   
   Clancy creates an overrated book of extreme double standards and contradictions. If you know a fair amount about real military strategy, it makes it almost impossible to enjoy the rest of the book without pulling one's hair out. NATO's ground forces are excellent in the book, but the U.S. Navy is made out to be a weak and incapable force--if anything, the opposite would be the case in reality.
   
   But then again, even the quantitatively COMBINED ground forces of NATO and the United States outnumbered those of the Soviet Union--surely, the U.S. and Europe already had enough ammunition stored in Europe to have destroyed every Soviet tank twenty times over. The book makes the NATO ground units seem to be invincible, which they probably would have been in a defensive struggle, yet, they run into supply shortages--give me a freaking break! They could have had truckloads upon truckloads of ammunition airlifted to them if they needed to do so! This wasn't the early 20th century!
   
   If you know nothing about military forces, read this book, and by all means enjoy it--but please, educate yourself afterwards. Don't think you are somewhat enlightened about the U.S. military just because you have read a long and outright dry Tom Clancy book such as this. If you want a good Clancy book, read Patriot Games--at least it is free of all the needless technobabble and geopolitical nonsense.



2. I've read all of the fiction books that Tom Clancy has written. Although I loved them all, this is the best in my opinion.



3. I read this book in the early 1990s. Since then I have re-read it several times. Simply the best World War III depiction of the 80s and 90s. A great read even today, even if the Cold War is long over. The introduction hardly lasts 70 pages, and then its unfettered war, war and war. Brilliant!
   
   Unfortunately, Clancy's work has deteroriated in recent years. His latest sponsored work, EndWar was a huge disappointment of an old man stuck in a Cold War past. Fortunately the pool of creativity is endless and new authors are replacing old has-beens. "War against Islam" by George P. Robertson is the Red Storm Rising of 2008. Another great book is Caliphate by Tom Kratzman...



4. The brief review: The first thing that strikes you is the length of the book which weighs in at close to 800 pages. The action picks up from the beginning and very quickly the belligerent sides tear into one another over land, sea, and air. The strengths of the book are the detailed naval and submarine warfare exploits (both shown from American perspectives only). The land warfare is surprisingly weak in comparison, along with a soppy romance story that is given unnecessary exposure. After 700 pages a sudden and unrealistic plot device allows the end of hostilities in a draw.
   
   ******SPOILERS**********
   As other reviewers have pointed out, the lack of deployment of tactical nukes is astounding. The Group of Soviet Forces Germany had close to 400,000 soldiers and 5000 tanks stationed in East Germany alone, during the time-frame of 1986 in the book. It is hard to believe that the Warsaw Pact forces streaming into West Germany from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and East Germany would proceed only as far as the Weser river after a month of fighting! Amazingly, there seems to be no hostilities anywhere else in Europe, the Middle East, or Asia.
   The action set in Iceland drags on and on and should have been cut drastically. The USSR was one of the largest producers of oil in the world and would not have started a war over that. The beginning of the book seems to be inspired by Frederick Forsyth's 'The Devil's Alternative'. There is no mention of Soviet naval activities in the Pacific. Finally, what takes the cake is the overthrow of the Soviet government and takeover of the largest country in the world with a battalion of soldiers!



5. The first thing you will notice about Red Storm rising is that it is a cold war era book. However, that does not take away from the great story telling that goes into it and describing both the main story and the numerous back stories that surround this book. The book is a great read for people who love military, Suspense or Tom Clancy novel but if you cringe at war then dont buy this book. The only reason i gave it a four was becasue of the age of the book. Had it been made in a more current time it would have gotten a five. Other than that for anyone who loves these books this is anexcellent addition to anyone's collection or Library.

5 comments about Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left.

1. Well written and brutally honest. The media and the Democrats are launching the LARGEST PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN ever in the history of the United States. They have undermined the Soldier's fighting for OUR FREEDOM. The real war has not even started yet and the left wingers in this Country are THE ENEMY WITHIN and a danger to National Security of the USA. They hide their treason behind dissent. They (The Democrats) go to Europe and Arab Nations bad mouthing THEIR OWN COUNTRY during wartime and they should be jailed upon their return, sentenced and then executed for treason.



2. At one time the left loved the Soviet Union and embraced its wickedness now the times have changed and now as Ann Coulter says that radical Islam is hip and awfully fashionable among the left. Horowitz points out once again that politics makes for strange bed fellows. In this case the left has done nothing that is surprising. It can't be said often enough that the left has an agenda. The agenda is to take down America with any means possible. Listen to what Tim Robbins said just recently, "North Korea has a right to have nuclear power and nuclear bombs, does America think that they are the only ones who gets to blow people up?." I mean is that guy out of his mind or what? Then when asked what he thinks what America should do if Iran got nuclear bombs, he states sarcastically "well I guess we should go over there and kill as many women and children as we can." Wow, what a true visionary. Is this guy an idiot or what? This is how utterly insane and evil the left is. I am not saying that Tim Robbins is an evil person. I am not saying that he is not either. I don't know the man but I am pointing out just like Horowitz that there is an unholy alliance by the left with that which is evil. Let's look at the record. The New York Times ran an article on its front two pages about Abu Graib for almost a year and the dispicable media with the exception of Fox ran the story into the ground as Horowitz points out. The "NEWS" agencies ran the beheadings of Americans for only as long as they had to which amounted to about 2 days on the average, yes occssionally they will bring it up from time to time because they do want to make money and even the New York Times knows that it has to sell papers. So they will throw America some crumbs once in awhile.
   
   But this what makes the left in this country so darn evil, is that they will allign themselves with the likes of Osama Bin Laden, Chavez, Castro and tell anyone who disagrees with them that they are clueless trailer trash. This is the truth.
   
   Once again David Horrowitz hits it right on the head by pointing out that the no other country will ever destroy us but that we will if the left is allowed to continue to go unchecked. Face it the majority of people in this country are not leftist nut jobs and this book points out that so much or our policy is determined by those who want so bad to undermine our fine traditions.
   
   Five stars. Horowitz is a gifted writer and spells out the unholy alliance that the left has with radical Islam and would sell out America in a heart beat, they would have every conservative hung or burned at the stake and partial birth abortion on demand or forced.
   
   By the way Pauzer just go ahead and cut and paste your comments. Let me see somehow I have to think that he word "generalization" is going to be slipped in there somewhere and the question "is this a review?"
   
   Excellent book, tells the truth and once again leaves the liberals out in the cold wondering who do we go to to further wreck America?



3. I read his very well-written autobiography last summer, and was highly impressed with his erudition and reasonableness. Thinking he's an interesting writer, it is a quite shocking letdown to see this book even in print; it should have stayed as a thought in his head. Perhaps I was taken in by what may actually have been an act, a cleverly designed portrayal of a critically minded man with an intellectual journey but, in actuality, the same ideologue he was when he helped flack for Stalinist Russia. Maybe, and maybe not. What is certain is that this particular book is nothing more than a hysterical diatribe with little basis in fact, if any. I'll give it two stars to be charitable, since I pity this guy.



4. How can the far left be allied with the far right of Islamic Nazism? David Horowitz, a former brainwashed member of the Stalinist left, tells us decisively, accurately and with fastidious research. I know no lefty wants to read this, and the few negative reviews, show that many of them did not, but it's so true, so maddening and so dangerous.
   Whenever America, Israel, democracy and capitalism is involved, the left steps back and condemns. It's no wonder as we mature, folks like me, move right.



5. Ordinarily, I can't justify buying books by Horowitz, because I'm not paying full-fare for trash.
   
   But a bargain bin price at Borders wasn't too bad.
   
   Unfortunately for Horowitz, he seems to go from A to Z without much in the way of intervening logic. Ward Churchill has a red phone to Bin Laden. Therefore, everyone who is not right of Pat Buchanan is a traitor.

5 comments about Real Time.

1. As a school librarian who works with young adults, I read Real Time with great interest. It deals with current issues in a way that today's teens can relate to both on a personal level and as a window into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ms. Kass has drawn together a diverse cast of characters, each with his/her own agenda and emotional baggage, intertwining their lives against the background of historical tragedy and present-day issues. The protaganist, Thomas Wanniger, is coming to Israel to try to unravel the mystery of his grandfather's disappearance while serving in the German army during World War II. His decision to participate as a volunteer on a kibbutz near Jerusalem draws several other characters into the plot, which is laid out, chapter by chapter, on a digitally measured time-line. Sameh Lahem, a Palestinian who sneaks across the border every day to work as a dishwasher in a popular diner, expresses the frustration and religious zeal of the Palestinian youth ready to give up their own lives to kill Israelis. The tension grows as the inevitable crossing of their paths ends explosively. Real Time succeeds in balancing many points of view in the context of everyday reality in Israel. My own enthusiasm for Real Time is apparently shared by many others as it was recently awarded the prestigious Sydney Taylor Award. I plan to recommend it most highly to high school students and adults.



2. Although the reader of Real Time begins this journey cognizant of the impending and catastrophic explosion that connects the lives of its diverse characters, there is nothing predictable about this book. It is a powerful and gripping story, and hooks the reader from the start. Each character is depicted with complexity, from the guilt-ridden adolescent grandson of a German soldier, compelled to discover the truth about his grandfather's past, to the Holocaust survivor trying to create order and beauty on an Israeli kibbutz. These are but two of the lives that are fatefully woven together, and the reader is quickly drawn into their worlds, both external and political, and internal and private. Ms. Kass artfully renders palpable the wide range of often contradictory--and therefore real--emotions that haunt each of the characters, and succeeds in the extremely difficult task of translating the wordless horror of trauma into language. There are no happy endings in this book, at least not in the familiar sense; however, amidst the interminable suffering, Ms. Kass' depiction of deep and enduring love offers relief, and serves to sustain us and give us hope.



3. This book is the 2004 winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers category. The award is given each year for the best in Jewish children's literature.
   
   Real Time follows a number of characters hour by hour to the moment when their lives intersect at a bus bombing in Israel, and through the aftermath of the event. We hear the voices of kibbutzniks, an earnest German youth, and even the Palestinian boy who has been persuaded to
   carry the bomb. Some characters are followed through the entire book, while others make only brief appearances. The format takes some time to adjust to, but once you become immersed in the story, it is extremely readable.
   
   The book is sophisticated in its construction, in its characterization, and in its realism. Intricate timing allows us to see simultaneous events and to understand how they are likely to become connected. Every character is realistically portrayed as a mixture of good and bad, guilt and hope, victim and oppressor, each dealing with their own unbearable situation. Each person speaks for him or herself, without interpretation by a narrator, effectively and economically revealing the relevant thoughts and emotions. While the events of the story are the stuff of today's headlines, the book's format shows how political situations are really composed of many, many overlapping personal situations. The whole concept of the book is summed up by the character Baruch, when he says "I am part of the story, and Dan, and Lidia, and also the Palestinian boy, the suicide bomber. Like tangled string when you pull it, it gets tighter."



4. I was apprehensive about reading this book because I wasn't sure whether it would be from a balanced perspective or whether it would take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Having read it, I wouldn't classify it in either category; I'd just have to say that it's realistic. The book revolves around a homicide bombing of a bus in Israel. It is told through the perspectives of various characters, including a German teenager who's come to Israel to find out about his grandfather who may have been a Nazi, an Israeli soldier, an Israeli immigrant, the 16 year old Palestinian boy recruited as a "Shaheed," the Israeli who imploys this boy illegally, a Palestinian doctor treating the bomb victims in an Israeli hospital, and others.
   
   The author presents a startlingly realistic portrait of what living and being in Israel is like for all of these people. She communicates the emotions and tensions that come with living under such tense circumstances and brings readers into this challenging world, allowing them to see what it's like for themselves.
   
   I highly recommend this book and challenge audiences to try to step out of their secure worlds for a few hours and into the lives of the people in this book. I think it will be an enlightening experience.



5. REAL TIME is set in contemporary Israel, telling a story in real time, in which the lives of so many people come together, minute by minute. The narration switches back and forth between several different characters, telling one story but also many stories.
   
   These characters include Thomas, a German boy who has come to Israel looking for answers about his family. Baruch, a Holocaust survivor who now works on a kibbutz. Vera, another kibbutz worker who is finding her Jewish roots and escaping her tragic past in Odessa. Sameh, a Palestinian working illegally at a diner. Saheh's friend Omar, a reporter, and many, many others. All of these people are different, looking for different things, but there is a moment when all of their lives come together, and it is a tragedy.
   
   So much sadness, so much despair, is evident. Can there be healing and hope for those who survive this tragedy? Only time will tell.
   
   This novel is a breathtaking story, but it's more than that. For one thing, it's a behind-the-scenes look at what is usually seen only on television. And yet it's more than behind-the-scenes; it's the secrets, thoughts, hopes, and dreams of every person involved. The way this story is told, in (as the title suggests) real time, switching back and forth between several narrators, is a part of what makes it amazing. If just one character told the story, so many aspects of it would not be seen. Pnina Kass Moed is a brilliant writer, and the story she tells in REAL TIME is equally brilliant.
   
   Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

5 comments about Enemies: How America's Foes Steal Our Vital Secrets--and How We Let It Happen.

1. The title should be "The Enemy Within" as we seem to be our own worse enemy.
   
   The priority always seemed to be telling the powers to be what they wanted to hear in order to preserve job security and personal career growth.
   
   If we continue to keep the "head in the sand" attitude we will be in real trouble.
   
   I urge anyone who works for a defense contractor or a government agency to read this book.
   
   Dave C
   Nashua , NH



2. This book brings to light the extent our enemies will go to get information they want. It also tells how often international agreements on arms and nuclear material are violated for money. While the United States has to try to work with many nations to broker some form of peace, the book shows there is no Nation we can fully trust. A good read for anyone interested in espionage and counterintelligence.



3. It will never happen, of course. Real investigative reporters who don't disguise their love and concern for the United States, folks like Bill Gertz and Bill Sammon will never gain the respect and votes of the Pulitzer Prize committee. They preserve their votes for people like Walter Duranty, who denied there was famine in the Ukraine and won a Lenin Prize in addition to his Pulitzer.
   
   Gertz is concerned for America's safety. As he puts it "[u]ntil we fix the gaping holes in our defenses, America will remain highly vulnerable to our enemies." And after reading this book, if you weren't already worried, you will be.
   
   Anyone who has visited a government office, whether to renew their driver's license, pay their property taxes, mail a package or whatever, knows that governments do not hire the cream of the crop. What happens when second, third and fourth rate people are hired by the CIA, the FBI and other security agencies?
   
   Uh, you get second, third or fourth rate performance in situations where the stakes are very, very high: like the preservation of the nation's secrets.
   
   Gertz details scandals resulting from the incompetence of the CIA and FBI. A Chinese woman has two lovers, both FBI agents. She's one of their prized informants - and a spy for the Chinese government. The investigation of her is muddled and she walks.
   
   The FBI spends years persecuting a CIA agent suspected of being a spy. They have no real evidence, but the harassment is non-stop. Their big clue is the CIA employee's proximity to a partiular park. After three years, after a KGB defector is paid $7 million for information, the FBI learns that the spy indeed lives near the park in question: his name is Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent who has spied for the Soviets for years.
   
   Gertz points out that literally every nation is spying on the United States - and that our agencies are horribly grossly incompetent to detect the spies and catch them.
   
   This is a frightening book, but one that every concerned American should read.
   
   Jerry



4. I think this book is excellent for one who likes to write essays or research paper about national security. There are a lot of information I haven't even known before from other information sources. the content of the book is well organized, so easy to collect information what I need for my writing. The stories were real happened, so it made me be interested. I'm sure this book is good for you to achieve your goals to write essays or researchpaper as well as you enjoy reading many interesting real stories.



5. Gertz took a critical issue and turns it into a litany of anecdotal stories about people who betray the trust their government put in them. Yes, there are spies in our government and something needs to be done with them. But Gertz is short on answers other than blaming the political correctness crowd and liberal democrats. Although they are deserving of much of the blame they are not the only ones guilty of the gaps in our counter-espionage efforts.
   
   One thing that really jumped out at me is his choice of sources. One individual -- whose name escapes me as I do not have the book in front of me -- is a counter-espionage expert at the FBI who is described in several chapters as part of the problem in terms of covering for people who probably do not deserve cover and is then cited as an expert in other chapters. Which is it Bill? Either this source is part of the problem or part of the solution?
   
   All in all, the book was big on rehashing stories of spies within the government but short on solutions.

1 comments about Al Qaeda in Its Own Words.

1. Very interesting book it is a series of translations of various type of communications from the top Al Qaeda leaders along with personal biographies on each of them. I found reading these communications helpful in giving me an idea of the rationalization of these murderous fanatics

5 comments about Funding Evil, Updated: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It.

1. An article entitled, "A SLAAP Against Freedom" in the current (Autumn 2007) issue of City Journal talks about the nonsense this book's author went through regarding this book in the goofy U.K. legal system. Evidently, freedom of speech is NOT a right guaranteed in the U.K. Fortunately, U.S. courts are handling this case as a First Amendment issue. (BTW, Amazon's U.K. operation doesn't stock this book ... or, at the very least, isn't stocking the book at this moment.)
   
   The article also notes how Cambridge University Press succumbed to a frivolous libel suit of a similar nature. A sad day for CUP (one of my favorite publishers). Although I'm sure the author in question can find another publisher, a CUP imprint will be tough to match.
   
   Let's hope that U.S. courts remain above frivolous libel suits and protect freedom of speech.
   
   God Bless America!!



2. Funding Evil will arm you with enough knowledge to see the outlines of the jihad strategy to spread sharia and Dar al Islam around the world. It is dense with enough detail to make it a vital reference, yet engaging and readable for mainstream audiences. It ought to be available in every library in America and the West.
   
   Scanning the book, it's not hard to see why libel tourists such as Khalid bin Mafouz want it squashed and sue to keep it out of your hands. He appears on page 22 accused of dropping tens of millions of dollars directly into terrorist bank accounts. He appears on page 39 dropping funds into the bank accounts of "charities" that are in turn known supporters of Hamas and al Qaeda. His family turns up throughout the book funding various causes that just happen to funnel money to terrorist groups. The book certainly either defames or defines his character. Given the fact that other authors have researched bin Mafouz's finances and found similar financial connections and transactions, it's more likely the latter. So he sues.
   
   Dr. Ehrenfeld's fight against libel tourism will set free speech precedent for decades to come. If she succeeds, courts outside the US will not be able to punish authors whose books are published in the US but sold internationally via Amazon and other online outlets. If her fight fails, then Khalid bin Mafouz will use his billions to come after other American authors who expose how terrorism is financed and fueled by wealthy Saudis and others who appear to be trying to buy their way into paradise by funding worldwide homicide bombing. And he'll come after US reporters, columnists and bloggers too. Her fight is our fight and your fight too.
   
   Funding Evil is essential reading. With a foreword by former DCI James Woolsey and a critique of the 9-11 Commission report as well as details on terror financing and support for the legal jihad that reach right into the Saudi royal family, Funding Evil is indeed a book that the Saudis don't want you to read.



3. If a Saudi royal is spending millions on muzzling the author of this book, you better believe it has some good stuff inside! This is a must-read for any non-Muslim, and it is important to purchase this book to support the brave, idealistic, sacrificing author, who is in the same righteous league as other heroes like Robert Spencer, Andrew Bostom, Ibn Warraq, Ali Sina, Walid Shoebat, Brigitte Gabriel, Bat Ye'or, and a few others. Buy a copy for yourself. If you have a relative or friend who works in any capacity for DHS, buy him or her a copy, too. This is especially important because of infiltration of Muslims into our government (read also Infiltration by Paul Sperry), as evidenced by the recent termination of Stephen Coughlin, a key Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and jihad, as a result of Muslim pressure by Hesham Islam and the terrorist front groups CAIR and ISNA.



4. This book is a must read for those who wish to know how the Islamists are financing their Hard and Soft Jihad within all western nations. This book should be made obligatory reading in all Western Universities and Government Departments.
   
   Dr. Ehrenfeld has gone out on a limb to report these insidious activities that occur on a daily basis within ALL our societies, by an ideology whose main goal is to subjugate and conquer our free and democatic nations.
   
   I recommend this book to those who wish to know how the enemy, that we are now being forced to confront, not only in our own backyards but globally, operates.



5. A waste of space, with out of date (for 2002) information concerning the IRA who by 2002 had decommissioned, also bas info on African diamond trade, plus a heavy Zionist bias. Not worth the money, and after the Turner Diaries the worst book that I have ever purchased from the U.S. NOT RECOMMENDED buy something else. Rated zero stars. "Ghostrider" [I have been to Afghanistan, most of the Arab world :Iran,Iraq,Egypt, Libya, Saudi, Kuwait; South and Central America, mainly the no-tourist places, as well as "Red" China (c 1976) and a few "nasty" places in Africa, (in no special order) Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Angola.

No comments about Beyond al-Qaeda: Part 1: The Global Jihadist Movement.