Rating: 
Summary: Persuasive and Accessible
Review: This is a book that anyone can understand. It clearly outlines the path to the truth about the "sixteen words" and how the Bush Adminstration refused to take that path. Wilson reminds me of Daniel Ellsberg, and the people under the control of Karl Rove remind me of Nixon's henchmen. Many of them went to prison. Hmmmm...............
Rating:
Summary: Insightful look at diplomacy & dirty politics
Review: Ambassador Joseph Wilson's book is an absorbing, engaging read, covering a wide range of topics: from his wild youth, to his stints in various diplomatic posts for both Democratic and Republican presidents, and his current dealings with the nefarious G.W. Bush Administration and their leaking of his wife as an undercover CIA operative. If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes games--both abroad and domestic--that get played every day, I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable...But Sadly True
Review: I read with disbelief Mr. Wilson's story. We want to hold out and not believe our country is capable of such actions. Thanks to Mr. Wilson for being so candid. I am sure he thought long and hard before writing it. Mr. Wilson has a fantastic tale. Similiarly the tale Richard Yancey offers in "Confessions of a Tax Collector," shows our government in the same light, it is just on a different level of operation. Both men wrote op-ed pieces in the NY Times and both times our government took out their displeasure with the guys' "free speech" on the spouses...
Good book...sadly true....
Rating: 
Summary: I'm beginning to hate these kind of books
Review: There is no morality in politics in this country. Why does that surprise me? Because we didn't have all these cheap,disgusting "kiss and tell" books prior to Nixon and Clinton. If we had, John Kennedy would have been fodder for the journalist's canons. I have no respect for someone like this. And, I have even less respect for the jounalists who let these stories out, in spite of the harm they may cause to our country. They don't care!! They just want a scoop
Now I see an alarming trend in the reviews by at least some of the editors here on Amazon. More and more I'm seeing Amazon editors/reviewers, blasting the Bush administration, then listing all the reviews with the most positive--five stars--first, and the lowest last, as if there were no criticisms, and everyone loved the book. STOP doing this, editors, you are stooping as low as the L.A. and N.Y. Times, and the Washington post rags.
This is so obviously a vengeance book that it is not worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: POLITICAL PAYBACK BACKFIRES ON BUSH
Review: As a Republican leaning independent, I am appalled at the revelations in this book. Joseph Wilson joins a well regarded group of insiders who've detailed the incompetence of the Bush administration. Endangering Ms. Plame's life and the security of the country for career building and political payback is tantamount to treason. And Novak should be prosecuted for his part in revealing her identity. What can we expect from an unprepared, sophomoric president who speaks on a second grade level and implores terrorists to "bring em on." What can we expect from a vice-president who hides in the shadows while pulling the strings. The Bush team rarely speaks beyond cliched, canned speeches while wasting lives and untold billions on the debacle in Iraq. The hubris of this administration is astounding and Valerie Plume's outing is just the tip of the iceberg. This book will add to the anger level of any nonpartisan, thinking American.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping, Beautifully Written True Horror Story
Review: Why are so many former Bush administration officials publishing books that reveal Dumbya's extreme incompetence and/or nefariousness? Of course, the few Bush-apologists out there will tell you in a well-rehearsed, robotic chant that its because every single one of these whistle blowers are simply disgruntled/lying/unreliable/insane liberals trying to make a buck by jumping on the Bush-bashing bandwagon. But as everybody else knows the real impetus behind the tell-all bestsellers is that Dumbya actually IS a completely vile oaf and people rightfully feel the truth needs to be told, especially now as election day creeps ever closer. Joseph Wilson's THE POLITICS OF TRUTH stands way out from the increasingly crowded field because unlike most of the others it tells a compelling and powerful personal story. The barest facts of what the current administration did to Wilson and his wife are probably known to every American, but the media only presented it to us as simply yet another Bush scandal. Wilson presents the human element that was left out of all the news stories, and allows us to see and feel everything as the true and horrific outrage that it was. The sheer viciousness of the campaign against Wilson (for simply telling the truth!) will surely anger and appall you, but the author's extreme credibility and superb writing skills will have hooked you from the very first page. THE POLITICS OF TRUTH is a highly recommended and important book, not to be missed by anyone with even the slightest interest in politics.
Rating:
Summary: Paying a Price for Integrity
Review: Joseph Wilson paid the price for integrity. Ironically, he had been given a hero's reception by the father of George W. Bush for his service in Iraq prior to the start of the 1991 Gulf War. What a difference a decade and circumstances surrounding another Bush can make. Wilson writes fascinatingly about his career in the Foreign Service, about accompanying Bill Clinton to Africa, along with what had been his most notable experience prior to recently, his experiences with Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein prior to the start of the 1991 Gulf War. Wilson was the last American to talk to the dictator prior to the onset of the conflict. After filling in readers on the interesting earlier experiences of his Foreign Service career he then deals with the tragic controversy that has made him a household name. Wilson determined following investigation that the report that Saddam Hussein was seeking yellow cake from which to extract uranium in the interest of building nuclear weapons, with which he would ostensibly attack America, was totally false. The next step in the scenario found Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, a secret CIA operative in the area of weapons of mass destruction, outed in an article by right wing columnist Robert Novak. Not only did the disclosure blow her cover, it left her exposed to possible assassination, an event that has occurred in certain cases involving other secret U.S. agents. Wilson delivers his theories of the despicable outing. He had earlier implicated Bush strategy guru Karl Rove. Wilson's new explanation after additional analysis is that Rove ordered what is termed a "workup" or overall analysis of Wilson. From there he writes about what happened, implicating a noted White House operative working for an even better known administration. The reader can pursue with interest from this point. The Bush administration delivered an unimaginative rebuttal when informed about Wilson's charges. Bush administration press secretary Scott McClellan explained that Wilson was a partisan who is supporting Bush's opponent, Senator John Kerry, which brings his credibility into jeopardy. Imagine that! Tell us, Scott. If your wife had suffered the same fate, would you be supporting the lead figure of the administration responsible?
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This book is an amazing read. I blew through this book in a short time, due, in large part, to the fascinating material it covers. Joe Wilson has worked as a diplomat for the US government since the seventies, in some very tough areas (primarily Africa). I was particularly surprised to learn that he was the diplomat in charge in Iraq during the time leading up to, and during a portion of, the first Gulf War. His perspective on that conflict should be required reading material, as he has a unique insiders view. His anger and overwhelming sense of betrayal at the leaking of his wife's identity (an act of treason) is palpable, and his sense of powerlessness to protect his loved ones from unethical attacks is searing. He is a man of principles, and one thing he holds very dear is the truth. It was his need for the truth to be told (his NYTimes article revealing that there was NO truth to the Niger/Iraq uranium deal)that led to the White House's cowardly attack on him and his family. They accuse him of being partisan, and yet, he even states that in the 2000 election, it was Bush he voted for. It was the betrayal by the current administration that solidified his support of a Democratic candidate. A must read!!
Rating:
Summary: Facts Show Wilson's Claims Are Not Credible
Review: There has been much hyperventilating among the Bush haters who have hailed this book as the scandal of the millineum. But very few reviewers look at the problems with the assertions in Wilson's book. Let's list the reasons that Wilson has credibility problems:
1) Wilson says that Bush lied about Saddam obtaining uranium from Niger. Bush never made such a claim, he said only that Saddam had SOUGHT uranium from Niger.
2) Nothing in Wilson's "investigation" refutes the notion that Saddam sought uranium from Niger
3) There is a longstanding history of Niger selling uranium to Iraq dating back to the 1970's.
4) Wilson was unqualified to conduct a national security investigation. A retired ambassador, he had no investigative experience. Wilsons's "investigation", by his own admission, consisted of spending most of his time in the fourth floor suite of his hotel.
5) During his time in Niger, Wilson, took most of his meetings poolside "drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people" (Wilson's own words). A real gumshoe, this Wilson guy.
6) It is questionable whether Nigerian officials even met with Wilson. The head of the major uranium concern in Niger (COMINAK) was never even contacted.
7) The accuracy of Wilson's conclusions is dubious. Wilson was unlikely to single-handedly get admissions from Nigerians about sales of uranium to Iraq (if such occurred)since such sales are illegal.
8) There is no need for anyone to discredit Wilson. His shoddy "investigation" discredits itself.
9) Wilson is hardly an objective disinterested person he is portrayed to be. He is an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute, an advocate of Saudi interests.
10) Long a bitter critic of the present administration, he has published in the Nation, a left wing magazine, accusing the president of imperial ambitions.
11) Wilson was recently a keynote speaker for a radical left wing forum called Education for Peace in Iraq, which has advocated the elimination of sanctions and no fly zones in Iraq which have protected the Kurds and Shias from being slaughtered by Saddam.
12) Wilson says that Bush/Cheney "twisted" intelligence to "exaggerate" the threat in Iraq, but Wilson has no idea what intelligence the administration has.
13) The supposed outing of Wilson's wife as a "covert" CIA "agent" is much ado over nothing and has been dramatized by Wilson to gin up the animosity he has towards Bush. Wilson's wife is not a "spy", "agent" of "operative". She is an analyst with the CIA. It is NOT illegal to disclose this fact.
14) Also, the fact of Wilson's wife's employment was not a secret-- such information was already publicly known among several journalists before the alleged "outing" by Robert Novack.
15) It's hard to feel much sympathy for Wilson regarding the "outing" of his wife. He is trying so hard to keep his wife's identitiy a secret that he appears in a full page spread photo with her in Vanity Fair magazine after he made his accusations about her supposed "outing".
16) Wilson is a reckless man who speaks with disregard for facts. For instance, he insists that Karl Rove is the mastermind of this plot to get him and that we should anticipate the day that Rove will be "frog marched out of the White House in handcuffs". Not one shred of evidence to back this up of course. He insists that Cheney staff member Scooter Libby was an integral part of this plot. Again, no facts, just things that Wilson has heard. Wilson has stolen a page out of Hillary's "vast right wing conspiracy" playbook. I could go on but you get the idea. It really is distressing to see so many people getting deceived by Wilson's bogus rant.
Rating: 
Summary: Why is he surprised?
Review: This is very well written book but odd. I'm surprised that he was surprised by the backstabbing he and his wife received. When you work for deceivers it shouldn't be a shock when it comes around to you. What does it mean when someone is called "a hero" by George Bush Sr.? Is that a good thing? What does it mean to be a CIA agent when that very profession has been part of untold horrors. What goes around comes around. Watch the disturbing but unrelenting USA The Movie- rent it or buy it through Amazon or usathemovie.com--to get a real gut-churning reminder that all of us...The Wilsons, the government, we the people are all constantly sticking it to each other and to others who have suffered by the intentional or unintentional actions of folks who can write a good book but who are blind to their own actions.
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