Rating: 
Summary: Probably the worst book that I have ever read
Review: I picked up this book expecting some kind of insight as to the underhanded workings of politics in general, not just Republican or Democrat, but in general. Unlike most morons who live in this country, I do not see things in black or white. There are goods and bads to the Bush presidency and the Iraq war, just as with the Democrat party and their stances. As a Republican, I personally cannot stand Bush and I think that he and his cabinet are a disgrace to our party. That being the case, I believe that this is truly the worst book I have ever read based soley upon the quality of the work that went into it. The whole book is an accusation. There are no facts. This book felt like it was completely written on a vendetta. It is solely a way to try and get revenge and get rich, rather than getting to the truth of the matter. The writing is not eloquent or professional, with tons of grammer and subject matter being questionable. I cannot believe that this guy actually held a professional position in government, as discerning from the quality of work in the book I would figure this guy's education to have stopped somewhere at the community college level. In any case, I implore people to disregard this piece of trash and spend your hard earned money on literary works that are well researched, well thought out and based on facts. This and anything like it is a complete waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: A Surprisingly Entertaining Read!
Review: One of the greatest surprises emanating from this tightly written and immensely entertaining book by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson is the fact that he spins so wide and long a tale about his life's adventure, and chooses not to concentrate as much on the more immediate predicament surrounding his own misadventure to Niger in search of some evidence regarding the alleged attempt by Iraqis to buy "gold-cake" on the black market from sources inside that country. I was spellbound by his narrative of his years within the Foreign Service, especially as it pertained to his time assigned to Baghdad in the months leading up to the 1991 Gulf War. Those of us who admire men who can traverse the slippery slopes between academia and the real world politics of the late 20th century will enjoy the anecdotes Wilson spins in recounting his some thirty years of involvement within the public domain, years spent admirably serving the country.It is within the context of this long and honorable service that one winces at the account of how he and his wife, an operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, come to find themselves lodged in the reckless cross-hairs of an administration scorned and looking for political revenge. Wilson, of course, famously denied the allegations that President Bush had stated that he was not aware of the fact that the alleged Iraqi effort to buy yellow-cake uranium on the black market was a hoax, one based on a very bad attempt at forging the relevant documents. Instead, Wilson insisted he had dutifully reported the hoax to proper authorities, up to and including Vice President Dick Cheney's staff. So the idea that the administration was under the erroneous impression that the alleged incident was credible simply was not true, according to Wilson. Thus, Mr. Bush's unfortunate use of the allegation in the January 2003 State Of The Union address to the nation amounted to a deliberate misleading of the public regarding Iraq and its actions leading up to the decision to invade later that year. It is certainly true that Mr. Wilson may have his own anti-Bush political agenda that he is attempting to forward with this book, and it may be true that he has taken sides with the Democratic Party in an election year. Yet no one has yet refuted the basic claims he has made in the book; namely that people within the administration deliberately and provocatively exposed his wife's name to the public by leaking the fact that she was a CIA agent to veteran columnist Robert Novak. Why Novak would then take it upon himself to recklessly endanger the woman by printing her name for any potential foe to learn is simply beyond comprehension. To me this was a despicable act for which Mr. Novak should be punished, regardless of his journalistic cover. This is a great book, one that will be far more enjoyable than anyone has a right to expect from a tome supposedly written and focused on current events. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: A longer portrait of the search for WMD
Review: Joe Wilson joins Paul O'Neill and Mr. Clark as the third famous Bush official to write a 'tell all' insider account of administration. Clark had written on the lead up to Iraq, O'Niell wrote about economics and now we have a book examining the far more insular world of ambassadors, CIA agents and special investigations in Africa. The Ambassador has led a very action packed life. Here we learn about the last American to meet with Saddam before war broke out in 1991. We also learn about the growth of democracy in Africa and finally we learn about the famous 'sixteen words' where Bush claimed he knew about Saddam looking for WMB in Africa. SO Mr. Wilson was dispatched to Africa to hunt down the leads and in this eye-opening account we learn that all evidence that was found was embellished to such a degree that the truth no longer resembled the 'findings' at CIA HQ. This is an interesting account of what its like to be an Ambassador and gives quick tour of various aspects of American foreign policy as well as certain special looks at Africa, where seldom does information make it to the general press. In the end this book is not revolutionary, nor are the insights new. The scandal of the 'outing' of the Ambassadors wife is well known. Although the accusations are back, the result is much ado about nothing. The 'outing' took place because the Administration wanted to explain how the Ambassador had gotten his job, namely on recommendation from his wife who had worked at the CIA on WMD. Thus it was natural to send Wilson to Africa to track down what had happened in Nigeria. The problem was that Wilson didn't produce, perhaps because of his partisan feelings, but more likely because their was no evidence. So when questioned about he 'sixteen words' we learn that the administration let Wilson's wife's name drop, partly out of revenge but partly out of disclosure to show why Wilson had been selected. But then again, must of us knew this story before we bothered to read this more lengthy account. Seth J. Frantzman
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Is...
Review: Plenty of others have reviewed this book and discussed its merits. I purchased the book for the core story - the outing of Valerie Plame. I was pleasantly surprised to find the subtitle, A Diplomats Memoir, is actually a more fitting title for this book. Ambassador Wilson writes eloquently of his service to country. I was especially captivated by his description of his time in Baghdad (he was the charge d'affaires in the lead up to Gulf War I). I also found chapter 10, "Diplomats and Generals," and 11, "US Peacekeeping in Bosnia," extremely interesting. These chapters recount Ambassador Wilson's time at EUCOM and the lessons he learned about the importance of international cooperation. If you purchase this book be prepared to consult your dictionary on occasion. I consider my self quite literate but I found Wilson's command of English far beyond my own. I found myself frequently checking the meaning of a word or two. ("Itinerant Ambassador", "wizened diplomat" and "rapprochement" all grace a single page.)
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Outrage?
Review: Ambassador Wilson's question seems to be, where is the outrage? Paraphrasing a memorable line by Hunter Thompson in a 1980's article he wrote about the Pulitzer divorce trial for Rolling Stone regarding Roxanne Pulizter's myriad trysts, "Her alleged infidelities eventually came to be denied so many times by so many different witnesses that of course they ultimately proved to be true". Wilson documents that the Bush adminstration knew the infamous 'sixteen words' re Niger and yellocwcake uranium were patently false; Paul O'Neill and Ron Suskind document that the adminstration was intent on removing Saddam Hussein well before 9/11; and Richard Clarke documents that the president himself effectively told him to find a link between Hussein and 9/11. The administration's response to each of these 'allegations' was not only a categorical denial, but a 'workup' and eventual smear campaign against all three authors, the most onerous of which was the outing of Ambassador Wilson's wife as a CIA operative. Yes, as the NY Times observed, at times Wilson seems to be incensed, vindictive, and downright pissed off at the adminstration, but who can blame him? His candor was absolutely refreshing; there were no punches pulled, and my impression is that's because this is a guy who doesn't give a rat's ass about ever working in Washington again if that's the price he has to pay for revealing this White House's lies and deception. An extremely compelling read.
Rating:
Summary: Another vicious revenge on truthteller
Review: I complained to the US Department of State that money was being stolen from Defense Enterprise Fund, a US financed program to convert Russian WMD producers. My contract with the US government provided for up to five years in jail for failing to report the crimes I reported. Yet, as soon as I complained, I was immediately blacklisted, and a phony "investigation" was initiated. But I pressed on until a DOD Audit proved my allegations. Once I was proven right, the IRS came into the picture and froze my accounts for seven months (!) "because 68 is greater than 72" (try to fight that assertion!) Two years after I wrote the letter, a newspaper correctly described me as "penniless" and "homeless". I do not think that the US Government should be conspiring to cause a US citizen grievous, nightmarish harm, for alerting that very Government that crimes are being committed. I only found a job much later, in a private sector, because my employer happened to value the truth and care about the WMD threat. Today, DOD still reports grossly inflated operational results of Defense Enterprise Fund. Bush took credit for its "success" in his February 11, 2004 speech to the National Defense University! But Defense Enterprise Fund was closed on December 31, 2003, its mission not accomplished at all! Pretending to fight terrorism (look how he "fights" the WMD threat!), Bush is building a totalitarian state. Americans must urgently unite, put aside their differences and stop this dangerous, vindictive, and mendacious administration. Amb. Wilson's book is yet another proof of that. And we should certainly make sure that Joseph Darby, the Iraqi prison whistleblower, is not harmed. That is, if he is still alive.
Rating:
Summary: Must Read
Review: This is just another nail in the coffin of deceipt in the White House, along with Paul O'Neil's book and Richard Clarke, not to mention John Dean's excellent work. Read before voting lest you enable this type of thing to continue.
Rating:
Summary: re One Star Review of The Politics of Truth
Review: Well, I guess that if the person who wrote the one star review of this book can perpetrate the continuing lies of the Bush administration I can rate the book five stars although I am just ordering it and haven't read it. Notice how this so-called "reviewer" states, without any evidence, that the stories about yellow cake in Niger were true, and again, without any proof, that there "were" weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It depends on what you mean about WMD and when "were" refers to. WMD is so-loose a phrase that it can include chemical, biological or nuclear. Not to dignify this comment, but when Saddam used chemical weapons against the Kurds and the Shiites and the Iranians, he was on our side, our SOB, and he did so with the tacit approval of the United States under several Presidents.
So the Big Lies continue, and unfortunately as we learned from Hitler's propagandists, if they are told often enough and shouted loud enough by the fascist right, then enough people will believe them to endanger our fragile damocracy.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Terrifying
Review: I have read a number of Bush books recently, and I seem to be devouring them at an ever increasing clip. As an independent fundamentally uncomfortable with highly partisan politics, I have found Paul O'Neill's book (The Price of Loyalty, actually written by Ron Suskind about O'Neill) to be one of the best. Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" is also chilling and insightful. Both these books were written by conservative, Republican mavericks with close insight into this administration, and the stories they tell are frightening: a White House run by ideologues surrounding a President whose experience and intellect could not possibly support the level of conviction he brings to the weighty issues confronting our great nation. Wilson's book belongs on any shelf with Suskind's and Clarke's. One obvious parallel: Bush '41 - a moderate and intelligent man - felt great fondness for O'Neill, Clarke, and Wilson. Bush '43 disdains and disrespects them. Wilson gives us an account from the outside: how does the Administration glimpsed by insiders like Clarke and O'Neill affect "outsiders" like Wilson? Or Valerie Plame? Or you? Wilson's account is fired by anger and disappointment, not partisan rage. He comes across as a dedicated civil servant, non-partisan, astute. It should be read by all who care deeply for our country, and are wondering what the hell is happening to it. One final note: The few reviewers who rate this book with one star have clearly a) not read it, or b) ... well, there is no other option, except perhaps that they work for Karl Rove.
Rating:
Summary: RE: A Waste of Money
Review: turn of you radio, shut off Rush Limbaugh, and wake up...
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