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Personal-finance author and lecturer Robert Kiyosaki developed his unique economic perspective through exposure to a pair of disparate influences: his own highly educated but fiscally unstable father, and the multimillionaire eighth-grade dropout father of his closest friend. The lifelong monetary problems experienced by his "poor dad" (whose weekly paychecks, while respectable, were never quite sufficient to meet family needs) pounded home the counterpoint communicated by his "rich dad" (that "the poor and the middle class work for money," but "the rich have money work for them"). Taking that message to heart, Kiyosaki was able to retire at 47. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written with consultant and CPA Sharon L. Lechter, lays out his the philosophy behind his relationship with money. Although Kiyosaki can take a frustratingly long time to make his points, his book nonetheless compellingly advocates for the type of "financial literacy" that's never taught in schools. Based on the principle that income-generating assets always provide healthier bottom-line results than even the best of traditional jobs, it explains how those assets might be acquired so that the jobs can eventually be shed. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Personal-finance author and lecturer Robert Kiyosaki developed his unique economic perspective through exposure to a pair of disparate influences: his own highly educated but fiscally unstable father, and the multimillionaire eighth-grade dropout father of his closest friend. The lifelong monetary problems experienced by his "poor dad" (whose weekly paychecks, while respectable, were never quite sufficient to meet family needs) pounded home the counterpoint communicated by his "rich dad" (that "the poor and the middle class work for money," but "the rich have money work for them"). Taking that message to heart, Kiyosaki was able to retire at 47. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written with consultant and CPA Sharon L. Lechter, lays out his the philosophy behind his relationship with money. Although Kiyosaki can take a frustratingly long time to make his points, his book nonetheless compellingly advocates for the type of "financial literacy" that's never taught in schools. Based on the principle that income-generating assets always provide healthier bottom-line results than even the best of traditional jobs, it explains how those assets might be acquired so that the jobs can eventually be shed. --Howard Rothman
Download Description
A #1 New York Times bestseller, 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' is a true story on the lessons about money that Robert Kiyosaki learned from his two "dads." One dad, a Ph.D. and superintendent of education, never had enough money at the end of the month and died broke. His other dad dropped out of school at age 13 and went on to become one of the wealthiest men in Hawaii. 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' will . . .· Explode the myth that you need to earn a high income to become rich · Challenge the belief that your house is an asset · Show parents why they can't rely on the school system to teach their kids about money
· Define once and for all an asset and a liability · Teach you what to teach your kids about money for their future financial success. In 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad', Robert Kiyosaki explains how to make your money work hard for you instead of you working hard for money.
Customer Reviews:
Check this one out of the library.......2007-10-06
I fail to see why this book is so popular. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" provides no guidance on how to go about doing the things Kiyosaki suggests. He is condescending, repetitive, at times contradictory, and a couple things he suggests are most likely illegal.
According to Kiyosaki there is one simple reason behind the wide income gap between the rich and the poor/middle class. The rich invest in income producing assets while the poor and middle class purchase liabilities.
He provides some advice that is true but most people won't want to hear. Such as academic success does not translate to financial success. Your house is not an asset. Live within your means and stop buying things you can't afford on credit.
While Kiyosaki may not have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, I think he has really lost touch with what it means to be poor or middle class. One example mentions how he borrowed $10 or $100k from a friend for a real estate deal and therefore without even investing any of his own money made x amount of profit with about 3 hours of work invested. I don't know about you, but I don't have any friends who have that kind of money to lend me, nor do I have that amount myself. And investing in real estate may have been a good idea when this book was initially published, but not so much right now.
My advice: While he does make a few good points, there are better books on the subject. If you feel you absolutely must read this book, get it from the library.
Great Information.......2007-10-03
This book was everything that I heard it was. Great for anyone trying to become rich!
Shameless in its Amorality .......2007-09-25
A book whose philosophy is near perfect in its amorality. In this self-help business book, Kiyosaki (a Japanese American who grew up in Hawaii) talks about his poor dad (his biological father, a public school teacher who tried to teach the values of honesty and hard work to his son during his life and who never became wealthy) and his rich dad (a local businessman who became his mentor and is probably something of a fictional figure). Kiyosaki admires his amoral rich dad: he even boasts how he paid less taxes than his biological father even though he was far richer. Many of this sort of pop business books end up claiming that personal greed ends up in a bigger public benefit, but this book doesn't even try to make this claim (because of this honesty, I rate this book two stars instead of a single one). As if that wasn't enough, Kiyosaki's business "advice" (mainly dealing with real estate) is vague and run of the mill (no one will get rich by following this book, but he did get rich rich from writing it, much more than from his business deals).
Great book to change the way you think about making money!!!.......2007-09-23
I was told to buy this book from someone whom I skate with who has a house that looks like a hotel. Ok enough said on that.
This book is for the person who's lived their life believing that they have to work for someone else and get a salary and be productive their whole life. The average working way to think about making money. This book tells you how to think differently about whole the idea of making money. This book won't tell you how to make a single cent, but rather how to notice opportunities and strike when the average person would stand back and say "you're crazy for doing this". Notice a trend in thinking here, the crazy people who did stuff when no one else did are the ones who are usually wealthy in a short period of time compared to the one who's tied to their office hoping for a raise of some kind or recognition.
Excellent philosophy and ideas and pretty good reading.......2007-09-19
I had to start this book 3 times because I wasn't too impressed with the beginning and kept putting it aside, but once I got to about page 34 I had gotten a couple of good ideas and by page 100 I was hooked. The beginning was a lesson that made sense later. I don't necessarily agree with everything in the book, but I think it has thought provoking ideas how different people think and gives excellent information and philosophy.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Reading.......2007-08-31
The main message is that Westerners have a fundamental misunderstanding of Islam. Islam is not about peace but submission, and where there is submission there is also dominance. I have purchased several copies and have distributed them to family members becuase I think the book's message is that important. It is also written very well so that it reads easily.
Revealing the Koran and terrorists in simple language.......2007-07-22
Dr Gabriel reveals the Koran and terrorists in simple language for what they stand for. He provides facts from his real life experiences. He was a devotee of Islam from childhood until he realized the teachings in the Koran were not the teachings of love and tolerance but the teachings of hate and intolerance. He was trained in Egypt's finest university in religion and Islamic history and thus knows first hand the hate and intolerance propagated by Muhammad's teachings. Because of his conversion to Christianity, he is able to make valid comparisons between the teachings in the Koran and teachings in the Bible.
This is a "must read" book for those looking for understanding about the conflicts throughout the world between Muslims and other peoples. You will understand that these conflicts have nothing to do with poverty and land but have everything to do with the Koran and its teachings.
Islam, Terrorism, Christianity, and how western Christians can understand what Muslims teach and how they get it from their Kora.......2007-06-27
First the book, "Islam and Terrorism, What the Quran really teaches etc.", Is written by a man brought up in Islam and formally educated at Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt with a Phd. and was an Imam of a Mosque in Giza Egypt. He knows the Quran and Islam fundamentally and historically.
He explains why Muslims have and fight their Jihad against any and all other religions and their practitioners in the entire world. All Jihad is based upon the historical actions of Muhammad and a process of (nasikh) in the interpretation of the Quran. (Nasikh) is a word used by Islamic scholars to name the process of giving later readings in the Quran more absolute weight in determining what the Quran actually teaches because the Quran meanders around teachings telling muslims to love their neighbors in its early writings but telling the Muslims to kill those same neighbors later because if they aren't Muslims then they are infidels.
Since the Quran contradicts itself the (nasikh) process allows the Muslims to override love, peace, and care and go straight to the later passages that condem nonmuslims (infidels) to death.
When Muhammad began to have his visions in the night desert he feared he was becomming insane but was encouraged by his wife and close friends that these visions were from God or Allah. Muhammad had spent many of his early years after the death of his father and then his mother, being taught by his uncle to run camel trains up and down the areas from above Jerusalem down to Egypt. Many an evening he spent around camp fires with Chrisitan and Jewish pilgrims discussing religious teachings. He borrowed both Christian and Jewish teachings when he began his religion. People close to him in Mecca encoraged him and his teachings which went into the Quran and were kind, hopeful, and caring, but later when the people of his town made him leave and he went to Medina, the teachings he made were about military power and invasion in the name of Islam. (jihad)
The book is straight forward and easy to understand and matches my own theological research in the past. I'm sure anyone who wants to understand Islam in today's world will find the book very informative.
Always check the references guys.......2007-05-24
Actually I viewed the first pages of this book. The simplest thing I am asking you is to check out the references he put .. he said in his book
"In one place alcohol was forbidden; in another it was allowed. (Compare Surah 5:90-91 with Surah 47:15)" The writer is trying to discover some sort of verses, Well, I don't see any verse here. Check them your self in a good translated Quran and you will see your self. Check Surah#47 Sequance#15 there is nothing with alcoholic there were description of the heaven that it has rivers of water, milk, wine, and honey. It is heaven what do you expect!!
the writer wrote "In one place the Quran says Christians are very good people who love and worship one God, so you may be friends with them (Surah 2:62, 3:113-114). Then you find other verse that say Christians must convert, pay tax or be killed by the sword (Surah 9:29)" .. he said "The Quran says" It is not the Quran who says "Allah says" .. the other thing is please check out the reference, It is not the exact meaning and he did not provide the full context. And he (the writer) knows that his comparison have been in two different period of time and he didn't mention that in his book.
Islam and Terrorism.......2007-05-13
This is a well written book explaining the core beliefs of Islam Religion. Mr. Gabriel taught at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Eygpt. He quotes passages from the Quran and references them to what is happening today. The history of Islamic Fundamentalism is reviewed. He explains why he converted to Christianity and the persecution he went through from his family.
Book Description
Will police work change the person you love? Are police marriages destined to fail? What are the chances of your loved one being killed in the line of duty? Since its publication nearly a decade ago, I Love a Cop has earned high praise from family members and police departments worldwide for providing answers to these and other critical questions. Now, this trusted resource has been revised to address the realities of post-9/11, post-Katrina police work. New topics include coping with separations and long deployments, building resilience, and finding opportunities for growth in the wake of traumatic experiences. The book also provides up-to-date information on organizational stress, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and special challenges faced by women and minorities on the force. Whether they read it cover to cover or refer to it when problems arise, families will find no-nonsense advice and resources they can depend on.
Customer Reviews:
I Love A Cop: What Police Families Need To Know.......2007-09-17
This book should be given to every graduate of Peace Officers Academies to be read with their families. It covers some crucial aspects that every recruit should know before embarking on this dangerous career. This book could help save families, as well as the sanity of its members.
Must have book for law officers.......2007-05-13
This was such a great book I bought one for me and one for my family. I only wish I had bought it sooner.
Intended especially for the loved ones of police offers.......2007-04-12
Written by clinical psychologist Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D., whose specific area of expertise lies in helping police officers and their families, I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need To Know is a straightforward, "tell-the-facts" guide, now in a newly revised edition, written especially for the significant others, spouses, and family members of police officers. Being a cop is a demanding job, and sometimes the very skills required for competence - such as being able to suppress strong emotions like fear, anger, or even compassion - are harmful to officers' private and personal lives if carried over to the home. I Love a Cop gives practical, no-nonsense advice to what to expect from the demands of the job, coping with stress or trauma, and much more. Of especial value are the chapters about dealing with domestic abuse, threats of suicide, or other severe cases and problems - including how to recognize the warning signs and when there is no other option than to just get out. Though I Love a Cop is intended especially for the loved ones of police offers, its solid advice is also highly recommended for the loved ones of anyone in a high-stress, risky or demanding occupation. I Love a Cop is also highly recommended as supplemental reading for anyone considering a policing career, as there is also plenty of sage wisdom about what to expect on the job and how to balance demands of the job with those of family life.
Not what I expected.......2007-01-19
The book I love a cop , was a good title for the book if it was for a spouse of a married cop, but it didn't reaLLY COVER WHAT i EXPECTED , being married to a cop I look for soources that will help me and in this book there was alot of jibber jabber that I wasn't intersted in reading for that reason I'm sending it back . 3 stars to the title which was for me was what made me want to buy it, but don't waste your time unless you and your husband are cops.
Book Description
Brand-new chapter exclusive to the paperback edition
Colonel David Hunt has dedicated his career to fighting terrorism. A U.S. Army veteran for nearly thirty years, he has helped take out an active terrorist camp, trained the FBI and Special Forces in counterterrorism tactics, and served as security adviser to six different Olympic Games.
And Colonel Hunt is angry. Why? Because even after the attacks on our country and on Americans around the world, the people charged with protecting us—the politicians and the bureaucrats in the military and in intelligence—still aren’t getting the job done. In They Just Don’t Get It, you’ll learn:
• How many of the government’s recent “reforms” are actually counterproductive
• How we can fight this war and still safeguard our civil liberties and the American way of life
• What you can do to keep your family safe
• How to fix the intelligence disaster (and yes, the politicians in D.C. still haven't fixed it)
As politicians posture and pundits bicker, we’re losing sight of the problem: We’re still not equipped to win the war on terror. Hunt shows us there are changes we can make at every level—as individual citizens, as a government, and as a military power—in order to win the war on terror and ensure our survival as a free, proud, and strong nation.
Customer Reviews:
good, common sense-based book.......2007-09-05
Col. David Hunt's book is a good read. He is not the most polished writer around -- the book is written more like an extended conversation -- but he gets his points across. The book tends to get redundant at times, but it remains an interesting book to read which one can easily complete in one evening or two. If even a small fraction of what Hunt alledges is true, Americans should be very concerned about our safety and the glaring lack of leadership in our country.
They Just Don't Get It.......2007-06-12
Of the 30 books I've read over the last year, this is the worst. If I were to equate this with anything written in the last 5 years it would be the last book by Ann Colter. I'm glad I forgot the title of that book. An uneducated person may like books like this, but can come away from the experience with a pedestrian view of history.
Hunt Should Be The Secretary of Defense.......2006-09-14
Col. David Hunt has written a superb plan for fighting the war on terror. It is bold, decisive, and politically incorrect. It is also far better than what we are doing or anyone else is talking about.
The author traces the history of terrorism from the 1972 Munich Olympics through 9/11 and beyond. He shows how our leaders have been ineffective in responding. He is not partisan. He reviews botches by Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush.
He also critiques many problems with our current approach to dealing with terrorists. Some of those include the following: Failing to use the best troops (special ops.) effectively and fully, allowing Pakistan to harbor bin Laden, failing to secure the Iraqi borders allowing the Syrians and Iranians to continue to supply terrorists, continuing to be cozy with the Saudis in spite of their financing of terror, having too much bureaucracy interfering with decision making, and many more.
Along with the problems, the author also presents numerous solutions. Some of those are politically incorrect; Some may seem outrageous. Most are worthwhile and should be pondered and discussed. Some of his ideas (including some highly controversial ones) are as follows: a total reorganization of intelligence with unity of command, de-bureaucratizing the defense and intelligence arenas, creation of a 'Terrorist Killing Agency', mandatory national service (not necessarily military) as a way to overcome personnel shortages, and the elimination of the ill conceived and nonsensical color coding system that the Homeland Security Dept. created. There are many more as well.
While I certainly don't agree with all of his ideas, I do think that every American elected official and voter should read this book. Its ideas should be debated and considered. If several of these were implemented, we would all be much safer.
A Must Read To Understand Winning The War On Terror.......2006-08-26
In his mundane, conversational style, Colonel Hunt cites many of the terrorist attacks which have killed innocent citizens, profiles the killers responsible for these atrocities and offers political as well as logistical solutions to combat terrorists in this insurgent style of war.
Detractors will hurl insults at the messenger and his message to complicate his clearly stated, basic premise: This is not a traditional war. We must retaliate against these killers using our special forces, trained to defeat terrorist aggression without bureaucratic interference from politicians and the military hierarchy.
This book is must read for all who understandably feel confused by the doublespeak of our politicians, military leaders and journalists.
Good views expressed poorly........2006-08-23
Much of what Col Hunt has to say is quite interesting and I agree with his views and arguments, however, the book is more like a +200 page rant and rave than a well written book. I felt like he was just complaining most of the time about what's wrong with politicians and he offers "simple" solutions to all of our problems which are entirely unrealistic. It's a good example of why are our government is not run by the military and why we need civilians ultimately in control. A great man, who has served his country with great honor, but in my view is not a very good author. Ultimately, I did not enjoy this book, and struggled to force myself to finish it.
Book Description
“This is at the top of my list for best books on terrorism.”
–Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill
How can the most powerful country in the world feel so threatened by an enemy infinitely weaker than we are? How can loving parents and otherwise responsible citizens join terrorist movements? How can anyone possibly believe that the cause of Islam can be advanced by murdering passengers on a bus or an airplane? In this important new book, groundbreaking scholar Louise Richardson answers these questions and more, providing an indispensable guide to the greatest challenge of our age.
After defining–once and for all–what terrorism is, Richardson explores its origins, its goals, what’s to come, and what is to be done about it. Having grown up in rural Ireland and watched her friends join the Irish Republican Army, Richardson knows from firsthand experience how terrorism can both unite and destroy a community. As a professor at Harvard, she has devoted her career to explaining terrorist movements throughout history and around the globe. From the biblical Zealots to the medieval Islamic Assassins to the anarchists who infiltrated the cities of Europe and North America at the turn of the last century, terrorists have struck at enemies far more powerful than themselves with targeted acts of violence. Yet Richardson understands that terrorists are neither insane nor immoral. Rather, they are rational political actors who often deploy carefully calibrated tactics in a measured and reasoned way. What is more, they invariably go to great lengths to justify their actions to themselves, their followers, and, often, the world.
Richardson shows that the nature of terrorism did not change after the attacks of September 11, 2001; what changed was our response. She argues that the Bush administration’s “global war on terror” was doomed to fail because of an ignorance of history, a refusal to learn from the experience of other governments, and a fundamental misconception about how and why terrorists act. As an alternative, Richardson offers a feasible strategy for containing the terrorist threat and cutting off its grassroots support.
The most comprehensive and intellectually rigorous account of terrorism yet, What Terrorists Want is a daring intellectual tour de force that allows us, at last, to reckon fully with this major threat to today’s global order.
KIRKUS- starred review
"The short answer? Fame and payback, perhaps even a thrill. The long answer? Read this essential, important primer.
Terrorist groups have many motives and ideologies, notes Richardson (Executive Dean/Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study), but they tend to similar paths: They are founded by mature, well-educated men but staffed by less learned and certainly more pliable youths; they are fueled by a sense of injustice and the conviction that only they are morally equipped to combat it; they see themselves as defenders and not aggressors; they often define the terms of battle. And, of course, this commonality: "Terrorists have elevated practices that are normally seen as the excesses of warfare to routine practice, striking noncombatants not as an unintended side effect but as a deliberate strategy." Thus massacres, suicide bombings and assassinations are all in a day's work. Richardson argues against Karl Rove, who after 9/11 mocked those who tried to understand the enemy, by noting that only when authorities make efforts to get inside the minds of their terrorist enemies do they succeed in defeating them, as with the leadership of the Shining Path movement in Peru. Still, as Rove knows, if terrorists share a pathology, then so do at least some of their victims: Once attacked, people in democratic societies are more than willing to trade freedom for security. Richardson closes by offering a set of guidelines for combating terrorism, with such easily remembered rules as "Live by your principles" and "Engage others in countering terrorists with you"–observing, in passing, that the Bush administration's attack on Iraq and subsequent occupation will likely be remembered as serving as a recruiting poster for still more terrorists.
How to win? Develop communities, settle grievances, exercise patience and intelligence. That said, watch for more terrorism to come: "We are going to have to learn to live with it and to accept it as a price of living in a complex world."
_________________________________________________________________________________
“Louise Richardson . . . has now produced the overdue and essential primer on terrorism and how to tackle it. What Terrorists Want is the book many have been waiting for.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice)
“Lucid and powerful, Richardson’s book refutes the dangerous idea that there’s no point in trying to understand terrorists. . . . rich, readable.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review
“The kind of brisk and accessible survey of terrorism-as-modus operandi that has been sorely missing for the past five years . . . [What Terrorists Want] ought to be required reading as the rhetoric mounts this campaign season.”—The American Prospect
“Richardson is one of the relative handful of experts who have been studying the history and practice of terrorism since the Cold War. . . . This book is a welcome source of information. It’s written by a true expert, giving her measured thoughts.”—Christian Science Monitor
“Richardson’s clear language and deep humanity make What Terrorists Want the one book that must be read by everyone who cares about why people resort to the tactic of terrorism.”–Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus
“This is a book of hope. Terrorism, like the poor, will always be with us in one form or another. But given sensible policies, we can contain it without destroying what we hold dear.”–Financial Times
“A passionate, incisive, and groundbreaking argument that provocatively overturns the myths surrounding terrorism.”–Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
“In its lucid analysis and summary, [What Terrorists Want] is simply the best thing of its kind available now in this highly crowded area.”–The Evening Standard
“If a reader has the time to read only one book on terrorism, What Terrorists Want is that book. Extensive historical knowledge, personal contacts, enormous analytic skills, common sense, and a fine mix of lucidity and clarity, make of this work a most satisfying dissection of terrorists’ motives and goals, and of the effects of September 11, 2001. Richardson also offers a sharp critique of American counterterrorism policies, and a sensible plan for better ones.”–Stanley Hoffmann, Buttenwieser University Professor, Harvard University
“An astonishingly insightful analysis by one of the world’s leading authorities on terrorism, this book is filled with wisdom–based not only on the author’s extensive and long-term study of terrorism but also on her experience growing up in a divided Ireland.”–Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill
“A wide-ranging, clear headed, crisply written, cogently argued anatomy of terrorist groups around the world.”–Peter Bergen, senior fellow, New America Foundation, and author of The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader
“Among the numerous books published on terrorism after the 9/11 attacks, Louise Richardson’s stands out as an unusually wise, sensible, and humane treatise. An engrossing and lucid book, which hopefully will be read by many and spread its unique spirit of realistic optimism.”
–Ariel Merari, Professor of Psychology, Tel Aviv University
“Thoughtful and stimulating . . . Controversially, and indeed courageously, [Richardson] argues that, instead of regarding the terrorists–even al-Qaeda types–as mindless and irrational creatures motivated by dark forces of evil, it would be more constructive to examine and seek to moderate some of the grievances that drive previously normal and even nondescript characters to kill and maim innocent people they don’t even know.”–
The Irish Times
“A textbook and a myth-buster . . . [Richardson] is calling for nothing less than a total re-evaluation of how we consider, and react to, terrorism. . . . What Terrorists Want ought to be on the bookshelf in every government office. Certainly, for any student of international affairs it is an essential reading.”
–
The Atlantic Affairs
Customer Reviews:
Over promises and under delivers.......2007-08-11
I was disappointed in this book. If you pick up a copy of What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat thinking you will learn what terrorists want, that you'll understand them better or figure out what to do about them, you'll be disappointed too. The lukewarm review from Publisher's Weekly is the one to heed; the reviews by the amateur enthusiasts lack objectivity.
Ms. Richardson devotes the first 200 pages explaining the history and culture of terrorism. She obviously has studied many terrorist movements around the world, both historical and current. Her survey is interesting. She proves that tactics of terrorism or suicidal warfare weren't invented on 9/11, if you had doubts.
Inter alia, she illustrates the mistakes made by the Bush Administration in pursuit of al-Qaeda. Many of her points seem buttressed by the historical examples she cites. At this point in the conflict in Iraq, however, finding mistakes by the Bush administration ex post is like shooting fish in a barrel: It's so easy there's little sport in it. There are many other books on the market that recount authors' personal experiences with the war on terrorism and its many ills, written with greater credibility, from better vantage points than Boston, MA.
Where the book really falls down is when Ms. Richardson switches from historical perspective to policy directive. That switch from ex post to ex ante analysis is the tricky part for most of us. "Predicting is hard, especially about the future," said Yogi Berra.
What do terrorists want? All kinds of different things, apparently. The multiple long-term objectives she cites in her analysis (page 75-76) are so varied that not even Ms. Richardson attempts to draw any broad lessons. She instead focuses on "secondary motives" which have the three Rs--"revenge, renown, and reaction"--in common. That's interesting--coincidental that they all start with "R"--but less helpful as a policy tool. What grievous American action warranted the "revenge" strike upon the World Trade Towers?
Terrorism is a tactic, not an ideology. It's useful for small groups of zealots to use because it's inexpensive to implement and tough to combat. This insight was my biggest takeaway from the book. But grouping users of the tactic together might be no more meaningful than looking for common threads among militants who use the AK-47 assault rifle.
Understanding terrorism simply as a tactic, however, undermines the premise of writing Richardson's text. Examining users of terrorism collectively may be no more revealing than any other book on military tactics (e.g., "Use Of Camouflage Throughout The Ages").
She labels as "fallacious" the view that "democracies are particularly vulnerable to terrorism and that the freedoms granted citizens in democratic societies can be exploited by terrorists..." (page 206) Really? Rights to privacy, freedom of movement and freedom of association don't make life easier for terrorists?
She recommends knowing "how and where terrorists operate, how they organize themselves, how they communicate with each other, how they finance and plan their operations." You have to wade through to page 208 before encountering this bromide. I thought, in fact, that details like these were the promise of the book, not merely a recommendation that someone else do this work.
She allows that "penetrating terrorist groups is no easy task. Developing a good intelligence network takes time, connections, language skills, cultural knowledge and deep engagement in the region the groups come from." (page 211). I'm not sure the American polis would have been mollified if any President had told them after the fall of the twin towers that the US would immediately send people to language school in order to penetrate al-Qaeda.
She recommends playing "Let's Make A Deal." She writes, "We take as a given that their demands are so extreme as to be non-negotiable, but it would be worth finding out if that is, in fact, the case." (page 212). Maybe al-Qaeda isn't serious after all about banishing Americans from certain parts of the earth or establishing Islamic government in Iraq (citation from al-Zarqawi on page 218). Maybe we just need to know them better.
She ignores an important difference between most of the terrorist examples she cites and the American situation after 9/11: The terrorists aren't working from our territory. The British fought the IRA on territory the British controlled. Likewise the state governments fighting Basque separatists, the Russian anarchists, the ANC, Red Army Faction, Tamil Tigers, Shining Path, PKK and Aum Shinrikyo. But Americans couldn't gain access to the territory used by the terrorists without inserting themselves by military force. That using such force had additional consequences is undeniable. But what was the alternative? Initiating more "study abroad" fellowships and sending in the Peace Corps?
In spite of the title, Ms. Richardson is a pessimist (defeatist?). One chapter is entitled, "Why the War On Terror Can Never Be Won." At the end of the book, she concludes "We are going to have to learn to live with it [terrorism] and to accept it as a price of living in a complex world" (page 237).
Well, that would have been a reassuring message for a President of any party to deliver on September 12, 2001. Ms. Richardson missed her calling as a speech writer.
If your purpose in reading this book is to reinforce your smugness about mistakes made by the Bush administration, you'll be pleased to have your perspicacity confirmed. But if you really read the book to answer the questions in its title--what terrorists want, how to understand them better or what to do about them--this book won't help.
Makes a strong argument for not being carried away by fear of terrorists.......2007-07-18
In her book Ms. Richardson makes a strong argument for not being carried away by fear and
loathing of terrorists' atrocities in the United States on 9/11 and in other countries around the
world. She is a lecturer at Harvard and is dean of Harvard's affiliate the Radcliffe Institute for
Advanced Study. Rather, she says, we of the western world should make a genuine effort to
understand the motivations of the terrorists and to devise rational ways to protect ourselves from
them. She talks not only of Islamic fundamentalist terrorists but also of other terrorist
organizations in other places and times: the Shining Path in Peru, the FARC in Colombia, the
Basque ETA in Spain, the Japanese cult that released deadly sarin gas in the Tokyo subway in
1995, the Irish Republican Army, the Red Brigades in Italy, and others.
First, she makes the argument that terrorists are not greatly different emotionally from the rest of us.
...terrorists...are, by and large, not crazy at all...the one shared characteristic of terrorists is
their normalcy, insofar as we understand the term...Some are introverted, some extroverted:
some loud, some shy; some confident, some nervous...Terrorists see the world in Manichean,
black-and-white terms; they identify with others and they desire revenge. They have a highly
oversimplified view of the world in which good is pitted against evil and in which their
adversaries are to blame for all their woes.
Most of the leaders of the Islamic militants are well educated, many with advanced university
degrees. Three conditions are usually required for the making of an individual terrorist: dedication
to a cause, an enabling structure (an organization for him to join), and an overarching ideology.
The author discusses the question of the extent to which states sponsor terrorist
organizations--she argues that generally "terrorism is the behavior of substate groups". But she
does contend that some countries do, at certain times, sponsor terrorist groups; the Soviet Union
and Cuba did so in the 1970's, Iran and Libya in the 1980's, and Iraq and Syria in the 1990's. And
the USA would, in the opinion of those in the world who dislike us, also fall into that category
given our support of the Contras in Nicaragua, the mujahedin in Afghanistan, those who would
overthrow Castro in Cuba, and those who did overthrow Allende in Chile.
More and more impoverished people in the world resent the USA because of our wealth:
With global mass communications and American TV shows broadcasting American affluence
around the world, it is not difficult to mobilize a sense of resentment of American wealth.
Previously one compared oneself to others nearby, but the contrast between American wealth
and Arab poverty is now being broadcast daily into people's tiny homes.
In a chapter entitled "Why the War on Terror Can Never Be Won" the author comments:
When the history of the immediate post-9/11 years comes to be written, it will be seen as a period
marked by two major mistakes and two major missed opportunities. The mistakes were a
declaration of war against terrorism and the conflation of the threat from al-Qaeda with the
threat from Saddam Hussein. The missed opportunities were the opportunities to educate the
American public to the realities of terrorism and to the costs of our sole superpower status and
the opportunity to mobilize the international community behind us in a transnational campaign
against transnational terrorists.
Far from trying to educate the public, U.S. leaders played to their fears......Rather than
attempting to put the terrible atrocity of 9/11 into perspective, it fanned the outrage. Rather than
countenance the possibility that certain of its actions might have fueled resentment toward it, it
divided the world into good and evil, and those who were not with the United States were with
the terrorists.
In the concluding chapter "What Is to Be Done?" she sets out "Rules." Rule 1 is "Have a
Defensible and Achievable Goal."
......had our government declared its goal on the evening of September 11 simply to be to
capture those responsible for the attacks, it might very well have been successful. The goal would
have required a different political and military strategy in Afghanistan and it would have kept us
out of Iraq......The particular brand of terrorism that currently poses a threat to us is terrorism
used by Islamic militants; therefore, our goal today should be to stop the spread of Islamic
militancy. In order to contain the spread of Islamic militancy, we must isolate the terrorists and
inoculate their potential recruits against them.
Other "Rules" are:
"Live by Your Principles."
"Know Your Enemy"
"Separate the Terrorists from Their Communities"
"Engage Others in Countering Terrorists with You"
"Have Patience and Keep Your Perspective"
In considering U.S. counterterrorist policy since September 11, it is very clear that we have not
followed these six rules. We set ourselves an unattainable goal, we have been seen to abandon
many of the principles that have guided our democracy, the inadequacies of our intelligence
have been exposed, our actions have served to strengthen ties between terrorists and the
communities from which they come, we have failed to engage others in the campaign against
terrorists, and we have failed to demonstrate either patience or a sense of perspective.
And she is outspoken about our misadventure in Iraq:
Whatever the virtue of the other arguments in favor of the war in Iraq, from the point of view of
counterterrorism the invasion of Iraq was a calamitous mistake......the Iraq war, far from being
an effective policy against terrorism, immeasurably strengthened the hand of our adversaries
and weakened our own. We have alienated the international community and united our enemies
against us. We have provided a training ground for our adversaries, spawned a new generation
of terrorists convinced that we are at war with Islam, and failed to bring security to the country.
The inadequacy of our postwar planning was grossly negligent. We appear never to have taken
the time to challenge the assumptions on which we based our policy; instead, we simply assumed
that the policy would be effective and never inquired as to the cost.
Ms. Richardson's ideas for dealing with terrorists--trying to understand why they hate us ("know
your enemy"), maintaining our own principles, working with others in the world to defend against
terrorism, etc.--make sense if it can be assumed that those who oppose us are rational, people
who will not want to harm us if they sense that we are fair and just in all that our government
does that affects them. But she seems not to consider that there are times when madmen are at
large and can only be dealt with by force--Neville Chamberlain and the world finally saw that with
Hitler. It may be that, with all the hateful teaching in the Islamic madrassas and the hatred of the
modern world preached to the masses by radical Moslem clerics, we will have to one day
conclude that we face an implacable enemy who can only be dealt with by force.
Indispensable!.......2007-06-22
The book jacket asserts that this book is the most comprehensive and intellectually rigorous account of terrorism yet. I agree completely.
Some other reviewers complain about style and repetition. I have no such complaints. The author's approach matched my needs completely.
The section on the serious consequences of our repudiation of the Geneva Conventions was particularly informative and helpful to me.
This book provides a much-needed coherent way to view terrorism and efforts to minimize its prevalence and impact.
Know your enemy, learn from history.......2007-05-07
Americans seem to think that everything changed on 9/11. Subjectively, that may be true, but terrorism has been around for hundreds of years. 9/11 may be the deadliest attack yet, but that doesn't mean that the threat differs in kind from what has gone before.
Richardson places 9/11 in its historical context and shows how we should be dealing with it, which is very different from how we are dealing with it.
First off, declaring war on terrorism is folly. The British never defeated the IRA, the Russians haven't defeated the Chechnyans, and Israel hasn't defeated Hezbollah. The best we can hope for is to contain terrorism, not eliminate it. The roots are too small, scattered, and diverse to be able to pull up every one.
Another key issue is maintaining our principles. Flouting the Geneva Conventions is neither practical nor admirable and makes us more enemies, not more allies. We also need to do a better job of working with our allies, many of whom (most notably the British) have decades of experience dealing with terrorism.
The prose is somewhat dry and academic, but perhaps that is just as well. It is high time Americans took a deep breath, counted to ten, and stopped to think for a while about the right way to deal with terrorism, rather than just lashing out at any remotely plausible target without regard to the consequences.
I would hope that the members of the current and any future administration will read this book and consider it carefully.
The definitive book for "know yourself, know the enemy".......2007-03-18
This book is easily one of the best books for both the history of terrorism and recommendations on fighting it. She reveals how terrorism has roots going back not decades, but centuries. In addition to giving numerous historical examples, she critiques both the successful strategies (Britain containing the IRA) and the arguably unsuccessful strategies (The Bush Jr. administration attacking Iraq) in dealing with terrorism.
Some academics merely sit from a desk reading reports on terrorism from paper or a computer. Louise Richardson lived it with her childhood in Northern Ireland during the Troubles period. Whether you are an intellectual or a lay person, this book will provide you insight into America's enemy of the 21st century.
Book Description
"Bill Maher has inherited the mantle of Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift and he wears it with aplomb. If he were living in any other time or in one of many other countries, he would truly be in danger of being put to death for his legendary ability to say the unthinkable and say it better (and before) anyone else. When You Ride Alone You Ride with bin Laden is destined to be the most talked about book of the year" - Larry King
Political provacateur Bill Maher tells it like it is in a useful and hilarious guide for the many Americans who want to do more here at home to help in the war effort, but are at a loss as to how.
33 dynamic new posters and several classics from our government's archive, accompanied by text from one of our leading pundits and cutting-edge comedians make this the perfect book for this time in our nation's history, the zeitgeist of one-year-past-9/11 America. This will help Americans make the connection between what we can do and how it will help our troops to victory.
Says Maher, "Traveling the country, I find that people want to do more here at home, but are at a loss as to what. Even when the government issues a Terrorism Advisory,it's maddeningly vague - 'Terrorist alert today! Code Burnt Orange!'
'And what?' I always want to ask. "Bring a sweater?'"
"I've met funny guys but none as smart. I've met smart guys but none as funny. Bill Maher has single-handely raised the quality of political debate in America and with When You Ride Alone You Ride with bin Laden he will make the ultimate statement of his remarkable career. This is a most important - and most necessary - book." - Arianna Huffington
Customer Reviews:
A Great Book!.......2006-02-03
I admire the guts it took to say these things in modern America, a land where political correctness stifles free expression as surely as McCarthyism ever did. And how soon Americans are forgetting September 11, 2001! It floors me how so many people think it is now just a sad day from a history book. More and worse is probably coming, folks, and Bill Maher is honest enough to say so in a message that caters to neither the right nor the left, simply dishes up (in a loud voice) pragmatic commentary on how we are messing up and what we should be doing to fix it. In this semi-survival manual, a collection of topical essays combined with WWII-style political posters updated for our times, some things get said that desperately needed saying. Yes, we Americans can do more to make ourselves safer. Yes, we Americans have a partially-deserved PR problem on the world stage, and yes, our enemies overseas are waiting patiently in a state of extreme motivation, to strike us again. I recommend this book to anyone, but especially those who are too timid to wake up to the reality that we are in a watershed moment in world history, a time in which the culture of enlightenment and freedom is under direct attack by a Medieval-minded foe who would have us descend into repression and totalitarianism. Actually, wait. I'll correct that. Our foe wants the repression and totalitarianism for himself. For us he wants an irradiated wasteland from sea to shining sea. So read this book. It's frequently funny, it's thought-provoking, and it says a lot that stands in contrast to the patriotic but empty drivel that passes for our national dialogue in 2006.
Loose Hooks Sink Book.......2006-01-04
If only Bill Maher could turn his perceptive political insights into useful prescriptions for change, rather than cranky rants. Or in other words – great ideas, poor execution. Maher's basic concept in this book is that he wishes to compare the real sacrifices that Americans were proud to make in the World Wars with the completely empty gestures and false jingoism which are all Americans are willing to do in the current war on terror. For example, in the old days people actually tried to conserve food and fuel for the war effort. Nowadays, "patriots" continue our dependence on Middle Eastern dictators by buying gas-guzzling SUVs, then slap a cheap fake magnetic ribbon on the bumper and actually think they're helping win the war. Instead of a strong president who encourages us to make personal sacrifices and serve the nation, we have one who tells us to keep shopping and consuming, thus strengthening nobody but the corporations that make campaign contributions.
Bill Maher is great at finding ironies and disconnections like these in modern American politics. But after making such excellent insights, Maher doesn't know how to make his ideas useful at more than a basic oppositional level. It's not really necessary to review this book based on one's agreement with Maher's political stance. I happen to agree with much of it and disagree with some of it. But the main problem here is that Maher first addresses a problem usefully, but then goes on a tirade of self-righteous complaining, while writing as if he has the answers to all those problems. This is a real concern given his attitudes toward Islam, and his know-it-all prescriptions for military strategies. Maher's philosophy can also be very inconsistent and contradictory, especially when it comes to cultural tolerance and political correctness. Bill Maher's insightful mind finds some real breakthroughs here, but then his cynicism takes control and brings us back to regular old finger-pointing and condescending American politics. [~doomsdayer520~]
The Proboscis Monkey Is A Scornful Pharisee Who Contradicts!.......2005-11-04
Maher's antagonistic!!!! He's suspicious, ever since his P.I. days to inordinate Larry King appearances, where he's imposing his intolerant viewpoints bent exclusively to his bigoted agenda. All these 80+ reviewers who don't sentence Maher's shortcoming drivel to below-average ratings are either traitors, steeped in self-hate OR are willfully subservient to unfounded innuendo, with emphasis on being easily mistaught! In this perpetration copying yellow journalism, Maher commits SO MANY believability contraventions, it's one half-truth or embellishment repetitively.
What seriously outrages me is Maher imitating borderline psychosis, angrily overdoing critical over-ANALysis of petty matters-painful examples being schizophrenically furious fixation on what he, tyrannically, calls rightful reasons to join the military, namely people who reject comfortable lives of wealth for service, and scorching contempt for persons using medication to achieve goals, meaning dieting. Maher's next fault: psychotic pride, assuming he's qualified to lead people in all topics, overstepping into the A-B-N-O-R-M-A-L. The oppressive persecution with which he forms his unstable ideas resembles dictatorialness in Rome. His sneering spite for everyone not sharing his twisted misguidance is palpable in how absolutely he dictates his beliefs.
His book reeks in literacy, aesthetic and adeptness. Maher spitefully attempts humor, but can't redeem his sorrowful face there either!!!! When one's trying to absorb his content, it's usually destroyed by underhanded infiltrations of exerting jokes, which are ALWAYS coarse or awkward!!!! Maher's an incompetently R-E-D-U-N-D-A-N-T jackal, squandering 33 bogus mini-chapters for discussion that would've fit in two, since his fleeting thought-processes are condensed as: 1) "Where's better security in airports????!!!!", or 2) "Why can't Americans get their priorities straight????!!!!"
The worst objectionability is Maher's self-righteous pretexting. Unacceptable, is his insinuation to mishandle aspects of foreign policy in ways resembling rebukable socialism. Maher's short-sighted failure imposes a refusal of isolationism. Fine-except it's distorted to his hinderingly unqualified views. Maher discloses how shoddily unestablished he's business-wise, demonstrated in his continuous sighing over people nowadays taking things for granted, although that's the manifestation of technological and economical advancement, as people's productivity increases at performance. Maher refuses to practically rationalize Bush's suggestion to help the country after 9/11, which was shopping. Instead of understanding consumerism's the backbone of economies, Maher usurps more "fundamental" advice should've been given!!!!
Despite amassments of heinousness, I'm overjoyed at buying this crappiness. Maher's a LIBERAL, despite others' ill-versed fabrications. His maltreated excess of self-loathing is quite convincing. The only reason that I bother these days with noticing liberal-sensationalist tripe is to examine its content to discover the incurably many, ruthless schisms in truth. I'll dissect lie-after-half-truth-after-exaggeration, to expose Maher's ulterior motive of bending facts to the subjection of his plot: Ridicule Americans as "ignorant" or "gluttonous".
Sinfulness #1: p.24, paragraph 1, L.3-4. Maher justifies terrorists' actions and 3rd-World's envy of America. To plant something plotted to verify his slur, Maher blasphemes America inflates produce prices while others starve. Factually, inflated prices (which are enacted to reduce spoilage of produce) reduce domestic production, thereby allowing poor countries' farmers' goods to become competitive. His charges are illicit and ludicrous because he lets the 3rd-World evade blame reserved for it alone, from policies like mismanagement of aid to destitute, abuse of manufacturing workers paid next-to-nothing, and governments' cover-ups of AIDS.
Trespass #2: p.29, last paragraph, L.5. He perpetrates half-truths, damning America for having 2% of world's oil without expanding that America-like Russia-multiplies that subjugated figure to 9% in oil production. Thereby, America's not in such dire graveness as Maher inflates.
Breach #3: Chapters DOPE, CRAZY TALK. Maher demeans relationships between drugs and supporting terrorism, and defames America's drug war. Maher prevaricates that heroin's the "only drug" which benefits terrorism, when cocaine's predominant in South America's drug war. Maher subterfuges that the "only" connection's Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, trading opium. Yet Columbia's FARC annually receives payments of $600 million from wrathful coca farmers to fight Colombia's military, who're funded by U.S. government!!!! Iniquitously shocking Maher stoops to defending injury-sponsoring Colombian farmers, but decries America for spraying their vice-fields. This is an unprincipled plan from Maher to blame America's reaction, instead of the problem's cause: coca farmers.
Evildoing #4: p. 69, paragraph 6, L.1-infests whole chapter. Maher's imperfectness professes America should mother the 3rd-World. Uneducated-in-the-slightest Pharisees everywhere will persist loathsomely equating non-military aid with the "right kind of 3rd-World assistance". B-A-L-O-N-E-Y!!!! Maher's boycotted from calmly examining facts. Cato Institute's extensively studied, since WWII to the present, countries who've received non-military foreign-aid-results are sup-par!!!! By Cato's study, foreign-aid DOESN'T help countries whose economic policies are so constraining they need economic reform. I.E., out of 100 countries from 1980-1995, ones with A/B ratings attained real GDP growth, while countries with F-policy ratings endured shrinking, because countries receiving foreign-aid are encouraged to misallocate aid into primarily the opposite of its intent: economic stagnation. Maher also scandalizes Congress subsidizing farmers-yet it's foreign farmers who're the aggressor: 3rd-World countries injure American farmers by imposing cheap labor on their peoples, facilitating their farmers to sell their products affrontingly undervalued.
Slight #5: p. 118, paragraph 5, L.5-7. Maher fails with Muslim boys entering madrassas to become terrorists. That's not madrassas' preeminent goal-it's radical Islam's teaching's costly side-effect. Most enrollees don't emerge ACTING on their teachings. Besides not being directly answerable, S.A. doesn't sponsor madrassas singularly. There're also Arabs from many countries across the Middle East funding them. It's double-dealing to segregate S.A., because Pakistan is also threateningly active in developing madrassas.
Maher's two not-too-shabby propositions, tighter airport security and less sensitivity. These inadequacies are still harshly shortcoming a mean to the hampering extreme of unsavory misjudgments that are solicited. Maher's impenitently bigotedly unqualified regarding ability to discuss religion, and is an unprincipled double-speaker. Regarding Iraq's war, Maher prostituted himself on talk shows where he inconsiderately invites ingloriousness on America, cursing, "Iraq's a `disaster'." Yet he perpetrates entries where he's responsibly gloating being for, "hard U.S. military a$$-kickings to ANY `gangsta-government', be it Hussein...," and accepts that Hussein could "go biological"!!!! This is the arraignment of two-faced liberals who're overflowing the entertainment "community".
makes you think - that's good.......2005-07-26
Maher is a comedian and a social critic. So why is he criticised for being critical and funny?
Two issues initially drew me to this book: First, the book is endorsed by extremists on both sides, including arch-enemies Al Franken and Ann Coulter.
Second, the critics often bring out absurd attacks against the author himself (his friendships with Hugh Hefner or Michael Moore, or personal dislikes of the author). This is often the mark of a good book, as critics can't take him so well on specific issues, so they just use personal attacks.
Maher probably has personal issues. But this is to review his book, not his existence. His libertarian ideas are refreshing.
One piece of advice: books by comedians like Franken and Maher gain a lot with delivery. Consider getting the audio.
CAFE means crazy.......2005-03-07
Ignorance is interesting...thus an extra star.
While you are all busy attempting to find some kernel of truth with one another, Bill Maher is probably off cavorting with Hugh Hefner and his little bunnies. Maher's association with Hefner is telling on many levels. Among them are: his affinity for the 'cool' and dedication to the depthless; his lack of meaningful personal relationships, the seed from which sprouts his warped view of society; and the maniacal influence that seems to pervade so many of his thoughts. All of that said I think that people should view Maher(and read him so that his comments can be considered naked, without the veil of cuteness). He is an example to behold. Of what? The case for ignorance is strong here. People like Maher love to ignore facts, the U.S. purchases only a small fraction of its oil from the middle east...the overwhelming majority comes from our neighbors and allies: North American nations, South American nations, European, Asian, and African nations. And, yes a solid portion does come from the middle east, but certainly not as much as the activists would like you to believe. Check the import numbers for yourself and see.
Book Description
On September 11, 2001, hours after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the eminent military historian Victor Davis Hanson wrote an article in which he asserted that the United States, like it or not, was now at war and had the moral right to respond with force.
An Autumn of War, which opens with that first essay, will stimulate readers across the political spectrum to think more deeply about the attacks, the war, and their lessons for all of us.
Customer Reviews:
Good book for the critical thinker.......2006-02-27
An Autumn of War provides excellent insight into the reactions of the American people after the attacks of 9/11. When seeing the rubble of the World Trade Center and the desperate innocent civilians jumping to their deaths from the windows in the upper stories of the building, it is difficult imagining any person of the free world opposing a counter-attack on bin Laden. What followed, however, with our continued conflict in Iraq, is a different story. The essays included in this book were written in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, from September to December 2001. Victor Davis Hanson is a fantastic historian, but I question if the book might have had greater value had it been written and published today, five years later. In light of what has happened since the attack, some of his reasoning seems a bit shortsighted and some analogies not quite right, for example, the idea that we were attacked because the Islamic world envies our freedom. Might they have attacked us instead because of more self-serving motives, for example, because they feel that our lifestyle, particularly the ease with which electronic information is transmitted via the Internet, is an intrusion in their world, where they wish to maintain the status quo that allows a few select people in power to control the masses?
I also feel that the analogy made between the ease with which we defeated Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II, and the supposed ease with which we will defeat the terrorists, is not a good analogy, because when we defeated Nazi Germany and Japan, we defeated a country's government, its central establishment. The terrorists and insurgents are not necessarily sanctioned by their country's government, and are difficult to attack with bombs and other weapons because they lack a centralized leadership. Five years have passed, bin Laden is still at large, and the threat of terrorism is still discussed on a daily basis in the news. Whether or not we have been successful in our war on terror depends on how we define success.
This is an excellent book for those seeking a controversial issue on which to practice their critical thinking skills, yet less impressive than Hanson's other works.
A credible viewpoint from a historian........2005-04-28
This book is a collection of essays written in the weeks after 9/11. His viewpoints on this new warfront are very well thought out, researched and for the most part based on history, not just of battles and wars, but cultures as well. In short, he seem's to see this war in somewhat simplistic terms of "us or them" and "do or die" where pacifism, denial, and self-blame ("we brought this on ourselves because of our foriegn policy, etc.") could be the terrorists biggest weapon, ultimately giving them the upper hand. Some may feel his views are cold or callous but taking into a military historians account, war itself is cold and callous. In a true war between 2 cultures, there is often no room for taking into account the other sides "feelings", especially when they are so hell-bent on destroying you. His views are hard to argue with because many are based on historical facts that have time and time again proven true. And although these are in fact new times in a more advanced civilization, the motives, beliefs and desires for the most part remain the same (they want to kill us - for various reasons - and we want to live). He does a great job in laying out his case for an offensive and aggressive response to America's "new" enemies.
Wow.......2005-02-21
The author combines knowledge of history, shewd and smart judgements, and extreme readability. Everything I am read by him is Excellent. This book is a series of essays written in the year after September 11th which lay out the road ahead for America. It is emotionally gripping, saddening, yet hopeful. (I read it in 2005 and it isn't dated at all.)
A good collection.......2004-08-22
A good collection of essays writen after 9/11, worth reading. What prompts this review is the one and two star reviews running here. The usual hysteria from the usual gang of academics and naifs. Such reviewers love the insult even more than I. Bigoted, they write. Rightwing. Racist. Even Neo Con is strutted out, used as a pejorative, as if the reviewer knows what a Neo Con is, or was, which the reviewer clearly does not. Ignore the one or two star reviewers who are each and every one 'blame America' types, malcontents and Democrats all. Buy this book for your 'by the pool' or 'in the park' reading on current affairs.
Disappointing.......2004-07-21
The chapter on General Sherman was great - but then he was one of my ancestors and I could be biased. The chapters are acollection of essays and do vary considerably.
The other chapters were almost all were flawed because Hanson's polemic is based on much better understanding of the Classics and, to some degree, the West than the contemporary world or Islam. Sometimes this is clear because either the reasoning or overly broad conclusions are visible to a careful reader. Other times the neo Con bias informs the selection and presentation more subtly.
Overall more pompous than profound.
Book Description
No more politics—just the truth about what we can and must do to protect ourselves.
Fox News military analyst Colonel David Hunt has dedicated his career to fighting terrorism. A twenty-nine-year U.S. Army veteran, he has helped take out an active terrorist camp, trained the FBI and Special Forces in counterterrorism tactics, and served as security adviser to six different Olympic Games.
And Colonel Hunt is angry. Why? Because even after the terrorist attacks on our country and on Americans around the world, the people charged with protecting us—the politicians and the bureaucrats in military and intelligence—still aren’t getting the job done.
They Just Don’t Get It provides a much-needed wake-up call to all Americans. As politicians posture and pundits bicker, we’re losing sight of the fundamental problem: We’re still not equipped to win the War on Terror. In fact, the terrorist threat is far worse than we feared, as made frighteningly clear by the fifty pages of documents published here for the first time—including a shocking manual taken from the terrorists themselves.
But instead of just complaining, Colonel Hunt tells us exactly what we must do—without regard to political game-playing—to emerge victorious in the challenge that history has given us. These are changes we can make at every level—as individual citizens, as a government, and as a military power. As he shows in this book, while the government and our military lead the fight to protect us, ordinary citizens can and must contribute.
They Just Don’t Get It reveals:
• What you can do to keep your family safe
• How many of the government’s recent “reforms” are mere window dressing or, worse, counterproductive
• How we can fight this war and still safeguard our civil liberties and the American way of life
• How to fix the intelligence disaster (and yes, the politicians in D.C. still haven’t fixed it)
• How we got into this mess in the first place: it’s mostly because our government let the problem fester for three decades
Colonel Hunt is no cautious bureaucrat or finger-pointer looking for political gain. He is a straight shooter with deep insight into what’s happening in the War on Terror—on the ground and in the government. They Just Don’t Get It lays out in clear and compelling terms the steps we must take—all of us—to win the War on Terror and ensure our survival as a free, proud, and strong nation.
From They Just Don’t Get It
We’re fighting a war for our very survival, so we’d better figure out how to win. That’s why I’m writing this book—to show us how we can win, how we can protect ourselves. As a Fox News military analyst, I’m paid to offer insight into how our armed forces are conducting the fight against our enemies. But this book shows that to win the War on Terror we need to concern ourselves with more than just military tactics.
For one thing, we need to look at what our political leaders are doing. The sad truth is that they still don’t get it.
Then there’s intelligence. You’ve heard about our intelligence failures, but I doubt you know how bad it really is—even after the “reforms.” I’m going to tell you.
And another critical dimension to this story usually gets overlooked—what you can do. The fact is, you can do a lot. Hell, you must do a lot.
A selection of American Compass
Customer Reviews:
The REAL DEAL.......2007-05-12
Great book for those interested in reality, versus the political garbagr being spewed by our "representatives" in Congress and the stories being relayed by the media outlets...Colonel Hunt is correct "They Just Don't Get It"... and neither does the majority ...
Sometimes the truth hurts - Col Hunt beats you over the head with it!!!!.......2007-05-10
This is required reading for those who have doubts about terrorism and our ability to deal with it. This is required reading for those who believe we are doing what is necessary to win. This is required reading for the spineless masses following the "leadership" of this country (from both sides of the aisle) down a path of death, destruction, and failure.
Col Hunt's ability to speak frankly and lay it on the line in this very Non-PC manner really speaks to everyday Americans. It is boldly written, in your face, and so scary that it will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. His resume/qualifications to speak to this topic are above reproach, he's been there, he's seen it first hand, the good and the bad. 10-20 years from now, if things do not change, this man will be looked at as one of those bold enough to say what needed to be said. It will be a shame to allow his words to go unnoticed. READ THIS BOOK!
Required reading for every American.......2006-10-31
Easy to read, full of common sense, this book should be read by every American.
On the mark.......2006-09-11
I think that Col. Hunt has written a superb book of the challenges facing the US regarding the terrorist threats to us all. He writes in a very deliberate and to the point style that I find refreshing.
Fact vs fiction.......2006-04-26
Col Hunt spells out the truth of the war we're in as compared to the bias of the media.
Product Description
This book gives you the who, what, when, where, why and how-to of achieving Infinite Financial Freedom. The first part of the book reveals the first two critical investments you must make before you embark on the path to prosperity. Next, the book presents the 5 Steps up the Ladder of Success and why you must take them in this order in preparation for dealing with any amount of money. The book explains the true, unadvertised, hidden benefit behind winning a large lump-sum of money whether from a lottery jackpot, inheritance, hiring, firing, or retirement bonus, etc. You will learn: the Do's and Don'ts of Smart Lottery Play; the 13 Big Mistakes lottery players make and how to avoid making them yourself; the Self-Talk Test; and about the 9 Money Personalities originally identified by psychologist Dr. Gurney, Ph.D. Plus you learn how to: get into the right Mind-Set; develop your Guiding Principles; write your Affirmations; the right way of Goal Setting; and producing the Daily Outcomes necessary to achieving Infinite Financial Freedom. In the second half of the book, you learn how to recognize a good investment by taking the Risk Tolerance Test and finding your comfort level on the Ladder of Investments. You discover how to develop your own personal investment policy as a basis for constructing a successful plan for achieving Infinite Financial Freedom - with or without the Lottery. You receive the Infinite Financial Freedom Game Plan Rulebook containing the proven 18 Wealth Acquisition & Preservation Principles for becoming financially free. You also receive a Model Game Plan based on the Rulebook that you can use as a pattern for starting your own plan now with any amount of money. Everything recommended in the book is presented with a resource, a mechanism, a specific way for the reader to realize the benefits of following the advice. The book contains over 200 practical resources and references, is generously illustrated with numerous charts graphs and figures, has 4 appendices plus an index. Whether or not your lottery numbers ever win, you will always win by following the common sense financial principles and avoiding the pitfalls revealed in this guidebook. If you follow the Game Plan of this book: you will have two plans (one based on winning and one based on not winning the lottery); you will become a Money Master (the most effective Money Personality type); and you will be in the right frame of mind for dealing with any amount of money in your lifetime and for achieving Infinite Financial Freedom.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic Book.......2007-05-10
I've bought and read hundreds of books from Amazon. This is my first review. What Bob Sanford has written is exceptional!. Extremely readable, interesting, entertaining, and profound. I highly recommend buying and absorbing this book.
AWESOME.......1999-09-30
This is the kind of book you pull off the library shelf because the title is outrageous. "There is no way a book could live up to that title," you think to yourself. That is exactly what I did. I opened the cover and discovered a delightful and insightful book about life, and finance. I have read many books of advice on how to invest, and this I have to admit is the best most useful book I have read on that topic both for beginning investors, and for the seasoned. The book is ostensibly about how to manage your affairs if you are trying to win the Lottery. Mr Sanford covers alot of territory here, and includes excellent advice on issues relating to the Lotto, and if you would win, and if you would not win which is more likely! It's a fun book. Don't miss it!
Book Description
This essential “how not to” guide explains how to act and what to say in the presence of police to minimize the chances of being arrested and to avoid add-on charges—which can often lead to permanent disqualification from jobs, financing, and education. Citizens can learn how to avoid arrest both on the street and when pulled over in a vehicle and are alerted to basic tricks cops use to get people to incriminate themselves. Sprinkled with absurdity and humor, this urgent, eye-opening book is a guide to criminal justice for all Americans.
Customer Reviews:
Not Just for the Clueless.......2007-09-30
There's more to the book than the other reviewers are acknowledging. The advice on what to do is very specific and detailed, and as a person who has had some professional involvement with law enforcement, and who is fairly tuned-in and intuitive with cops, I still felt I learned some important advice, and to have some of my existing practices confirmed by an insider. In terms of pure amusement, the section on "jits" is especially funny and insightful. As a citizen, I found learning about the injustice and range of effects of an arrest to be sobering and scary. And seeing the world though a cop's eyes while getting some really good advice may just prove to be worth a million bucks someday. But the people who need it the most are young folks, especially guys, especially other-than-white, and the people who care about them.
Excellent advice that could save your skin.......2007-04-25
Cops are the alpha predator of the urban jungle; they live to hunt. But what they don't or can't see, they can't pounce on. And an arrest (NB: an _arrest,_ not a _conviction_; arrest records are kept on a federal level and are increasingly available to anybody who asks) can scramble up your whole life, making it difficult to get credit, a good job, or an apartment.
Funny and Astute.......2007-04-03
Dale recently ran for Sheriff in Jacksonville. I didn't hear anything about him or this book in the local media ( imagine that!). I just stumbled upon this via a link from another site. He got 20% of the vote in a three way race. It's too bad people didn't know about Mr. Carson or this book, I am sure he would have done better in the poles.
Rules for not being arrested.......2007-03-24
This is a very good book about how not to get arrested. To summarize the main themes of the book, on how not to get arrested:
- Don't carry guns in your vehicle
- Don't have drugs in your vehicle
- Don't mouth off to cops (actually, shut up when around them)
- Never, ever touch a cop or physically invade his space, etc.
- If a cop sees you, just keep doing what you were doing before he saw you (i.e., the police look for people who change their behavior around the police suddenly).
The entire book is basically variations on those themes. His basic point is that the "clueless" get arrested, because they do one or more of the above. One main message of this book is "if they can't see you, they can't arrest you". Think about it. Who gets arrested ? The guy who is highly visible to police. The white collar criminal, operating behind closed doors is just not visible. The hurdle of a warrant to search a private home in the U.S. is massive. But the hurdle to stop and search a vehicle is not great at all. For that reason, the people who get arrested in the U.S. are people who do stupid stuff in their car (transport guns, transport drugs, get an attitude when stopped, physically touch the officer, etc.
A cops-eye view of the "Terry" stop........2007-01-23
I almost cannot believe this book was written by a cop. If Hunter S. Thompson were not dead before the publication date, I would swear this was ghost-written. When he advises the reader to consider SOILING his or her PANTS to avoid being taken into custody, I can't vouch for the quality of the advice, but I have to admire the author's balls. Other bits of advice are undoubtably real gems; when the author recommends to always ask the cop for a Notice to Appearance in court (or "NOA" - this is to be attempted before resorting to the pant-pooping) he is dispensing uncommon practical wisdom. His discussion of racial profiling, and direct advice to young black and hispanic men, is jaw-droppingly frank. Not unlike Thucydides, the author says, in effect: "Let us have no talk of just and unjust."
The bulk of this book is not unlike the various "Know Your Rights" resources published by groups like the ACLU, but it is vastly better. Those other resources give sound advice in the form of "rules," but it is abstracted from 4th and 5th Amendment case law. The truth is that the justice system exists primarily in the cracks between the laws - in the form of police and prosecutorial discretion. The subjective aspects of an encounter with the police - namely police incentives and psychology - are at least as important to your outcome as the positive law is. Any student of the Supreme Court can tell you what to do in a police encounter (e.g. "shut up"), but without any understanding of why you are doing it, it may be VERY difficult advice to follow.
Following the old adage "know your enemy in order to defeat him," the author shows you what a police encounter looks like from the cop's perspective. Police, the author emphasizes, are NOT "just people" - they are "Great White sharks" (his words) trained to churn as many arrests and seizures as possible. But -like sharks- they share certain natural tendencies that make them predictable, (to a limited extent) manipulable, and (above all) avoidable.
Another way it differs from the ACLU brand of rights books and videos is in its urgency. The author argues that, in the electronic panopticon that is today's justice system, an arrest is effectively as damning as a conviction. Computer databases mean that today, not just your penal interests, but also your future employment and your credit can be ruined by an arrest. This is why you - the citizen - must read this book. Not even the best attorney can get you "un-arrested" - you must help yourself by staying free in the first place.
That said, I think the author overstates this point a bit. The class of the offense and your age at the time still matter a great deal. Not even the CIA can afford to exclude everyone with a blemish on their record. Moreover, the panopticon is not really all that efficient (yet). If your name is "Joe Smith," from "Los Angeles," your legibility to the system is still pretty minimal.
Carson limits his advice to those bits helpful to the "clueless" petty criminal - the people most likely to be arrested in a random police encounter. This book tells you only how to navigate what the law calls a "Terry" stop. He's not interested in helping dangerous and/or professional criminals - who are in any event much more likely to be arrested pursuant to a warrant of some sort. (If your house is going to be raided, get a book on prisons, because this won't be of much help.)
This brings us to the author's very interesting editorial thesis: namely, that economics keeps petty offenses criminal. On this account, simple possession marijuana remains a criminal offense primarily because courts and cops need something to do while they are between rapists and murderers. Petty crime is the daily bread of the justice system. This is a very interesting hypothesis, and while it probably deserves a more scholarly treatment than it recieves here (any U of Chicago grad students in the room?), it seems to me intuitively correct. This beast must eat a steady diet of petty offenders so that it's still in shape when we really need it. But this obviously sucks for the petty offenders (who, when you think about it, are really doing a public service) and Carson is interested in teaching them how to avoid the beast's jaws.
Sadly, the few people who really need this book are unlikely to have the foresight to read it. But, if you are going to be arrested sometime soon (...or even just thinking about it) this book is for you! If you look weird, are a young male, belong to a racial minority group, spend a lot of time walking or driving after midnight, use illegal drugs, have a prior record, or have friends or family who do any of the above, this book is worth taking a look at. Also highly recommended for people who work in the CJ system (except cops, who know this stuff).
Books:
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
- Risk Analysis and the Security Survey
- Rural Women Battering and the Justice System: An Ethnography (SAGE Series on Violence against Women)
- Sexuality, Gender and the Law (University Casebook Series)
- Steel Construction Manual, 13th Edition (Book)
- Supervision of Police Personnel (6th Edition)
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
- The 36-Hour Day, 4th edition: A Family Guide to Caring for People with Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss in Later Life (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)
- The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or Anything Else) from the Inside Out
- The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Books Index
Books Home
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- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
- Classic Starts: Black Beauty
- Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation
- Color and Composition for the Creative Quilter: Improve Any Quilt with Easy-to-Follow Lessons
- Atlantic Salmon: An Illustrated Natural History
Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom
Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!
Rich Dad's Advisors®: The ABC's of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss (Rich Dad's Advisors)
The Millionaire Next Door
The Richest Man in Babylon
