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Product Description: Richard Clarke's dramatic statement to the grieving families during the 9/11 Commission hearings touched a raw nerve across America. Not only had our government failed to prevent the 2001 terrorist attacks, but it has proven itself, time and again, incapable of handling the majority of our most crucial national security issues, from Iraq to Katrina and beyond. This is not just a temporary failure of our current leadership—it is a systemic problem, the result of a pattern of incompetence that must be understood, confronted, and prevented. Clarke's first book, the number one bestseller Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror, explained how the United States had stumbled into a struggle with violent Islamist extremists. Now, in Your Government Failed You, Clarke looks at why these unconscionable failures have continued and how America and the world can succeed against the terrorists. Yet Clarke also goes far beyond terrorism, to examine the inexcusable chain of recurring U.S. government disasters. Despite the lessons of Vietnam, there is Iraq. A trail of intelligence failures litters the Washington landscape. From Katrina to color codes and duct tape, "homeland security" has been an oxymoron. Why does the superpower continue to bobble national security? Clarke minces no words in his examination of the breadth and depth of the mediocrity, entropy, and collapse endemic in America's national security programs. In order for the United States to stop its string of strategic mistakes, we first need to understand why they happen. Drawing on his thirty years in the White House, Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community, Clarke gives us a privileged, if horrifying, look into the debacle of government policies, discovering patterns in the failures and offering ways to stop the cycle once and for all. Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
You don't need to buy the book to KNOW that they FAILED
From Pearl Harbor, to Korea, to Tet...to Beirut...to Sept. 11, the millions of dollars a year we dump into intelligence has been largely wasted and we have seen the failures. Clarke's book is fascinating in that it gives a very practical reasoned approach for what we can do to increase our success ration and our safety. A great read from a patriot. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-04
Enlightened and thought-provoking
Two things I like about Clarke's writing: First, Clarke is a really smart guy, and this is a smart book. It's not unfathomable by any means, but anyone looking for "National Security for Dummies" will want to avoid this book. It has depth. Second, in a country where everything seems tainted with partisan vitriol, with conservatives and liberals throwing real and imagined barbs at each other constantly on the cable talk shows, Clarke is a true bi-partisan. Make no mistake, he is harder on the administration of Bush II than on either Clinton or Bush I, but that isn't because he is a liberal (he's not), but rather because anyone with half a brain can see that G.W. Bush has done more to screw things up than either his dad or Clinton did. Bush the elder and Bill Clinton take blame for their shortcomings in this book as well. No, Clarke has bigger fish to fry than partisan sniping. He has served in several presidential administrations, had a close relationship with several Secretaries of State and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and has seen the good, the bad and the ugly of both civilian and military leadership in this country. This book doesn't just enumerate the problems: it offers solutions. After reading this book and "Against All Enemies", my greatest hope is that President Obama will appoint Clarke--and he will accept--a position high in the administration such as Secretary of State so that, once again, this country can benefit from the wisdom and experience of Richard Clarke, the only man to stand up after the 9/11 attacks, look at the surviving family members of the victims, and say the difficult words: "Your Government failed you--I failed you". We need more of that type of stand-up person in American government. This is a very enlightening book. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-01
Review of Richard Clarkes new book
The first part of this book regarding security is excellent. Richard Clarke knows the subject. The part regarding global warming is crap-a subject he does not know. The section on cyberspace I can not judge since I know next to nothing about it and I wonder does Richard Clarke. Norman Casey Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-01
Not As Good As His First Book
In his 2nd book, Clarke really doesn't offer anything new to what he said in his 1st book or commentary about on-going events. I don't think the book offers any new insight or revelations. Rating:
Date: 2008-06-19
Fascinating behind the scenes primer
This is the first book from Mr. Clarke that I have read. I have seen him on a few interviews on television and am well aware of the smear machine against him. This man is obviously very patriotic and wants the best for this country. The book outlines his 30 years of experience and gives an outsider a look into the the various departments of government in which he has worked. The analysis on what went wrong, what is wrong and needs to be changed is straight forward and in simple prose. If any professional jargon is used, it is immediately explained. Being from a military family myself, like Mr. Clarke, the section recounting the total failure of any of the top generals (Franks and others) to advise the civilian leaders that an insurgency plan, along with the required training and equipment to fight an insurgency was lacking, makes my blood boil as well. It seems comparable to the so-called Islamic experts failing to advise the civilian leadership about the threat that militant Islam posed before 9/11. I have no doubt there are other books that help to fill in the puzzle of what has gone wrong with our civilian and military leadership, but this one appears to me to be very worthy of inclusion.
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