Average Rating: 
Rating:  - 100% on the Mark
Gore Vidal knows, man, HE KNOWS! This man has been there at the HIGHEST LEVELS of government. THey can't pull the wool over his eyes! Unlike Noah CHomsky, Gore cares deeply about the state of the country. His criticisms may sting, but if his advice was followed, this would be a much better country.
Rating: - what a great book!
This is a book of essays written over the last ten years.The lead essay, about 9/11, has stunning info. First, Vidal alleges (and I agree with him) that Bush and Co. were planning to invade Afghanistan long before 9/11--to topple the Taliban and hence expedite the Unocal pipeline. The Taliban and bin Laden got wind of this (the invasion was supposed to start in October 2001), and ordered the 9/11 attacks to derail it. (It had the opposite effect, obviously.) Second, many in the US military were stunned at the complete absence of interceptors to head off the 9/11 attacks. Military protocol states that when an airliner veers off course, Air Force jets are supposed to go up immediately and see why. This did not happen on 9/11 even though the airliners were tracked every step of the way; it did not happen even after they started crashing into buildings. Vidal suggests they may have been held back in order for the disaster to go forward--and provide Bush an excuse for the Afghanistan war and all subsequent crackdowns and all subsequent wars. Also, the book closes with a wonderful interview with Vidal. He explains the origins of terrorism, both homegrown and foreign, quite clearly.
Rating: - The Truth of the Bush Regime
Let's get this straight from the beginning: Gore Vidal is not anti-American, and in fact, he is a true patriot that loves his country enough to ask the difficult questions in the face of the current wave of false patriotism that is taking over since the 9/11 tragedies. _Dreaming War: Blood for Oil and the Cheney-Bush Junta_ is a bold and maginficent look at the Bushian chronicles leading up to 9/11, and the consequences thereafter. Two things that are important to dwell on: Both the attack on Afghanistan and the Patriot Act were well entrenched and ready to go before 9/11 ever came about. 9/11 was merely an open door to the growth of State meddling in the lives of U.S. citizens. Vidal looks at all the "interests" that are served by Bushian Imperial ambitions. As Vidal says, Osama is merely a poster boy for greater U.S. interestes, that being Empire, oil, and the corporatist State. Gore gives us decades worth of examples on how the U.S has come to this position. Perhaps the one thing that is missing is an in-depth analysis of why the State loved that 9/11 happened, and how it keeps that from the American people while shedding its false tears of sorrow, and suckering folks into buying the State moral code concerning the tragedies. Vidal's essays are compelling, truthful, and unapologetic. A fantastic read.
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