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A Pretext for War
- 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
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A top-secret US Army Special Operations unit has been running covert missions all over the world, from leading death squads to the hideout of drug baron Pablo Escobar to capturing Saddam Hussein and, in one of the greatest special operations missions of all time, helping to track down al-Qa'eda leader Osama bin Laden. "The Activity," as it became known to insiders, has achieved near-mythical status, even among the world's Special Operations elite.
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Narrator is awful
- By Vinny on 09-20-17
By: Michael Smith
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Shadow Strike
- Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power
- By: Yaakov Katz
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight, Israeli fighters advanced on Deir ez-Zour in Syria. Israel often flew into Syria as a warning to President Bashar al-Assad. But this time, there was no warning and no explanation. This was a covert operation, with one goal: to destroy a nuclear reactor being built by North Korea under a tight veil of secrecy in the Syrian desert. Shadow Strike tells, for the first time, the story of the espionage, military might and psychological warfare behind Israel’s operation to stop one of the greatest known acts of nuclear proliferation.
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Important Book!
- By Gerald J. Vogt on 05-10-19
By: Yaakov Katz
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Legacy of Ashes
- The History of the CIA
- By: Tim Weiner
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the book the CIA does not want you to read. For the last 60 years, the CIA has maintained a formidable reputation in spite of its terrible record, never disclosing its blunders to the American public. It spun its own truth to the nation while reality lay buried in classified archives. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Tim Weiner offers a stunning indictment of the CIA, a deeply flawed organization that has never deserved America's confidence.
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Flawed but Important
- By Michael on 07-18-08
By: Tim Weiner
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Good Hunting
- An American Spymaster's Story
- By: Jack Devine
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Good Hunting: An American Spymaster's Story is the spellbinding memoir of Devine's time in the CIA, where he served for more than 30 years, rising to become the acting deputy director of operations, responsible for all of the agency's spying operations. This is a story of intrigue and high-stakes maneuvering - all the more gripping when the fate of our geopolitical order hangs in the balance. But this audiobook also sounds a warning to our nation's decision makers.
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Fascinating, An education on spying
- By Anthony on 12-13-15
By: Jack Devine
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The One Percent Doctrine
- Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
- By: Ron Suskind
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Abridged
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Ron Suskind takes you deep inside America's real battles with violent, unrelenting terrorists, a game of kill-or-be-killed, from the Oval Office to the streets of Karachi.
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The Agenda is Clear
- By Penny on 09-28-11
By: Ron Suskind
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Curveball
- Spies, Lies, and the Con Man Who Caused a War
- By: Bob Drogin
- Narrated by: Erik Singer
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged
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Curveball answers the crucial question of the Iraq war: How and why was America’s intelligence so catastrophically wrong? In this dramatic and explosive book, award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Drogin delivers a narrative that takes us to Europe, the Middle East, and deep inside the CIA to find the truth—the truth about the lies and self-deception that led us into a military and political nightmare.
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George W. Bush lied...
- By Jonathan Love on 11-21-14
By: Bob Drogin
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The Dead Hand
- The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy
- By: David E. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The Dead Hand is the suspense-filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union—a dangerous legacy that haunts us even today.The Cold War was an epoch of massive overkill.
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Eye opening
- By Brian on 11-16-10
By: David E. Hoffman
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The Longest War
- America and Al-Qaeda Since 9/11
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Longest War, Peter Bergen offers a comprehensive history of this war and its evolution, from the strategies devised in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to the fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond. Weaving together internal documents from al-Qaeda and the U.S. offices of counterterrorism, first-person interviews with top-level jihadists and senior Washington officials, along with his own experiences on the ground in the Middle East, Bergen balances the accounts of each side.
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More Bush bashing..yes, but still worth reading.
- By Dennis on 01-18-11
By: Peter L. Bergen
What listeners say about A Pretext for War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Nikoli Gogol
- 12-27-07
Must Read
The bookshelves are now groaning under the weight of books detailing what went wrong in Iraq.
Whatever the outcome in Iraq, there has been a continual shift in providing a rationale for the war. This book takes you back to the original justification for the attack.
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6 people found this helpful
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- FGP
- 09-30-04
A must read before you vote
If you think we have fallen into a trap in Iraq because of misinformation, you might come away with the notion that the White House knew there was not meat on the bone in the first place. If you think we are doing the tough job in Iraq, and that we made our country more secure by our actions, then you might want to rethink your position after listening to this book.
Listen to ?Sleeping with the Devil? too. This is not Fox News!
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16 people found this helpful
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- JPALJ
- 12-13-20
Good to hear the truth
Very well researched and sourced, and an importantly candid acknowledgment of just one example of what goes on behind closed doors in the name of the American people. Tragic in many ways.
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- Rick
- 02-12-24
Good Reporting and account of our lead up to war.
It is not pretty and unfortunately a lot of people died from these poor decisions and agendas by a few individuals. They should be held to account.
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- D. M.
- 04-15-05
Truly Disturbing
Like many Americans, I have always had my suspicions about the war in Iraq. This book attmpts to shed some light on the matter. It is a great listen. I couldn't put my iPod down once I started listening. At the same time, it made me feel cheated and less trusting of our leaders in the highest offices of government. However, I feel that you should give it a try and decide, for yourself, what is truth and what is fiction.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Myra Grozinger
- 07-10-05
Hair raising, Disturbing. Critical
Am writing this book review right after the 7/7/05 attacks in London. The Downing Street Memos have surfaced, we know from them that the intelligence to go to war was fixed in order to sell the invasion to the American people.
This book tells all about how this happened. It tells precisely and dispassionately about the lies and where they came from and who cooked them up. The author tells ahead of time, what the memos now corroborate. Details about what brought Colin Powell to the table at the UN, how he fought it and what happened and why. It tells why after fighting and killing and being killed in the name of waging war on terror nobody is safer or better off.
I knew a lot before I read it. Now I know how it all hangs together, and I am terribly saddened at our massive losses as a country because of a corrupt, dishonest and self serving set of leaders.
I read it twice, back to back. I highly recommend the education it affords.
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6 people found this helpful
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- John K. Stevens
- 10-31-05
My dots are connected
James Bramford is well known for his other books on security and NSA (e.g. Puzzle Palace). He is recognized for his careful research and attention to detail. In 1983 he introduced us in the "Puzzle Palace" to the inner workings of NSA before anyone knew it even existed. That book has withstood the test of time and is now a classic - in fact I am told it is required reading by all new NSA employees.
Again in this book Bamford seems to have the facts at his fingertips - many many dots floating in outer political space for me since 9/11 and the war that just never made any sense are now connected by this book. No emotion no agenda no deck of cards - just lots of interesting facts that are easy to check. This is not a political book in fact it is equally critical of both sides. In the end the facts are both interesting and explain how we got ourselves into 9/11 and the war - it makes it understandable. The Dots are connected.
He does ramble a bit from topic to topic, but so do the dots - just fascinated by backup details on history of people and why it all came together the way it did. In the end no answers but important to understand whats happend to start.
I have never written a review and listen to and read hundreds of books feel compelled to say this book is a must listen.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 04-21-08
Captivating!
Firstly, if you haven't heard Robertson Dean narrate a book, do yourself a favour - he makes this book! (also narrated I am Legend)
A Pretext for War was a captivating and often chilling presentation of the facts surrounding the events leading up to and of the September 11 attacks and the Iraq War. At times throughout the middle and late stages of the book you can become lost in the details. There are so many dates, names, departments and acronyms that you can get quite lost in the maze. In saying that though, if you're into the nitty-gritty facts surrounding this topic you'll love this book. It makes the book readable (listenable) over and over.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Steven
- 04-08-06
A pretext for war
This book is in two parts, you keep reading this book in the belief that it will get more interesting but it never does, it could have been delivered in half the time, the way the book is delivered is fatally flawed give this one a big miss there must be better books out there on this subject that keep you entertained as well as giving you the facts.
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- James
- 07-10-04
Confused or Sell Out
What a sell out. He is obviously confused or a sell out. But don't be misled. If there is any amount of telling secrets of national security, this book would not been printed at least not for years to come.
The most informative aspect is in "reading between the lines." James Bamford tells about the many years of threats planned on the US prior to President Bush's presidency but puts blame on President Bush. A book that uses facts to legitimize fiction or at the very least a bruised ego. He exposes his own failings to practically understand limitations of individuals and governmental agencies - of course; he could have done it better.
Let?s get intelligent and use more critical practical thinking and realize humans are limited and flawed in their abilities. As such, I recognize the author's work and take his criticism with a grain of salt. I was left asking the question: What wasn't in the book? How about Sadam?s breaking of a cease fire and treaty, the attacks on American military, Iraq's breaking of international laws, Iraqi support of terrorism, the French, German and Russian roles in breaking the "oil for medical and food" agreement to supplement their economies, the philosophical, religious, etc. reasons nations went and go to war.
Summery: Grossly lacking, emotionally fueled, and self serving to the author. A book that is difficult to put down if you paid for it either for its story (the emotional impact of the events) or for its inadequacies.
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15 people found this helpful