Interesting Reading

Two books have caught my fancy lately. Both I have experienced on audio CD, borrowed from a friend, and I highly recommend.

First, All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
Its a very well written and engaging story of our fledgling covert ops system and how it contributed to the current mess we are dealing with in dangerous areas of the world. It is a fantastic example of how a foreign policy of non-entanglement, like that proposed by Ron Paul, is the only sane foreign policy. In the very least, it is a fantastic argument against attempting to topple governments and install puppets in other countries. Much like the film Sid and Nancy convinced me as a teenager never to try heroin, this book confirmed my belief that not only is it wrong, egotistical, presumptuous, and immoral to engage in covert activities aimed at controlling foreign governments, its not practical either.

The second, The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America
A wonderful inside look at the philosophies of today's leading radical Islamic terrorists. It covers in great detail how our government operated with respect to counter-terrorism primarily before 9/11, and with somewhat less detail after 9/11. It makes a strong case against Louis Freeh's FBI and Condi Rice in the run-up to the attacks of 9/11. It points out many interesting flaws and quirks within our system along the way.

Both books came very highly recommended from a friend, and I found them very interesting. While I do not agree with all the conclusions of the authors, I find their insight extremely helpful and enlightening.