BuzzFlash Reviews

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By the author of the best-selling and revealing "House of Bush, House of Saud."

From the Publisher:

Conventional wisdom has it that the Middle East crisis is the product of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. The Fall of the House of Bush will frame that conflict as part of an entirely different paradigm namely, the ongoing war between faith and reason, between fundamentalisms (Islamic, Jewish and Christian) and the modern, scientific, post-Enlightenment world. It will tell the story of how radical, neoconservative ideologues secretly forged an alliance with the Christian Right in the presidency of George W. Bush, and, driven by delusional idealism, ideological and religious zeal, waged unilateral, preemptive war in the Middle East, not to mention a domestic war against reason, science, and civil liberties. In other words, it will make the case that irrational religious and ideological forces have taken control of U.S. policy and are part of the problem, not the solution.

To fully appreciate the catastrophic consequences of these policies, one cannot overlook the fact these are the last days during which the United States has secure access to diminishing supplies of Middle East oil. As a result, far from insuring our security, the Iraq War will be seen as a great strategic pivot point in history that is igniting a global oil war. It also means a foreign policy based in part on apocalyptic end-time scenarios embraced by tens of millions of right wing Christian evangelicals who have effectively taken over the Republican Party, and are explicitly calling for the end of the separation of Church and State. If the Bush administration expands the Middle East war with a massive bombing campaign against Iran, it may even mean the end of America's global supremacy.

Of Unger's 2004 "House of Bush, House of Saud," Publishers Weekly Wrote:

In this potentially explosive book, investigative journalist Unger, who has written for the New Yorker, Esquire and Vanity Fair, pieces together the highly unusual and close personal and financial relationships between the Bush family and the ruling family of Saudi Arabia—and questions the implications for Bush's preparedness, or possible lack thereof, for September 11. What could forge such an unlikely alliance between the leader of the free world and the leaders of a stifling Islamic theocracy? First and foremost, according to Unger, is money. He compiles figures in an appendix indicating over $1.4 billion worth of business between the Saudi royal family and businesses tied (sometimes loosely) to the House of Bush, ranging from donations to the Bush presidential library to investments with the Carlyle Group ("a well-known player in global commerce" for which George H.W. Bush has been a senior advisor and his secretary of state, James Baker, is a partner), to deals with Halliburton, of which Dick Cheney was CEO. James Baker’s law firm even defended the House of Saud in a lawsuit brought by relatives of victims of September 11. Unger also questions whether the Bush grew so complacent about the Saudis that his administration ignored then White House terrorism czar Richard Clarke’s repeated warnings and recommendations about the Saudis and al-Qaeda. Another question raised by Unger’s research is whether millions in Saudi money given to U.S. Muslim groups may have delivered a crucial block of Muslim votes to George W. Bush in 2000—and it’s questions like that will make some readers wonder whether Unger is applying a chainsaw to issues that should be dissected with a scalpel. But whether one buys Unger’s arguments or not, there’s little doubt that with this intensely researched, well-written book he has poured more flame onto the political fires of 2004.

You can read the BuzzFlash interview with Unger on his new book at "The Fall of the House of Bush."




BUZZFLASH REVIEWS