This is a detailed account, most pressing in view of Obama's continuing misadventure in Afghanistan, about the longest war the United States has ever been involved in. Michael Scheuer considers Bergen's account as among one of the best on bin Laden (p. 18, Osama Bin Laden by Michael Scheuer, http://www.librarything.com/work/10763134/69122341). Against Flagg Miller, Scheuer also defends Bergen as documenting the existence of Al Qaeda (p. 71), a point that has oddly become a point of contention in published works about bin Laden.

I found this to be a steady, clear-eyed chronicle of America and Al-Qaeda. ( )

Bergen, a CNN analyst and one of the few Western journalists to actually interview Osama bin Laden (in 1997), has written about bin Laden and al-Qaeda extensively. Here he provides a narrative of the historical and philosophical background to 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, current to mid-2010. The final chapter summarizes the failed search for bin Laden and what the likely effects would be in the event of his (a) continuing to evade searchers, (b) being caught alive, or (c) being killed.

I have great respect for Bergen, who, in his writings and appearances on CNN, seems to have no ax to grind assessing both the successes and failures of Bush Jr., Obama, bin Laden, and U.S. foreign policy and intelligence services. For instance, he gives bin Laden his due in the success of expanding his organization, while outlining the serious mistakes he's made which have reduced the power of his message and turned many would-be supporters away from him in disgust. Bush is castigated for allowing the U.S. response to 9/11 to deteriorate into a mistaken war fought badly, but the troop surge of 2007 is seen as a success. Obama's decision-making processes over the first 18 months of his presidency are examined, but few conclusions are drawn, given the lag-time in how Bush's actions were felt far into the Obama administration and then the lag-time for Obama's own decisions to take effect. It is particularly interesting to read Bergen's comparisons of the two wars and the two countries affected, and his analysis of the difficulties in dealing with Pakistan, which is both an ally and a haven for terrorists.

Much of this is familiar, of course. But I found it useful to read it in a single narrative, with intelligent commentary from a knowledgeable source, giving me some new perspectives with which to watch the news out of the Middle East. Heavily sourced, several maps. ( )