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We'll set one up for you.The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, And Why the FBI and
CIA Failed to Stop It
by John Miller, Michael Stone
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Customer Reviews
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Number of Reviews: 11
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Wake Up Call, September 16, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Hampton Bays, NY United States John Miller wrote
a compelling account of the events leading up to 9/11. I found the book
engaging and I am outraged that our government fell asleep at the switch.
John Miller is to be commended for revealing the ineptitude of the CIA and
the FBI. His book should be required reading for all agents. Thanks to The
Cell, the citizens of the United States are alerted.
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Sobering, Peter Principle at Work -, September 16, 2002
Reviewer: flintysooner (see more about me) from Moore, OK USA I was
actually disappointed in this book after seeing Miller interviewed on TV. I
suppose that's why he's on TV. Still I recommend this book to anyone
interested in US capabilities to prevent terrorist attacks and the terrorists
who hate us most.
The style of the book is not exactly galvanizing and it is particularly
difficult to keep track of the characters. The Arabic names are so often
similar that it would have been nice if a device had been employed to help
present the characters and I kept wanting some sort of pronunciation aid,
too. But even the Anglo characters were hard for me to follow. A time line
graphic or aid would have been nice. I felt like things were hurried perhaps
to meet the anniversary.
The content itself and the big picture of the terrorist attack is definitely
communicated and moreover has the clear ring of truth. While the
characterizations of the participants on both sides leaves one yearning for
clearer pictures; those, too, are sufficient to communicate a definite
impression of both good guys and bad guys.
I couldn't help but think of Laurence Johnston Peter's famous principle:
"employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of
competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are
incompetent." This certainly seems to be true with the FBI which comes across
much better than the CIA. Generally individual agents within the organization
seem to be constantly betrayed by idiotic bureaucratic regulations
administered by sophisticated and practiced incompetents. But this seems more
to be in the area of confirmation of what so many already suspect than
revelatory.
However, the terrorist themselves, despite numerous and irritating
declarations to the contrary throughout the book, appear, if anything, to be
even worse. I suppose this is fitting for an even more hierarchical
organization than the CIA. It appears that the pool for terrorist talent
consists pretty much of lazy candidates for dumb and dumber movies but
seasoned with particularly high amounts of personality dysfunction. The
exceptions, which are notable by degree more than substance, only serve to
emphasize such a sad impression
The terrorists are portrayed in a way that seems to indicate they have no
appreciation for American individualism, resolve, and character. But they are
also portrayed as very communal with almost no individualism themselves and
that may indeed be an underlying factor. I believe the book does a reasonable
job of cursorily examining the hatred of the terrorists especially
considering that is not the primary intent. It is hopeful in that while the
disaffection appears to be widespread among the Muslim community, only a few
actually are motivated to real violence.
The most hopeful impression I retain however is that individual US citizens
and agents will continue the search for these terrorists until all are
eliminated and the threat removed regardless of the time or resources
necessary.
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0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Cheesy, OK, September 11, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from San Francisco, CA United States I bought this
book after hearing Miller's excellent interview on Fresh Air. The book is a
disappointment. It's told in a breathless style, and yet the book ends up
being a dry collection of facts with no analysis or interpretation. Miller
has an obnoxious thing about writing in the first person, placing himself in
the story. The book desperately needs an index. It is a useful general
retelling of a bunch of things that happened, but it's not a very good book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Riveting and a Greater Appreciation Gained for Cells, September 4, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Florida This is the first book I have picked up
on Al Quaeda, and I could not set it aside until I was finished. By beginning
with the killing of Rabbi Kahane in 1990 and following with the 1993 World
Trade Center bombing, thwarting the Manila bomb plan, Embassy bombings, the
USS Cole, and finally to the preparations for 9/11 this brings alot together.
Of course, John Miller's ABC interview with Bin Laden in 1998 adds a touch. I
learned alot about the Cells and gained a greater appreciation for the
dangerous times we live in today. To some this could really be scary. I also
gained a positive feeling towards our intelligence forces despite their past
problems of "territory" and in some cases outright timidness at the higher
levels. They really are on top of alot of the terrorists, but in so many
cases their hands are tied behind their backs. Like alot of people I know, I
had no real background to latch on to as to just why this all happened. This
book may not be the absolute authority and it may be a rehash of a much that
has been written, but to me it brought it together in a manner that makes
some sense and reason. As much as I am sympathetic to the loss, sorrow and
hurt felt by the victims and families, I wasn't interested in another book
with pictures of the Towers and the stories surrounding their destruction. I
needed something to bring it all into perspective. Most of all it has
developed my thoughts on the real problem we face is with the cells, and
Osama bin Laden is just a minor part of the whole puzzle and threat we live
under today. It is these radical elements around the world in these cells
that are the threats to our security, and as this book points out in bold
type one of our drawbacks is America's determination to give everyone the
benefit of the doubt which results in things coming together like 9/11.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Chilling documentary, September 3, 2002
Reviewer: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (see more about me) from Santa Clara,
CA This book is a sad commentary on our government's ability and willingness
to deal with terrorist threats prior to 9/11, if the sheer extent of the
beaurocratic delays, indifference, and incompentence of the various agencies
and authorities that the authors extensively document is even close to
accurate. The authors show how the 1998 African embassy bombings could
probably have been prevented, after the 1993 WTC bombing and the murder of a
Rabbi in NY in 1990 were traced back to a series of early al Qaeda cells,
among many other threads of evidence left behind that were not investigated
and followed up on.
Even worse, amazingly, there was even an informant, Max, who knew by early
2001 that there was a hijacking plot afoot, but again, the warnings were
ignored and nothing was done about it. The authors show how agents on the
ground were continually frustrated by everything from beaurocratic infighting
to a budget cut of the Anti-Terrorism monies. Well, all I can say is that a
few million more for that budget would probably have been cheaper than the
several billion the destruction of the World Trade Center and all the other
damage to New York cost, not to mention the incalculable loss of life. After
reading this book, one can only hope that the situation, post-9/11, is
radically different and that this sort of inexcusable long-term neglect by
government agencies will never happen again. "Eternal vigilance is the price
of freedom." Jefferson's comment is all the more relevant today in our
present circumstances.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Realistic revelations of our competence, September 1, 2002
Reviewer: C. Young from NY NY This book reveals something most Americans
are aware of but we put aside for our desired free way of living. We cannot
soley blame the government agencies for the failures. Ever since Pearl Harbor
was attacked, we as a whole have not learned to be fully alert to our
unwalled Jerico. This book also sends a slight message we need to be pushy as
individuals and as a whole to insure our security agencies are not kicking
back as they, in fact have repeatedly done even before Pearl Harbor. 9-11 is
the evidense we need to become eternally vigilent in our quest for freedom.
In this real world, someone is always going to come along and plan an attack
on the USA, this book says we need to get off our freedom couch and be
diligent. I hope from 9-11 alone that we will be,,,years into the future
without forgetting this necessity. We in fact did forget Pearl Harbor but
ignorantly remembered on 911. This book points out serious warnings, even the
most fundamental that all Americans were aware of (USS COLE< EMBASSY BOMBINGS<
AND PRIOR ATTACK ON WTC) that we should have realized the World Trade Center
in fact was a target. We ignored that, even ignoring it for the time the
hijacked planes left their flight plans for NY and DC. We as a whole aren't
to blame, we as a whole are responsible to be protective of our freedom
before the fact. I do recommend a book that says just that, SB: 1 or God by
Karl Mark Maddox
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4 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Good but not great., August 24, 2002
Reviewer: Helen Holmes (see more about me) from Bayville, New Jersey USA
For starters, a worthwhile book of non fiction ought to have an index and
this one doesn't.There isn't all that much here that hasn't been written
elsewhere but it is important for all of us to understand why 9-11 happened
-- and why alas it could happen again.A reviewer above suggests that the
government hire John Miller. When you finish this book you have to ask
yourself why many, many of our government employees have not been fired.The
FBI would be better staffed by former NYC cops. They usually get the job done
but if they mess up they go on trial.And one wonders why the former mayor of
New York hasn't been given a significant job in Washington where his help is
obviously needed.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A terrifying real life detective story, August 22, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Washington, DC This seems like an amazing
fictitious detective story except for the fact that it's true and close to
3,000 people actually perished. John Miller takes us back as early as 1990
when Rabbi Meir Kahane was murdered in New York. The murderer and his cohorts
were some of al Qaeda's earliest members and they left a trail of information
revealing detailed plans for terrorist attacks on US soil. Over the next
decade extensive information about these growing cells was available both to
local law enforcement agents as well as to the FBI and CIA. How is it that
they didn't see the September 11th attack coming? Reading this book will show
you that there was no excuse.
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8 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
Where is G. W. Bush's culpability?, August 21, 2002
Reviewer: Rosa La Luna (see more about me) from Sacramento, CA The book
puts much of the blame on the CIA and FBI, but what about G. W. Bush? What
about his business dealings with the bin Laden family? What about the check
Colin Powell gave the Taliban in spring 2001? And why were bin Laden's family
(several of whom were in the U.S. on 9/11) given safe passage out of the
country just days afterwards?
In the U.K., Salman Rushdie was quoted as saying he could not board a plane
in the U.S. just PRIOR to 9/11, based on terrorist fears. (You can find his
exact quote with a google command.) So the CIA, FBI, Bush (?) knew something
was up. But these facts and more have been ignored by the mainstream U.S.
media, including Mr. Miller (to his credit, he does mention the disturbing
fact that after being elected, Bush pulled out the two submarines off of
Afghanistan who were poised to launch an attack on bin Laden's camp there).
I believe the fairer word for the 9/11 tragedy is not "failure" but "willful
ignorance."
Mr. Miller is an excellent journalist and his book is well worth reading, but
it is not definitive.
Rosa La Luna
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35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
eye-opening but frightening saga, August 18, 2002
Reviewer: Harriet Klausner (see more about me) Up front let me apologize
for being emotional in this review, as this true account is appalling in what
should have been. The book describes the evolution of the 1990s through 9/11
of Bin Laden and the Al Queda that will haunt readers forever. The authors
tie events together that show the magnitude of the failure of anti-terrorism
efforts under three administrations including the present one. The authors
claim several opportunities to stop the terrorists were available, but not
acted on, as the threat had not incredulously surpassed the "acceptable level
of terrorism". That is the frightening thought that especially Clinton and
Bush II (even in his first year) could have done more and saved lives.
Official inactivity and incompetence (the Attorney General cut the
anti-terrorism funding) and missed opportunities led to irate agents unable
to overcome politics as usual under presidents from both political parties.
This book is not for those still raw, as it is quite an eye-opening saga. As
the country's powers debate homeland security and claim the high ground, they
should read this book first so they cannot sleep better at night. While the
President vacations; the Attorney General cries security wolf; the Congress
posters to gain reelection; and Clinton rewrites his place in history,
perhaps each will finally understand the real goal: no future American should
suffer like those who seemed to have died for no reason except politics and
incompetence.
Harriet Klausner
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