Your Government Failed You

Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters

By: Richard A. Clarke

Narrated by: Richard A. Clarke

""Your government failed you . . . and I failed you.""

Richard Clarke's dramatic statement to the grieving families during the 9-11 Commission hearings touched a raw nerve across America. Not only had our government failed to prevent the 2001 terrorist attacks, but it has proven itself, time and again, incapable of handling the majority of our most crucial national security issues, from Iraq to Katrina and beyond. This is not just a temporary failure of our current leadership—it is a systemic problem, the result of a pattern of incompetence that must be understood, confronted, and prevented.

In Your Government Failed You, Clarke looks at why these unconscionable failures have continued and how America and the world can succeed against the terrorists. Clarke minces no words in his examination of the breadth and depth of the mediocrity, entropy and collapse endemic in America's national security programs. In order for the United States to stop its string of strategic mistakes, we first need to understand why they happen. Clarke gives us a privileged, if horrifying, inside look into the debacle of the government policies, discovering patterns in the failure and offering ways to stop the cycle once and for all.

Tough listen

I loved his book "Against all Enemies" which he read himself, but "Your Government Failed You" has been difficult to listen to. In fact, I'm only about an hour into it, and it's taken several return attempts to get this far. He reads way to slow and in a very somber tone. This gets on your nerves pretty quickly, though the information in the first chapter seems to be good. Hope I can make it through the rest of the book!

loved it but...

i hate ot when a book is abridged. still worth the listen... jusg would have liked the whole thing

Stellar Criticism

Authoritative and well written assessment of our governmental process, especially as it relates to security, and the former Bush Administration. Superb ideas for change. I wish that Richard Clarke were still at the helm. His perspective and insight are much needed—always needed! Well done.