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The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
This is an ambitious, meticulous examination of how U.S. foreign policy since the 1960s has led to partial or total cover-ups of past domestic criminal acts, including, perhaps, the catastrophe of 9/11. Peter Dale Scott, whose previous books have investigated CIA involvement in southeast Asia, the drug wars, and the Kennedy assassination, here probes how the policies of presidents since Nixon have augmented the tangled bases for the 2001 terrorist attack. Scott shows how America's expansion into the world since World War II has led to momentous secret decision making at high levels. He demonstrates how these decisions by small cliques are responsive to the agendas of private wealth at the expense of the public, of the democratic state, and of civil society. He shows how, in implementing these agendas, U.S. intelligence agencies have become involved with terrorist groups they once backed and helped create, including al Qaeda.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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1711 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 21, 2023
This is a who's who of late twentieth century political power structures. Scott is meticulous in his details on names, places, and organizations, but what's sorely lacking is any sort of materialist analysis of the united states from its inception. He frequently refers to the "inherent moral goodness" of the US (and Nazi Germany) that is simply corrupted by power hungry individuals and groups, and lauds the founding fathers' intent. In particular in the final chapter, he says the solution is for all of us to realize we're both liberal and conservative, and that is somehow the magical answer to what plagues this country (and the world). Flexing his non-marxist credentials to try and appeal to the right wing who are susceptible to critical analysis of 9/11, he sacrifices any kind of ideological rigor that would have made this more intriguing.
The details of the national security state and the decades of planning that went into the response to 9/11 was definitely good, though, and I learned a good bit about some of the finer details of the 1970s and 1980s in that regard.
The details of the national security state and the decades of planning that went into the response to 9/11 was definitely good, though, and I learned a good bit about some of the finer details of the 1970s and 1980s in that regard.
January 24, 2018
Reading this book requires a healthy skepticism
The author of this book Peter Dale Scott is a Canadian-born poet and academic (professor emeritus of English, University of California at Berkeley ), who over the years developed a strong interest in contemporary politics, specifically the role of a so-called "deep state" as opposed to the public state in the shaping of American politics. In past books, Scott has examined the role of the "deep state" in the prosecution of the Vietnam War (Conspiracy War) and in the JFK assassination (Deep Politics and the JFK Assassination). In short, he is a conspiracy theorist who has now turned his attention to the role of the deep state, i.e. non-elected interests such as big Oil companies and Wall Street, in paving the road to 9/11. Although I do not doubt that much of what he writes about the entanglement of the CIA with big oil companies and Wall Street is true, I would recommend reading this book with a healthy dose of skepticism.
A close reading of the author's extensive footnotes (accounting for 50 percent of the books 746 pages) reveals that the author relied almost exclusively on journalistic reporting. He cites few academic histories or archival sources. For the post-1980 era, this oversight is somewhat excusable, given most archives impose a 40 year rule. However, for the period 1945-1980, this failure constitutes a major red flag. Unlike journalists, academic historians must name their sources; they cannot cite anonymous informants or quote unnamed persons on deep background -- an accepted practice for journalists that allows them to get the story out quickly, but also makes their reporting more prone to error. Journalists also write with an eye to grabbing the attention of their readers; thus their narratives are also more prone to sensationalism than those of academic historians. Finally, the very speed with which they must write means that their analysis typically lacks the depth found in historical accounts. Thus, assessing foreign policy based solely on accounts written by journalists can lead to an argument that puts the horse before the cart. In fact, it seems that Peter Dale Scott began this book with a foregone conclusion, rather than starting with a hypothesis, whose veracity his research would either prove or disprove. He only cites news reports that support his theory. In short, this book is your typical conspiracy theory: It contains undeniable elements of the truth, but that truth is hidden beneath mountains of undigested and possibly inaccurate information and analysis.
The author of this book Peter Dale Scott is a Canadian-born poet and academic (professor emeritus of English, University of California at Berkeley ), who over the years developed a strong interest in contemporary politics, specifically the role of a so-called "deep state" as opposed to the public state in the shaping of American politics. In past books, Scott has examined the role of the "deep state" in the prosecution of the Vietnam War (Conspiracy War) and in the JFK assassination (Deep Politics and the JFK Assassination). In short, he is a conspiracy theorist who has now turned his attention to the role of the deep state, i.e. non-elected interests such as big Oil companies and Wall Street, in paving the road to 9/11. Although I do not doubt that much of what he writes about the entanglement of the CIA with big oil companies and Wall Street is true, I would recommend reading this book with a healthy dose of skepticism.
A close reading of the author's extensive footnotes (accounting for 50 percent of the books 746 pages) reveals that the author relied almost exclusively on journalistic reporting. He cites few academic histories or archival sources. For the post-1980 era, this oversight is somewhat excusable, given most archives impose a 40 year rule. However, for the period 1945-1980, this failure constitutes a major red flag. Unlike journalists, academic historians must name their sources; they cannot cite anonymous informants or quote unnamed persons on deep background -- an accepted practice for journalists that allows them to get the story out quickly, but also makes their reporting more prone to error. Journalists also write with an eye to grabbing the attention of their readers; thus their narratives are also more prone to sensationalism than those of academic historians. Finally, the very speed with which they must write means that their analysis typically lacks the depth found in historical accounts. Thus, assessing foreign policy based solely on accounts written by journalists can lead to an argument that puts the horse before the cart. In fact, it seems that Peter Dale Scott began this book with a foregone conclusion, rather than starting with a hypothesis, whose veracity his research would either prove or disprove. He only cites news reports that support his theory. In short, this book is your typical conspiracy theory: It contains undeniable elements of the truth, but that truth is hidden beneath mountains of undigested and possibly inaccurate information and analysis.
May 17, 2017
Genius: This book can be read by 911 propaganda worshipers without them rejecting it, because it studiously avoids rejecting the big print version of the 911 propaganda story. At the same time, it is full of (1) US dealing in Asia, and (2) the dishonesty and corruption of the 911 commission.
Genius: The 911 Commission Report's lies and omissions can, should and are used to extract the deeper truths that the Commission is/was trying to hide. Genius!
Good: overview of back-office, covert actions in Asia and the middle east
Good: very full of information and leads off to other areas
Good: I am pretty well informed about these subjects, and I was educated
Good: Completely ignores the propaganda story about hijackers learning to fly, or anything that in support of that story, even though noting the bizarre history and ownership of the flight schools that "they" or some people attended
Neutral: This is two books: (1) A history of US interference in Asia, the Middle East and the like, and (2) the corruption and incompetence of the 911 commission.
Bad: Really, in the book's design, it supports the "muh, Arabs did it".
Bad, or necessary: Avoids out-right mocking of the 911 propaganda fantasy.
August 6, 2021
Good analysis of the lead up to 9/11 and a call for further investigation into the Bush Administration’s involvement. Written in 2007, so it’s a bit dated and prior to when Obama did jack shit about it.
January 24, 2025
Insane book. Hard to describe the complexity of this narrative and the dimness of the shadows that everything you will encounter here occurred in. You may get tired of too many wolves. But it is a riveting account and, whether people like it or not, is incredibly consistent. And it makes total sense Cheney.
June 13, 2022
By largely avoiding the conspiracy speculation that most other authors on this topic fall prey to, Peter Dale Scott manages to meticulously document the events that directly led to the largest mass murder in American history. In "Road to 9-11" the reader is shown that even given the most charitable interpretation of events, and by that I mean one in which we take the findings of the 9-11 commission report largely at face value, one would still be forced to reconcile the fact that the U.S. government recruited, funded, armed, trained, and radicalized a network of Mujahideen guerilla soldiers who were known to harbor very hostile sentiments towards the United States. This very same "Afghan foreign legion" that at one time had been dubbed "freedom fighters" by both president Reagan and Congress eventually evolved into the terrorist network known as Al Qaeda.
Consider, for example, the testimony of Michael Springman, the former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Springman told the BBC that since 1987 CIA had been illicitly issuing visas to unqualified applicants from the Middle East and bringing them to the United States for training in terrorism for the Afghan war. In his words:
"In Saudi Arabia I was repeatedly ordered by high level State Dept. officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants. These were, essentially, people who had no ties either to Saudi Arabia or to their own country. I complained bitterly at the time there. I returned to the U.S., I complained to the State Dept. here, to the General Accounting Office, to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and to the Inspector General's office. I was met with silence. What I was protesting was, in reality, an effort to bring recruits, rounded up by Osama bin Laden, to the U.S. for terrorist training by the CIA. They would then be returned to Afghanistan to fight against the then-Soviets."
In short, Peter Dale Scott's book is brilliant, not for any new information it brings to the table (in fact much of what is mentioned here has been talked about at length elsewhere) but for the way in which he expertly weaves all of this hidden history (what he calls "deep politics") into a coherent narrative that challenges us to view historical events as more then just a snapshot in time. There's a reason 9-11 happened, and that reason is much more jarring than any theory about controlled demolitions.
Consider, for example, the testimony of Michael Springman, the former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Springman told the BBC that since 1987 CIA had been illicitly issuing visas to unqualified applicants from the Middle East and bringing them to the United States for training in terrorism for the Afghan war. In his words:
"In Saudi Arabia I was repeatedly ordered by high level State Dept. officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants. These were, essentially, people who had no ties either to Saudi Arabia or to their own country. I complained bitterly at the time there. I returned to the U.S., I complained to the State Dept. here, to the General Accounting Office, to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and to the Inspector General's office. I was met with silence. What I was protesting was, in reality, an effort to bring recruits, rounded up by Osama bin Laden, to the U.S. for terrorist training by the CIA. They would then be returned to Afghanistan to fight against the then-Soviets."
In short, Peter Dale Scott's book is brilliant, not for any new information it brings to the table (in fact much of what is mentioned here has been talked about at length elsewhere) but for the way in which he expertly weaves all of this hidden history (what he calls "deep politics") into a coherent narrative that challenges us to view historical events as more then just a snapshot in time. There's a reason 9-11 happened, and that reason is much more jarring than any theory about controlled demolitions.
November 2, 2023
This book lays important ground to understand the political and economic strategies and structures that have either directly or indirectly caused 9/11. It is rigorous in its account of the chain of events that lead to it, and highlights who stands to benefit from it.
Any review that claims that this book blames 9/11 on Arabs or Muslims is baseless. The book consistently separates Muslims, and, “Islamists”, and underlines that a lot of these “terror” movements can directly be linked to AmeriKKKa, especially the funding and creation of “jihadi textbooks” for children that were then distributed to Afghanistan and later across Central Asia. Scott does vehemently condemn the House of Saud, but it is based on their funding of jihadi groups and political movements in other countries that go against their interests.
However, the interpretation of these facts are what can only be described as extremely american. Scott continually refers to the inherent morality of AmeriKKKa and constantly pushes a bi-partisan and anti-republican message. While toward the end he does highlight that both parties have similar interests, it seems like an off hand comment, and he prefers to suggest that all AmeriKKKans are both liberal and conservative and they must join hands and make the world a better place. Moreover, his insistance that the “Deep State”, operates without the knowledge of congress is laughable.
Would recommend that you read this book for its attention to detail, but not for any good analysis of the political consequences.
Any review that claims that this book blames 9/11 on Arabs or Muslims is baseless. The book consistently separates Muslims, and, “Islamists”, and underlines that a lot of these “terror” movements can directly be linked to AmeriKKKa, especially the funding and creation of “jihadi textbooks” for children that were then distributed to Afghanistan and later across Central Asia. Scott does vehemently condemn the House of Saud, but it is based on their funding of jihadi groups and political movements in other countries that go against their interests.
However, the interpretation of these facts are what can only be described as extremely american. Scott continually refers to the inherent morality of AmeriKKKa and constantly pushes a bi-partisan and anti-republican message. While toward the end he does highlight that both parties have similar interests, it seems like an off hand comment, and he prefers to suggest that all AmeriKKKans are both liberal and conservative and they must join hands and make the world a better place. Moreover, his insistance that the “Deep State”, operates without the knowledge of congress is laughable.
Would recommend that you read this book for its attention to detail, but not for any good analysis of the political consequences.
July 7, 2021
Not as much of a conspiracy themed book as I was expecting. More of a look at US foreign policy leading up to 9/11. Really well written, easier to read than I expected. Scott has some weird politics (he claims Solidarity in Poland is the model revolution, which is strange since it was funded by the CIA) but I still really liked his analysis and found his research to be very thorough and well done.
March 27, 2012
Audiobook. Fascinating. Well-researched. Objective. Does not jump to conclusions. Asks more questions than it answers, but they are the questions that still need answers. Hopeful conclusion that the people of the US on both sides of the aisle can rise up against the deep state.
October 12, 2021
Peter Dale Scott does an incredible job detailing the decisions of the CIA in the Middle East and elsewhere leading to the current American terror state and its 'industrial complex' we have today with the claim that it has created to a 'continuity of government' plans in the hastily-reviewed Patriot Act, plans of which were devised decades earlier by Rumsfeld and Cheney in the Ford White House that Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden have all continued. The book is incredibly dense and need to read thoughtfully to drink it all in. Almost everything is cited allowing the reader to pause and research everything as you read. Claims towards the end of the book seem to be a bit harder to piece together, but the most fascinating parts to me are those of the Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations, their National Security Advisors, their relationships with the CIA, their exploits in the Middle East, and the 'necon' takeover of power following the Halloween Massacre one year into the Ford administration.
February 6, 2025
Damn. This book hits hard and brings receipts.
Meticulously researched. Brilliantly written, albeit a bit repetitive - but this repetition serves to get the core claims across. Elected and unelected officials have abused their power and co-opted foreign and domestic policy and have hidden their actions from Congress and the public.
Secret actions by the CIA and by American institutions and companies have used the American military to advance their private interests subsidized by the American taxpayer and by illicit activities such as the drug trade.
Behind the scenes stuff has been going on for decades and we deserve to know about it. Inequality threatens to continue splitting societies apart, but if we continue to be blinded by so-called political differences we will never address the true economic/class differences at the heart of our problems.
Meticulously researched. Brilliantly written, albeit a bit repetitive - but this repetition serves to get the core claims across. Elected and unelected officials have abused their power and co-opted foreign and domestic policy and have hidden their actions from Congress and the public.
Secret actions by the CIA and by American institutions and companies have used the American military to advance their private interests subsidized by the American taxpayer and by illicit activities such as the drug trade.
Behind the scenes stuff has been going on for decades and we deserve to know about it. Inequality threatens to continue splitting societies apart, but if we continue to be blinded by so-called political differences we will never address the true economic/class differences at the heart of our problems.
September 18, 2024
This possibly an important book... but few will read it and take any action. The book gives a very detailed account of the politics of the White House in administrations leading up to the 9/11 Incident and analyzes afterward. It asks important unanswered (by reports) questions about the incident. And it explains the likely people In our own government who had reasons to be involved in abetting (or even planning and carrying out the entire incident). And it completely side-steps Any engineering analysis of the incident (perhaps the most disappointing part But it would have made the book too long). Just focusing on Command and Control and the questions it raises Are enough to Indict our government (key people in it at the time) of working to facilitate the incident. Interesting.
Read
January 16, 2026great if you just let your eyes glaze over the page whenever he starts libbing out. learned a ton and am going to lend this to five different people but also a fascinating look into what happens when you're a politically muddled oldhead skeptic who's trying and failing to reverse engineer historical materialism so you end up just being like It's so crazy and shortsighted that america would fund al-qaeda It Makes No Sense
September 11, 2021
rly fantastic, good overview of US foreign policy and other factors in what led up to 9/11. esp appreciate the heavy detail regarding Continuity of Government, which is an often overlooked but huge piece of the puzzle. the 14th and penultimate chapter is a warning concerning how COG has been used and how it may be used in the future
October 20, 2022
Interesting book, but a little bit out of its time and can be a bit repetitive/unclear on the labyrinthine machinations it is communicating.
Definitely a read for anyone interested interested in topic, but not something to go out of your way for as a piece of literature/for readability.
Definitely a read for anyone interested interested in topic, but not something to go out of your way for as a piece of literature/for readability.
July 5, 2025
Helpful book to get the context of what happened on 9/11 and why it happened and how our foreign policy failed the American people . This book has some key information which is helpful if you want to understand the world today and how we got here.
September 22, 2021
The war on terror never happened. Full disclosure is how I read these sorts of books:
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https://c.tenor.com/XrgDJdPlGvoAAAAd/...
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January 15, 2022a bunch of people did 9/11
February 14, 2023
A solid overview of the politics that lead to 9/11.
Want to read
August 16, 2025First Book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2008
incredibly dense, with more info than I could have imagined. Definitely need to own this one.
November 11, 2012
A Must Read
November 15, 2025
Para-politics
in the "Arabized" West. Oil,
drugs, and terrorists!
in the "Arabized" West. Oil,
drugs, and terrorists!
September 18, 2007
An important synthesis of what has happened and what must happen.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews