A review by lnetzel
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright

5.0

Detailed and well documented account of bin Laden's rise to power and his forming of al-Qaeda. Very disturbing how disconnected the American protective services are due to bureaucratic "walls" and extremely poor communication. There are few in the CIA and FBI that should not be ashamed of their efforts to deal bin Laden before he was able to strike inside the US. The vast majority (mostly upper management) let petty jealousy and paranoia along with bureaucracy miss many opportunities to disrupt this terrorist plot.
Wright states many of the missed opportunities as fact and in a mostly nonjudgmental tone. However, he clearly indicts the CIA and FBI with failing to stop the 9/11 attacks in light of the intelligence that was available more than 18 months in advance of the attacks.