I finished reading Richard Clark's new book Against All Enemies (thanks Anthony for the copy) on the plane. He certainly is self-promotional in tone, and admires Clinton and Israel, more than anything or anybody. Even Israeli military support for Apartheid South Africa's government was not made to be a big deal. But he was known within the government, from what I have read, for being very protective of Israel and its interests. I will make more specific references later. For somebody who follows Middle East terrorism as he does, his knowledge on the Middle East is rather thin; he thinks Hizbullah is a Palestinian-Lebanese organization, for example. And he says (I will give page numbers later) that Steven Emerson--yes, that Steven Emerson--(whose advise he sought) taught him on Middle East terrorism in US more than anybody else, and cites his senstational book American Jihad approvingly. He did focus, while in government, on Bin Laden and his danger when others in the goverment were busy with threats from outer space; he does a good job of making the case against the war on Iraq, from the standpoint of the war on terrorism. Oh, I also want to recommend the new piece on the status of Afghanistan--after its ostensible liberation--(including the continued oppression of women there) in the new New Yorker by Seymour Hirsch. If somebody has the link, please email to me to post.