Getting Away with Murder: The Real Story Behind American Taliban John Walkerlindh and What the U.S. Goverment Had to Hide

Mahoney provides a meticulously researched treastise that exposes the incestuous link between many of our leaders and the Taliban/terrorists. Mahoney is particularly revealing and damning (through his presentation of facts, not opinion) concerning the Bush administrations and their very close links with the Saudis and the oil industry. The author details not only what President G.W. Bush knew about the pre-9/11 attacks but also how he and his fellow power brokers helped foster and fund the very groups that attacked us. It seems a pipeline through Afganistan and the megamillions it would bring (no, not to you; to your political and industrial leaders) were more important than protecting us from a threat that, as Mahoney clearly shows, was very well known long before the attack on the Twin Towers. Only after 9/11 did President Bush choose to replace sending millions of dollars to the Taliban with sending bombs. There are heroes in the book, people such as the late FBI's John O'Neill, who knew what was going on and encouraged our leaders to act. These few brave souls were summarily marginalized and dispensed with. However, by detailing their insights and courage, Mahoney offers some hope, if his readers can only find the will to even partially replicate their bravery. Getting Away with Murder, though bleak, encourages us through example to speak out, to act, and to vote with selfless conviction.

I almost didn't buy this book. The world is awash with 'what really happened' books, and the cover contrives to suggest one of those 'inside the organisation' action accounts which make good beach reading but add little. In fact this is an extraordinarily clear and touching account of the struggle going on on for the soul of America, personalised by the two tragic lives of Mike Spann - CIA agent,and John Walker Lindh - the young Californian fleeing from the degeneracy as he saw it of his home society and finding a fate he could never have imagined as 'The American Taliban.' Their story is framed between chapters detailing the history of US foreign relations since the sixties which alone would would earn the book a place on my reference shelf. Mr Mahoney's respect and love for the best of American culture and tradition confronts his disgust at its takeover by the power of oil and money which he unhesitatingly describes as 'corrupt.' As a lawyer, he is well placed to detail the scandal surrounding the quashing of the Lindh trial, but he expressly avoids any implication that this was simply a case of a misled teenager. While its a litle hard to believe that the one thing standing between arrest of some of the Twin towers attackers before their attack was an interoffice feud between the FBI in Washington and their New York chief, John O'Neill, Mahoney neverthless regards Mr O'Neill - tragically killed on 9/11 - as a true American hero. Well researched, well written and well connected, this is an important book. Buy it America! Read it! Then go out and vote -before its too late.

Who "gets away with murder"? This is a wonderful "read". Sketches of Mike Spann (CIA hero and casualty), Lindh (the American Taliban), and O'Neill (the terror expert who might have made the difference) grab the reader as much as a well documented discussion of the Bush administration's questionable role bargaining with the Taliban; responding ineffectually immediately after 9-11; screwing up their case against Lindh.Given the total naiveté of young recruits sequestered in the Indian Ocean on ship and brainwashed about Saddam's role sponsoring 9-11 (a total myth), one might buy the notion that Lindh was a naïve, confused, idealist looking for clarity and Faith. Spann, a hero, may have been equally naïve and equally expendable to his government. War in Afghanistan was planned before 9-11 and the decision to attack Iraq was made in the first weeks of the Bush administration. The rest, as becomes increasingly clear, was "smoke and mirrors" (to put it kindly).You can decide just who (several parties maybe) "got away with murder."Any book on current events will prove to have some errors. Here, aside from a proof reader who uses the Buddhist `sutra' for the Muslim `surah' there are a couple worth mentioning. The evidence that George Bush before the Gulf War hoodwinked the Saudis and the public about the satellite photos showing immanent Iraqi invasion - to get their support and American bases in Saudi Arabia (a key critical bin Laden `cause') - is now very convincing and includes satellite photos showing no such thing and the government's failure to produce or even show their evidence `off the record.' Salafiya is not identical to Wahabism as is implied. Nevertheless the story is compelling, great reading, and makes one think.

Richard Mahoney's new book is insightful and powerfully rendered. His message is extremely timely and deserving of consideration by our highest emissaries and decision makers. As an American and someone who loves this country, I appreciate Mr. Mahoney's scholarship, historical perspective and profound discernment of the complex and tragic situation our country finds itself confronting. He conveys real patriotism in his graceful writing. Mr. Mahoney clearly researched his topic well. Bravo!

This is Richard Mahoney's newest book. I really enjoyed his other books...so I just had to read "Getting Away With Murder". I was not disappointed. I am going to share it with my classmates tomorrow!