Product Description

In 1991, President George H. W. Bush called Ambassador Joseph Wilson a "true American hero." In 2003, senior officials in President George W. Bush's White House tried to intimidate critics and punish Wilson for what he knew - and finally made public - about the administration's lies before the invasion of Iraq.

The disclosure of the undercover identity of Wilson's wife, CIA operative Valerie Plame, was an unprecedented and potentially criminal act.

The Politics of Truth tells the revealing story of this courageous American diplomat and his pivotal career in foreign policy, from telling Saddam Hussein to leave Kuwait to confronting the White House leaks that have breached national security.

With fearless insight and disarming candor, Ambassador Joseph Wilson recounts more than two decades in the US Foreign Service. Under presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton - from Angola to Iraq to Bosnia to Niger - here is an unprecedented look at the career of an American diplomat as well as an unvarnished account of our nation's foreign policy. Whether fostering peaceful democratisation in African nations or facing down Saddam Hussein just days before the first Gulf War or accompanying Bill Clinton on his historic 1998 African tour, Wilson vividly chronicles history in the making. And on page after compellingly-narrated page, he demonstrates the courage of his convictions in the face of volatile situations, violent conflicts, and vindictive governments.

As acting ambassador to Iraq, Wilson was the last American official to meet with Saddam before Desert Storm in 1990. He successfully parried the dictator's threats to use hostages as human shields against US bombing and was given a patriot's welcome by President George H. W. Bush on his homecoming. Yet today he finds himself in a battle with his own government.

Why? Because he called a lie a lie.

When President George W. Bush claimed in the now-notorious sixteen words in his 2003 State of the Union address that "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa" Wilson could not stand by silently. For at the request of the CIA he himself had travelled to Niger the previous year and found no evidence to support the rumour of a uranium deal. The White House retaliated viciously. Seeking revenge against Wilson and trying to intimidate intelligence professionals who ha begun telling reporters of pre-war pressure to skew their analyses of the threat posed by Iraq, senior administration officials did the unthinkable: the disclosed the undercover status of Wilson's wife, CIA operative Valerie Plame, to members of the press. Columnist Robert Novak the published the leak, blew Plame's cover, and abetted the administration's possible violaton of federal law.

But Wilson still wouldn't back down. He withstood the personal attacks and called on the White House to acknowledge the truth about the sixteen words. In televised interviews and newspaper commentaries he argued that the administration had fabricated much more than the uranium claim, indeed had manipulated intelligence to bolster its case for invading Iraq. Now he continues his fight in this groundbreaking book as he reveals the dangers to the nation bred by officials in a war-hungry White House - Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Karl Rove, and George W. Bush himself - in an alarming attempt to inpose their will. Yet Wilson maintains faith in his fellow citizens and the American ideals he represented for two decades abroad. With inspiring fervor he urges all Americans to become involved in the vigorous process of democracy, for ultimately, he argues, the strength of the nation lies in the will of its people.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1062428 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 528 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
While many former Bush administration officials published books airing their gripes and concerns in advance of the 2004 election, few got as personal as Joseph Wilson's The Politics of Truth. A career diplomat, Wilson found himself working for an administration that apparently leaked information revealing his wife, Valerie Plame, to be a CIA operative soon after Wilson cast doubt on Bush's claims of Iraq trying to buy uranium from Niger. When columnist Robert Novak named Plame, there was widespread speculation about who leaked the information. In The Politics of Truth, Wilson points a finger at Dick Cheney's chief-of-staff I Lewis (Scooter) Libby and national security aide Eliot Abrams although Wilson never really presents smoking gun evidence against them. There is little here that breaks new ground in terms of hard facts being revealed. Nonetheless, Wilson's account, personal and well written, maps out the human impact of the situation in ways that major newspapers never could.

Wilson's animus toward the administration is made stronger by his support of the president in the 2000 election and he held out hope that a centrist conservative approach would help America's position in the world. That scenario withered, in Wilson's mind, when the plan to invade Iraq became increasingly inevitable and, like many traditional conservatives, Wilson mourns the rise of the ideological "neo-conservatives" who shaped foreign policy. But while a true-life secret identity/betrayal story is inherently fascinating, and Wilson's indignation and scorn is powerfully delivered, there is more to recommend his book. Wilson tells of being stationed in the Persian Gulf in the days leading up to the first Gulf War, a haunting encounter with Saddam Hussein, and years of efforts to establish democracy in Africa. The Politics of Truth provides a glimpse inside the high-stakes world of international intelligence and, Joseph Wilson says, that world can be vicious. --John Moe, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews

He's been there, done that; and called it as he saw it.
I own and read books from all extremes of the current debate (or debacle, depending on your viewpoint). This has to be one of the best, along with Ron Susskind's The Price of Loyalty about O'Neill's dismissal. Why? It's extraordinarily well-written (no ghost-writer) and it's the story of a patriot and truth-teller who hated the disillusion and power games with which he was forced to come to terms. So, it's no polemic; just the slow unwinding of all kinds of pain.
He'll rank, in due course, with the Old China Hands who were dismissed the service for telling the truth in the 1940's, and maybe even with Ed Murrow. And, by the way, his anecdotes are so engaging that he's one of those people I want to be trapped in an airport lounge with ... whatever your views, don't miss.

Highly relevant to todays politics & the Iraq war
Joseph Wilson's career gave him considerable experience. His arguments are well reasoned & I personally found his point of view compelling & credible. Not to be dismissed lightly, this book is essential reading to understand certain facets of diplomacy and the current Bush administration.