Product Description

Readers of The New York Times know David Sanger as one of the most trusted correspondents in Washington, one to whom presidents, secretaries of state, and foreign leaders talk with unusual candor. Now, with a historian’s sweep and an insider’s eye for telling detail, Sanger delivers an urgent intelligence briefing on the world America faces.

In a riveting narrative, The Inheritance describes the huge costs of distraction and lost opportunities at home and abroad as Iraq soaked up manpower, money, and intelligence capabilities. The 2008 market collapse further undermined American leadership, leaving the new president with a set of challenges unparalleled since Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the Oval Office.

Sanger takes readers into the White House Situation Room to reveal how Washington penetrated Tehran’s nuclear secrets, leading President Bush, in his last year, to secretly step up covert actions in a desperate effort to delay an Iranian bomb. Meanwhile, his intelligence chiefs made repeated secret missions to Pakistan as they tried to stem a growing insurgency and cope with an ally who was also aiding the enemy–while receiving billions in American military aid. Now the new president faces critical choices: Is it better to learn to live with a nuclear Iran or risk overt or covert confrontation? Is it worth sending U.S. forces deep into Pakistani territory at the risk of undermining an unstable Pakistani government sitting on a nuclear arsenal? It is a race against time and against a new effort by Islamic extremists–never before disclosed–to quietly infiltrate Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program.

“Bush wrote a lot of checks,” one senior intelligence official told Sanger, “that the next president is going to have to cash.”

The Inheritance takes readers to Afghanistan, where Bush never delivered on his promises for a Marshall Plan to rebuild the country, paving the way for the Taliban’s return. It examines the chilling calculus of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il, who built actual weapons of mass destruction in the same months that the Bush administration pursued phantoms in Iraq, then sold his nuclear technology in the Middle East in an operation the American intelligence apparatus missed. And it explores how China became one of the real winners of the Iraq war, using the past eight years to expand its influence in Asia, and lock up oil supplies in Africa while Washington was bogged down in the Middle East. Yet Sanger, a former foreign correspondent in Asia, sees enormous potential for the next administration to forge a partnership with Beijing on energy and the environment.

At once a secret history of our foreign policy misadventures and a lucid explanation of the opportunities they create, The Inheritance is vital reading for anyone trying to understand the extraordinary challenges that lie ahead.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29069 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-13
• Released on: 2009-01-13
• Format: Deckle Edge
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 528 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307407924
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
“Dazzling and mordantly hilarious….The product of extraordinarily diligent reporting….A Woodwardian trove of inside dope….Devastatingly effective.”
—The New York Times

“The Inheritance reaffirms Thomas Jefferson's belief that for the American democracy to work there must be an informed citizenry. That means great reporting by great reporters is always required.  David Sanger's book epitomizes the requirement. He goes through the world of challenges and opportunities that lie dead as well as ahead for the United States globally. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and China are on the list. So are matters nuclear and economic, among others. Sanger's telling is full of behind-the-door stories that read like Alan Furst spy novels. This is a superior work of journalism.”
—Jim Lehrer, executive editior and anchor, The NewsHour

“One of the finest journalists of our time, David Sanger tells the surprising stories of crucial, heretofore-hidden events in Washington and around the globe that have culminated in the unprecedented world crisis that now faces us.  For the incoming President and the rest of us, Sanger's important book provides both understanding and hope. The Inheritance should be essential reading. "
—Michael Beschloss

“Somehow, David Sanger has broken through the secrecy and the government gobbledygook to tell us how we got to where we are and the choices this leaves for the next administration. He reveals inside stuff we have never heard in detail that will surprise and sometimes shock, yet he has framed it all in language the specialist will appreciate and the layman can understand. One of the most important books of the year.”
—Bob Schieffer, chief Washington correspondent, CBS News


“A brilliant tour d’horizon of world trouble s...

Review
“The Inheritance reaffirms Thomas Jefferson's belief that for the American democracy to work there must be an informed citizenry. That means great reporting by great reporters is always required. David Sanger's book epitomizes the requirement. He goes through the world of challenges and opportunities that lie dead as well as ahead for the United States globally. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and China are on the list. So are matters nuclear and economic, among others. Sanger's telling is full of behind-the-door stories that read like Alan Furst spy novels. This is a superior work of journalism.­” —Jim Lehrer

“One of the finest journalists of our time, David Sanger tells the surprising stories of crucial, heretofore-hidden events in Washington and around the globe that have culminated in the unprecedented world crisis that now faces us. For the incoming President and the rest of us, Sanger's important book provides both understanding and hope. The Inheritance should be essential reading. " —Michael Beschloss

“Somehow, David Sanger has broken through the secrecy and the government gobbledygook to tell us how we got to where we are and the choices this leaves for the next administration. He reveals inside stuff we have never heard in detail that will surprise and sometimes shock, yet he has framed it all in language the specialist will appreciate and the layman can understand. One of the most important books of the year.” —Bob Schieffer, chief Washington correspondent, CBS News

About the Author
DAVID E. SANGER is the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times. In twenty-six years at the Times, he has been a member of two teams that won the Pulitzer Prize and has received numerous awards for investigative, national security, and White House reporting. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two sons.

Customer Reviews

The high price of distraction
This important book explores the colossal failure of the Bush presidency. It shows us that Bush's policies and decisions were even worse than we knew. And that's really saying something.

It doesn't get into the Iraq war, how we got in and how we are attempting to get out. The focus instead is on opportunity cost. The real price of the war in Iraq is more profound than the $800 billion spent or even the sad human cost in deaths and casualties. The true price tag includes what we should have been doing instead. As author David Sanger puts it, when "the `decider' became the ditherer," the country became distracted from more immediate problems in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Korea. The winner after eight years of Bush's leadership? China.

The problems were not all Bush's fault, of course. But the way he and his administration responded weakened our country. "At the moment when we most needed to act like a truly enlightened superpower, we let fear trump judgment, we depleted our political capital and moral authority, and we sullied our reputation as the world's safest, best-regulated place to invest. The scorecard at the end of eight years is unforgiving: Barack Obama now inherits a country in far more peril -- both strategically and economically -- than Bush did when he took office."

The Inheritance is full of behind-the-scenes vignettes and insights. The author met with Bush in Crawford, Texas, eight days before the newly-elected president would be sworn in. Bush was joshing and informal, but as they entered the house, he warned, "Wipe your feet well, boys. I may have just been elected President of the United States, but Laura will have my *** if there's mud in her living room." Later, talking about his newly named press secretary, Ari Fleischer, Bush confessed "There's a lot I won't be telling him. There's a lot you won't hear." As Sanger puts it, "He got that right."

The epilogue, titled Obama's Challenge, begins with this quote: "Great crises create the opportunity to forge great presidencies." Here's hoping.

Here's the chapter list:

Introduction: The Briefing
Part 1: Iran
The Mullah's Manhattan Project
1. Decoding Project 111
2. Regime-Change Fantasies
3. Ahmadinejad's Monologue
4. The Israel Option

Part 2: Afghanistan
How The Good War Went Bad
5. The Marshall Plan That Wasn't
The Other "Mission Accomplished"

Part 3: Pakistan
"How Do You Invade An Ally?"
7. Secrets of Chaklala Cantonment
Crossing the Line

Part 4: North Korea
The Nuclear Renegade That Got Away
9. Kim Jong-Il 8, Bush 0
10. Cheney's Lost War
"Everything is Appomattox"

Part 5: China
New Torch, Old Dragons
12. Generation Lenovo
The Puncture Strategy

Part 6: The Three Vulnerabilities
14. Deterrence 2.0
15. The Invisible Attack
Dark Angel

Epilogue: Obama's Challenge
Acknowledgments
Note on Sources
Suggested Reading
Endnotes

A glossy-page section with 17 color photos shows some of the key people in the book, including Iranian President Ahmadinejad touring a uranium-enrichment centrifuge factory and an Afghan soldier holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

Must Reading!
Sanger describes what President-Elect Obama will face - results of the costs of distraction and lost opportunities in Iraq. He does not cover our weakened position due to the 2008 market collapse. His best material involves the latest developments in Iran.

The 2007 NIE report on Iran reported that they had ceased working on a bomb in 2003, but omitted the fact that this is the easiest portion - far easier than creating the required enriched fissionable material, especially given the availability of Russian experts and Pakistani help. The classified version also alleged Iran had added covert enrichment sites to the main (known) one. After crying wolf re Iraq, U.S. intelligence was unable to raise the alarm about Iran. The "good news" is that the U.S. tunneled into Irani computer systems and obtained extensive background information.

President Bush then decided to try sabotaging Iran's efforts - eg. arranging power supplies that generated unstable electricity that destroyed centrifuges (about 50) when turned on. The "bad news" is that Iran is now estimated to have 4,000 active centrifuges - enough to build a bomb/year, and is building new centrifuges that are even better. Experts see Iran as having enough material for a few weapons by 2010-12, and being set back only two years by a bombing campaign that would create enormous new problems in Iraq and elsewhere.

During the Spring 2008, Israel requested precision bunker-busting bombs and Iraq overflight rights to do the job themselves. President Bush refused.

The U.S. started Iran down the nuclear path in the 1950s; fortunately, Khomeini ignored it when the Shah was deposed. However, Saddam's use of chemical weapons on Iran rekindled interest. The U.S. had an opportunity to obtain Iran's cooperation post 9/11, especially at the time of "Mission Accomplished." Cheney, however, believed the Iranians were on the verge of collapse and successfully argued for ignoring their proposal.

Sanger now sees the U.S. at another point of strength in negotiating vs. Iran - their economy is at a nadir with the recent drop in oil prices.

Meanwhile, our intelligence chiefs have made repeated secret trips to Pakistan to try and stem a growing insurgency and cope with an ally aiding the enemy. "The Inheritance" also takes readers to Afghanistan, where Bush II never delivered on his promises to rebuild, paving the way for the Taliban's return. General McNeil (2008) tells Sanger that managing troops from 26 nations (mostly NATO), most of whom are under instructions to avoid regions where casualties were likely, and often also required advance approval from their capitals, is not a good way to win a war.

The Afghan government revenue in 2008 was $716 million, vs. a $4 billion narco-trade (per CIA). (Couldn't the NATO troops at least be used to clear the poppy fields?) Bush promised a "Marshal Plan" for Afghanistan ($90 billion in today's dollars), but months after that speech the U.S. had pledged only $290 million (half that from Iran, and only a small portion of the $5 billion total).

Another problem is Pakistan and its history of supporting the Taliban (valued by the Pakistani military and ISI for keeping India out of Afghanistan). Sanger says they have neither the will nor the means to take on al Qaeda and the Taliban. Worse yet, it has 70,000 nuclear workers, including about 2,000 "hard core" scientists and engineers. Our NIE review of the region concluded that Pakistan, with its economy near collapse, is the real prize for al Qaeda.

Then Sanger covers North Korea where actual WMD were built while the U.S. pursued phantoms in Iraq, and the technology then sold to Syria - unknown to the U.S. Sanger also then tells how China used the Bush years to expand influence in Asia and lock up oil supplies in Africa.

Sanger ends with three scenarios that depict terrorism vulnerabilities. The first (nuclear) involves a crude, very-low power nuclear device set off in D.C., and costing $500,000. The parts could either be smuggled into the U.S. in pieces or assembled - the U.S. detectors are outdated and probably couldn't detect it (despite creating 400-600 false alarms/day at Long Beach). New technology would reduce the false alarms, but probably still couldn't detect a nuclear weapon, per Sanger.

The second vulnerability is vs. biological weapons - major cities have detectors, but reading the results takes at least a day. Estimated cost: $500 million.

The third vulnerability involves a cyber attack - requiring about three years and another $500 million, and capable of destroying expensive diesel generators, electricity transmission lines, neutralizing our defenses, etc.

A mixed bag; very nuclear arms-centric
First the good - The book covers Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan very well. Sanger provides us with details that have been either under-reported by the mainstream press or have not been reported at all. The author has clearly invested a tremendous amount of effort in cobbling together these sections of the book. The chapters on China are not so well done. At first Sanger channels Thomas Friedman to write a pean to China's globalization. He then fails to provide the same level of insight as he does for the other three countries mentioned above.
The faults - Sanger fails to take into account the developments in several nations of Africa and South America, Russia and Mexico. For example, the re-emergence of tinpot dictators in South America, the crushing of enterprise and economic growth of the populace, and the diminishing role of several South American nations in world affairs will lead to crises in only a few years. Surely, this will have a huge impact on the U.S. and Mr. Obama will need to address it. Not a word about this entire region.
The book also needs an editor to chop off at least a third that is redundant. The problem is that there is no coherent chronological development of the analysis. The constant flitting around in terms of chronology fails to provide a cogent picture of the situation as it developed and also makes for cris-crossing the same path time and again. Finally, there are several spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that should have been fixed prior to release of the book.