Great non-partisan examination about how the Bush administration oil barons have used the power of the military and politics in an attempt to put some stability in governments near the Caspian Sea for its huge untapped oil reserves. The huge oil companies will not make the investments in that region until the governments are more cooperative and trustworthy. The oil reserves are bigger than ever imagined and industrial leaders in China and India are desperate for this supply. The evidence is factual and well documented. I serve in state government so this book has been critical to gain a better understanding of the actual motives for war. This is highly recommended for a business person, government person, or interested citizen

Great non-partisan examination about how the Bush administration oil barons have used the power of the military and politics in an attempt to put some stability in governments near the Caspian Sea for its huge untapped oil reserves. The huge oil companies will not make the investments in that region until the governments are more cooperative and trustworthy. The oil reserves are bigger than ever imagined and industrial leaders in China and India are desperate for this supply. The evidence is factual and well documented. I serve in state government so this book has been critical to gain a better understanding of the actual motives for war. This is highly recommended for a business person, government person, or interested citizen

Like a lot of people all over the world, we wondered why the U.S. needed to go to war (and with the wrong country) when Europe had dealt with its terror problems in the past (I.R.A., E.T.A., Algerian separatists, Red Brigade etc.,) through old-fashioned police-work, choking off finance, intelligence gathering and arrests. We (allies and non-allies alike) also weren't buying the 'WMD's on every corner' and 'links with U.B.L. and terror' thing either. It was all a bit too flimsy, and the reasons for war changed every month as the prior ones got picked to shreds.

So rather than being an ill-informed 'Bush-basher', I devoured books by the barrow load (including this one) to try to get to the bottom of it all. The sources all seem to check out (I looked up several) and there doesn't seem to be any 'selective interpretation' of the facts either.

But as any good journo would tell you, cross-check your facts! I recommend you also read:
Owen Harries - 'Benign or Imperial?'
Noam Chomsky - 'Hegemony or survival' (I know his politics are left of centre, but that doesn't entirely invalidate some facts and insights he gives)
George Soros - The bubble of American Supremacy'
Clyde Prestowitz - 'Rogue Nation'
Greg Palast - 'The best democracy money can buy' (requires some filtering - he ocassionally draws too long a bow)
Bob Woodward - 'Plan of Attack'

Balance these against books from 'the right', but avoid the literary 'Genghis Khan is a wimp' types (I.E. Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter et al).

This president has changed your country from being one of the most sympathised with post 9-11, to THE most hated nation on the planet. If you want to know why, read this book and the others, and don't swallow that rubbish about 'it's because they envy our democracy and freedom' etc. Scandinavia has the same freedoms and an arguably higher standard of living than the U.S. yet doesn't have a tenth the problems.

I urge you to read this book and others before you vote - it's a real eye-opener.

Crude Politics is one of the better books I've read or heard about in this time of political unrest. I was first drawn to it because of the author's position;

"Paul Sperry is the Washington bureau chief at WorldNetDaily.com, a position he previously held at Investor's Business Daily, where he wrote for 12 years. A Hoover Institution media fellow, his reports on national security issues have been picked up by virtually every major news agency in the world. Sperry's journalistic courage and integrity are backed by years of experience, including extensive reporting and editing on national affairs, economics, manufacturing, real estate, and general business coverage." - WorldNetDaily.com website.

For those who haven't visited the site, WorldNetDaily.com website is usually a very right-wing news group, often posting stories that support a right-wing agenda.

The position of the author is important because he says in his book that he voted republican in the last few elections and even for now President Bush. The website also reinforces how conservative this reporter is by recounting Sperry's 1999 clash with President Bill Clinton on questions over the "Chinagate" fund-raising scandal that led him to be banned from the White House for the duration of the presidency.

So why then has this author written a book denouncing the Bush administration's agenda on the war on terror? Has he flipped sides? Hardly. He is just one of many who have growing concerns that the legitimate war on terror has been hijacked to serve the personal, economic interests of a few oil barons.

Sperry gives a great deal of attention not to Iraq (as this book was being written at the time the US was just about to invade Iraq), but to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia; three countries that have been working to secure an oil and natural gas pipeline in the Caspian Basin for over a decade. Sperry shows how the Bush administration transformed the war on terror as an "in" to this same pipeline deal that will prove to be one of the world's most wealthy oil and natural gas sources.

For those who claim that Bush and his administration are only concerned with the American public's safety, this book will enlighten them that, although they may indeed care about us, they care more about their pocket-books and long-term oil ventures.

Why would people like Bush, who comes from a long line of oil men, who have many decades of strong allegiances with Saudi oil men, suddenly stop all pursuits of oil, just to serve the American public for a few years? Why would Vice President Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, one of the biggest oil contractors in the world, suddenly ignore the prospect of buried oil treasures overseas? And why would national security advisor Condoleezza Rice trash a decade of serving the Chevron Corp (who liked her work so much they named an oil tanker after her) just to fight some terrorists?

It doesn't add up. These people have oil coursing through their veins, and to suggest they've given it all up on purely moral grounds is like saying I don't need air to breathe anymore.

Sperry's book is a must for those seeking a solid investigation of the war on terror and its obvious ties to oil. Unlike most of the political books littering the shelves today, Paul Sperry presents a thoughtful and non-fanatical approach that asks simple questions to subjects that have been spun by our Commander in Chief and his oil-soaked cronies.