True
Faith and Allegiance: A Story of Service and Sacrifice in War and Peace by
Alberto Gonzales
As the 80th Attorney General of the United
States under the mantle of President George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzales ran into
many difficult situations including the post 9/11 terror that ensued after the
Twin Towers were bombed. Gonzales has a
long history with Bush, all the way back to their days in the state of Texas,
where Gonzales was Secretary of State and then a Supreme Court Justice. This new book, True Faith and Allegiance,
tells the story of Gonzales’ time with the President as he served him as
Attorney General.
One particularly chilling part of the book was when
Gonazalez went to the Huntsville death chamber to attend a midnight
execution. Alberto was concerned for the
chaplain who had counseled and prayed with so many of the inmates right before
their execution. After hearing about the
inmates confessing to the crime they committed to the chaplain, Gonzales
writes, “And then he revealed something that bothers me even to this day. He told me that many of these midnight confessions
were not limited to the crime for which these criminals were being executed. These confessions sometimes included other
killings and other crimes…(64).” At that
point in the stage of the criminal’s life, the end is the conclusion of his
life and of his case, but the knowing that other people could be dead or
injured is still a gut-churning truth.
Another aspect of the book that was very interesting
concerned the fate of Saddam Hussein.
Gonzalez gives us a window into how other senators and politicians were
feeling about the situation, many on the side of taking Hussein out. Gonzalez says this about Saddam’s presence
outside the U.S, “It’s important to note, however, that the CIA was not alone
in assuming Saddam had become a dangerous threat. Intelligence services from Britain, Spain,
Australia, Poland and Italy shared that opinion… (255).” The viable threat was seen from John Kerry, Joe
Biden and many others inside the political machinery of Washington D.C. Saddam was an imminent threat and Gonzalez
was outlining the fact from outside the U.S.
This is a really fascinating book, not least of which is
a picture of someone who worked with Bush.
Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for the copy of this book in
exchange for review.
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