In this exposé, national security expert James Bamford reveals his theory regarding what he considers unpardonable intelligence failures prior to 9/11, seeing a systemic problem as well as human error. Bamford faults the Bush administration for being myopic in its concern for Iraq and far too secretive in its decision-making. For this book, Bamford draws on his deep connections in the intelligence community as he did for his previous books, PUZZLE PALACE and BODY OF SECRETS.