Book review: True Faith and Allegiance: A Story of Service and Sacrifice in War and Peace by Alberto R. Gonzales

This book presents the way to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from the point of view of someone who was right in the middle of the discussions. Not only did he have to make decisions about what constituted appropriate interrogation behavior, but he also was close to the President when the attacks on 9/11 occurred. While the reader may disagree with the views expressed by the author as a politician and may hate the consequences of some of these decisions made by the author, I feel it never hurts to be exposed to different points of view. I had read quite a few articles critical of the decision to go to war and the treatment of prisoners had and has gotten more than its fair share of criticism. So reading a book by someone who was on the opposite side of the political spectrum was definitely a change of pace for me and while I do not agree will all or even with most views expressed by the author, I do believe that he acted sincerely and believed in what he did.
He came from a poor family and worked himself up through law school into the innermost circle of Republican politics. As a Hispanic and a conservative, this unusual combination of culture and political thinking got him noticed and once in the position of Attorney General, the criticism was strong and pointed at almost a betrayal of his heritage because Hispanics were not supposed to be Republican. The author persevered, sticking to his own version of Republic philosophy and in this book, while not totally attempting to explain his decisions and rewrite history with his opinion being right, the author Alberto Gonzalez is in a position to think through the events again and explain to the reader why certain decision were made. Again, many readers may not agree with these decisions and hindsight is always a winner, but this book tells his thoughts and motive during these crucial years. As someone who has disappeared from politics very quickly, this book is an interesting contribution to the discussion of the role law played in these years and what we may be able to learn for the future.

available on amazon.com

Disclaimer: I received a free sample in exchange for an honest review. The opinion expressed in this post is solely my own and has not been influenced by any third party.