(04-17-2018 09:05 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  Wrapping up Looming Towers this week on Hulu.

It's a mostly an accurate account of the failure of the CIA and FBI (mostly CIA) to coordinate intel in the years leading up to 9/11. Based on the book by the same name which takes you from the seedlings in the 50's that eventually grew al-Qaeda to what it becomes by the mid 90's. The show doesn't go that far back and starts right around the time just before the U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

It's not for everyone. If you like the subject matter; however, you will almost assuredly binge the whole thing. Gets a little stale mid way through but is otherwise hard to turn off. Even before the finale this week it brings back the angry emotions I felt over 16 years ago and in the months following. While my anger is still directed toward the ******** who did it, the series brings to visualization a sense of frustrations and mixed emotions - for me personally - knowing that it could have been stopped.

There are three things to keep your eye on. One is it really wasn't agency vs agency. It was literally a couple of personalities within those agencies. That's probably the most interesting aspect the book written by Lawrence Wright brings to the forefront - aside from just the overall story telling of what happened and why. Those personalities were John O'Neil (played by Jeff Daniels) with the FBI who had a complicated personal life at the time and Michael Scheuer of the agency who perhaps is just crazy. Peter Sarsgaard doesn't actually play him - he's loosely playing a fictional character based on Scheuer and few others in Alec Station, but Sarsgaard plays this role in an award wining capacity. The next is the performance based on Special Agent Ali Soufan (by Tahar Rahim), which was also fantastic. In reality, Soufan was probably the only person who was capable and of clear enough mind to have stopped it. And probably would have had the CIA shared with him. In fact, in the years following Soufan made statements that he believes he would have stopped it, and he eventually quit out of frustration with the bureaucracy. That leads me to the third point and I will try to not to reveal too much. Al-Qaeda made a big mistake. The bombing of the USS Cole and the investigation that followed had enough connection to 9/11 that it should have been figured out. Again, see the previous statement regarding Soufan.

The biggest difference between the book and the series is Wright takes you into the depths of al-Qaeda and illustrates the story through the narrative of what bin Laden and his followers were thinking/doing. The series illustrates the story through the lens of the USG - namely the aforementioned characters.

So, if you like this kind of thing you will really enjoy Looming Towers. It is really well done. Hopefully, I've given you enough insight to decide. Happy watching.

Great post. I have watched most of the TV show and have to say the book is much more enjoyable if not as accessible. And how about Jeff Daniels showing his acting range here and in Godless?!
If the CIA angle is interesting I suggest Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner and Ghost Wars by Steve Coll.