Government Books

"The Limits of Power--- The End of American Exceptionalism (Kindle edition)"

By the title of this book, you get the idea of what it is really about.
And what is that but by ending America as we have known it?

This makes me suspicious. It invokes an inverted Trojan Horse scenario- conservativism inviting the left into power in hopes of winning by losing. By losing, a leftwing administration will be rejected by the people, thus beginning a conservative revival.

NOTE: This scenario isn't explicit in this book, but inferred by other sources I've read about the author.

I am skeptical about his sources; Niebuhr for one was a socialist. Author's historians were on the left too. However, one general, Batiste is said to be a conservative, yet critical of Iraq policy. Here is politics making strange bedfellows; conservatives teaming up with socialists.

Some more reactions to this book:

1) Mostly negative in tone, preachy; you have to suffer a bit to
get to the end of it. There is no happy ending; we are doomed.

2) Reaction to Bush administration, even if it doesn't appear
so at times, because of the general anti American tone.

3) Politicians can't do anything any good because they are too busy fighting each other; and the people don't care. People love their life of ease and luxury and will punish any politician who may try to do something about it. The people will vote for the politicians who tell them what they want to hear. Nothing gets done. The strongest part of this book is the criticism of leadership failures. Something along the
lines of the "vision thing" that the President's father once talked about.

4) The military doesn't get off lightly either. There's plenty of
criticism for the generals who aren't in the class of Marshall and Eisenhower. History is being distorted here in order to make a point. By the way, Reagan's record is being distorted as well to make author's profligacy point.

5) Is the prescription what the doctor ordered? Our future would
reenactment of the Hoover administration? Even if his prescription is followed, then what if the world does not cooperate? After all, that is how we got to this point in the first place.

6) Is there a need to end American Exceptionalism? Who would take
America's place? China perhaps? The European Union? Radical Islam?
Worldwide Communism that supposedly was defeated in the Cold War?

7) What will this mean? Lower living standards? For one, I disagree that using oil is too profligate; it's a necessity. Until something better comes along, we still need it. More isn't always better, but better is always going to be better. Nothing wrong with wanting things to be better.

He rehabilitates Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech. Then he trashes Ronald
Reagan. But his general tone here shows why Carter failed and Reagan
succeeded. People want a reason to be optimistic. To hope and feel confidence in the future. This book offers little of that. Instead it suggests repentance for evil. The trouble is, nobody considers himself to be evil. It invites opposition at the outset and offers no real way toward problem solving.

Andrew Bacevich is a retired military man with 23 years of service behind him. He is currently professor of history and international relations at Boston University. A few years ago he wrote a book called The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War, in which he warned against the increasing militarization of American foreign policy. In the present work he returns to this topic. As a conservative critic of a nominally conservative administration his opinion is highly regarded. Many critics have called Bacevich a liberal, but this is not really accurate; he argues that the current administration has not really broken with the past, but is following an imperial agenda of which both liberals and conservatives are guilty.

In Bacevich's view the foreign policy created in the Beltway by the political classes reflects what they think people want: namely, an imperial policy that guarantees the contiuous flow of cheap oil and cheap consumer goods. The political establishment would have them believe that the projection of American military power is necessary to maintain our way of life.

In his critique of the Bush administration, Bacevich is exactly right. The neocons - Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz - saw 9/11 as an opportunity for the unrestrained use of American military power. They went as far as discrediting the State Department and even the CIA in order to concentrate all power in the Pentagon and the White House. All foreign policy became part of the Global War on Terror. This war was presented as a twilight struggle between good and evil.

Bacevich's indictment of the current administraion is accurate, but it is only accurate for Bush's first term. If one hasn't noticed the change of behavior in the second term, then one is blind. I would also take exception with his blanket indictment of all administrations since the end of World War II as imperial. Most presidents were keenly aware of the limits of American power and settled for multilateral action mediated by international institutions. In my view the Bush administration did break with the past with its policy of preventative war and the use of torture and illegal wiretapping.

In the case of Afghanistan, Bacevich misses a major point. The invasion was not to build a nation-state in our image, it was to go after the perpetrators of the deaths of 3,000 plus Americans. And leaving behind a more stable and less threatening government than that of the Taliban is not exactly as amibitious nation-building, but rather a sensible and pragmatic necessity.

On the whole liberal Democrats, more than conservative Republicans, have been disabused of the notion of American exceptionalism and the concomitant exercise military power. Bacevich fails to give liberal Democrats credit for seeing in advance the light of the arguments. A glaring defect of an otherwise very thoughtful book.

In his conclusion, Dr. Bacevich writes:

"Since the end of the Cold War, the tendency among civilians -- with President Bush a prime example -- has been to confuse strategy with ideology. The president's freedom agenda, which supposedly provided a blueprint for how to prosecute the Global War on Terror, expressed grandiose aspirations without serious effort to assess the means required to achieve them. Meanwhile, ever since the Vietnam War ended, the tendency among military officers has been to confuse strategy with operations."

Our political and military elite have lost the ability (assuming they ever had it after 1989) to think in strategic terms, to think of formulating national policy which reflects core national interests (strategy based on rational goals achieved through appropriate and existing means). Instead national power is used to further the interests of an ever narrower political/economic elite who think they can subvert/abuse US power in any way since the US is simply "too big to fail". They find the military option simply too tempting to use in a time of deteriorating US power in other areas.

The American people are driven by fear, and national policy is presented as a series of actions/reactions responding to an ever-increasing list of threats, all the while the actual interests involved are hidden by a compliant corporate media. The problems are systemic which means that whoever takes over in November the problems will remain the same, since as Bacevich writes, what America needs is a more modest foreign policy.

In strategic theory terms everything has come down to tactics - both at home and abroad - while operational art (as what Russia is doing now) and strategy (what has been sorely missing in "The Long War" - itself a strategic absurdity) is missing in action.

Read Bacevich's new book as yet another flashing red light on the road to national ruin.

This is an excellent book with many facts and figures that have shown have America has become more imperialistic in the past 48 years.

In this critique of American citizens, Bacevich takes a hard look at the citizenry's role in the current economic, political, and military crisis. The author is a retired colonel, which means I give a lot more credence to what he has to say. In fact, the gravitas between his advice and that of many others is a world apart.

I was pleased to see that he believes our misguided strategies ushering the nation into a global war of no exits and no deadlines cannot be blamed solely on the Bush Administration but rather on all of us. That is, the USA citizens. It may well be hard medicine to swallow but it needs to be taken regardless. And while, a doomsday picture is not being painted in this book, the author has far more faith in the masses than I do.

Great writing style combined with historical observations on our decline. Maybe people will "get it" and transform our culture before it is too late. I give this book 5 stars. I hope you find this review helpful. Michael L. Gooch, SPHR Author of Wingtips with Spurs

A real eye opener into the man who would aspire to the Oval Office. He should be returned to city politics. Well written

Obama's been in politics for 13 years, and has gone through 18 months of a grueling primary during which he went under a microscope in 24 debates, meetings with corporate and world leaders, countless interviews on TV and radio and, most important, millions of ordinary Americans. After that, he won more than 18 million votes.

On the other hand, all we know about Sarah Palin is that she won't talk to the press, that she's under investigation for abusing her power as Governor, that she doesn't believe in man-made global warming, that she's lied about earmarks and the "Bridge to Nowhere," and that she subscribes to "End of Days" theology (she's a Dominonist) -- and that she'd have her finger on the nuclear trigger if her 72-year-old running mate who's had four bouts with cancer happens to to tip over.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the right wing has already decided that Palin's "one of us" -- even though they're not only still "wondering" about Obama, they write books claiming that he hasn't been "examined" enough.

And at the same time the right wing is calling Obama "the Media's Favorite Candidate," even though McCain calls the press his "base." You know, the same media types who call McCain a "hero" and a "Maverick" despite the fact that he made anti-Anmerican propaganda films for the North Vietnamese and gets "Ds" and "Fs" from veterans' groups as a result of repeatedly voting against important legislation that would have benefited veterans -- including the new GI bill.

The people who have written these disgusting reviews, suggesting that Obama is somehow "dangerous," are not only hypocritical and ignorant, they're blatantly racist. But in light of their comments, that's probably a compliment.

"The Case Against Barack Obama" takes each fact presented in Obama's book and translates the truth behind every statement he makes, and replaces fictitious names with the real people. This book sheds light on the truth behind Obama's upbringing and influence all through his young life.It also points out that although one can not prove Obama's involvement with such subversive groups, Obama maintsins continuous contact and friendship with those who remain members. The book explains that Obama received campaign funding from the US Socialist/Communist Democratic Party when he ran for Illinois Senator.
Everything is revealed very well in this book - and written to connect with what Obama would not reveal in his book : "The Audacity of Hope".
I highly recommend it to everyone who is unfamiliar with Barack Obama - or are confused as to what he stands for.

I was disappointed in this book. It has good references for the research that has been done by the author, but it was not excatly what I thought it would be about. But I would recommend it to any one who would like to have more insite about Barack Obama's background and experiences that have lead him to believe he could be the next President of the United States.

The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite CandidateThis is an amazingly detailed and well documented book that traces Obama's history. The author relies on direct quotes and largely verifiable facts from publicly available sources. Contrary to the impression the title might convey, it is not a pure polemic against Obama, but a challenge to examine more closely this presidential candidate's life history, associations, influences, activities and political philosophy. Anyone considering voting for Obama should read this book before they cast their ballot and ask themselves about this man who has suddenly appeared on the national scene seeking the most powerful political office in the world: "Barack, how well do we really know ye?"

I was looking forward to reading Mike's latest book for weeks before it finally came out, and when I finally got my copy I wasn't disappointed. Michael Moore is in true form in this fast, funny and insightful read. I couldn't put it down and it felt healthy to have such a good laugh while never losing sight of how serious this election will be. It's worth the price just to read the first chapter, a humorous question and answer session entitled "Ask Mike".

I am a huge fan of Moore's writing and his ability to use humor to address issues that, to be blunt, can be very dry. This book was a little bit of a mixed bag for me. It had some humorous parts and some useful information but it seemed to lack the depth that previous books held. Some of the questions in the Q&A Section were just plain silly. Overall, it was a quick and worthwile read but not his best.

What's the point of even reading this? Let me save you the trouble - I can summarize the whole thing for you: Republicans suck and Democrats are the only truly intelligent people on earth. Voting for a Republican makes you inhuman, and worthless.

This is the kind of horribly drivel that is ruining America. I wish Moore and Ann Coulter would both find a new home in Zanzibar or something. Just go away with the hate-filled rhetoric.

Whatever happened to cordial disagreements?

Don't buy, read or touch this book and feed the machine that ruins us all. Remember: united we stand, divided we fall.

The book is a sad attempt at getting back into the headlines. It is not worth the money.

Once again, Michael Moore exposes the truth of this election, and throws the punches many Democrats are afraid to throw. Every American concerned about the future of the country needs to read this book before November 4th.

Just FYI: Obama operatives are creating phony "conservative" reviews to spread lies and smear Palin---trying to dissuade moderates and independents. Last year, Newsweek magazine had an article praising Governor Palin's "pragmatic, postpartisan approach to solving problems, a style that works especially well with the large numbers of independent voters." You can read it at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/42534/

A pretty amazing story about an average American's success in politics. She's got a lot of moxie.

This book is awesome and it totally explains how Palin will help stop homosexuals from raping children; as well as, how she will help stop liberals from using abortion as birth control. I really liked the part where she said that liberals want to kill the innocent and free the guilty. Besides, the Democrats need all the felons they can get. This book really gives us conservatives hope that the liberal filth will not ruin the innocence of all of your children in the future.

Love McCain. We need more patriots like him. And was happy about the Palin VP pick. Good to see a strong, conservative woman in office.

Picked up a copy of this book to learn more, then started to do my own research on her. What's in this book isn't what I found on my own, or even what the media (including conservative sources like FOX) in reporting now. Makes me question the info we're getting about her. Seems like she has a lot of skeletons.

This is a feel good book, which makes her out to look great, but it's not accurate...unfortunately. Yes, i know she is good looking. Yes, i know she has solid conservative values. All that is great, but the dirt on Palin is is sinking the Republican ship!!

It was good while it lasted!

Right now Sarah, the book, is out of stock, but you can find excerpts or citations to it in the news media (liberal or otherswise). It's helpful as a starting point for those of us in the Lower 48 States in getting to know Governor Palin, our latest, exciting political celebrity--but there's no balance or thoughtful perspective. Despite the "search and destroy" approach of the media when it comes to politics, much of the coverage to date has been superficial, much like canonization, and too many reviews of the book buy into the hagiography (Look up the definition if necessary, it's apt). For the record, I'm an independent, I voted for Senator McCain, and honor Navy tradition and his heroism as a POW. But the book and the governor shouldn't be embraced on partisan grounds. It's important to read between the lines and seek balance before making judgments. Don't stop by reading one book. One that I do recommend: Robert Timberg's A Nightengale's Song (1996), which positively describes McCain's coming of age, POW experience, and sense of mission. It also describes the parallel political careers of four other Navy/Marine officers during the Reagan era, including Colonel Oliver North of Iran-Contra fame. In some respects, Governor Palin is the Oliver North of 2008, and Sarah, the book, is not unlike the blast of Ollie-mania that occurred when he testified before Congress 20 years ago--which initially hid an overblown, exaggerated sense of self and recklessness. (For the record again, I voted for GOP incumbent John Warner over Ollie when he ran against him for the Senate). Eventually, we'll know whether Governor Palin is the right balance for Senator McCain and the country. But this book is no more thsn 20% helpful in making a judgment.

simple concise, informative, accessible, and ultimately positive view of the United States in an ever growing global economy..

This is a well written overview of world economies. But it reminded me too much of "The World is Flat" book. Also there is not enough new revelations. I could not finish the book, it did not grab my attention.

This is an interesting book, especially being written by an Indian-American. But it's honestly just another book that gives us warning that India and China are on the verge of really becoming important players on the world's scene. This is not new information and there's really not that much more in this book that can't be found elsewhere. But it's intelligently written and flows nicely. I also like that there's a lot of history backing up his reasons for saying what he says about India and China. It would've been nice if there was something here that wasn't such a tired refrain at this point.

Because of its title, Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World may lead readers to believe that this book predicts the decline of the U.S. as a world superpower. But as the author explains early in the book, his intentions are to describe "the rise of the rest" in the global stage. Zakaria's thesis is that we are entering a world order in which there will be many superpowers, not only one. Interestingly, their power will not lie in their military might, but in their economic prowess.

To support his ideas, Zakaria provide us with fascinating and well-researched historical and socioeconomic data on the "new" global players, among them China and India. Using this data and superb critical thinking, he also discusses the challenges that this new global landscape will present for the U.S.

Perhaps not all of Zakaria's world predictions will come to pass, but he certainly makes a strong case to support this new global scenario. This is an important book and a must read for those interested in international affairs and what the role of the U.S. should be in this, our brave new world.

Great book. I loved it and am passing it on to my friends. It has alot of the same qualities of "The World is Flat", but more of what is happening in China.

I wanted to see what inspired Oprah to say this was one of the most outstanding books she ever read. It was the biggest bunch of fluff I have ever read. It says we need to work together to accomplish goals and to end partisan bickering. Then it says unlike Republicans who cut student loans or spent millions to defeat Democarts. It is the life of a man who had not even been in the U.S. Senate yet. How does someone with no background win an election and the next month get a three book deal for 1.9 million and it go unnoticed? This was a novice who got paid to write whatever popped into his head for the sake of money.

If you want to know THE REAL Senator Obama, this book will tell you. Don't listen to the media talking heads. Read this book. You will be impressed by a man of integrity and strength. His views are mixed, both liberal, in the middle, and conservative.

Barack Obama is an inspiration to everyone, regardless of your political affiliation. This should be required reading in schools across America.

It so happens that I'm finally getting around to writing this review just after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention and just before Hurricane Gustav is about to make landfall at New Orleans. Both events underscore the importance of Barack Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, in the public discourse of the early 21st Century. I think it's irresponsible for any American--and especially anyone who plans to vote in November--not to read it.

The next election for President of the United States is a contest between reason and emotion. At last week's convention, some of the greatest minds in the world today appeared in support of the most highly educated group of office-seekers in history (including both members of the Democratic ticket and their wives). From the euphoria evident in television broadcasts, a casual observer could get the impression that the entire event was about feelings. But it wasn't. It was about justice and poverty, nuclear proliferation and terrorism, the state of the planet and the state of humanity. Thoughtful speeches were made by brilliant people who have devoted decades of their lives to understanding these complex issues and struggling to make the world a safer, happier place.

Then Senator McCain made the astonishing choice of Sarah Palin--a woman who apparently believes in creationism but not global warming--to be his vice-presidential running mate. I believe that history will show that this was not a shrewd political move; it was an impulsive act by a famously impulsive man.

I first read a book about global warming in the 1970s. Even then, scientists knew that unchecked human expansion and the increasing burden of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would bring about dramatic changes in weather patterns, resulting in much greater variations of temperature and more violent storms than the earth has experienced in the brief period of human habitation. Hundred-year events would become annual events, and five-hundred-year storms would begin to be seen with some regularity. So why are some people still surprised that it's happening?

We are decades behind making the changes we should have been making to preserve the planet in a habitable condition for our children and grandchildren (much less generations beyond those of this century). In my opinion, we can no longer afford the luxury of political correctness or the laissez-faire attitude that one opinion is as good as another. We need someone leading the most powerful country on earth who is extremely well-informed, clear-headed, skilled in communication and consensus making, and concerned about the things we all should be concerned about. As this book makes abundantly clear, that person is Barack Obama.

Just pure, from the heart, quality work from a true patriot of the United States. Don't judge this man until you read what he believes. I was a diehard Republican until giving him a chance. I'm so glad I made the decision to read this fine work. Go Obama!

This book discloses information on different subjects that I had no idea existed. It is well written, easy to comprehend, and I recommend it to anyone who disires awareness of this complicated world we live in.

This is another Dick Morris must read. I have heard conservative talk radio talk about Congress trying to get rid of them. WHY? More people listen to TV than talk radio and being a registered Independent, I am continually irritated by Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer, Campbell Brown even Tom Brokaw for their comments that "we" think----about whatever subject you want to bring up relating to the Democrats. I am for objective reporting for both parties and this is truly lacking in 2008.

As for Congress----it needs an overhaul. Foreign governments are indeed fleecing us for the benefit of the leaders, not the people. What makes it worse is that we borrow from China to lend to Middle East countries. I could go on------------------Read the book.

This book shows how Democrats have turned this country into a "partissan" country and how the Democrats are only for "their" party and not the people, how they are against the "Patriot Act", etc...etc. Written by Dick Morris, former "Clinton Campaign Manager", he sheds insight into the world of politics like no one else can. Great book!

The fact that the American public is being "Fleeced" by our own government, elected officials, our banks, big business, the lying liberal media and the world, in general, is not news; Dick and Eileen have just confirmed it! This should make me feel "better"- -knowing that I'm not imagining all of this; not being hypersensitive, or overly imaginative, as my family seems to think. Dick and Eileen have done a great job of research and fact finding and made it an intense and interesting read, even for a novice "political activist, like myself! Honestly, I would recommend it be "required reading" for every high school and college social studies and economics class! My greatest wish- - that every voting American will read it before November elections!

Words of Wazzupery from the Duke of Dimwit!
Can you trust a man that held rendezvous with ladies of the night in a fleebag Washington DC hotel and let them listen into phone conversations he had with President Clinton? Well, NO! Anyone that loses an argument to Bill O'Reilly and has to buy him dinner, can't have much to add to any political debate. You decide.

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals

An eye-opening, well documented look into the Bush administration. The facts outlined will keep you awake at night, or at least it did me.

I did not expect this book to impact me the way it did. I came away infuriated at the Bush administration and the voters and blind partisans who allowed this to happen. Now there is no longer any doubt; Bush and his appointees knowingly and willfully subverted the U.S. Constitution and violated national and international laws, some of which have been on the books for more than 100 years. In response, I notified two law school faculty members at Stanford, who have expertise in both Constitutional and International Law. One week later, I received an email informing me of the following. "There is enough evidence presented for Impeachment of President Bush, as well as enough evidence for the World Court to prosecute the following members of the Bush administration: John Yoo, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Dick Cheney, Lewis Libby, Albert Gonzales, Douglas Feith, John Ashcroft, Richard Armitage, David Addington and others. Even more disturbing, the World Court could also prosecute scores of others within the CIA, Pentagon (Armed Services), and private contractors such as Blackwater. Accordingly, we have sent a copy of the book to the World Court." The message is twofold: first, if you have not read the book buy it today; second, guilty members of the Bush administration and federal agencies should hire attornies immediately. Justice is on the way, and not the type dispensed by the U.S. Justice Department during this administration. America may turn a blind eye (and dwell on issues such as abortion, patriotism and homosexuality), but the world will not allow anyone to break international laws with impunity. There are more important matters at stake other than regulating sex and birth.

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant", U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, so Jane Mayer's stunning new look at the Bush administration's secret torture program inverts that quote into the perfect title of her book..."The Dark Side". In fact, she might have subtitled it, "Total Eclipse". It's bad enough that the president (so easily led as some in the White House have surmised) surrounded himself with one of the poorest teams in presidential history, but then he let the lawyers run it...David Addington and John Yoo, to name the two most influential ones. All of this under the secretive guise of the biggest "vice" of all...Dick Cheney...and you end up with an administration that thinks itself not only above the law, but that it IS the law.

Mayer probes the set up as to how Guantanamo Bay came into being in its current state and how Abu Ghraib was the beginning of the end of secrecy in the Bush White House. She follows the case of Mohammed al-Qahtani, (detainee number 063 at Guantanamo), the so-called "twentieth hijacker", as well as Manadel al-Jamadi, whose quick arrest and subsequent beatings in American hands left him dead within hours. But perhaps the saddest of all cases was that of Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen who was detained and tortured for months because his name bore a resemblance to a similar name on a terrorist list. Completely innocent, Masri has never fully recovered after his release.

The side show to all of this is the brutal infighting that took place in Washington. The Pentagon, CIA and FBI provided a trifecta of outsized egos and non-cooperation. With the White House added, it was a powder keg of a mix. As Mayer points out, it was the shamelessness of these people who went about trying to deny torture while knowing it was being carried out. That is the essence of "The Dark Side". But in it were those who tried to let in the light...Alberto Mora, Jack Goldsmith and James Comey....conservatives all, but with a strong core of decency.

As this pitiful administration creeps to a close it will become more evident in the coming months and years how disastrous this post-9/11 time has been. Hijackers reduced the twin towers to rubble but the Bush White House reduced the country in its response. One can only hope that when we look back on this time, the phrase "a government of laws, not of men" will have seen to have been twisted into a gross aberration.

I'm the author of Prepared for Rage: A Novel, about an Islamic terrorist who tries to blow up the space shuttle. There are interrogation scenes at Guantanamo, and I was so dreading the research for them. I really didn't want to have to learn about waterboarding.

A funny thing happened on the way to researching the Gitmo scenes. Every source I found, either on line or in the library, said the same thing: Torture doesn't produce good intel. The person being tortured will say anything to make the torture stop. The way to get good intel is to talk to the subject, to listen to them, to coax them, cajole them, flatter them, befriend them. Trick them. I can't tell you how relieved I was, and I promptly invented a honey trap instead.

Then along comes Jane Mayer's The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, and suddenly I'm in the middle of a horror show somewhere between the Spanish Inquisition and Nazi doctors in WWII concentration camps. People are being kidnapped and tortured by the CIA under cover of the executive privilege of the president of the United States. Surprise! No good intel is being produced, either.

I gave it five stars for content, but I can't say you'll enjoy reading this book. I felt sick while I was reading it and I still feel a little sick now. But it's a book that should be read, at the very least as a cautionary tale as to just how far things can go wrong when nobody's watching. There are heroes, though, like David Brant, the head of NCIS, Alberto Mora, Counsel to the US Navy, the FBI agents who refused to have anything to do with the torture, and all those administration attorneys who, while they were hired because they had the correct conservative credentials nevertheless knew that kidnapping and torture are wrong, unconstitutional and unAmerican, and who fought the good fight against this program, some of them from the beginning, and some of whom were fired or forced to quit because of it.

It's the victims who stay with me, though. Maher Arar and Khaled el-Masri, literally innocent bystanders who will never be the same again after their treatment at the hands of the CIA.

This book is also difficult to read because of the sheer weight of detail beneath which it almost founders. I can't believe Ms. Mayer got this many people to talk so freely to her. I kind of got the impression that they'd been dying to talk to somebody. The least we can do is listen to what they have to say.

Without Liberty and Justice For All

History is supposed to teach us lessons from the past. The Alien and Sedition Act, the "Red Scare" of 1919, the detention of thousands of Americans during World War II because of their Japanese ancestry were supposed to teach us that in the most dire threat to our safety, the rule of law ennobles us and protects us from tyranny. In `The Dark Side," Jane Mayer explains how easy it is for history to repeat itself in the name of security.

By September 11, 2001, the President of the United States had already spent fifty days of his first eight months in office, on vacation. In spite of several warnings of an impending attack from several foreign intelligence sources, as well as our own, the administration never quite understands the threat.

The attack on a clear summer morning changes that, and it changes things for the worse. The subsequent invasion of Afghanistan allows the military and the C.I.A. to round up hundreds of Taliban prisoners. An offer of a $5,000 bounty for the capture of al-Qaeda and Taliban nets them hundreds more. The administration screams for actionable intelligence from these detainees, but sorting them out and interrogating them is another matter. The assumption is that "enhanced interrogation techniques" will bring more accurate results in less amount of time. It also has to be justified.

The justification comes from John Yoo, the legal counsel for the Justice Department who provides just the argument Dick Cheney and his attorney, Dick Addington are looking for. It says the president can do essentially anything he wants, and ignore Congress, if it for the security of the country. Yoo also states that enhanced interrogation techniques are not torture unless it results in organ failure or death. Alberto Gonzalez joins in describing Afghanistan as a failed state, and their detainees as unlawful combatants. The state department is not consulted.

America's shame is just beginning.

With John Yoo's memo providing the green light, American military and C.I.A. begin to torture detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Saddam Hussein's Abu-Ghraib prison, and one in Afghanistan. The techniques they employ are sleep deprivation, standing for prolonged periods, the absence of light and irregular meal periods to enhance disorientation, water boarding, extreme cold and heat, constant loud music, humiliation, no toilet breaks, confined spaces, prolonged restraints, especially Palestinaina hangings, irregular and insufficient periods of sleep, and threats. Other detainees are sent to countries for rendition, countries known for human rights abuses. People will die of exposure, heart attack, or from simply being beaten to death.

While the administration claims that the techniques work, there are too many instances where the tormented harden their resolve during harsh treatment, and cooperate when treated well. Many who are tortured provide false information that sends our intelligence assets on fools' errands. The most damaging disinformation comes from Sheikh Ibn al-sLibi who gives evidence against Saddam Hussein while he is being tortured. This is the justification for going to war with Iraq. He only wanted his torturers to stop.

In 2003-4, the policy begins to unravel. Charges are reduced, dropped, or changed against John Walker Lindh, Yasser Hamdi, and Jose Padilla. Since they were tortured, their charges won't stand up in court. Justice Department lawyers begin to question John Yoo's legal precedents. The CIA Inspector General begins to investigate abuses. JAG officers begin refuse to prosecute or serve on military tribunals. In 2005, the Abu-Ghraib scandal will break. It is later estimated that most of the detainees at "Gitmo" are people who were rounded up when they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or were turned in for the generous bounty offered. They include an eighty-year old deaf man, and a wealthy Kuwaiti businessman who will indignantly refuse to buy another Cadillac after his mistreatment." A German and a Canadian citizen will be kidnapped and tortured before they are set free. Three hundred forty of 749 detainees held in Gitmo will remain there with only a handful being charged.

In spite of a growing rebellion inside the Departments of Defense and Justice, the President refuses to remove people he promised he would hold accountable for abuses. Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 600 U.S. military and civilian personnel were involved in torture.

The true leader of this policy holds a tight rein and his resistance to change is fierce. It is Dick Cheney and his loyal lawyer, Dave Addington. Even the new attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez refuses to go toe to toe with Dave, a tall, snarling bully. Cheney takes the unprecedented step of summoning the C.I.A.'s Inspector General to his office while he is conducting his investigation. The military holds a number of investigations that limit them to looking at the lower ranks. It is also clear by 2005, that Bush is fully aware that some of his senior officials believe that Gitmo should be closed and his detention policy changed. The dissenters and naysayers are excluded from any more discussion. To this day, Bush refuses to budge.

This is a powerful story. The author is holding a mirror to people who have long believed they were just and righteous. This is not just a bucket of cold water, it is being thrown into a river of ice.She tells us that we must look at ourselves if we ever hope to recapture our moral greatness. Even this she concedes will take years. Her book is a good place for our national introspection to begin.

She concludes this powerful report with the following: "Seven years after Al Qaeda's attacks on America, as the Bush Administration slips into history, it is clear that what began on September 11, 2001, as a battle for America's security became, and continues to be a battle for the country's soul."



"This country does not believe in torture." George W. Bush, March 16, 2005.



Also recommended:

Goldsmith, Jack L. "The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration,

Miles, Steve, M.D. "Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror, Random House, 2006.

Wolf, Naomi, "The End of America," Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007.

Wright, Anne, "Dissent: Voices of Conscience," Koa Books, 2008.

Greenwald, Glenn, "A Tragic: How a Good Vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency, Crown, 2007.

Greenwald, Glenn, "How Would a Patriot Act: Defending American Values From a President Run Amuck, Working Assets, 2006.

Suskind's latest book investigates how the U.S. lost the moral leadership it needs to fight the real threat of our era - a nuclear weapon in the hands of terrorists. We haven't caught a top terrorist of any real value in two years - Suskind believes that's because of a widespread dislike for the U.S. Problems include our lies about and invasion of Iraq, extraordinary renditions, torture, indefinite detentions, and bungling opportunities involving the U.K. and later Iran. (The U.K. bungling was caused by the Cheny/Bush prodding Pakistan to arrest one of the U.K. plotters' contacts - nearly 2,000 British operatives had been working the case for nearly a year, and the U.S. action ended their ability to learn more or prosecute; the Iran bungling involved our insulting the Iranians by failing to respond to their potential help.)

Suskind also tells us that Bush is not interested in "reality" - unlike FDR, Nixon, and Ford who had specific means of encouraging people to bring forward unpleasant news and views.

More disturbing, however, was Suskind's assertion that the Bush administration discounted information from Iraq's Foreign Minister that Hussein had no WMD - Bush/Cheney were only interested in information that supported their case for war. The White House also took a negative stance on similar information from Iraq's head of security - Habbush. Worst of all, the White House pushed Tenet to have Habbush back-date a false letter claiming that Atta had trained in Iraq, and that there were links between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

In between, Suskind follows a number of sideline "mini-dramas" such as how Islam convinced an outstanding female Pakistani overseas student to drop her potential economics career to become a traditionalist and teach Islam to youngsters, the conflict created by a young Afghan male teenager's perception of his traditional role vs. an American host family, the craziness ruling Gitmo detainees, and the frustrations of a man assigned responsibility to prevent nuclear terrorism.

If you don't like, or would like to not like, the current administration, then read this book. If you trust the current administration, then read this book and see if you can explain why you have this trust.

More importantly, the author points to a new American foreign policy which I hope will become part of the current electoral debate. He also seems to point out that there is a better case to impeach Bush than there was to impeach Clinton.

"The Way of the World" is an absolute must read for anyone wanting to know the truth about the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Mr. Suskind confirms the "foolish arrogance" of Bush and Cheney as they use false intelligence and good people to fool the American people into supporting this illegal war. His strongest message, however, is the evolution of our world toward a greater understanding of each other as we discover our similarities instead of our differences. My only hope is that both Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama read this book and act accordingly.

I have just put down The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism and I cannot yet decide which is the more compelling force, the powerful story that has been put down upon its pages or the amazing talent of this writer, who managed to captured it and cleverly pull it together. From interrogations inside the White House gates to the holding cells at Guantanamo, Ron Suskind has masterfully laid out the realities of today in unflinching terms.

Using snapshot-like descriptions of events from the past few years, Suskind not only connects us with the knows - Bush, Blair, Tenet, Musharraf, Bhutto - but also with an array of unknowns with names like Stephen, Ibrahim, Rolf, Usman, Candace, Abdul, Rob, Ann and Stephen that turn out to be core players in our close-knit world. How faith, tradition and hope integrated and shaped their lives and futures, along with those of their families and their societies, reveals for us how 'the way of the world' that we live in has actually come to pass. And in a particularly skillful six-page portrait of the 10th century foundations of faith and reason and the events that launched our beliefs, Suskind carries us forward through a thousand years of evolution to our current levels of confusion with today's priorities and the conundrums that we face.

In his remarkable vignettes, Suskind binds our characters into a single idea, a shared purpose, and makes his case for finding our moral energy and reestablishing America's moral leadership so that we might generate precious intelligence and global actions that could enable us to detect imminent threats in a world where technology and terrorism have intersected.

Using the same skills that were on display in The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11, he takes us inside the mind of each member of the cast and lets us walk in their shoes. In the last third of this book, the players not only address these realities of nuclear terrorism but also the need for cooperation on a global scale to address it. They appropriately raise the question of 'why' terrorism and nuclear weapons are handled in secret rather than continuing with the traditional 'how' to better watch over them; asking not 'how' 9/11 happened but 'why'.

Of the many allegations contained in this journalistic masterpiece, one in particular indicates that The White House was the source of a fake letter from an Iraqi intelligence agent to Saddam Hussein that linked Mohamed Atta's 9/11 mission directly to Saddam and to Iraq. Unfortunately, the frenzy that resulted has overshadowed some equally important issues that Suskind's book has also addressed, which have the potential to impact the future in no small way. The appropriate questions of the day are first, what are other nations doing with their loose uranium [or WMDs]? and second, how do we assess the gap between what they are saying publicly and doing privately? and finally, are we doing enough to control or eliminate these dangerous commodities? I found it notable that in 2003, there was a deliberate American diplomatic snub of the Iranians in Geneva, which shut down the ongoing talks with Tehran, took place after Iran had voluntarily suspended the part of their nuclear program to weaponize enriched uranium. Was this 'step in the wrong direction' for political reasons?

As the Senate committees make moves to look into issues and allegations raised by this book, perhaps they should address such issues as 'uranium leaks from Russia to Georgia in 2003 and 2006' or 'actions that we should pursue now to compensate for our past failures in policy and security', things that Suskind's prose has made perfectly clear. And as we plan for a better future, let us also question why is it that an Iraq-like campaign to bomb Iran still persists in media reports about the current Administration. Is the intent of this to 'stop terrorism' once again? I don't think so...

Bob Magnant is the author of The Last Transition... - a fact-based novel about Iran, Iraq and the Middle East.

This is a profound book. A description of the betrayal by the powerful and the courage and integrity of the people who move this country, this civilization forward simply doing what they know is right, is ethical.

I began reading this book to find the section describing Bush choosing to go to war knowing that the case he was making to us was false. The gravity of this is staggering...

What I gained in reading the book in its entirety is confirmation that the essential American spirit enobled by the values most of us hold and live by are still relevant and that those values are not exclusive to America but are universal among brave citizens of many countries.

This country was highjacked by a president and vice president who came to office with an agenda to have a war with Iraq and took whatever path to lie to and manipulate the citizens of this country to support them.

And yet, there are many inspiring people who meet this corruption on the road where it travels and fight it on the only battlefield that matters. These incremental achievements are a sharp contrast to the glaring abuses of this White House.

Thank You Mr. Suskind.

Our country will never be able to live up to the lofty ideals of our founding documents unless we come to grips with the truth of how we got where we are. This book tells the truth about how the people on top have butchered and suppressed others in order to STAY on top. The first 10 pages are absolutely shocking - WHY do we celebrate Columbus Day?
Every American school student should be required to read this, if only to counterbalance the glorious, whitewashed history that is in our textbooks.

The sad part is the ideas Zinn is so passionate about deserve to be expressed well and read by an even larger audience than he currently enjoys.

Had Zinn hooked up with a good writer this may well have been a good book. As it stands I can't help feel I am browsing wily nilly through stacks of index cards filled with quotes, facts, and observations from original and secondary sources pertaining to a particular view of U.S. history.

Now all someone has to do is organize all these cards into a book with, if we are lucky, a compelling narrative flow. That is a separate art from the collection of the index cards, something Zinn is very good at.

Currently the material is mind numbingly unorganized, repetitive, and verbose, which is a shame. Zinn's view of the primary forces that have shaped, and continue to shape our country deserve a better showing.

It's obvious this cat knew the kind of book he wanted to write before he started. He just needed the facts and data to back it up. A lot of this guy's opinions and conclusions are probably right. But it's hard to lend much credibility to a historian who grabs at so many straws. One thing I remember was he wrote about a riot in New York during the Civil War and stated that no actual number of deaths were ever recorded, but that this was the largest number of deaths ever in a case of domestic violence in America. Is that a guess then? I think that's around pg. 236, though I don't have it in front of me. One thing I do know is on pg. 193 he talks about the massacre at Fort Pillow, Kentucky. Dude, Fort Pillow is in Tennessee. If you can't even get a fact like that straight, how can I trust all the other less clear-cut things you present? Go ahead and read this if you want a non-typical book that doesn't rave about how great America's past was. Just don't put much stock in everything this guy tries to feed you.

This is a book that everyone should read & should be a requirement in all schools.

Wow! Just superb. It gave me the real, true perspective of the US. It was an eye opener for me. One of my top 3 reads of all time.

Thank you!