The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
A dramatic and damning narrative account of how America has fought the
"War on Terror"
In the days immediately following September 11th, the most powerful people in the country were panic-stricken. The radical decisions about how to combat terrorists and strengthen national security were made in a state of utter chaos and fear, but the key players, Vice President Dick Cheney and his powerful, secretive adviser David Addington, used the crisis to further a long held agenda to enhance Presidential powers to a degree never known in U.S. history, and obliterate Constitutional protections that define the very essence of the American experiment.
THE DARK SIDE is a dramatic, riveting, and definitive narrative account of how the United States made terrible decisions in the pursuit of terrorists around the world-- decisions that not only violated the Constitution to which White House officials took an oath to uphold, but also hampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. In gripping detail, acclaimed New Yorker writer and bestselling author, Jane Mayer, relates the impact of these decisions?U.S.-held prisoners, some of them completely innocent, were subjected to treatment more reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition than the twenty-first century.
THE DARK SIDE will chronicle real, specific cases, shown in real time against the larger tableau of what was happening in Washington, looking at the intelligence gained?or not?and the price paid. In some instances, torture worked. In many more, it led to false information, sometimes with devastating results. For instance, there is the stunning admission of one of the detainees, Sheikh Ibn al-Libi, that the confession he gave under duress?which provided a key piece of evidence buttressing congressional support of going to war against Iraq--was in fact fabricated, to make the torture stop.
In all cases, whatever the short term gains, there were incalculable losses in terms of moral standing, and our country's place in the world, and its sense of itself. THE DARK SIDE chronicles one of the most disturbing chapters in American history, one that will serve as the lasting legacy of the George W. Bush presidency.
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals Accessories
 The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism
The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism
The Forever War
The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008
The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder
Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency
The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule
Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values
What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals Reviews
As usual, my book arrived ina very timely fashion, in excellent condition, with a minimum of effort on my part. I am always amazed by the ease of buying items from Amazon. Your website is great and your service is unbelievable.
There is much yet to learn and surely much to undo, as well as facing the need to plan so that this does not happen again. This book makes me both very angry and very, very sad. No longer can we believe: "It can't happen here.".
We see first hand their ruthless determination; and we understand more than before how Hitler, once elected, was able to take full power. The book needs to be widely read and hopefully, for example, made into a documentary DVD.
It documentsstep by stepshow our leaders managed to arrange and/or allow grossly unconstitutional and dishonorable actions of torture and life-disruption to occur. The tenacity of some for such a long time belies the idea that it all came from 'the great fear of additional terrorists' attacks after 9/11'the main perpetrators were people who sought major power and had little belief in anything like constitutional democracy. Fortunately, too, in addition to the anger, sadness and fear for our nation, there are HEROES who emerge (sometimes at considerable risk and consequence to their own lives and interests) to resist the destruction and damage.
This time however, as this author makes so imminently clear, it did not happen. [Now, how good a victory is that for a bunch of ragtag Islamo-Fascists malcontents]. In fact, until the present administration, "pulling back" just before the plunge, had become a hallmark of our system of "rule by law." Even in politics, our motto could well be summarized as: Fight hard politically, but play fair and stay inside the bounds of decency. for all its many faults, generally throughout its history has had a sixth sense for knowing when it is approaching the "moral brink." And in all but a few instances in its history, has found ways to "pull back" before it plunged over the moral and legal cliffs. troops in the field well, for over 100 years. Out of "lethal strategic ignorance" as much as out of short-term ideological political expediency, they completed the strategic goals and plans of the terrorists for them. With a rare confluence of negative factors (incompetence, mean-spiritedness, lack of proper respect for American institutions and traditions, being caught flatfooted, using hand-picked ideologically trained lawyers, and being ideologically driven, among others) the present political authorities, came together not only to wantonly undermine our 235 year-old experiment in democracy, but also to "thumb their noses" at the one international law that has served U.S. With the utmost of callousness, they ravished and undermined our democratic protections just as the terrorists were hoping they would do.
For by undermining both our own laws and those of the international community, the terrorism succeeded in dragging the world's last standing superpower down to their own uncivilized level. While it is understandable that in the aftermath of the shock of 911, the Cheney/Bush administration were caught flatfooted (even though they had been repeatedly warned), that they had to act fast and with few precedents, and were faced with some harrowingly tricky if not treacherous legal and moral terrain, as a group, and against repeated good advice, they consistently, and consciously made all the wrong decisions. The Cheney/Bush administration galloped over the cliff in full cowboy regalia.
By the Cheney/Bush political calculus, all we need is another terrorist attack (from another random group of jackasses), and we can just close down our democracy altogether - all in the name of saving us from terrorists, of course. There are some really good reviews of this book here, and I have read and reviewed four books on this topic so far myself, yet, this is far and away the best of them.
It must be said that, the U.S. In the name of "keeping us safe from another terror attack," they threw the baby out with the bath water. Five stars
That the "war on Terror" (a tactic not a group or nation state) was used as the basis of granting the executive authority to suspend habeaus corpus, ignore the Geneva Conventions, to torture or to send people to be tortured elsewhere by men such as David Addington and John Yoo rightly places these lawyers not only among the most incompetent and constitutionally challenged attorneys in history, but among the most despicable war criminals our nation has endured. To think that my government had descended to the depths that it had, and had done so with absurd legal interpretations behind it, I couldn't help but feel the earth rumble as Jefferson tossed about in his grave. I generally try not to sound strident in a book review, but in this case, failure to sound strident against such abuses almost seems to appease or empower it. After reading a bit, I would get disturbed and really pissed off. Ultimate responsibility goes to President Bush who allowed his legal staff to justify the most abhorent actions on the basis of war time powers granted to the Presidency, never minding that no formal declaration of war exists. Jane Mayer's book "The Dark Side" took a while for me to finish. What also disturbed me was the silence among most Americans, most of whom with the shrug of the shoulders somehow think this is "just liberals bashing conservatives" or truly believe "we're fighting in a new kind of war.". For anyone familiar with the Nuremberg trials, you find disturbing paralells and one can't help but wonder who within the Bush Administration should be indicted on war crimes.
From torture, rendition, warrantless wire-tapping and the whole gamut of abuses, Jane Mayer does a remarkable job of showing the extent of what went on despite the attempts by the Bush Administration to try to perpetrate it all "in the dark" outside of our view. . But I did manage to get through this book, which will live as just one of the monuments to executive excess from the Bush Administration.
history, or at least not generally known or openly authorized activities. The section on interrogation techniques brought back vivid and less pleasant memories of my own Air Force survival school training. It was upsetting to read about the legal shenanigans played at high government levels and the resulting distorted legal interpretations that allowed our government to authorize and pursue actions against prisoners (both foreign and American) that were supposedly taboo for most of U.S. The `legal' attempts to define torture more vaguely leads to many questionable actions that have led to some deaths, with no one held accountable. The out-sourcing to less scrupulous countries for interrogations and torture of key prisoners is in itself of questionable value and morality. America stands to lose much in many respects and become more like the enemy it is fighting.
This book should be read in conjunction with James Bamford's `The Shadow Factory' to understand the slippery slope where America finds itself. It was unnerving to discover some of the experts consulted by the American government were ex-instructors from that same school.
Classified legal authorizations and decisions which most people in need to know are not authorized to see, much less read, is a recipe for abuse and disasterespecially considering the accusation that the opinions were explicitly sought by higher government officials seeking any `legal' permission to act as they saw fit. Also, legal interpretations from `mediocre' legal experts are generally dangerous when taken to extremes.
Personally, I believe a definition of torture should come from someone who has experienced it, like Senator McCain, not some desk bound legal harlot, who sells his opinions for power and prestige. I understand the argument that the American constitution is not a suicide pact but if America is permanently changed fundamentally for the worse by the decisions made thus far the enemy we fight has won the war in the long runI pray that there is a better way to achieve the same objectives that will preserve a morally upright America, an America we can all remain proud of and believe in, and not constantly question.
This was a hard book to read and review because it told a story that depicted an America that I fundamentally believed was different. In a world where ruthless behavior has become the norm, the world needs a legimate moral example and America has lost some its opportunity to be that moral compass.
The congressman that allowed himself to be water boarded, to understand the technique, should be appalled for his bravery and dedication.
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