A sobering look at the intimate relationship between political power and the news media, When the Press Fails argues the dependence of reporters on official sources disastrously thwarts coverage of dissenting voices from outside the Beltway. The result is both an indictment of official spin and an urgent call to action that questions why the mainstream press failed to challenge the Bush administration’s arguments for an invasion of Iraq or to illuminate administration policies underlying the Abu Ghraib controversy. Drawing on revealing interviews with Washington insiders and analysis of content from major news outlets, the authors illustrate the media’s unilateral surrender to White House spin whenever oppositional voices elsewhere in government fall silent. Contrasting these grave failures with the refreshingly critical reporting on Hurricane Katrina—a rare event that caught officials off guard, enabling journalists to enter a no-spin zone—When the Press Fails concludes by proposing new practices to reduce reporters’ dependence on power.

“The hand-in-glove relationship of the U.S. media with the White House is mercilessly exposed in this determined and disheartening study that repeatedly reveals how the press has toed the official line at those moments when its independence was most needed.”—George Pendle, Financial Times

“Bennett, Lawrence, and Livingston are indisputably right about the news media’s dereliction in covering the administration’s campaign to take the nation to war against Iraq.”—Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune “[This] analysis of the weaknesses of Washington journalism deserves close attention.”—Russell Baker, New York Review of Books

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Wojtek Mackiewicz Wolfe - Winning the War of Words , Selling the War on Terror from Afghanistan to Ir aq (2008).jpg

USA Books1 - Wojtek Mackiewicz Wolfe - Winning the War of Words, S...lling the War on Terror from Afghanistan to Iraq 2008.jpg

Throughout history and especially during contemporary times, presidential rhetoric sets the foreign policy tone not only for Congress but mainly for the American public. Consequently, US foreign policy is actively marketed and spun to the American public. This book describes the marketing strategy of the War on Terror and how that strategy compelled public opinion towards supporting the spread of the War on Terror from Afghanistan to Iraq. The author investigates how President George W. Bush's initial framing of the September 11th attacks provided the platform for the creation of long term public support for the War on Terror and established early public support for U.S. action in Iraq. Mining public opinion data and nearly 1500 presidential speeches over a four year period, the book argues that presidential framing of threats and losses, not gains, contributed to public support for war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, and President Bush's successful reelection campaign. President Bush's initial framing of the terrorist threat was introduced immediately after the September 11th attacks and reinforced throughout the Afghanistan invasion. During this time period, presidential threat framing established the broad parameters for the War on Terror and enabled the president to successfully market a punitive war in Afghanistan. Second, the president marketed the strategy of preemptive war and led the country into the more costly war in Iraq by focusing on the potentially global threat of terrorism and the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. President Bush's previous war rhetoric was repackaged into a leaner, more focused format in which the Iraq war became part of the War on Terror, resulting in increased support for the president and a successful reelection campaign. Finally, the author examines the withdraw vs. surge in Iraq debate bringing the book up to date. The book shows the influencing potential of presidential spin and of risky foreign policy in the Middle East, and presents a systematic analysis of how a president effectively pursued a marketing strategy that continues to show an enduring ability to influence public support. Even two years after the Iraq invasion, 52% of Americans believed that the U.S. should stay in Iraq until it is stabilized. This finding bypasses agenda setting explanations, which prescribes issue salience amongst the public for only one year. The large speech database available with the study will also be an added benefit to scholars seeking to teach undergraduate and graduate level qualitative research methods.

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Wojtek Mackiewicz Wolfe - Winning the War of Words , Selling the War on Terror from Afghanistan to Ir aq (2008).pdf

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Charlie Savage - Takeover - The Return of the Impe rial Presidency and the Subversion of American Dem ocracy (2007).jpg

USA Books1 - Charlie Savage - Takeover - The Return of the Imperia...sidency and the Subversion of American Democracy 2007.jpg

Praised everywhere as a stunning work of reportage, TAKEOVER lays bare a hidden agenda, three decades in the making, to allow the White House to wield enormous powers, unchecked by Congres or the courts--an agenda that links warrantless wiretapping and Bush's judicial nominees, torture and Cheney's energy task force, the faith-based initiative and the imprisonment of citizens without trial. TAKEOVER tells the story of how a group of true believers, led by Cheney, set out to establish near-monarchical executive powers that, in the words of one conservative critic, "will lie around like a loaded weapon"for any future president.

Summary: The History of the Unitary Executive Theory.
Rating: 5

"Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency" offers a view of American history and how various presidents have tested the Constitutional boundaries of executive power. Richard Nixon framed it well in these words-"When the president does it, that means it's not illegal."

One of the strengths of this book is the information about Dick Cheney and how integral a part he has played over the course of his career in the White House in his obsession with strengthening the presidency. With George W. Bush he has succeeded in making the presidency virtually free from oversight on the part of the legislative and judicial branches.
A disturbing pattern of behavior appears in the current administration; if the Constitution, a law, or Congress gets in their way, they simply ignore the obstacle and continue on.

Mr. Savage examines another intriguing aspect of the Bush administration that is secretive. That would be the conflicts in the White House involving an inner circle of people around Dick Cheney.

An interesting tidbit that Judicial Watch discovered about Cheney's secret energy task force- as early as March 2001, two years before the invasion of Iraq, the group was studying Iraqi oil fields and who owned the drilling rights.

On page 132 is a relevant quote on the quest for political power. "The rule of law is the enemy of the powerful. The essence of law is that everyone obeys the same rules regardless of weakness or strength, so the law chafes most keenly against those who, in a world without rules, have the power to simply impose their will."

George Sutherland wisely said "An informed public is the most potent of all restraints upon misgovernment."

Mr. Savage covers the president's signing statements as alternatives to vetoes. The use of this tool to more or less serve as a line-item veto is explained. He also does an excellent job on examining the judicial appointments of this regime. The unofficial criteria for a Bush appointee often get's missed amidst the buzz surrounding social issues like abortion.

I can't think of a better-written, more illuminating book about the subject of presidential power expansion, both from a current view as well as a historical standpoint. If you read just one book about the subject, this is the book to read!

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Greg Palast - The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - T he Truth About Corporate Cons, Globalization and H igh-Finance Fraudsters (2003).jpg

USA Books1 - Greg Palast - The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - The ... Cons, Globalization and High-Finance Fraudsters 2003.jpg

Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters working anywhere in the world today have the courage or ability to cover. From East Timor to Waco, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud, and financial manipulation in the US and abroad. His uncanny investigative skills as well as his no-holds-barred style have made him an anathema among magnates on four continents and a living legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership.This exciting new collection brings together some of Palast's most powerful writing of the past decade. Included here are his celebrated "Washington Post" exposé on Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris's stealing of the presidential election in Florida, and recent stories on George W. Bush's payoffs to corporate cronies, the payola behind Hillary Clinton, and the faux energy crisis. Also included in this volume are new and previously unpublished material, television transcripts, photographs, and letters.

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Greg Palast - The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - T he Truth About Corporate Cons, Globalization and H igh-Finance Fraudsters (2003).rar

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Ismael Hossein-zadeh - Political Economy of U.S. M ilitarism (2006).jpg

This wide-ranging, interdisciplinary analysis blends history, economics, and politics to challenge most of the prevailing accounts of the rise of U.S. militarism. Brings facts together in one place and gives cogent analysis

While acknowledging the contributory role of some of the most widely-cited culprits (big oil, neoconservative ideology, the Zionist lobby, and President Bush's world outlook), this study explores the bigger, but largely submerged, picture: the political economy of war and militarism. The study is unique not only for its thorough examination of the economics of military spending, but also for its careful analysis of a series of closely related topics (petroleum, geopolitics, imperialism, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, the war in Iraq, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict) that may appear as digressions but, in fact, help shed more light on the main investigation.

Professor Hossein-zadeh takes over where the late Seymour Melman left off, showing the absurdity & perils of military spending. Those of you familar with Melman, who was a professor of industrial engineering at Columbia University know that time & time again in his many books, he demonstrated how ludicrous defense spending had become through numerous examples. The money spent on "overkill", the cost overuns, the many uneeded military projects, expensive quality control problems coupled with system & hardware failures are just several he often reiterated.
Dr. Hossein-zadeh takes the subject a bit further & in a new direction. He is backed by irrefutable statistics, documents & history itself to prove his case against excessive & unwarrented military spending. All of it very comprehensible, even to someone with no background in economics & a minute knowledge post WW2 history. By reading this book, one can gain some insight into the modus operandi of the military-industrial complex & its the effect it has on the economy,political establishment & both domestic & foreign policy.

This book brings together lots of individual facts, statistics, and citations that those with a concern about US militarism who attentively follow current events and recent US history will have come upon in disparate locations.
The genius of the book is that it puts all of this information in one place and presents it in a coherent structure. It is also very clearly written. The citations and bibliography are useful starting points for those wishing to delve more deeply into the economic underpinnings of the military-industrial complex.

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Ismael Hossein-zadeh - Political Economy of U.S. M ilitarism (2006).pdf

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James Bamford - The Shadow Factory - The Ultra-Sec ret NSA from 9-11 to the Eavesdropping on America (2008) .jpg

USA Books1 - James Bamford - The Shadow Factory - The Ultra-Secret...t NSA from 9-11 to the Eavesdropping on America 2008 .jpg

James Bamford exposed the existence of the top-secret National Security Agency in the bestselling The Puzzle Palace and continued to probe into its workings in his follow-up bestseller, Body of Secrets. Now Bamford discloses inside, often shocking information about the transformation of the NSA in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 2001.

In THE SHADOW FACTORY, Bamford shows how the NSA’s failure to detect the presence of two of the 9/11 hijackers inside the United States led the NSA to abandon its long-held policy of spying only on enemies outside the country. Instead, after 9/11 it turned its almost limitless ability to listen in on friend and foe alike over to the Bush Administration to use as a weapon in the war on terror. With unrivaled access to sources and documents, Bamford details how the agency has conducted domestic surveillance without court approval, and he frames it in the context of the NSA’s ongoing hunt for information about today’s elusive enemies.

THE SHADOW FACTORY is a riveting read for anyone concerned about civil liberties and America’s security in the post-9/11 world.

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Karen J. Greenberg, Joshua L. Dratel - The Torture Papers - The Road to Abu Ghraib (2005).jpg

The Torture Papers document the so-called 'torture memos' and reports which US government officials wrote to prepare the way for, and to document, coercive interrogation and torture in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib. These documents present for the first time a compilation of materials that prior to publication have existed only piecemeal in the public domain. The Bush Administration, concerned about the legality of harsh interrogation techniques, understood the need to establish a legally viable argument to justify such procedures. The memos and reports document the systematic attempt of the US Government to prepare the way for torture techniques and coercive interrogation practices, forbidden under international law, with the express intent of evading legal punishment in the aftermath of any discovery of these practices and policies.

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Karen J. Greenberg, Joshua L. Dratel - The Torture Papers - The Road to Abu Ghraib (2005).rar

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Michael Moore - Stupid White Men... And Other Sorr y Excuses for the State of the Nation (2002).jpg

Well, so much for the future. Michael Moore, the award–winning provocateur behind Roger & Me and the bestseller Downsize This!, now returns to size up the new century – and that big, ugly special–interest group that's laying waste to the world as we know it: stupid white men. Whether he's calling for United Nations action to overthrow the Bush Family Junta, calling on African–Americans to place 'whites only' signs over the entrances of unfriendly businesses, or praying that Jesse Helms will get kissed by a man, Stupid White Men is Mike's Manifesto on Malfeasance and Mediocrity. So if you're feeling the same way and you're wondering what's going to give out first – the economy, Dick Cheney's pacemaker, or your new VW Beetle – here's the book for you.

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Michael Moore - Stupid White Men... And Other Sorr y Excuses for the State of the Nation (2002).pdf

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Michael Northcott - An Angel Directs the Storm, Ap ocalyptic Religion and American Empire (2004).jpg

This passionately argued book provides the first in-depth investigation of the religious politics of current American neo-conservatism. It shows that behind the neo-imperialism of the White House and George W. Bush lies an apocalyptic vision of the United States's sacred destiny "at the end of history", a vision that is shared by millions of Americans. The authors trace the roots of American apocalyptic to Puritan Millennialism and contemporary fundamentalist readings of the Book of Revelation. They suggest that Americans urgently need to recover a critique of Empire of the kind espoused by the founder of Christianity--or else risk becoming idolaters of a new Holy Roman Empire that leads others into servitude.

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Reinhold Niebuhr - The Irony of American History ( 1952) front.jpg

“Irony provides the master key to understanding the myths and delusions that underpin American statecraft. . . . The most important book ever written on US foreign policy.”—Andrew J. Bacevich, from the Introduction
“[Niebuhr] is one of my favorite philosophers. I take away [from his works] the compelling idea that there’s serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn’t use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away . . . the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard.”—Senator Barack Obama Forged during the tumultuous but triumphant postwar years when America came of age as a world power, The Irony of American History is more relevant now than ever before. Cited by politicians as diverse as Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Niebuhr’s masterpiece on the incongruity between personal ideals and political reality is both an indictment of American moral complacency and a warning against the arrogance of virtue. Impassioned, eloquent, and deeply perceptive, Niebuhr’s wisdom will cause readers to rethink their assumptions about right and wrong, war and peace.
“The supreme American theologian of the twentieth century.”—Arthur Schlesinger Jr., New York Times
“Niebuhr is important for the left today precisely because he warned about America’s tendency—including the left’s tendency—to do bad things in the name of idealism. His thought offers a much better understanding of where the Bush administration went wrong in Iraq.

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Reinhold Niebuhr - The Irony of American History ( 1952) back.jpg

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Reinhold Niebuhr - The Irony of American History ( 1952).pdf

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Rob Simpson - What We Could Have Done With the Mon ey - 50 Ways to Spend the Trillion Dollars We've S pent on Iraq (2008).jpg

USA Books1 - Rob Simpson - What We Could Have Done With the Money -...to Spend the Trillion Dollars Weve Spent on Iraq 2008.jpg

The war in Iraq is not only controversial, it's also astronomically expensive. Now Rob Simpson answers the question many concerned Americans have been asking: Wasn't there some other way the government could have spent one trillion of our tax dollars?

What We Could Have Done with the Money presents 50 thought-provoking spending alternatives. With a trillion dollars, we could . . .

* Fix Social Security right now: Stop worrying. Stop debating. It's done. Over. Fixed.
* End homelessness in America: House 15 million homeless families, get a million kids out of foster care, and have change to spare!
* Give everyone in the world satellite TV: Can we have the revolution later? I'm watching CSI right now.
* Pay everyone in Iraq to be nice to each other: Hey! If someone tripled your salary for the next 20 years, wouldn't you behave?
* Go Green: Give 100 million car buyers a $10,000 subsidy on their hybrid.
* Or gold . . . : Pave every highway in America with gold leaf.
* Play ball! : Fly everyone in Iraq to America, put them up in a nice hotel for three days with all the extras, take them to a baseball game and fly them home . . . and have a lot leftover.
* Cure cancer: Double research spending for as long as it takes.

. . . not to mention paying all credit card debt, buying everyone in the world an iPod, building 75 million solar-powered homes, and 39 other revealing pipe dreams.

Shocking, thought-provoking, and incredibly entertaining, Simpson takes a hard look at the government's top priorities--both what they are and what they should be.

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Saul Landau - The Business of America - How Consum ers Have Replaced Citizens and How We Can Reverse the Trend (2004).jpg

USA Books1 - Saul Landau - The Business of America - How Consumers...laced Citizens and How We Can Reverse the Trend 2004.jpg

When President Bush promoted shopping as a patriotic duty, the American culture of consumption hit a new low. But a quiet revolution is growing in the developing world and in a new generation of Americans, fighting the advance of the shopping malls and the desolation they leave behind.
Written by one of the most insightful critics of American commercialism, The Business of America probes the forces that have transformed citizens into consumers eager to take as much as they can from the planet. From on-line shopping to spectator sports to the cash-and-carry ethos of political campaigns, Saul Landau decodes the subtle ways in which advertising images tell us to correct our inadequacies with more things: SUVs, credit cards, air conditioning, video games.
The winds of change are blowing, Landau shows, from resurgent student protests for underpaid janitors to the "Group of 21," the developing countries that stopped the World Trade Organization dead in its tracks in 2003. Eschewing nostalgia for a simpler time--a less-interconnected world that can never return-The Business of America shows how we as citizens can regain our identities, stripping away the plastic overlay of consumerism.

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Saul Landau - The Business of America - How Consum ers Have Replaced Citizens and How We Can Reverse the Trend (2004).pdf

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Scott McClellan - What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception (2008).jpg

With unprecedented candor, one of George W. Bush's closest aides takes readers behind the scenes of the Bush presidency, and what exactly happened to take it off course.
Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the most challenging and contentious periods of recent history. Drawn to Bush by his commitment to compassionate conservatism and strong bipartisan leadership, McClellan served the president for more than seven years, and witnessed day-to-day exactly how the presidency veered off course.
In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly-contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as we prepare to elect a new leader.

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Scott McClellan - What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception (2008).pdf

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Stephen F. Hayes - Cheney - The Untold Story of Am erica's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice Presi dent (2007).jpg

USA Books1 - Stephen F. Hayes - Cheney - The Untold Story of Americ...s Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President 2007.jpg

During a forty-year career in politics, Vice President Dick Cheney has been involved in some of the most consequential decisions in recent American history. He was one of a few select advisers in the room when President Gerald Ford decided to declare an end to the Vietnam War. Nearly thirty years later, from the presidential bunker below the White House in the moments immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001, he helped shape the response: America's global war on terror.

Yet for all of his influence, the world knows very little about Dick Cheney. The most powerful vice president in U.S. history has also been the most secretive and guarded of all public officials. "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole?" Cheney asked rhetorically in 2004. "It's a nice way to operate, actually."

Now, in Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President, New York Times bestselling author and Weekly Standard senior writer Stephen F. Hayes offers readers a groundbreaking view into the world of this most enigmatic man. Having had exclusive access to Cheney himself, Hayes draws upon hundreds of interviews with the vice president, his boyhood friends, political mentors, family members, reticent staffers, and senior Bush administration officials, to deliver a comprehensive portrait of one of the most important political figures in modern times.

The wide range of topics Hayes covers includes Cheney's withdrawal from Yale; his early run-ins with the law; the incident that almost got him blackballed from working in the Ford White House; his meteoric rise to congressional leadership; his opposition to removing Saddam Hussein from power after the first Gulf War; the solo, cross-country drive he took after leaving the Pentagon; his selection as Bush's running mate; his commanding performance on 9/11; the aggressive intelligence and interrogation measures he pushed in the aftermath of those attacks; the necessity of the Iraq War; the consequences of mistakes made during and after that war; and intelligence battles with the CIA and their lasting effects. With exhaustive reporting, Hayes shines a light into the shadows of the Bush administration and finds a very different Dick Cheney from the one America thinks it knows.

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Steven Kettell - Dirty Politics - New Labour, Brit ish Democracy and the War in Iraq (2006).jpg

The events surrounding Brtain's involvement in the war in Iraq have clearly exposed the flaws and weaknesses that are inherent within the British democratic system. A deep-seated adherence to a top-down style of policy-making at the expense of more participatory and accountable forms of governance has been amplified by the internal structures of the New Labour government itself. The consequences have left an indelible mark on Britain's political landscape that will endure for many years

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Steven Kettell - Dirty Politics - New Labour, Brit ish Democracy and the War in Iraq (2006).pdf

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The New Imperialists-Ideologies of Empire (2006) e dited by Colin Mooers.jpg

In the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, there seems to be a shift away from multilateralism, the inviolability of state sovereignty and the rule of international law. This broad and wide-ranging collection of articles critically examines the main intellectual justifications for the shift.

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The New Imperialists-Ideologies of Empire (2006) e dited by Colin Mooers.pdf

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Thomas Mowle - Hope Is Not a Plan - The War in Ira q from Inside the Green Zone (2007).jpg

From the outset, the war in Iraq was directed from Washington and executed by troops on the ground. Between Washington and the battlefields was the Green Zone, a four-square-mile enclave that hosted the American Embassy annex, the Iraqi Reconstruction Management Office, the planning, policy, strategy, and communications sections of Headquarters, Multi-national Force-Iraq, and the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq. Hope Is Not a Plan takes the reader inside the Green Zone courtesy of participant-observers brought to Iraq to diagnose the insurgency and develop a get-well plan. Focusing on the critical months of late 2004 and early 2005 --when a new sovereign government in Iraq tried to build legitimacy, and the coalition force tried to find the best way to help it do so--it looks at a slice of the war not previously examined. This is not the Beltway story, nor the grunt and jarhead story. Rather, the book looks at the process of taking political and military goals and turning them into action. In telling that story, Hope Is Not a Plan helps explain how Iraq got to where it is today. Organized by topic rather than on a strict chronological basis, it is practical, not theoretical, examining doctrines and lessons learned, not abstractions of the ivory tower. The book describes what happened in the Green Zone during this period and compares that reality with what history, experience, and doctrine suggests should have happened. Finally, it reflects on what can be learned from the experience. Rich in detail, the book is written to be accessible to anyone interested in first-hand information about the workings of a coalition staff during wartime--or to anyone who wants to understand how things in Iraq went so very wrong.

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Thomas Mowle - Hope Is Not a Plan - The War in Ira q from Inside the Green Zone (2007).pdf

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Tony Smith - A Pact with the Devil - Washington's Bid for World Supremacy and the Betrayal of the Am erican Promise (2007).jpg

USA Books1 - Tony Smith - A Pact with the Devil - Washingtons Bid f...premacy and the Betrayal of the American Promise 2007.jpg

Despite the overwhelming opposition on the left to the war in Iraq, many prominent liberals supported the war on humanitarian grounds. They argued that the war would rid the world of a brutal dictator and liberate the Iraqi people from totalitarian oppression, paving the way for a democratic transformation of the country.

In A Pact with the Devil Tony Smith deftly traces this undeniable drift in mainstream liberal thinking toward a more militant posture in world affairs with respect to human rights and democracy promotion. Beginning with the Wilsonian quest to make the world safe for democracy right up to the present day liberal support for regime change, Smith isolates leading strands of liberal internationalist thinking in order to see how the liberal hawks constructed them into a case for American and liberal imperialism in the Middle East. The result is a reflection on an important aspect of the intellectual history of American foreign policy; establishing howa sophisticated group of thinkers came to fashion their recommendations to Washington and working to see what role liberalism may still play in deliberations in the country on its role in world events now that the failure of these ambitions in Iraq seems clear.

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