The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
by Jane Mayer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jane MayerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-15
ISBN: 0385526393
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
Book Review: Heroes and villains
Summary: 4 Stars
A very well-written book, based on research and interviews that backup Mayer's stories. I found the lack of a chronological continuum a bit confusing at first, but as the book progressed, that was less disconcerting.
The book presents a picture of the Bush administration in a time of crisis and how it reacted to that crisis. While history will probably praise some elements of the Bush team's reaction to 9/11, I fear it will be less laudatory of the ensuing torture debacle. This book presents a picture of Pres. Bush being out of the loop, WH Counsel (later AG)Gonzalez being out of his league, and VP Cheney (and his team) being out of control - a sad state of affairs that seems to have led to abuses that should never have happened. Whether you agree with Mayer's research or not, it does paint a less-than-rosey picture of the Bush Administration's use of executive power.
But the real story the book tells is of the heroic efforts of other members of the administration who took exception to the practices and argued against them, oftentimes at great risk to their careers and even their persons. These stalwart believers in the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions fought until the Courts, Congress, the press, and the American public finally saw the true events and through the light of public scrutiny held them up as practices that tarnished the image of America at home and abroad.
Whether a Bush-hugger or a Bush-basher, the reader must see the fight to stop the illegal treatment of detainees as evidence that there are still true heroes in the federal government.
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Summary of 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.
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