No comments about Thou Shalt Kill.

No comments about Terrorism, Media, Liberation (Rutgers Depth of Field Series).

2 comments about HARM.

1. In the not too distant future, the civil rights of a person are suspended if they are suspected of being a terrorist or have anything to do with them. Paul, a Muslim who is a second generation British citizen who has been arrested by HARM (Hostile Activities Research Ministry) and is addressed as Prisoner B. He was incarcerated for writing a book satirical in nature and in it there was a page about the prime minister getting assassinated. He is tortured, not allowed to make a phone call, not have a lawyer, and contact with the outside world is forbidden.
   
   To escape the pain and fear, he crosses in his mind a planet called Stygia. His hallucination is very intricately detailed; an example being that the colonists have had their DNA and brain functions inserted in life process reservoirs and they are back put together on the desert planet. His illusion is better than his present reality as he swings between both worlds between of torture. Afraid he will never leave his prison, Paul falls deeper and deeper in his mind constructed delusion.
   
   Readers of Fahrenheit 411, 1984 and A Brave New World will find HARM just as thought provoking and emotionally disturbing because it touches a nerve that people will rather ignore at a time when rendition is okay and habeas corpus is not. Following 9/11 the west has looked at the Muslim community with disdain, fear and hostility although the vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists. Brian W. Aldiss writes a stunning indictment against President Bush's "war on terror" and the extremes to which he has taken it including abolishing some of the freedoms we have taken for granted.
   
   Harriet Klausner



2. It was difficult to keep my interest in the book. Not very satisfying except to say I finished it. I prefer more action and more "science" to the "fiction". Perhaps more enjoyable to someone who likes political satire.

No comments about What Happened to the Hippy Man?: Hijack Hostage Survivor.

1 comments about Terrorism: A Philosophical Analysis (Philosophical Studies Series).

1. This is one of the most comprehensive, thought provoking and to the point books on terrorism I have read up to now. The author writes in a clear and concise way on the moral questions relating to terrorism and secession. He does not stop at the obvious and dares to take - well-reasoned - positions which might not always be what everybody would like to hear.

1 comments about A World Challenged: Fighting Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century.

1. A collaborative publishing project of The Nixon Center and the Brookings Institution Press, A World Challenged: Fighting Terrorism In The Twenty-First Century is a thoughtful reflection on the menacing threats posed by independent terrorist organizations to global security. Russian premier Yevgeny M. Primakov expresses his critical concerns over such terrorist organizations obtaining weapons of mass destruction, especially when over 100 nations today are stockpiling such nuclear material. Strongly recommending that the global community develop a comprehensive Charter on Terrorism to facilitate criminal prosecution, and exhorting that Russia and the United States need to join forces and share information about emerging terrorist threats, A World Challenged is a critical and astutely written account of the dangers facing the world in the twenty-first century.

5 comments about The Real Price of War: How You Pay for the War on Terror.

1. It's certainly true that War has a cost. And the analysis given here by Mr. Goldstein is probably not far off, especially as we see each new special appropriation that gets submitted to Congress.
   
   He goes into quite a few of the indirect expenses that don't show up in the regular budgets, things like Veterans expenses. He aludes to some expenses that are real but harder to measure, things like the slow down in air travel after 9/11 that affects not only the airlines, but the rest of the travel industry from hotels to Boeing.
   
   The second point worth noting is that his solution is typical of Massachusetts Democrats, raise the taxes on the wealthy. After the least election, I don't see this happening.



2. Joshua Goldstein is a political scientist with a special interest in war and international relationships. In this modest volume he itemizes the economic costs of war in general and historically and shows specifically how much the average household in America is paying for the war on terror. (That would be $500 a month according to a "bill" he presents to "The Smith Household" on page 16.)
   
   His position is nonpartisan and his tone is measured, factual and amazingly calm. It's apparent that he didn't think the war in Iraq was necessary, and it is clear that he thinks the Bush tax cuts put too much of the financial burden for the war on terror onto the shoulders of Americans of modest means. He shows that historically the rich have paid a larger portion of the cost of war than they are paying for the current war. This would only seem right since they have more to lose financially speaking. He also thinks we ought to pay for the war as the expenses arise and not put off the cost by borrowing or through deficient spending as the Bush administration has done. That way just increases the total cost of the war because we have to pay interest on the money borrowed.
   
   Regardless of how the war is financed Goldstein shows that there will be an additional cost in terms of inflation. He sees inflation as one of the "hidden" costs of war, and relates a "History of War-Induced Inflation" on pages 76-81, and then asks, "Will the War on Terror Trigger Inflation?" His answer is most likely. However, it will not be as bad as the inflation that began during and following the Civil War, World Wars I & II, and the Vietnam War, mainly because the cost of the war on terror is nowhere near as great in terms of total GDP. As an example of the kind of inflation we have experienced in the past, Goldstein points out that the dollar was worth $18.19 in today's terms in 1915 before WW I began and worth only $9.18 in 1920, two years after the war was over. ( p. 79)
   
   Goldstein believes "Americans are in denial about the substantial war costs we face." (p. 161) He would like to see us get over the denial and to urge our government to spend more money on the war on terror so that it might be won more quickly and in the long run cost us less. To this end he recommends increasing expenditures so that the average household would pay another $100 a month so that the "bill" would be $600 a month. (p. 196) Goldstein believes there is no such thing as "a war without sacrifice" and wants the Bush administration to be more open about that fact and to become more Churchhillian (if you will) in asking the America people to make the necessary sacrifices. Obviously, by detailing the costs of the war on terror and making that cost personal with his "bill" to the average American household, Goldstein is attempting to do this himself. I think it's a good idea; however, if the average American household had to write a check for $600 a month to the government rather than having that money just disappear from their living standard (either today or down the road) I think Mr. and Mrs. Average American would balk. One wonders if that is not Goldstein's veiled point, although his expression would deny that.
   
   Of course the real "real" cost of war goes much deeper than the economic. The lives lost, the injured and maimed, the waste of human effort and the displacement of energies from something productive and life-affirming are most significant. Goldstein is not to be faulted for leaving these out since such matters are not part of his thesis, and that is fine since every book should have an end as well as a beginning. However, I cannot read about the subject of war without thinking about its "real" significance in human affairs beyond not only the economic and the personal costs, but the species-wide costs as well. And I would ask not just "what price war?" but what can we do about it? As an instrument of the tribal structure, has war insured that those tribes that committed themselves to its unrestricted use are the ones that have survived (and are "us") or is it the case that those tribes that survived are guaranteed to eventually go the way of the swordsman?



3. Goldstein begins by pointing out that the total cost of the War on Terror includes money spent through government, private and indirect costs, and added costs that we may pay in the future. Goldstein then comes up with a current cost total of about $500/month/household, which includes funds for the Defense Dept, Energy Dept. for nuclear weapons, Homeland Security, Other agencies, Veterans Affairs, servicing past military debt, and the Iraq War itself. And then there are the "costs" of the over 2,100 American lives lost so far, and the tens of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans.
   
   In addition, there are costs for added corporate security (eg. chemical plants, large office buildings), delays and added costs in receiving goods from overseas, etc. However, no credible estimate of these costs was given.
   
   Finally Goldstein suggests that additional funds will be needed to win over other nations - for improved education, healthcare, military arms, and general economic aid. Again no credible estimate of these costs.
   
   The "real" issue, which Goldstein fails to realize, is that it is economically and operationally impossible to realistically defend against all credible terrorist threats. Thus, the only feasible solution is to think of how we can stop generating terrorists - eg. rethink our policies towards Israel, Iraq, cheap oil, dictating to the rest of the world.
   
   Meanwhile, a paper was recently presented at the American Economic Association meeting estimating that the war is costing far more than estimated - close to $4 billion/week, when one includes the long-term costs of injuries and deaths.
   
   Bottom Line: Goldstein quotes bin Laden, as follows - "It is very important to concentrate on hitting the U.S. economy through all possible means." However, he fails to realize that given all the added cost to-date, our continuing self-defeating policies that generate more terrorists, and the impossibility of "terror-proofing" the U.S., Osama is winning.



4. This is both a great and a frustrating book. The title and the heroic effort the author took to make it "readable to the common man" are astounding. The topic list is very nearly complete. It needs a companion book on "How to win such (and I guess all) wars." that is the main missing element; but, the author honestly tells us he is not going there. The frustrating parts for me were the number of the author's "shoulds" which come from nowhere we can read about in his book or its references, and that he didn't/couldn't go deeper. It's my lifetime pick for required reading for all of us, so we can get the rest of the job done, eventually!!!!



5. 1. War expenditures go beyond the costs of fighting in a particular place. War expenditures include peacetime military forces, training, equipment, supplies, veteran benefits, interest on past war debts, reconstruction of destroyed zones, rising national debt, and war induced inflation. "War is not an event that comes and goes but an ongoing process that ebbs and flows over the years."
   
   2. A $50,000 to $100,000 household income will pay $500 a month to support the war, as a country that amounts $50 billion/month and $600 billion per year. Defense Department $300+Energy Department $15+Homeland Security $25+Other Agencies $10+Veterans Affairs $50+Servicing Past Military Debt $40+Iraq War $60=$500/month .
   
   3. In 2003, the Iraq war was costing $5 billion per month. In 2004, Congress approved a $87 billion supplemental appropriation.
   
   4. "Poor Americans have long fought our wars while rich Americans pay for them." The top 10 percent income earners paid 50 percent of the expense of the war and federal expenses. WWI top tax rates touched 70 percent for incomes above $1 million; WWI top tax rate approached 94 percent on income above $5 million; 92 percent for the Korean War; 77 percent for the Vietnam War. "War...has but one thing certain, and that is to increase taxes; 39 percent in 2001 for the Iraq war. Since the 1980, corporate taxes have been 10 percent and make up 80 percent of the revenue. The 30 to 10 percent reduction in corporate takes was to avoid double taxation of the same income and high taxes were bad for business.
   
   5. Wartime conditions disrupt economic growth and affect financial markets, commodity prices, investment patterns, and unemployment in complex ways that are more negative than positive overall.
   
   6. Costs of war are also passed along to the individual citizen who works harder and makes sacrifices without adequate compensation.
   
   7. War creates inflation and lowers the standard of living.
   
   8. As government prints or borrows extra money to pay for war, inflation picks up, usually peaking several years after the peak of fighting.
   
   9. Hamilton wrote, "wars without taxation to cover the cost have been the principal causes of hyperinflation in industrial countries in the last two centuries." Inflation pays expensive debt with cheaper money and pays current bills. Interest rates and taxes rise during high inflation. Inflation reduces real wages.
   
   10. Inflation hits the poor and middle class the hardest.
   
   11. Wars are not about making money they are about spending money - down to the last dime and beyond. Inflation rose to 5 percent during the Vietnam War, climbed to 10 percent after the Arab oil embargo and Yom Kippur War in 1973 and again during the Iran revolution of 1979 to 1981, sustain between 3 to 6 percent between 1966 to 1991, and 2 to 3 percent by 2003. "Barring such a catastrophe, inflation resulting from the War on Terror should be small than inflation following the world wars."
   
   12. The Fed has stated its role is to keep dangerous deflation from the door. "The fed must undertake very strong economic stimulus measures, even at the price of increasing budget deficits" says Robert Samuelson. The fed will play the liquidity game and attempt to loosen credit by reducing rates and providing cheap credit for banks. How does the fed create liquidity? The fed has $267 billion in treasury bill which it holds to adjust liquidity. The fed redeems some of these notes to temporarily create liquidity. In 2007, the fed will sale off $25 billion in treasuries in an private auction. The banks buy the bonds, at discount, and use the asset to generate credit.
   
   13. Deflationary pressures have arose from globalization. Strong growth of international trade has brought vast pools of cheap labor into the global marketplace and held down wages in industrialized countries.
   
   14. A bad bond market is one where the bonds you hold are suddenly worth less because interest rates are now higher than when you bought them.
   
   15. Supporters of high deficits says that on-budget deficits still only about to 6 percent of GDP. The deficit has rising fast because of recession, war, and tax cuts. Lower taxes is believed to stimulate the economy and Debt incurred so business can grow. "During wartime and during recession, deficit spending is the best policy to keep the economy on track", deficit supporters argue. Current interest payments, alone, represent, 20 percent of the budget, excluding Medicare and Social Security. National debt is $8.5 trillion and is expected to climb to $12 trillion by 2012/14. Debt is a major source of funding for war. WWII national debt was 125 percent of GDP, Viet Nam was 40 percent of GDP, and in 2003 Gulf war was 60 percent of GDP. Each war has triggered a huge surge in borrowing to meet its costs.

5 comments about Detachment Bravo (Rogue Warrior Series).

1. Once again, the Marcinko/Weisman duo take the us on a trip with the wild bunch (read Rogue Warrior: The Real Team). And once more, the bad guys get theirs from every direction imaginable and a few that are beyond imagination, in spite of the incompentent leadership at the top. Dirty Dick will warp your mind if you don't move fast, stay low and watch your six! As the author of FADED COLORS, knowing personally "Nasty Nick Grundle", "Indian Jew" and some of the other sorry lot of heroes, brave American warriors each, put nothing past these characters. Grab a copy, bite a nail and cheer them on to victory over evil...or? And sleep tight tonight. They're really out there.



2. Let's get one thing straight right out of the chute: the "Rogue Warrior" series of novels aren't going to be winning Pulitzers anytime soon. These are pure, testosterone-driven, profanity-laced, escapes from reality; they have been a collection of books that have been fun to read. However, after reading "Rogue Warrior: Detachment Bravo", I have come to the conclusion that it may be time for Richard Marcinko to retire to his Rogue Manor.

   For starters, the most obvious criticism of "Detachment Bravo" is its utter predictability. It is a trend that started several novels ago and gets worse with each successive book. Heck, even someone who has only read one or two of his books could guess the action and plot. You can ALWAYS guarantee one or more sequences where Mr. Marcinko loses his weapon or runs out of ammo and has to grapple in hand-to-hand combat with a bad guy, will go personally greet and smack around the chief villain in the story, will go meet and smack around his superiors, and - in the climatic battle at the end of the story - will lose his weapon or ammo and kill the villain in a prolonged hand-to-hand combat sequence. Honest to goodness: for a guy who preaches perfection and team support, he is always goofing up, and his teammates - who are there to back him - are never around to shoot the bad guy he's wrestling. Again, I know it's fiction, but it really starts to grate on a reader after a while.

   The second criticism is that the plot in "Detachment Bravo" was poor. This series has never been too much about a plot, but he has done better. This one was not well thought-out, seemed disjointed in a lot of places, and was simply poorly developed. Yes, the reader knows who the bad guy(s) are, but it is never fully certain what their ultimate aim is or - more importantly - what they're doing other than trotting the globe on a yacht. What the reader is left with are the usual Rogue Warrior cliches found in every one of his books and the aforementioned predictability.

   Readers who want to get Richard Marcinko at his very best should read his first two books: the nonfiction "Rogue Warrior" and the first fiction book "Rogue Warrior II: Red Cell". They launched him to stardom, but he never really held this high level, slowly tapering off until a precipitous decline in quality of his last couple of novels. I rate the book with two stars; it could have easily been a one-star review, but he still wins points for sheer escapism in his writing.

   As I indicated at the outset, it may be time for Mr. Marcinko to put the "Rogue Warrior" series out to stud. If he decides to continue the series, this reader hopes that he will take a year or two off and develop a better story. Otherwise, I'm not wasting my money.




3. Eventhough the Rogue Warrior series has become fairly predictable, i have to say i always enjoy reading the latest installment, and this one was no exception. Yeah, he is always suffering "painfull dings", losing his gun, and having to kill the bad guys single handed, but hey. real life has plenty of "Murphy Moments" too. even if your the toughest navy seal in the U.S. I do think he comes up with some very interesting scenarios for his books, it's just that they all follow the same storyline.



4. This is another great book by Marcinko. In this book Marcinko comes up against one of the World's deadliest terror groups, the IRA. To be specific he actually takes on several IRA splinter groups two of which(the Green Hand Defenders and another one called the True IRA) prove to be some of the toughest and best trained bad guys dick has yet faced.
   Like all of his books this one is true to life in terms of Counter Terrorist tactics, intelligence gathering and the deadly effeicency of the Irish guerillas. But in the end the bad people all get thier just desserts and Dickey boy saves the day, it is good fun and an exciting read all the way.



5. Just finished this book. The "proof" on which the Rogue Warrior bases his decision to seek to punish the "bad guys" is a little thin, except that in the final momemnts he is proven to be correct. One only hopes that somewhere the goverment actually does have at least one real rogue warrior out there protecting us from the real bad guys. The world does need real SeAls to keep us safe.
   
   Having known a number of SeAls, the fact that the fictional Marchinko speaks several languages and can drop literary references is not at all farfetched. These guys are world class athletes and top notch people doing a much meeded job. Another in his series of execellent action thriller books.

No comments about The British War on Terror: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism on the Home Front Since 9/11.

No comments about American Christians and Islam: Evangelical Culture and Muslims from the Colonial Period to the Age of Terrorism.