No comments about What They Think of Us: International Perceptions of the United States since 9/11.

5 comments about The Quest for the Red Prince: Israel's Relentless Manhunt for One of the World's Deadliest and Most Wanted Arab Terrorists.

1. I think that this is one of the best books written about Israel and Palestine conflicts. This book gives you the detailed history of the conflict between the two, starting as early as 1918. Michael Bar Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber's access to the top officials of Mossad, has given the true accounts of the incidents. The place, date, and other details are mostly accurate. Because both the authors have Israeli roots, some people have found the book one sided mostly praising the finesse of Israeli secret service agency Mossad. However, if you read the book carefully, you will see many events where Mossad failed to get Hassan Salameh, and later his son Ali Hassan Salameh (who was later known as Red Prince).
   
   I bought this book to know more about the terrorist who planned the Munich massacre in 1972. Ali Hassan Salameh, formed the Black September group with support from Yasir Arafat and his militant group Fateh. Instead only focusing on Munich massacre, this book goes beyond and explains several events that many of us don't know about.
   
   This is an important book and should be read by anyone wanting to know the real cause of conflict between Israel and Palestine. On almost every page there was a situation or fact described that had me amazed or terrified to imagine. This book is extremely readable and hard to put down, although you know the ultimate outcome.



2. 
   This is not the first book I read about black september and the Munich massacre. Today, after the Oslo agreement, we know much more about this organization. Actually, Abu Daoud wrote a book and appeared on tv stations. He spoke about his role in the organization and told who did what. It is well known today that Abu Iyad an Abu Daoud were the actual leaders of black september. Ali Hassan Salameh, was definitely not involved in the Munich massacre. As a matter of fact, he was not involved in most black september operations. This undermines the entire case of this book; The blood thirsty terrorist they portrait had almost nothing to do with black september. Another annoying thing about this book is the incoherence of a lot of the characters. Zwaiter and Hamshari have personality dissociative disorders. Zwaiter leads a "fake" life as a poor (can't pay his phone bill) leftist vegetarian peaceful individual who never held a gun in his life, but his real identity is that of a horrible terrorist. I don't buy that. I think that Zwaiter was a remarkable intellectual who was promoting the palestinian cause in Europe. This is most probably why he was assassinated, as was the case for a few more "terrorists". I won't comment on Salameh the father story, but it was also one sided and inaccurate. In summary, inaccurate amateur work with a pro-israeli agenda.



3. An interesting book about the controversial decision by the Israeli government and Mossad to eliminate the individuals who perpetrated the Munich massacre. Some planned hits and targets are killed and ultimately the Red Prince is killed in a massive car bomb.
   
   The Red Prince and his father led terrible lives. They may have been evicted from their homeland, but does that mean they can go out and blow up airplanes, and kill innocent sports figures. What surprised me about this book was the Red Prince's attitude toward the Lebanese Christians and his behind the scenes dialogue with the CIA. He was focused on terrorism against Israeli targets. His sons attitude toward Israel is also surprising.
   
   This shows the ultimate fate awaiting terrorists like the Red Prince and Osmana Bin Laden. This is the ultimate story of terrorism and vengence.



4. To all the Palestinian apologists out there, I say: Read this book. See how a "struggle for independence" turned into a savage and bloody international killing spree. Also witness the explicit cooperation of the Mufti of Jerusalem - you still don't think religious authorities don't condone terrorism, do you? Check out Arafat as well. All is double-talk is in open press now. Terrorism is a legitimate form of warfare for these people. They know they can't beat us head-on, so they kill non-combatants and wait for the apologists to condemn Israel and the US.
   
   You apologists will also see how Ali Hassan Salameh and his family tried to brainwash his child as he himself was brainwashed. A murderer is a murderer is a murderer. Just because they have a "cause" behind them doesn't make it right.
   
   These people whine and complain about wanting freedom, but look what they do to each other. Salameh and his father were criminals, extorting and robbing and murdering their own people and establishing criminal rackets. Zarqawi was the same in Jordan, as was Saddam in Iraq. Nobody stood up to them, and no one stands up for themselves in the Middle East. They are too used to being repressed. Sounds like Iraqis are starting to stand up to Al Qaeda. Hopefully they will drive them out and realize we have given them the best opportunity for freedom they could ever hope for.



5. Ali Hassan Salameh was Israel's most wanted in the 70's. He was nicknamed the Red Prince because he was a successful murderer, blood spiller. He was one of Black September's founding members which came into being in September 1970 when King Hussein of Jordan began purging Jordan of PLO terrorists. They had gone too far when they had killed the King's friend and right hand man. This action of Hussein's triggered more violence and retribution killings by Black September. Where Hussein left off, the Israelis finished though it took nearly a decade to kill all of Black September's members. The Israelis targeted only the key members of this splinter group of Arafat's Fatah organization who were responsible for a spate of terror killings, massacres, hijackings, etc. etc. The most notorious and well known crime being the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972. The last member, Ali Salameh was killed on January 22, 1979.
   
   This book is the story about the Red Prince, his Palestinian background and the Israelis' efforts to track him down. I think the key aspect of this story is that when the primary instigators of terror are rooted out, the world can rest in peace for a time. The Quest for the Red Prince is one of counterterrorism's best success stories.

3 comments about Crying for Justice: What the Psalms Teach Us About Mercy and Vengeance in an Age of Terrorism.

1. John Day has written a fine book on the imprecatory Psalms. He shows they are in keeping with God's standards of justice and with his own covenant promises to protect his people. By documenting that imprecations continue in the New Testament, he demonstrates they are relevant for the church to pray today.
   
   He includes a large number of endnotes for those who want more technical detail. The book contains more references to Ancient Near Eastern texts than the average lay person would find relevant, but upholds the inspiration of scripture. For those who liked James Adams' "War Psalms of the Prince of Peace," this is a more thorough treatment.



2. This is the most careful, balanced, and biblical treatment of this subject available. Day addresses all the current views on imprecations, the objections lodged against them, and provides in-depth exegetical discussions of three representative imprecatory Psalms. It's a valuable and important work on an issue that confuses many Christians.



3. In this book Dr. Day methodically examines the scriptural framework for proper Christian response to persecution of God's people that is unremitting and unrepentant. It is a must read for all Christians, as Christians are emerging as the primary target of the extremist cry of "kill the infidel." More than five centuries have passed since Christians in the West have personally had to face such an issue, and now is the time to become spiritually prepared. Don't miss this one. It is the definitive modern analysis of the subject.

No comments about Strategic Challenges: America's Global Security Agenda (National Defense University).

5 comments about Terrorism: An Introduction, 2002 Update (Wadsworth Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice).

1. Prior to Sept. 11, I took a college course on terrorism and this was the only text available at the time. It was accurate and informative then, and remains so today. Jonathan White is one of the foremost experts on terrorism and it's correlation to religion in the United States. If you are entering into the field of criminal justice or public policy, I highly recommend reading this book.



2. I recently took a class at my local community college and this book was the book assigned to the class. When I went into this class the only knowledge that I had was that of September 11 and the things that have happened since then. This book covers not only September 11 but the history of what lead up to Septmeber 11. Its a wonderful book, and recommend it to anyone who wants to understand terrorism in todays world.



3. In the fall of 2001, I was lucky enough to be taking a class at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI to satisfy a requirement for my B.S. in Criminal Justice. The class was CJ 405, titled "Terrorism", and was taught by Professor Jonathan R. White. The man is brilliant, had great stories about what services he performed for the U.S. government, and his book was, at the time, the highest circulated book on terrorism in the world. This is the book that we used, and it is absolutely the best book on terrorism I have ever read. I definitely recommend this to anyone who is seriously interested in the fighting of terrorism.



4. To give this book some credit, it seems to be written from a criminal justice perspective. However, I'm not sure it's the best approach. I found the book difficult to follow in terms of organization. It also has some factual inaccuracies - for example, White claims that the terrorist wing of Lebanese Hizballah was founded by Fathi al-Shiqaqi. Shiqaqi founded the Palestine Islamic Jihad, a completely different organization, a fact which is easily checked, but missed by the author and his editors. If you are looking for a good survey on terrorism, there are many better ones available.



5. I found this book to be inaccurate in many ways. It was incredibly biased. ALF is labeled as an ecoterrorist, which they are not. ALF helps liberate animals from cruelty. Besides the fact that ALF was labeled as a terrorist, information given about them was severly wrong. It is stated that ALF incourages its members to wear leather gloves. That is completely false. Any animal rights advocate knows that leather is a dead animals skin, ALF members would not wear leather. I could go on all day.

5 comments about Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power.

1. 
   One of the few books I've read about any controversial topic that resists the temptation to start name-calling, insult-slinging and obvious political agendas.
   
   Dr. Margulies succeeds in explaining legal arguments in a way that is engaging and not condescending. He addresses every question you could have about torture and then some. He does something many authors fail to do: he argues his point in a greater context than the argument itself. That is to say, anyone can argue torture in the context of laws or the Geneva Convetions. Dr. Margulies goes further and discusses torture in the context of security for civilians and soldiers and foriegn policy, and then also provides the background for the writing of the Geneva Conventions and why we have refrained from torture in the past.
   
   Absolutely enlightening.



2. This book deserves a much wider audience. No matter how bad you think things are in Guantanamo, this book makes clear that the reality is ten times worse. Margulies is extremely knowledgeable about the issues, and he's a fine writer. It is hard not to feel ashamed -- and outraged -- by the injustices that are occurring under our flag. Let me add that I do not know (and have never met) the author, Joseph Margulies.



3. The author was the lead counsel for Rasul and other detainees in the noted Supreme Court case of 2004, Rasul v. Bush. The question in that case underlines the whole bitter debate with the Bush Administration: whether detainees at Guantanamo have the right to challenge their indefinite detention in a fair way. The other big issue in this book involves torture and how the detainees are treated.
   
   The author notes that the United States has always been at the forefront in upholding the Geneva Conventions. Even during the Korean War when the North Koreans treated American POWs barbarically, the U.S. upheld the Conventions. Even during the unconventional Vietnam War when the Viet Cong did not wear uniforms and hid among civilians or when American fliers were tortured in North Vietnam, the U.S. honored the Conventions. According to the Red Cross everyone in enemy hands has some status, either as a POW under the Third Convention or as a civilian under the Fourth Convention. In the past the U.S. has served as a model in upholding these laws of war and had until recently established the moral high ground in the face of lawless torture around the world.
   
   Bush keeps insisting to the American people: "We do not torture." He is not lying according to the narrow definition established in the Justice Department's legal opinion known as the "torture memo" by Yoo and Bybee, and subsequent revisions to that opinion. The author notes the veil of secrecy over the inner workings of Guantanamo, the careful screenings given to visitors, but Time Magazine obtained leaked records concerning the interrogation logs of Mohammed al-Qahtani, which reveal the kind of methods used: solitary confinement, sensory overload, induced hypothermia, sleep deprivation, various devices used to cause severe disorientation, various forms of humiliation; in other words, a systematic breakdown of the human personality, a psychological assault that can be done without laying a hand on the prisoner, intended to lower the detainee not just to the sub-human level but even to the sub-animal level (the chilling comparison by the interrogator to banana rats). The question becomes what else would be found if other interrogation logs were made available.
   
   Secretary Rumsfeld referred to the detainees as "the worst of the worst." But are they really? Beyond the locked gate of national security, the author refers to numerous voices from the military and intelligence services who state that only a minority of the detainees have yielded intelligence of any significant value, that there have been "no big fish", that the majority were "dirt farmers from Afghanistan", or in the case of the author's clients, impressionable youth who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The author notes that only 5% of all detainees were captured by Americans. The rest were rounded up by the Northern Alliance or by war-lords who were more interested in settling scores. The roundup was made even more of a farce by a Defense Department campaign to distribute leaflets offering a bounty for any terrorist.
   
   In response to the Supreme Court's decision in Rasul for judicial review of Guantanamo detainees, the Administration undertook to set up CSRTs (Combatant Status Review Tribunals) in order to determine whether a detainee is an "enemy combatant". But the CSRTs have been so skewed in the interest of national security that evidence is withheld and charges are often hidden in a farcical way. The detainees are also prevented from presenting evidence or testimony unless it is "reasonably available". An example of the absurdity of this process is an exchange quoted here from the petitioner Ait Idir, a petitioner in the forthcoming Boumediene v. Bush Supreme Court case, in which the name of the accuser, an alleged al-Qaeda operative, is not named for security reasons.
   
   The author describes the outlandish charges made against his client Mamdouh Habib from "confessions" he gave after his rendition to Egypt to be tortured. Fortunately for Habib, when they tried to render him to Egypt for a second time, the lid of secrecy was blown off by the press, and he was released without any charges and flown back to his home in Australia after three years of incarceration.



4. This book made me sad. Because it is so well-written about subject matter that was beyond my belief, I have been shaken out of my idylls. Worse still it is so well documented that every item can easily be looked up and confirmed.
   
   What brought me to this book was my reading in German the book by Murat Kurnaz, "Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo" in July of 2007. Not a detail of the legal matters mentioned by Margulies is in conflict with Mr. Kurnaz's first-hand account of his experiences as a prisoner. Margulies' book should be required reading for every Congressman and Senator in Washington, DC. I will not be able to rest now until justice is meted out to those who have committed such horrendous crimes against humanity.
   
   Mr. Margulies and Mr. Kurnaz point out that "harsh interrogation" is far more than "water-boarding." Mr. Kurnaz was physically picked up and his head was placed under water while he was punched and kicked in the stomach. He was suspended from the ceiling for days, until he passed out. US physicians attended him, not to give relief from his suffering, but to keep him alive for more torture. He witnessed prisoners killed by US torture.
   
   Margulies' book is an opportunity for education. May we all be better educated.



5. If only we had had human rights lawyers preserving the rights of German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war. That would have advanced the war effort during WWII. FDR and Truman must be characterized as war criminals too given the narrow criteria of the author. It is merely mincing words to describe the detainees as somehow different than prisoners of war. The UN has failed to create a category for insurgents and militants in regards to combat and capture. They are not common criminals deserving a trial. It would be rational for the UN to create a category for such combatants, so they could be placed in prisoner of war camps until the duration of the conflict, but without a recoginized status of traditional soldiers. Without such criteria, my hat is off to the President for making a difficult decision knowing the human rights activists would attack him. I might add that in past conflicts, combatants not in uniform were shot on the spot.
   
   Having served for 28 years as an Army officer and in multiple war zones, I can honestly say the detainees are treated much better than the military service men and women. Both in training and in conflicts, we endure sleep deprivation, often live in the elements for weeks at a time, sleep on the ground, miss meals, and are away from our families. I guess we've been tortured all these years. Where are our human rights lawyers? Don't tell me we deserve it because we volunteered. The detainees volunteered to join al Qaeda, Taliban, and other extremist organizations. I'm glad they are in Gitmo and other prisons. I hope they rot there for all the innocent people they've killed.

4 comments about Jihad and American Medicine: Thinking Like a Terrorist to Anticipate Attacks via Our Health System.

1. This book by Doctor Dorin is the first breakthrough text to provide a detailed prescription for health care workers, academicians, and politicians to overhaul the way medicine is delivered--toward to goal of reducing medical errors and the potential for purposeful 'mischief'!
   
   I highly (and emphatically) recommend this book!!



2. This book is very well written and I hope the law makers in Washington take note and make some changes so as to protect our health care facilities.
   
   I highly recommend this book.



3. Dr. Dorin has written a thought-provoking and timely treatise on the vulnerabilities of our health care system. This book is extremely relevant to both healthcare providers and consumers.



4. Informative and well written, Dr. Dorin's research is relevant to government authorities and consumers. His well organized and concise writing style make this an interesting read.
   
   I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about Behind the War on Terror: Western Secret Strategy and the Struggle for Iraq.

1. Author gives an excellent account of run up of events leading up to the Anglo-American assault on Iraq.Author's arguments unassailable based on irrefutable logic.
   
   Economic considerations prompted US UK to invade Iraq.Of late US has become vulnerable to energy shocks with domestic production unable to cope with increasing demand.This has led to occasional blackouts in places like California.Prior to Iraq war America's oil inventories fell to the lowest level since 1975 with the country on the verge of drawing oil from 'Strategic Petroluem Reserve'
   
   Iraq under Saddam Hussein was becoming what author says a ' swing producer'.In other words he was turning oil tap on and off whenever Baghdad felt that such a policy was suiting its interests.Hussein even contemplated removing Iraqi oil from the market for extended periods of time which would have sent crude oil prices soaring.
   
   Besides Hussein began to challenge US monoply on oil trade.We all know oil trade is transacted in dollars.Hussein switched the trade to Euros.As a result dollar's value diminished by 17 percent.Were other oil-producing countries like Nigeria, Iran Venezuela to follow suit dollar's value would erode.Hussein's measures , in short, threatned America's economic , military pre-eminence.So he was ousted replaced by pro western stooge subservient Illad Allawi.
   
   Bush- Blair team went to absurd lengths to justify invasion of Iraq.Intelligence on Iraq's WMD capability was cooked up distorted ,exaggerated to bolster case for war .Blair even had the gumption to claim that Iraq had lethal weapons which could be activated in 45 mts and was poised to strike British bases in Cyprus.An argument that sound ridiculous because we know from inde sources between a period from 1992-98 98 percent of Iraq WMD was destroyed along with infrastructure to make those weapons. Bush-Blair team ,I feel ,deliberately mislead their people to make a case for war.
   
   Fact goes that Iraq could be invaded easily because it did not have weapons to defend herself.Britain US saw to it Iraq was fully disarmed begore unleashing their armies.In this they were helped by UN Security council which did the dirty work of disarming Iraq.It looks from this train of events that ' right to self-defence ' belongs to few coutries in the west.This a a covert form of racism.Be that may, US UK have taught coutries like N Korea ,Syria, Iran an ugly lesson better arm yourself with nuclear weapons if you want ot deter possible future hostile action.
   
   What US UK want unfettered, unrestrained access to oil of resource-rich Middle East.What they fear most is indigenous nationalsm. Controlling the region by force is nothing but fascism and will not sove problems plaguing the region.It will breed resentment leading to vicious form of 'blowback'a term used by prominent American academic Chalmers Johnson.This term isused to denote negative inevitable consequences stemming from American imperial policies.
   
   Author says it is possible to make western world immune to oilshocks.This can be done by exploring alternative sources of energy and changing fuel consumption patterns of people.
   
   Book contains intersting facts pertaining to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait,anthrax scare in US which many in the west may find hard to digest . Truth sometimes is unpalatable.



2. "A SCIENTIFIC revolution, according to Kuhn [the scientist/linguist author of THE THEORY OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS], is not simply an addition to pre-existing knowledge. It is, within any field, 'a reconstruction of the field from new fundamentals'; a complete demolition of an old theoretical and conceptual structure and its replacement by a new one based on entirely different aims and premises. The old paradigm...attacked from the outside...cannot be defeated on the basis of its own rules for, as we have seen...these rules are not only inadequate to solve new problems which have begun to arise--THEY ACTUALLY PRECLUDE ANY DISCUSSION OF THESE PROBLEMS AT ALL."
   
   Dr. Chris Knight, London
   From BLOOD RELATIONS:
   MENSTRUATION AND THE ORIGINS OF CULTURE
   
   "[A] very selective history [as compiled here of 19th and 20th century presidents] demonstrates there are many varieties of presidential lies. Some concern grand policy matters, some concern secret government activity...Sissela Bok, the author of LYING: MORAL CHOICE IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE, defines [a lie] simply as "an intentionally deceptive message in the form of a STATEMENT (emphasis his)"...I would propose a slightly different standard for White House occupants. If a President issues a statement, he or she has an obligation to ensure the remark is truthful... It is not enough for a president or White House contender to BELIEVE what he is saying is true; he/she [like scientists, doctors, journalists and other professionals whose careers are built on a basic understanding of honesty, research, integrity and the public trust] should KNOW it to be true--within reasonable standards...Lying in office not only poses a potential risk for [a sitting president], a president who lies is a risk to the nation. He might steer the country into a war under false pretenses. Or, if he comes to be regarded as untruthful by a significant portion of the public, he might fail to rouse the country for military action that is indeed warranted. A liar in the White House is a national security threat."
   
   David Corn
   THE LIES OF GEORGE BUSH
   From the Introduction
   (Published in 2003, before
   the start of the Iraq war)
   
   "This [neoconservative] focus on reintergrating Iraq into the regional framework of order under US hegemony was no doubt heightened by the fact that Iraq challenged the US monopoly over the oil trade, maintained through the fact that oil transactions occur in US dollars. Since 1971...the dollar has...become the de facto world reserve currency... Overall, since the world economy is fundamentally oil-dependent, this...lends the US a dominant trading advantage...In November 2000, Iraq began trading its oil in euros, and profited handsomely in the process. Iran, Venezuela and Russia--all key oil producers--have also considered and/or moved towards switching to the euro..."
   
   "The real reason the Bush administration wants a puppet government in Iraq--or more importantly, the reason why the corporate-military-industrial network conglomerate wants a puppet government in Iraq--is so that it will revert back to a dollar standard and stay that way..."
   
   Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed
   BEHIND THE WAR ON TERROR
   From Part Two, Chapter Seven: "False Pretexts"
   
   and
   
   Quote by
   Wiliam Clark
   "The Real Reasons for the Upcoming War
   with Iraq: a Macroeconomic and
   Geostrategic Analysis of the Unspoken Truth"
   Independent Media Center, January, 2003
   
   "An objective assessment of the 2003 war in Iraq...shows clearly that it was nothing less than a...colonial enterprise, fundamentally opposed to elementary humanitarian principles and motviated by longstanding imperial values."
   
   Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed
   BEHIND THE WAR ON TERROR
   From the Postscript
   
   Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, the Mozart-like prodigy of modern of political analysis, has done it again. Rivalling some of the best of Noam Chomsky, Michel Chussodovsky and Arundhati Roy... definitively making all non-scientific, non-factually based analysis of American foreign policy irrelevant at best, heinously (though ironically) unpatriotic and inhumane at worst... with almost six hundred footnotes rivalling the nearly seven hundred that helped prove his case in THE WAR ON FREEDOM, Ahmed lays the inhumanity of American foreign policy in Iraq bare for any American with the courage to read it, and discover the true nature of its leaders. And, for a world that must prepare its very lives for the worst in us.
   
   COVERT ECONOMIC WARFARE AS INSTIGATOR OF MILITARY ACTION
   
   Of the many painful and unquestionable facts revealed in this monumental book, the most important is the paradigm shift in American foreign policy perception waiting for people; a paradigm shift in perception that happens inevitably with the understanding of this one concept: economic warfare. In much the same way the concept of "emotional incest" dismantles the entire bedrock philosophy of Freudian psychology (where the children are supposedly asking for it), Ahmed shows how the United States, at the end of the Cold War, all but forced Kuwait to manipulate the oil prices in 1990 by dumping oil into the market at half its cost value, effectively bankrupting the Iran-war damaged, oil-based Iraqi economy. This form of overt economic warfare declared by Kuwait--and covertly supported by the US--demanded a response from Saddam Hussein that actually started with his protests in the United Nations (unliek his normally brutal methods)--but led inexorably to military invasion when Kuwait refused to stop as his people were starving, and the UN did nothing. And Hussein's 1991 invasion of Kuwait, as Bush, Sr. knew it would, rationalized a) the invasion of Iraq in 1991, b) the continuance of the military build-up in America after the end of the Cold War, and c) virtually all foreign policy in the Middle East to the present day. The culture killing sanctions--economic warfare part II--came next, and lasted until the present military war. Human life in the Middle East means less than nothing to most of our administration--and not really much here as well, considering the current body count of our soldiers.
   
   I will say no more about this book except this: do not pretend to call yourself an American of any kind until you find the moral courage to read it.



3. "A SCIENTIFIC revolution, according to Kuhn [the scientist/linguist author of THE THEORY OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS], is not simply an addition to pre-existing knowledge. It is, within any field, 'a reconstruction of the field from new fundamentals'; a complete demolition of an old theoretical and conceptual structure and its replacement by a new one based on entirely different aims and premises. The old paradigm...attacked from the outside...cannot be defeated on the basis of its own rules for, as we have seen...these rules are not only inadequate to solve new problems which have begun to arise--THEY ACTUALLY PRECLUDE ANY DISCUSSION OF THESE PROBLEMS AT ALL."

   Dr. Chris Knight, London
   From BLOOD RELATIONS:
   MENSTRUATION AND THE ORIGINS OF CULTURE

   "[A] very selective history [as compiled here of 19th and 20th century presidents] demonstrates there are many varieties of presidential lies. Some concern grand policy matters, some concern secret government activity...Sissela Bok, the author of LYING: MORAL CHOICE IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE, defines [a lie] simply as "an intentionally deceptive message in the form of a STATEMENT (emphasis his)"...I would propose a slightly different standard for White House occupants. If a President issues a statement, he or she has an obligation to ensure the remark is truthful... It is not enough for a president or White House contender to BELIEVE what he is saying is true; he/she [like scientists, doctors, journalists and other professionals whose careers are built on a basic understanding of honesty, research, integrity and the public trust] should KNOW it to be true--within reasonable standards...Lying in office not only poses a potential risk for [a sitting president], a president who lies is a risk to the nation. He might steer the country into a war under false pretenses. Or, if he comes to be regarded as untruthful by a significant portion of the public, he might fail to rouse the country for military action that is indeed warranted. A liar in the White House is a national security threat."

   David Corn
   THE LIES OF GEORGE BUSH
   From the Introduction
   (Published in 2003, before
   the start of the Iraq war)

   "This [neoconservative] focus on reintergrating Iraq into the regional framework of order under US hegemony was no doubt heightened by the fact that Iraq challenged the US monopoly over the oil trade, maintained through the fact that oil transactions occur in US dollars. Since 1971...the dollar has...become the de facto world reserve currency... Overall, since the world economy is fundamentally oil-dependent, this...lends the US a dominant trading advantage...In November 2000, Iraq began trading its oil in euros, and profited handsomely in the process. Iran, Venezuela and Russia--all key oil producers--have also considered and/or moved towards switching to the euro..."

   "The real reason the Bush administration wants a puppet government in Iraq--or more importantly, the reason why the corporate-military-industrial network conglomerate wants a puppet government in Iraq--is so that it will revert back to a dollar standard and stay that way..."

   Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed
   BEHIND THE WAR ON TERROR
   From Part Two, Chapter Seven: "False Pretexts"

   and

   Quote by
   Wiliam Clark
   "The Real Reasons for the Upcoming War
   with Iraq: a Macroeconomic and
   Geostrategic Analysis of the Unspoken Truth"
   Independent Media Center, January, 2003

   "An objective assessment of the 2003 war in Iraq...shows clearly that it was nothing less than a...colonial enterprise, fundamentally opposed to elementary humanitarian principles and motviated by longstanding imperial values."

   Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed
   BEHIND THE WAR ON TERROR
   From the Postscript

   Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, the Mozart-like prodigy of modern of political analysis, has done it again. Rivalling some of the best of Noam Chomsky, Michel Chussodovsky and Arundhati Roy... definitively making all non-scientific, non-factually based analysis of American foreign policy irrelevant at best, heinously (though ironically) unpatriotic and inhumane at worst... with almost six hundred footnotes rivalling the nearly seven hundred that helped prove his case in THE WAR ON FREEDOM, Ahmed lays the inhumanity of American foreign policy in Iraq bare for any American with the courage to read it, and discover the true nature of its leaders. And, for a world that must prepare its very lives for the worst in us.

   COVERT ECONOMIC WARFARE AS INSTIGATOR OF MILITARY ACTION

   Of the many painful and unquestionable facts revealed in this monumental book, the most important is the paradigm shift in American foreign policy perception waiting for people; a paradigm shift in perception that happens inevitably with the understanding of this one concept: economic warfare. In much the same way the concept of "emotional incest" dismantles the entire bedrock philosophy of Freudian psychology (where the children are supposedly asking for it), Ahmed shows how the United States, at the end of the Cold War, all but forced Kuwait to manipulate the oil prices in 1990 by dumping oil into the market at half its cost value, effectively bankrupting the Iran-war damaged, oil-based Iraqi economy. This form of overt economic warfare declared by Kuwait--and covertly supported by the US--demanded a response from Saddam Hussein that actually started with his protests in the United Nations (unliek his normally brutal methods)--but led inexorably to military invasion when Kuwait refused to stop as his people were starving, and the UN did nothing. And Hussein's 1991 invasion of Kuwait, as Bush, Sr. knew it would, rationalized a) the invasion of Iraq in 1991, b) the continuance of the military build-up in America after the end of the Cold War, and c) virtually all foreign policy in the Middle East to the present day. The culture killing sanctions--economic warfare part II--came next, and lasted until the present military war. Human life in the Middle East means less than nothing to most of the Bush administration--and little more to Europe as a whole.

   I will say no more about this book except this: do not pretend to call yourself a believer in democracy of any kind until you find the moral courage to read it.




4. While it is often recognized that a major consequence of US foreign policy since 9/11 has been the inflaming of Islamist and anti-American rage, another major consequence has gone rather more unnoticed, namely, the enormous impetus given to radical leftist views. Before 9/11 the champions of Leninist versions of "imperialism" were rightly marginalized as myopic extremists and secular fundamentalists. Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, however, publishing companies of all sizes and orientation have put to market an extraordinary number of books purporting to have unlocked the here-to-fore hidden or subtler reality of American imperialism. This book (all books) by Nafeez Ahmed is a great example of this genre.
   
   As to the book's contents, the arguments are purely sophomoric, its tone, shrill, its language, infantile - all the problems of the world are the fault of US corporate/political/military dominance; this book "proves" it "objectively"; all those who disagree are immoral reprobates and "lackies" of the Bush Administration; if only the countries of the world ("slaves" all of them) could get from under the jackboot of the Americans we would all know the "truth" (not just us clever radicals) and the world would be free of oppression and injustice.
   
   That this simple-minded rubbish has devotees (disciples, really) throughout the world is certainly depressing but should hardly surprise given the history and example of leftist, rightist, and religious fundamentalists from the last couple of centuries.
   
   The methods employed here are pure Chomsky - no engagement whatever with the vast literature from its ostensible discipline-area (International Relations, in this case) or with opposing viewpoints; the "evidence" is overwhelmingly based on bits and pieces of "de-classified" memoranda from varying parts of the state during quite different eras and journalistic references to an extremely limited number of mostly like-minded sources; no analysis of politics to speak of - the politics of my community college being much more complex than his analysis of world politics; and, last but by no means least, the complete exculpation of the most brutal fascist dictators and fanatical jihadis - these being merely the by-product of US power.
   
   As if all of this were not frightening enough for those who value complex and measured social scientific analyses and academic rigor, this chap actually describes himself as a "human rights activist". Well, with friends like Nafeez Ahmed, the oppressed have neither an ally nor a champion - the states and fanatics that wish only to oppress, however, have found both in this author. Much better to stick with the likes of Fred Halliday or Fawaz Gerges, that is, with authors that know what they're talking about.



5. I have read news from different sources and this book doesnt bring anything to me but for a regular casual american this book would be an eye opener. If you had not opened your mind+eye and not followed news from the past 5-6 years, dont worry this book is a total collection of all of them in one single place.Also wanted to write my opinion, I agree that the western nations have been greedy from the beginning and exploited the eastern nations again and again. Now the biggest resource they are after is energy, and they would do anything to maintain their control over it. Its sad that these countries who call themselves civilized and christian are the same hypocrates who would kill at will, eat all the wealth, and enjoy at the expenses of other fellow mankind who they consider to be sub-human. But I think in the current situation the blame goes entirely to the arabs. All other countries have got independence, and kicked out the colonizers but the arabs have failed to do so to this day. Reason is their own mentality, they fight among selves and produce the stooges that western nations can easily use to exploit these arab lands. Always one or another guy would step up to be the subservient stooge. Because the arabs continue to be divided and look down upon others because they belong to some other tribe. If they can produce real leaders, and arab people open their eyes and especially their minds they wouldnt be so miserable today.It is so easy for the colonial powers to make them fight amongst each other and conquer. There will be always one guy who would be so selfish for his own tribe or community that he will be ready to kill other people in his own country because they are from a different tribe. One reviewer correctly put it, its the spirit of nationalism. Arabs lack it and thats the advantage of the western powers. People can oppress you ONLY if you allow them to.

4 comments about Rendezvous.

1. Terrorism is still a very real threat across the US, but we're all too focused on Iraq or Afghanistan. Rendezvous does a credible job of presenting what might be happening in the US right now, something we're just not aware of. There may well be terror cells developing as Rendezvous suggests. Terrifying but well written thriller.



2. Rendezvous reminds us that terrorism can take different forms, the most dangerous of which is something that quietly builds within our cities and communities. The plot is amazingly simple and plausible, which is what makes this book an excellent read.
   The characters are well developed, giving the reader a sense of the people they are and the everyday lives they lead. Particularly liked the development of Salim Abbas, the central character. Liked him in the beginning but grew to hate him towards the end.
   Rendezvous could be happening to us right now but we just don't know it.



3. This is a gripping story that transforms the main character, Salim Abbas, from an ordinary, naive student to a horrific, evil madman.
   
   The author takes you chapter by chapter into a world you hope does not exist!
   
   You will experience a page by page frenzy and you won't want to put this book down - it is a fast read and will take your emotions on a wild rollercoaster ride!
   
   Highly recommended and a must read for the book addict in all of us!



4. This well written story builds and holds the reader's interest throughout; you identify with the main characters and live through Rendezvous with them - right through the explosive conclusion. Rendezvous presents a different but simple theory on the next terror attack against the US. And you'll agree it's very possible.

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