War of the Web: Fighting the Online Jihad

by Jeremy Reynalds

From the publisher:
Few Americans realize to what extent the Internet aids and abets terrorism. In this fascinating and timely book, online terrorist hunter Dr. Jeremy Reynalds introduces us to a profoundly disturbing digital world, where killers troll for money and weapons and recruit new supporters at an alarming rate. Reynalds’ true-life infiltration of these shadowy online networks makes for compelling reading.

* Reynalds documents several on-line terrorist ring "busts," run in conjunction closely with the FBI and law enforcement.

* Uncovers a world where anything is for sale, from weapons to drugs to access, with proceeds going to kill Americans and our allies.

* Provides exceptionally keen insight about how major terrorist organizations manipulate Western technologies to destroy us.

Beyond the Law: The Bush Administration's Unlawful Responses in the "War" on Terror

by Jordan J. Paust

From the publisher:
This book provides a detailed exposition of violations of international law authorized and abetted by secret memos, authorizations, and orders of the Bush administration. In particular, it describes why several executive claims were in error, what illegal authorizations were given, what illegal interrogation tactics were approved, and what illegal transfers and secret detentions occurred. It provides the most thorough documentation of cases demonstrating that the president is bound by the laws of war; that decisions to detain persons, decide their status, and mistreat them are subject to judicial review during the war; and that the commander-in-chief power is subject to restraints by Congress.

Iraq's Armed Forces: An Analytical History

by Ibra al-Marashi

From the publisher:
Iraq’s Armed Forces: An Analytical History presents a comprehensive study of the evolution of the Iraqi military from the British mandate era to post-Saddam Iraq.

Despite its prominent role in three major conflicts, no single, comprehensive work on the Iraqi forces has been published before. This new book is key to understanding Iraq today and also makes a major contribution to the field of civil-military relations. Based on captured Iraqi military documents from the 1991 Gulf War, this research was allegedly plagiarized by the British government prior to the 2003 Iraq war. It shows how the Iraqi armed forces, at one time the world’s fourth largest military, engaged in the longest conventional war in the twentieth century and challenged a superpower on two separate occasions.

Ibrahim al-Marashi shows how the insecurity that plagued Iraq after the 2003 Iraq war can be attributed to the failure to create a new military that does not serve as a threat to a future government, yet is strong enough to deter rival factions in Iraq. As the US is mired in the reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq, reconstituting its armed forces will be a prerequisite for an American withdrawal from Iraq. While the Bush administration praises the progress of the new Iraqi army, immense challenges lay ahead, as these forces are being built from scratch in the middle of an intense insurgency.

This book will be of immense interest to all students of the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003, Middle East studies, and of military and strategic studies in general.

Uniting Against Terror: Cooperative Nonmilitary Responses to the Global Terrorist Threat

by David Cortright and George A. Lopez (editors)

From the publisher:
As terrorist attacks continue around the world, from London and Madrid to Afghanistan and Iraq, questions multiply about the effectiveness of current antiterrorist strategies. America's reliance on military approaches and the Bush administration's avowal of a constant state of war have overshadowed nonmilitary, multilateral efforts, and there has been an analogous neglect of these alternative strategies in the literature on terrorism. Uniting Against Terror fills this gap, examining and evaluating post-9/11 cooperative nonmilitary responses to the global terrorist threat, with a particular focus on efforts of the United Nations, the Financial Action Task Force, the European Union, and a wide array of multilateral institutions.

Uniting Against Terror argues that defeating the global terrorist threat requires engaging international financial, diplomatic, intelligence, and defense communities and law enforcement organizations in an atmosphere of cooperation. It examines cooperative diplomatic and economic policies to address the changing face of terrorism and the global Al Qaida threat, differentiates between protective measures and long-term preventive policies, and makes recommendations for effective cooperative nonmilitary strategies. Included are chapters that analyze the UN and its role, the unique blend of sanctions and diplomacy that convinced Libya to end its support of terrorism, efforts to halt the financing of terrorist networks, and an account of the European Union's unified "Plan of Action" against terrorism.

Contributors:
Stephanie Ahern, Oldrich Bures, David Cortright, Kathryn L. Gardner, Linda Gerber-Stellingwerf, Jason Ipe, George A. Lopez, Thomas E. McNamara, Alistair Millar, Eric Rosand

"Cortright and Lopez have done a huge service to all those interested in pursuing the pros and cons of an activist foreign policy, short of the recourse to war. Chapters by well-known experts describe real-life experiences dealing with 'rogue states' like Libya, and there is also a very useful review of the surprisingly effective counter-terrorism activities of the United Nations, little known and less understood in the United States. The thoughtful, and characteristically low-key but potent, foreword by former Congressman Lee Hamilton is worth a read in itself. Altogether, a major contribution." - A. Peter Burleigh, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1997-1999)

Thinking beyond War: Civil-Military Relations and Why America Fails to Win the Peace

by Isaiah Wilson

From the publisher:
Why was there a deliberate plan to fight the war in Iraq but none to win the peace?

This question, which has caused such confusion and consternation among the American public and been the subject of much political wrangling over the past two years, is the focus of Lt. Col. Isaiah Wilson’s investigation.

Director of the American politics, policy, and strategy program at West Point, Wilson points to a flaw in the government’s definition of when, how, and for what reasons the United States intervenes abroad. It is a paradox in the American way of peace and war, he explains, that harkens back to America’s war loss in Vietnam. The dilemma we face today in Iraq, the author says, is the result of a flaw in how we have viewed the war from its inception, and Wilson reminds us that Iraq is just the latest, albeit the most poignant and tragic, case in point.

His exploration of this paradox calls for new organizational and operational approaches to America’s intervention policy. In challenging current western societal military lexicon and doctrine, Wilson offers new hope and practical solutions to overcome the paradox once and for all.

Lt. Col. Isaiah (Ike) Wilson III, USA, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he directs the American Politics, Policy, and Strategy program in the Department of Social Sciences. He is a former Army aviator and military strategist with peace enforcement and combat experiences in the Balkans in the 1990s and later in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, where he served initially as a researcher and military historian on former Chief of Staff of the Army, General Eric Shinseki’s Operation Iraqi Freedom Study Group (OIFSG) and later as chief of plans for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) under the command of General Dave Petraeus during that unit’s 2003-04 tour of duty in Northern Iraq.

Trade-offs Among Alternative Government Interventions in the Market for Terrorism

By Lloyd Dixon, Robert J. Lempert, Tom LaTourrette, Robert T. Reville, Paul Steinberg

From the publisher:
This documented briefing presents interim findings from a RAND Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy project that aims to inform the debate over extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA), as modified in 2005.

The study uses analytic tools for identifying and assessing key trade-offs among strategies under conditions with considerable uncertainty to assess three alternative government interventions in the market for terrorism insurance: TRIA; no government terrorism insurance program; and extending TRIA without other changes in the program to required insurers to offer coverage for chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) attacks.

The results suggest that TRIA performs better on the outcome measures examined for conventional attacks than letting the program expire but does not effectively address the risks CBRN attacks present to either businesses or taxpayers. The research also shows that requiring insurers to offer CBRN coverage without other program changes has little upside for CBRN attacks and can have significant unintended consequences in dealing with conventional attacks.

Ambush Alley: The Most Extraordinary Battle of the Iraq War

by Tim Pritchard

From the publisher:
March 23, 2003: U.S. Marines from the Task Force Tarawa are caught up in one of the most unexpected battles of the Iraq War.

What started off as a routine maneuver to secure two key bridges in the town of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq degenerated into a nightmarish twenty-four-hour urban clash in which eighteen young Marines lost their lives and more than thirty-five others were wounded. It was the single heaviest loss suffered by the U.S. military during the initial combat phase of the war.

On that fateful day, Marines came across the burned-out remains of a U.S. Army convoy that had been ambushed by Saddam Hussein’s forces outside Nasiriyah. In an attempt to rescue the missing soldiers and seize the bridges before the Iraqis could destroy them, the Marines decided to advance their attack on the city by twenty-four hours. What happened next is a gripping and gruesome tale of military blunders, tragedy, and heroism.

Huge M1 tanks leading the attack were rendered ineffective when they became mired in an open sewer. Then a company of Marines took a wrong turn and ended up on a deadly stretch of road where their armored personal carriers were hit by devastating rocket-propelled grenade fire. USAF planes called in for fire support play their own part in the unfolding cataclysm when they accidentally strafed the vehicles. The attempt to rescue the dead and dying stranded in “ambush alley” only drew more Marines into the slaughter.

This was not a battle of modern technology, but a brutal close-quarter urban knife fight that tested the Marines’ resolve and training to the limit. At the heart of the drama were the fifty or so young Marines, most of whom had never been to war, who were embroiled in a battle of epic proportions from which neither their commanders nor the technological might of the U.S. military could save them.

With a novelist’s gift for pace and tension, Tim Pritchard brilliantly captures the chaos, panic, and courage of the fight for Nasiriyah, bringing back in full force the day that a perfunctory task turned into a battle for survival.

Ambush Alley is a gut-wrenching account of unadulterated terror that's hard to read yet impossible to put down. London-based journalist and filmmaker Tim Pritchard, who was embedded with US troops during the initial stages of the American-led invasion of Iraq, paints a compelling picture of one of the costliest battles of the Iraq war that will at turns anger, horrify, and sadden, regardless of one's political views." -- The Boston Globe

Tim Pritchard is a London-based journalist and filmmaker who has made several award-winning documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, PBS, and the Discovery Channel. This is his first book.

Islam and Political Violence: Muslim Diaspora and Radicalism in the West

by Shahram Akbarzadeh and Fethi Mansouri

From the publisher:
How do we engage with the pressing challenges of xenophobia, radicalism and security in the age of the "war on terror"? The widely felt sense of insecurity in the West is shared by Muslims both within and outside Western societies. Growing Islamic militancy and resulting increased security measures by Western powers have contributed to a pervasive sense among Muslims of being under attack (both physically and culturally). Islam and Political Violence brings together the current debate on the uneasy and potentially mutually destructive relationship between the Muslim world and the West and argues we are on a dangerous trajectory, strengthening dichotomous notions of the divide between the West and the Muslim world.

Shahram Akbarzadeh is a Senior Lecturer in Global Politics at Monash University. He is Director of the Centre for Muslim Minorities and Islam Policy Studies (CMMIPS). He is the author of Uzbekistan and the United States: Islamism, Authoritarianism and Washington's Security Agenda. Fethi Mansouri is Associate Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Deakin University. He is the Project Group chair of the Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation and the founding Convenor of the Refugee Studies Group. He is co-author of Lives in Limbo and the editor of Australia and the Middle East (I.B.Tauris 2006).

Chaos and Violence: What Globalization, Failed States, and Terrorism Mean for U.S. Foreign Policy

by Stanley Hoffmann

From the publisher:
Renowned for his compassionate and balanced thinking on international affairs, Stanley Hoffmann reflects here on the proper place of the United States in a world it has defined almost exclusively by 9/11, the war on terrorism, and the invasion of Iraq. A true global citizen, Hoffmann offers an analysis that is uniquely informed by his place as a public intellectual with one foot in Europe, the other in America. In this brilliant collection of essays, many previously unpublished, he considers the ethics of intervention, the morality of human rights, how to repair our relationship with Europe, and the pitfalls of American unilateralism.

Stanley Hoffmann is the Buttenwieser University Professor at Harvard University. He is also the Western Europe book review editor for Foreign Affairs. His previous books include World Disorders (Rowman & Littlefield, 1998), Gulliver Unbound (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), and America Goes Backwards (NYRB, 2004). He resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"Stanley Hoffmann is the most perceptive, acute, and fearless of American experts on foreign affairs, with a viewpoint that bridges the Atlantic. His latest book is full of insights on a world of power and terror, conflict, and the elusive search for peace." — Baroness Shirley Williams of Crosby, House of Lords,

The Talibanization of Southeast Asia: Losing the War on Terror to Islamist Extremists

by Bilveer Singh

From the publisher:
Long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, awakened the United States and the Western world to the heightened level of the terrorist threat, Southeast Asia had been dealing with this threat. The bombing in Bali that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists, was by no means the region's first experience with Islamic extremism, which can be traced back to the 1940s, and the Darul Islam struggle.

The most recent group to emerge is Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyah (AJAI), the most potent Islamic terrorist organization to date in the region and the group behind the Bali bombing. Prior to 9/11, the terrorist challenge was essentially national in character, with groups attempting either to secede from the central government to form a new state or to force the central government to adopt policies that would support the raison d'etre of these extremist groups. Essentially, this involved the establishment of a political system that was more Islamic in character, either nationally or within a specific territory of a national state.

This book analyzes the increasing Talibanization of Southeast Asia, a relatively new phenomenon that involves the adoption of Islamist doctrines, ideologies, and values that are largely militant in character, and that for some groups includes the adoption of violence to achieve their goals. Understanding this process of Talibanization in Southeast Asia, which was once an oasis of moderate Islam in the modern world, is the key to unraveling the mystery of the increased radicalization in the region.

The AJAI represents the birth of the first regional terrorist organization in Southeast Asia. It is a transnational terrorist organization along the lines of al-Qaeda. It aims to establish a regional Islamic state covering most of southern Southeast Asia that would ultimately form a new Islamic epicenter in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, what has made the AJAI a potent force has been its ability to synergize with various existing religious extremist groups in the region and beyond, including al-Qaeda and other like-minded groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This has succeeded in posing one of the most serious security challenges to the region since the end of the Cold War. Jihadists are operating in small and localized cells even though the broad goals remain the same, namely, to spread sharia, establish an Islamic state, and bring down secular regimes. As most governments do not have the credibility or the expertise to diminish the threat posed by Islamist extremism, Wahhabism, and Salafism, Southeast Asia is in danger of being Talibanized in the near future.

BILVEER SINGH is Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore. A former Fulbright Scholar, he is the author of nine books, including Succession Politics in Indonesia: The 1998 Presidential Elections and the Fall of Suharto (2000), and Politics and Government in Singapore: An Introduction (2007).

Terrorism in America

by Brenda J. Lutz

From the publisher:
Terrorism and terrorists have become a much talked about topic. Terrorism is often seen as a Middle Eastern problem and terrorists are often perceived as only having a Muslim background. It may surprise many to learn that Americans are and have been terrorists since the birth of the nation. This book investigates and discusses many instances in which Americans were themselves the terrorists and the victims.

"An in-depth, thoughtful, well-written and highly accessible case-study of the history of terrorism in the United States. The authors successfully debunk popular conceptions of terrorism suddenly being a threat to the United States. The book proceeds in a logical fashion, one that is useful to students, instructors, scholars, and the wider public." -- Jeffrey Ian Ross, author of Political Terrorism: An Interdisciplinary Approach

" This is an important contribution to the study of terrorism. It explains how terrorism is an historical phenomenon, even in the United States, and illustrates how the old versus new terrorism debate can help us understand modern terrorism in a holistic and historically accurate manner. The authors also conclude with an important and timely warning that the United States will need to deal with the threats that terrorism creates while still maintaining an appropriate respect for the civil liberties of individuals." -- Andrew Tan, Associate Professor of Social Science and International Studies, University of New South Wales, Australia

Democracy in Muslim Societies: The Asian Experience

by Zoya Hasan

From the publisher:
This book explores the character of the political transformation and democratic transition in the Asian Muslim world. It asks whether democracy is appropriate and desirable as a political system for non-Western societies, and assesses the extent of actual democratization in each of the countries studied, namely, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey.

The book questions the widely held view that the socio-political ethos of Islam as a religion, and/or of Muslim countries as societal units, prevents Muslims from adopting democracy as a form of government. The contributors argue that this perception comes from post-9/11 studies of Arab states and that non-Arab Muslim populations in Asia and Africa do not fit the same mould. At the same time, it is clear that a single model of democracy cannot work across these six countries because each country has a different history and treaded on a different path in the quest for democracy.

Ultimately, this book concludes that there is no fundamental incompatibility between Islam and democracy in the Asian Muslim world.

Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror

by Nonie Darwish

From the publisher:
When Nonie Darwish was a girl of eight, her father died while leading covert attacks on Israel. A high-ranking Egyptian military officer stationed with his family in Gaza, he was considered a “shahid,” a martyr for jihad.

Yet at an early age, Darwish developed a skeptical eye about her own Muslim culture and upbringing. Why the love of violence and hatred of Jews and Christians? Why the tolerance of glaring social injustices? Why blame America and Israel for everything?

Today Darwish thrives as an American citizen, a Christian, a conservative Republican, and an advocate for Israel. To many, she is now an infidel. In this book she is risking her comfort and her safety to reveal the many politically incorrect truths about Muslim culture that she knows firsthand.

“Nonie Darwish is a woman of great courage with an amazing story to tell.”
—David Horowitz

“A book of great humanity, intelligence, and courage.”
—David Pryce-Jones, senior editor, National Review

“Indispensable insight into the world of Islamic radicalism and jihad.”
—Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania

“Anyone who wants to understand the real meaning of the clash of civilizations between radical Islam and the West should read this book.”
—Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado

We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder With the Marines Who Took Fallujah

by Patrick K. O'Donnell

From the publisher:
Five months after being deployed to Iraq, Lima Company's 1st Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, found itself in Fallujah, embroiled in some of the most intense house-to-house, hand-to-hand urban combat since World War II. In the city's bloody streets, they came face-to-face with the enemy-radical insurgents high on adrenaline, fighting to a martyr's death, and suicide bombers approaching from every corner.

Award-winning author and historian Patrick O'Donnell stood shoulder to shoulder with this modern band of brothers as they marched and fought through the streets of Fallujah, and he stayed with them as the casualties mounted.

Destined to be a classic of urban close combat - Marine Corps Gazette

Focus on Terrorism, Volumes 7, 8, 9

by Edward V. Linden (Editor)

From the publisher:
Terrorism, sadly, seems here to stay and to stay with a vengeance. It turns out that the United States was not prepared for it and now must play catch-up. In doing so, even agreement on how to define terrorism is in doubt and what to do about it seems beyond comprehension at the moment.

These volumes present a broad cross section of analyses of weaknesses and actions in the ongoing battle.

Iraq: The Space Between

by John Lee Anderson (Author), Christoph Bangert (Photographer)

From the publisher:
During the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 Christoph Bangert was still attending photography school. Only later, in the spring of 2005, when the Iraqi insurgency and sectarian violence reached its first peak, Westerners were kidnapped and beheaded, and most foreign journalists had left the country, did this intrepid photographer start to work in Iraq on assignment for The New York Times.

The overtly hostile environment in Iraq for foreigners, without regard of the individual’s intention or affiliation, restricts the freedom of journalists, particularly photographers, who (unlike writers) must be physically present in order to get the story.

Despite these conditions Bangert remained in Iraq as one of the few Western photographers committed to cover the war throughout 2006 and early 2007. He has worked largely independently from the military, using Iraqi guards, drivers, and translators, but was also occasionally embedded with American, British, and Iraqi forces. Iraq: The Space Between records the distance he traveled as a civilian between worlds committed to destruction in the name of freedom.

From CWBN:
The exact day of release for this October title is unknown.

Terrorism and the Constitution: The Post-9/11 Cases

by H. Pohlman

From the publisher:
The conjunction of Islamic fundamentalism, WMD, and terrorism has set the stage for a new form of warfare and ushered in a period of national reflection and debate about the proper balance between national security and the rights of the individual. This book contributes to the ongoing national debate by providing easy access to relevant documents from major post-9/11 cases that highlight central constitutional issues raised by the war on terrorism.

Fear and Politics

by Carmen Lawrence

From the publisher:
Arguing that fear has been a crucial factor in shaping Australian public policy, this study charts its consequences on the Australian community. Examining the effects of being constantly warned about the risk of terrorism, this account discusses how xenophobia has shaped policies toward refugees, indigenous Australians, and Islamic fundamentalists. Focusing on the exaggerated anxieties people now have over the risks of assault, murder, child abuse, and robbery, this book also looks at the sustained campaigns on law and order and suggests a wholehearted embrace of freedom, equality, and cooperation.

"Lawrence is an astute politician and one of the most articulate members of the Australian parliament ... It's a timely message in a gutsy and thoughtful book." —Sydney Morning Herald

The World Community and the Other Terrorism

by DunZr Bertil

From the publisher:
Many states suffer from internal violence and terrorism that is national rather than international, and cannot benefit from the solidarity inherent in the campaign against international terrorism. The present study sets out to develop a paradigm for the systematic assessment of international responses to situations of internal violence-cum-terrorism and demonstrate its relevance in actual conflict situations.

A World Ignited: How Apostles of Ethic, Religious, and Racial Hatred Torch the Globe

by Martin Tolchin

From the publisher:
A World Ignited is about the surge of anger that has swept the world in the last decade, its myriad causes, its toll in lives and human misery. This anger is amplified by modern, especially television and the Internet, and made more lethal by modern weaponry, and unprecedented tactics that strive for mass death and anguish. The authors conclude in an upbeat manner with a look at the politics of hope and what can be done to halt, and even reverse, this cacophony of hate.

Why the Iraqi Resistance to the Coalition Invasion Was So Weak

by Stephen T. Hosmer

From the publisher:
This book draws upon information derived primarily from interviews with and interrogations of senior Iraqi military and civilian officials to examine why the Iraqi resistance in March and April 2003 was so weak.

It focuses on two questions: (1) Why did the Iraqi Regular Army and Republican Guard forces do so little fighting? and (2) Why did Iraqi leaders fail to adopt certain defensive measures that would have made the Coalition's task more difficult?

Ungoverned Territories: Understanding and Reducing Terrorism Risks

by Angel Rabasa

From the publisher:
Ungoverned territories-failed or failing states or ungoverned areas within otherwise viable states-generate a myriad of security problems and often become terrorist sanctuaries.

Using a two-tiered framework applied to eight cases from around the globe, the authors illustrate the conditions that give rise to ungoverned territories, contributing to our understanding of what makes some ungoverned territories more conducive to a terrorist or insurgent presence than others. On the basis of this ground-breaking work, the authors identify three types of ungoverned territories and their effects on U.S. security interests, while presenting strategies designed to improve our ability to mitigate these effects.

U.S. Policy Options for Iraq: A Reassessment

by Olga Oliker

From the publisher:
This book examines five possible U.S. strategies for Iraq. It offers recommendations for ways in which U.S. political, security, and economic policies in Iraq could be improved. It argues that the focus of policy must be the security of Iraq's population. It also emphasizes the need for policymakers to prepare and plan not only for success, but also for failure.

Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital

by Heidi Squier Kraft

From the publisher:
When Lieutenant Commander Heidi Kraft's twin son and daughter were fifteen months old, she was deployed to Iraq. A clinical psychologist in the US Navy, Kraft's job was to uncover the wounds of war that a surgeon would never see. She put away thoughts of her children back home, acclimated to the sound of incoming rockets, and learned how to listen to the most traumatic stories a war zone has to offer.

One of the toughest lessons of her deployment was perfectly articulated by the TV show M*A*S*H: "There are two rules of war. Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one." Some Marines, Kraft realized, and even some of their doctors, would be damaged by war in ways she could not repair. And sometimes, people were repaired in ways she never expected. RULE NUMBER TWO is a powerful firsthand account of providing comfort admidst the chaos of war, and of what it takes to endure.

Heidi Squier Kraft spent nine years as a psychologist for the US Navy before leaving active duty in March 2005. She lives in San Diego with her husband and children.

Into the Darkness: The Story of 7/7

by Peter Zimonjic

From the publisher:
A dramatic and personal account by a Canadian journalist of the morning of July 7, 2005 when a bomb was detonated on a London Underground Circle Line train, and of his crawl into the carnage to help the injured and dying.

In Search of the Warrior Spirit, Fourth Edition: Teaching Awareness Disciplines to the Green Berets

by Richard Strozzi-Heckler

From the publisher:
The war in Iraq has heightened interest in the military mindset and raised questions about whether it’s possible to be a mindful, moral fighter at a time when impersonal, technology based warfare reigns. In Search of the Warrior Spirit confronts this thorny issue with Richard Strozzi-Heckler’s trademark personal, sympathetic style.

In a top-secret U.S. military experiment, the author was asked to teach Eastern awareness disciplines ranging from aikido to meditation to a group of twenty-five Green Berets. This account chronicles his experiences in the training program and his attempts to revive traditional warriorship in a technological society.

In Search of the Warrior Spirit explores the nature of war, the meaning of masculinity, and the need for moral values in the military. The book includes Heckler’s response to 9/11, his experiences with the Pentagon and U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and his poignant reflections on the movie Black Hawk Down, which depicts the deaths of two of his trainees. In this revised edition, the author talks movingly of his visits to Afghanistan with NATO and about the Trojan Warrior Project and Marine Warrior Project, relating the tragic events in a war zone and revelatory conversations with both ordinary soldiers and such leaders as the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe.

Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD, is President of Strozzi Institute, The Center for Leadership and Mastery. He has a sixth-degree black belt in aikido and a doctorate in psychology. Dr. Strozzi-Heckler has taught the principles of embodied leadership and mastery to business, government, military, non-profits, health care, and education for the last thirty years. He is the author of The Anatomy of Change and The Leadership Dojo; and the editor of Aikido and the New Warrior, Being Human at Work: Bringing Somatic Intelligence into Your Professional Life, and Holding the Center.

America and the Islamic Bomb: The Deadly Compromise

by David Armstrong and Joseph J. Trento

From the publisher:

The turbulent nation of Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is far more popular than George W. Bush, possesses a nuclear arsenal built with technology from the United States and Europe, and financed with the help of America’s allies in the Muslim world. Its dictatorial president, Pervez Musharraf, faces widespread civil opposition, and militant extremists threaten his life every day. The nuclear weapons programs in North Korea and Iran, as well as Libya’s now-defunct atomic effort, relied heavily on expertise and materials provided by the nuclear smuggling network headed by Pakistan’s national hero, A.Q. Khan. The United States – from Carter and Reagan, through Bush I, Clinton, and the current president – and other Western governments knew all along that Pakistan was first developing and then exporting nuclear technology, yet consistently turned a blind eye in order to gain Pakistan’s cooperation during the Cold War and, more recently, in the war on terror. As a result of this Faustian bargain, nuclear technology has been allowed to spread far and wide, dramatically increasing the chances that terrorists or unfriendly regimes will someday get their hands on an atomic device.

David Armstrong and Joseph Trento provide a new and unrivalled perspective on the so-called A.Q. Khan nuclear black market scandal, including exclusive accounts from customs agents, intelligence analysts, and other ground-level front-line operatives. Documented in these pages are maddening experiences of official interference and breathtaking instances of indifference and incompetence. Trento and Armstrong name names and reveal stunning new information about proliferators in an exposé that is sure to generate headlines. This secret history of how the Islamic bomb was developed and how nuclear arms have proliferated is as fascinating as it is disturbing.

David Armstrong is the bureau chief of the National Security News Service in Washington, D.C. He is an award-winning investigative reporter and has written extensively on national security and intelligence matters as well as national politics, foreign policy, terrorism, media, finance, and the environment. He was formerly the editor of the Texas Observer and his work has appeared in a wide range of publications including Harper’s, The New Republic, and several journalism anthologies.

Joseph Trento is the author or co-author of seven nonfiction books, including Unsafe at Any Altitude and The Secret History of the CIA, and an internationally known investigative reporter for over thirty-five years. He now serves as the president of the Public Education Center, a nonpartisan and nonprofit foundation that conducts investigative reporting on environmental and national security matters.

Swimming Up the Tigris: Real Life Encounters With Iraq

by Barbara Nimri Aziz

From the publisher:
As Americans went about their daily lives in the 1990s, few could imagine what Iraqi men and women faced under the brutal sanctions imposed by the UN and enforced by the United States. Barbara Nimri Aziz, a frequent visitor to Iraq, saw first-hand what life was like for Iraqis during the long years of the embargo.

Swimming Up the Tigris reveals Aziz's skill as both a journalist and an anthropologist. In the book, she allows ordinary Iraqis to speak directly to us. We learn of the breakdown of Iraq's once exemplary medical system, and of needless deaths as a result of poor healthcare. We hear of deprivations, aerial bombardments, and local efforts to fight an embargo viewed by many as unjust. Drawing on intimate sources inside Iraq, the author reveals disparities between news reports of unfolding events and what Iraqi men and women were actually experiencing in the months preceding the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

By revisiting this critical period, Aziz sheds light on the illegal and questionable tactics used by the United States to destroy Iraq through the sanctions, well before the WMD ruse, and provides context to more fully understand the current failed occupation and worldwide anti-U.S. sentiments.

"Few could encapsulate, as Barbara Nimri Aziz has done, the spirit, laughter, courage, and tears of the people of this extraordinary, complex land, where civilization flourished before Mohammed or Christ walked the earth. Every American and British politician should read this book and sink to their knees in shame."--Felicity Arbuthnot, journalist, broadcaster, and senior researcher for John Pilger's award-winning documentary "Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq"
"This first-hand account of the effects of sanctions on the Iraqi people is rich in description and provides a much-needed human perspective on the beleaguered Iraqi people."--Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Rhode Island College

"Captures the depth of Iraqi suffering under the impact of the inhuman sanctions and wars like no other book has."--Naseer H. Aruri, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

"Barbara Aziz has written a must-read book which puts a human face on an Iraqi people dehumanized by simplistic, misleading and inaccurate media accounts before, during and after America's illegitimate invasion and occupation of their homeland. She also puts an inconvenient truth to the lies and misrepresentations often held as fact by many Americans concerning the reality of life in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, the awful impact of economic sanctions on the Iraqi people before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the sophistication and depth of a thousands-year old culture that is in the process of being destroyed by the combined forces of greed, hubris and ignorance." --Scott Ritter, chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq

The Five Front War: The Better Way to Fight Global Jihad

by Daniel Byman

From the publisher:
A comprehensive look at the War on Terror and the best way to a safer future

Scholar Daniel Byman offers a new approach to fighting the war on terrorism. He convincingly argues that two of the main solutions to terrorism offered by politicians – military intervention and the democratization of the Arab world – shouldn’t even be our top priorities. Instead, he presents a fresh way to face intelligence and law enforcement challenges ahead: conduct counterinsurgency operations, undermine al-Qaeda’s ideology, selectively push for reforms, and build key lasting alliances.

"An impressively comprehensive analysis of one of the most formidable security challenges of our time. Its authoritative policy recommendations are as timely as they are compelling." -- Bruce Hoffman, Senior Fellow, Combating Terrorism Center, U.S. Military Academy

"Daniel Byman writes with the access and intimacy of an insider and the critical, dispassionate eye of an outsider. At a time when the sky does, indeed, appear to be falling, he offers us hopeful, realistic solutions for defeating terrorism. The Five Front War should be required reading for scholars, soldiers, and citizens searching for the way ahead." -- Dana Priest, national security correspondent, The Washington Post

"Daniel Byman lays out a series of cogent, well argued strategies to prevail in the struggle against violent jihadists in The Five Front War that will be of considerable interest to policy makers, journalists, and the interested public alike. An important and well written addition to the field." -- Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc. and The Osama bin Laden I Know

Daniel Byman (Washington, DC) directs the Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University. He is a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and also served on the 9/11 Commission. He regularly writes about terrorism and the Middle East for the Washington Post, Slate, and other publications.

Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered It

by Mike Hoyt, John Palatella, Columbia Journalism Review (editors)

From the publisher:
"Never in the fifty years that I have been in or around the news business have I read a better record of a historic event than this."-Reese Schonfeld, founding president of CNN

"This should be required reading in every journalism class from high school to graduate school."-James W. Crawley, president of Military Reporters and Editors

Following in the footsteps of best-selling books about the war, Reporting Iraq is a fully illustrated narrative history of the war by the world's best-known reporters and photojournalists. Included are contributions from fifty journalists, including Dexter Filkins (the New York Times correspondent who won widespread praise for his coverage of Fallujah), Rajiv Chandrasekaran (author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City), Anthony Shadid (the Washington Post reporter awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his Iraq reporting), and Patrick Cockburn (from London's Independent).

In this, the first book to tell the history of the war through the end of 2006, the deadliest period of conflict, we learn that most journalists saw a disaster in Iraq before they were allowed to report it. This revelation, along with hundreds of untold first-person stories, makes Reporting Iraq a fascinating look at the war and an important critique of international press coverage.

Reporting Iraq is published in conjunction with the Columbia Journalism Review, America's premier media monitor and watchdog of the press in all its forms, from newspapers and magazines to radio, television, wire services, and the web.

From LWBN:
The exact day of release for this October title is unknown.

Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State

by Michael Sorkin

From the publisher:
Indefensible Space explores is the increasing envelopment of public space and life by an architecture of security/paranoia. From the most literal level, barriers in front of buildings, to more abstract levels, enhanced surveillance of public spaces.

Curveball: Spies, Lies, and the Con Man Who Caused a War

by Bob Drogin

From the publisher:
Curveball answers the crucial question of the Iraq war: How and why was America’s intelligence so catastrophically wrong? In this dramatic and explosive book, award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Drogin delivers a narrative that takes us to Europe, the Middle East, and deep inside the CIA to find the truth–the truth about the lies and self-deception that led us into a military and political nightmare.

In 1999, a mysterious Iraqi applies for political asylum in Munich. The young chemical engineer offers compelling testimony of Saddam Hussein’s secret program to build weapons of mass destruction. He claims that the dictator has constructed germ factories on trucks, creating a deadly hell on wheels. His grateful German hosts pass his account to their CIA counterparts but deny the Americans access to their superstar informant. The Americans nevertheless give the defector his unforgettable code name: Curveball.

The case lies dormant until after 9/11, when the Bush administration turns its attention to Iraq. Determined to invade, Bush’s people seize on Curveball’s story about mobile germ labs–even though it has begun to unravel. Ignoring a flood of warnings about the informant’s credibility, the CIA allows President Bush to cite Curveball’s unconfirmed claims in a State of the Union speech. Finally, Secretary of State Colin Powell highlights the Iraqi’s “eyewitness” account during his historic address to the U.N. Security Council. Yet the entire case is based on a fraud. America’s vast intelligence apparatus conjured up demons that did not exist. And the proof was clear before the war.

Most of the events and conversations presented here have not been reported before. The portrayals–from an obdurate president to a bamboozled secretary of state to a bungling CIA director to case handlers conned by their snitch–are vivid and exciting. Curveball reads like an investigative spy thriller. Fast-paced and engrossing, it is an inside story of intrigue and incompetence at the highest levels of government. At a time when Americans demand answers, this authoritative book provides them with clarity and conviction.

From the critics:
In this engrossing account, Los Angeles Times correspondent Drogin paints an intimate and revealing portrait of the workings and dysfunctions of the intelligence community. Hobbled by internal and external turf battles and hypnotized by pet theories, the CIA—including director George Tenet, whose reputation suffers another black eye here—ignored skeptics, the author contends, and fell in love with a dubious source who told the agency and the White House what they wanted to hear. Instead of connecting the dots, Drogin argues, the CIA and its allies made up the dots. - Publishers Weekly

Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation

by Barbara Slavin

From the publisher:
With lucid analysis and engaging storytelling, USA Today senior diplomatic correspondent Barbara Slavin portrays the complex love-hate relationship between Iran and the United States. She takes into account deeply imbedded cultural habits and political goals to illuminate a struggle that promises to remain a headline story over the next decade. In this fascinating look, Slavin provides details of thwarted efforts at reconciliation under both the Clinton and Bush presidencies and opportunities rebuffed by the Bush administration in its belief that invading Iraq would somehow weaken Iran's Islamic government. Yet despite the dire situation in Iraq, the Bush administration appears to be building a case for confrontation with Iran based on the same three issues it used against Saddam Hussein's regime: weapons of mass destruction, support for terrorism, and repression of human rights. The U.S. charges Iran is supporting terrorists inside and outside Iraq and is repressing its own people who, in the words of U.S. officials, “deserve better.” Slavin believes the U.S. government may be suffering from the same lack of understanding and foresight that led it into prolonged warfare in Iraq.

One of the few reporters to interview Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as his two predecessors and scores of ordinary Iranians, Slavin gives insight into what the U.S. government may not be taking into account. She portrays Iran as a country that both adores and fears America and has a deeply rooted sense of its own historical and regional importance. Despite government propaganda that portrays the U.S. as the "Great Satan," many Iranians have come to idolize staples of American pop culture while clinging to their own traditions. This is clearly not a relationship to be taken a face value. The interplay between the U.S. and Iran will only grow more complex as Iran moves toward becoming a nuclear power. Distrustful of each other's intentions yet longing at some level to reconcile, neither Tehran nor Washington know how this story will end.

BARBARA SLAVIN is a senior diplomatic correspondent for USA Today. She lives in Washington, DC.

From the critics:
A timely read, particularly for inside-the-Beltway types who, one hopes, are paying attention. - Kirkus

Africa and the War on Terrorism

by John Davis

From the publisher:
Abject poverty and official corruption make parts of Africa a very attractive destination for terrorist organizations. Opportunities have developed during the pre- and post-9/11 periods in Africa for the recruitment of terrorists, attainment of bases of operations and sources of funding for Al Qaeda or its affiliated terror groups.

This comprehensive volume provides an extensive examination of major terrorist events in Africa. It highlights internal and external indices to illustrate why Africa is so ripe for terrorism, ostensibly in terms of recruitment as well as attainment and sources of funding due to the continent's continuing poverty and corruption. The volume will prove indispensable reading for anyone researching security issues, political sociology and African studies.

From key states in the vulnerable Horn such as Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan, as well as West and North Africa, this book provides a detailed picture of the War on Terror in Africa…ably supported throughout by discussion of the African Union's involvement and of course US special forces. - Peter Woodward, Reading University, UK

…a significant contribution to the literature on global terrorism. The text sheds light on why and how African failed states have assisted al Qaeda directly or many of its affiliates have worked on behalf of bin Laden's transnational enterprise…insightful and explains the limitations of US, UN and the African Union's policy and actions to contain terrorism in Africa. A must reading for the student of international relations.- Michael Frazier, Howard University, USA

John Davis is Lecturer of Political Science at Howard University, USA.

The Strategy of Terrorism: How it Works, and Why it Fails

by Peter R Neumann

From the publisher:
This is the first book to set out a comprehensive framework by which to understand terrorism as strategy. It contends that even terrorism of the supposedly nihilist variety can be viewed as a bona fide method for distributing means to fulfil the ends of policy, that is, as a strategy.

The main purpose of the work is to describe the dynamics of terrorism and evaluate their effectiveness, as well as to theorize upon, and clarify the correlation between, political ends and terrorist means. The text explains the modus operandi of terrorism, and demonstrates how terrorism relies on manipulating the psychological impact of (usually) relatively small-scale attacks. Using a variety of case studies, The Strategy of Terrorism shows how many campaigns of terrorism end in failure when they lose their power to terrify. The authors spell out what a proper understanding of terrorism as a strategy implies for those who want to make terrorism ineffective, and offer a number of policy recommendations deriveddirectly from their critique.

This is the first contribution of strategic studies to the study of terrorism, and will be of much interest to students of terrorism, strategy and security studies, as well as military professionals and policy makers.

Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq

by Dahr Jamail

From the publisher:
"Dahr Jamail does us a great service, by taking us past the lies of our political leaders, past the cowardice of the mainstream press, into the streets, the homes, the lives of Iraqis living under US occupation. If what he has seen could be conveyed to all Americans, this ugly war in Iraq would quickly come to an end. A superb journalist."-Howard Zinn

We walk slowly under the scorching sun along dusty rows of humble headstones. She continues reading them aloud to me, "Old man wearing jacket with dishdasha, near industrial center. He has a key in his hand." Many of the bodies were buried before they could be identified. Tears welling up in my eyes she quietly reads, "Man wearing red track suit." She points to another row, "Three women killed in car leaving city by American missile."

As the occupation of Iraq unravels, the demand for independent reporting is growing. Since 2003, unembedded journalist Dahr Jamail has filed indispensable reports from Iraq that have made him this generation's chronicler of the unfolding disaster there. In these collected dispatches, Jamail presents never-before-published details of the siege of Fallujah and examines the origins of the Iraqi insurgency.

Dahr Jamail makes frequent visits to Iraq and has published his accounts in newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has regularly appeared on Democracy Now!, as well as the BBC, Pacifica Radio, and numerous other networks.

Dahr Jamail's reporting from Iraq has been published in newspapers and magazine worldwide. He has appeared on Democracy Now! as a regular guest, as well as BBC, Pacifia Radio, and numerous other networks.

From LWBN:
The exact day of release for this October title is unknown.

Surviving Iraq: Soldiers' Stories

by Elise Forbes Tripp

From the publisher:
"This fascinating collection of testimonies underscores the universality of all war. This is a ‘bottom-up' celebration of the trials and terrors of so-called ordinary soldiers brought to that most terrible and transcendent of all moments-combat. What emerges is a shocking, moving, and utterly heroic portrait of young men and women in impossible situations."
--Ken Burns

The Iraq war is being fought by an all-volunteer army recruited from working-class America, ordinary citizens in uniform. Volunteers sign up with the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy as active duty, Reserve or National Guard, serving when as young as 18 and as old as 60. They enlist for a number of reasons: to pay for college, to earn extra income, to have an adventure, to defeat the enemy, to defend their country, to please their families and to find themselves.

These men and women are the stars of Tripp's powerfully moving book about our war and our warriors in Iraq. Surviving Iraq: Soldiers' Stories is the result of a close collaboration between the author and thirty veterans who volunteered to tell their stories of the invasion, occupation, and ongoing insurgency in Iraq. Readers learn what the soldiers' lives were like in and out of combat in Iraq and Kuwait and how they view the war. To help the reader follow the narratives, Tripp provides a chronology, maps, and a glossary of military terms.

These thirty in-depth narratives belong to the national dialogue on the war and also to a people's history of the war. We find unvarnished views of the war's conduct and its rationales, as well as of its commander in chief and his administration. Soldiers' individual experiences range from the harrowing to the hilarious-all the indelible human detail of war. As fighters, soldiers must face urban warfare against an unidentifiable enemy; as women they must guard against assault from their male comrades; as military personnel they live on bases that have modern movie theaters, gyms, the internet and phones, Burger Kings and Pizza Huts, all in the midst of a dangerous conflict. Almost a half a million soldiers have served in the four years of this war, but each story is unique, telling us what it is like to serve in war, and to survive it.

Elise Forbes Tripp is a graduate of Harvard, and has a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. A former international relations counselor for UN affairs at the World Bank, she is an adjunct professor of American history at Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts.

New Security Issues in Northern Europe: The Nordic and Baltic States and the ESDP

by Clive Archer

From the publisher:
New Security Issues in Northern Europe examines the contribution the northern states of Europe – the Baltic andthe Nordic states – can make and have made to the European Union’s European Security and Defence Policy(ESDP), and what the ESDP means for them. It provides a strategic background to the defence and security policies of these countries and covers the security policies of the seven states – Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – and their reactions and contributions to the EU’s ESDP.

The contributions by these states to ESDP operations are viewed in a critical light although their positive political interventions to the policy are also noted. In particular, the contributors bring together fresh material on the security policies of the seven states, the way they are made, the effect on these policies of the ESDP and their input into the ESDP.

This book makes an important contribution to the debate about the development of what has become one of the most dynamic elements of the European Union.

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times

by George Crile

From the publisher:
A gripping and vibrant book soon to be released as a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and directed by Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson’s War was a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times best seller when it was published in 2003.

Crile’s book is the true story of how a Texas Congressman and a rogue CIA agent conspired to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful CIA campaign ever — the operation to fund the mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet army that had invaded Afghanistan. Moving from the back rooms of the Capitol to secret chambers at Langley, from arms dealers’ conventions to the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson’s War presents an astonishing chapter of our recent past, and the key to understanding what helped trigger the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union and ultimately led to the emergence of a brand-new foe in the form of radical Islam.

From LWBN:
This is the paperback edition of a previously released hardcover book.

Homeland Security and Criminal Justice: Five Years After 9/11

by Everette B. Pen

From the publisher:
Previously published as a special issue of Criminal Justice Studies, this volume analyzes the nexus of homeland security to the discipline of criminal justice by addressing in a scholarly manner issues and challenges facing criminal justice students, practitioners, and faculty in the burgeoning field of homeland security.

No event has shaped international events over the last five years more than the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Tragically, less than four years later Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Indeed, in less than five years the United States has experienced its worst terrorist attack and worst natural disaster, both in the number of lives lost and in the costs needed for reconstruction. Both events have clearly indicated that there are tremendous threats to the security and well-being of Americans in their own homeland. Furthermore, these events have demonstrated the importance of criminal-justice agencies who are the first responders to threats to the US. Since the threats of further terrorist attacks, natural disasters, epidemics and cyber crime continue to lurk as potential dangers to the homeland, the American Criminal Justice System must be committed to mitigating, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from these tragic events, and its commitment must be steadfast and ubiquitous.

Transnational Islam and Regional Security

by Frederic Volpi (ed.)

From the publisher:
This volume investigates the impact of a new brand of transnational terrorism and political violence produced by radical Islamist groups from the Maghreb on the regional security dynamics. It describes the causes of the problems and the strategies devised by European and North African states in order to address it and details the successes and failures of co-operation between states and society on both shores of the Mediterranean.

Investigating the grand security strategies that have been devised for the Mediterranean after the Cold War and after 9/11, the contributors focus on the role of police and military apparati in securitizing the new threats that have become prominent after 9/11, and the unintended consequences of these strategies. In addition, the contributors analyse the relationship between Islamist groups, the state and society and highlight some key causes of political violence and radicalism. They outline how a better use of the law, migration, and intercultural dialogue might provide useful alternatives or complements to the mostly securitarian strategies that are currently dominant in the region.

From LWBN:
This book was originally released in UK markets in December, 2004.

Circle in the Sand: The Bush Dynasty in Iraq

by Christian Alfonsi

From the publisher:
Essential to understanding the roots of one of the worst foreign policy disasters in American history, Circle in the Sand is a revelation-filled account that exposes the troubling links between the two Bush presidencies and their wars in Iraq. Drawing on hundreds of never-before-revealed White House documents, as well as interviews with top officials from both Bush administrations, Christian Alfonsi paints a devastating new portrait of the Bush dynasty.

“Not until Circle in the Sand has such a powerful light been thrown on the missing link in the chain of events that led from the first Gulf War to the second. . . . Riveting.” — Bill Moyers

“An eye-opener. . . . A retelling of the 1990-91 Gulf crisis with the benefit of new documents and on-the-record interviews with senior officials then and now. . . . Plenty of juicy tidbits about the once and future Bushies.” — The Washington Post Book World

“Dramatically illustrates how decisions made [in 1991] foreshadowed the war in Iraq waged by the current Bush administration. . . . Illuminating.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Circle in the Sand could as well be called ‘debacle in the sand.’ It goes to the heart of a national tragedy–how two generations of Bush family mismanagement and inept strategy in Iraq may have doomed early-21st century American policy in the Middle East.” — Kevin Phillips, author of American Theocracy

From LWBN:
This is the first paperback edition of a hardcover book.

Violence, Extremism, and Transformation

From the publisher:
Based on the results of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006 (BTI), this study challenges widespread assumptions and stereotypes about the nature of political violence. It reminds us that religious extremism, while on the rise, accounts for only a small fracture of armed conflict in the world. Moreover, Western countries' preoccupation with transnational terrorism is misleading, as most political violence has been and remains local in its origin and its area of activity.

Study results call for a factual and more differentiated assessment of the threats posed by militants and extremists. If political violence and terrorism are still predominantly home-grown, the multitude of local causes, such as socioeconomic grievances or state weakness, should receive more attention. In any comprehensive effort to foster stability, political institutions will have to play the pivotal role.

This insightful analysis is linked directly to the broader results of the BTI 2006, which highlight the major democratic deficiencies in 119 development and transformation countries. It underlines the importance of supporting democratic institutions and good governance in international efforts to combat terrorism.

The Navy Cross: Extraordinary Heroism in Iraq, Afghanistan and Other Conflicts

by James E. Wise and Scott Baron

From the publisher:
This collection of profiles in courage highlights the sailors and marines awarded the U.S. Navy's highest honor for valor, the Navy Cross. It is the first book to focus on the stories of those recognized for their heroic actions while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan--twenty-one in all, including a Marine sergeant who received his Cross on 19 January 2007. Unknown to most, they have been honored for putting their lives on the line to save others. The book also includes selected profiles of Navy Cross recipients from previous wars whose stories stand out as the best among an elite group. Coauthors James E. Wise and Scott Baron, whose previous collaboration cited exceptional women at war, wrote this book to call attention to those who have done extraordinary things to ensure the freedom of future generations of Americans.

The descriptions of bravery read like the scripts of Hollywood action films, but these are actual events about real people. Readers will be awestruck by the incredible courage shown by the Marines and Sailors during hellish firefights against the insurgents in Baghdad, Nasiriyah, Fallujah, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kandahar. Yet the recipients remain modest about their actions, saying they were merely doing their duty as would any other Marine or Sailor. Among the recent Navy Cross recipients included are Chief Petty Officers Stephen Bass and Britt Slabinski, both Navy SEALs, and the "Fallujah Seven" Marines: Capt. Brent Morel, Sgt. Willie L. Copeland III, 1st Sgt. Bradley Kasal, Sgt. Robert J. Mitchell, Cpl. Jeremiah Workman, Sgt. Jarrett Kraft, and Lance Cpl. Dominic D. Esquibel.

JAMES E. WISE Jr., a former naval aviator, intelligence officer, and Vietnam veteran, retired from the U.S. Navy as a captain. His books include Stars in Blue and U-505: The Final Journey, among many others. He lives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Frustrated Empire: US Foreign Policy, 9/11 to Iraq

by David Ryan

From the publisher:

"A brilliant meditation on the nature of the American empire that ranges widely between past and present. ... Few books I've read on recent US foreign policy cut both as deep and as broadly as this one." Professor Marilyn Young, New York University

"A fine example of how to write contemporary history. Ryan provides readers with a real understanding of the dilemmas of the American empire." Professor Lloyd Gardner, Rutgers University

"A majestic work, moving from the Cold War to now. ... An essential critique of the world of the 21st century." Professor William S. Lucas, University of Birmingham

David Ryan examines the broad contexts of US foreign policy and the lingering aftermath of the Vietnam War that shaped the opportunistic framing of 9/11 and paved the way for the long-held neo-conservative desire for regime change and war in Iraq.

He examines the construction of the cultural framework for war following 9/11, the legitimacy of military force in Afghanistan, the rise of anti-Americanism, within the broader contexts over the struggle over legitimacy, identity and leadership.

Turning the 'clash of civilisations' thesis on its head, Ryan presents a careful analysis of the evolution of US foreign policy and its engagement with Iraq through the 1980s. While 9/11 provided the opportunity, the post-Vietnam context provides a more pertinent framework for this reflection on the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the strategic implications for US foreign policy.

David Ryan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at University College Cork. His books include US Foreign Policy in World History (2000) and US-Sandinista Diplomatic Relations (1995).

The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 759 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison

by Andy Worthington

From the publisher:
-- The first book to tell the story of every man trapped in Guantanamo --

In 2006, four years after the illegal prison in Guantánamo Bay first opened, the Pentagon finally released the names of the 773 men held there, as well as 7,000 pages of transcripts from tribunals assessing their status as 'enemy combatants'. Andy Worthington is the only person to have analysed every page of these transcripts. Drawing on these documents, as well as news reports and interviews with lawyers and released detainees, this book reveals, for the first time, the stories of all those imprisoned in Guantánamo.

This book does not make for easy reading. Deprived of the safeguards of the Geneva Conventions, and, for the most part, sold to the Americans by their allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the detainees have struggled for five years to have their stories heard. Looking in detail at the circumstances of their capture, and at the coercive interrogations and unsubstantiated allegations that have been used to justify their detention, 'The Guantánamo Files' reveals that the majority of those captured were either Taliban foot soldiers or humanitarian aid workers, religious teachers and economic migrants, who were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The book also uncovers stories of torture in Afghanistan and Guantánamo, and contains new information about the process of 'extraordinary rendition' that underpins the US administration's 'war on terror'.

Who will speak for the 773 men who have been held in Guantánamo? This passionate and brilliantly detailed book brings their stories to the world for the first time.

Andy Worthington is a freelance historian. He is the author of two books on modern British social history, and his work has also appeared in the Guardian and the Idler.

The History of Information Security: A Comprehensive Handbook

by Karl Maria Michael de Leeuw (editor)

From the publisher:
Information Security is usually achieved through a mix of technical, organizational and legal measures. These may include the application of cryptography, the hierarchical modeling of organizations in order to assure confidentiality, or the distribution of accountability and responsibility by law, among interested parties. The history of Information Security reaches back to ancient times and starts with the emergence of bureaucracy in administration and warfare. Some aspects, such as the interception of encrypted messages during World War II, have attracted huge attention, whereas other aspects have remained largely uncovered. There has never been any effort to write a comprehensive history.

This book is intended as a first field-survey. It consists of twenty-eight contributions, written by experts in such diverse fields as computer science, law, or history and political science, dealing with episodes, organizations and technical developments that may be considered to be exemplary or have played a key role in the development of this field. These include: the emergence of cryptology as a discipline during the Renaissance, the Black Chambers in 18th century Europe, the breaking of German military codes during World War II, the histories of the NSA and its Soviet counterparts and contemporary cryptology.

In the last 30 years the focus has shifted from military to civilian use, with Information Security assuming a pivotal role in protecting information infra structure on which businesses and customers, or governments and citizens depend for their day to day dealings. The Handbook contains separate sections about identity-management, and the history of intellectualownership, that are at the forefront of Information Security today.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism

by Thomas J Biersteker and Sue E Eckert (editors)

From the publisher:
Groups committing acts of terrorism have adapted their means of financing to elude detection since the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Surveying the global community’s multi-year effort to cut off terrorist funding, this volume offers a much-needed analysis of a complex, widely discussed, yet poorly understood subject.

While books on terrorism have touched upon the topic, this is the first comprehensive, balanced, and scholarly overview of terrorist financing, its methods, and efforts to counter it.

Bringing together leading analysts of terrorism, international relations, global finance, law, and criminology, Countering the Financing of Terrorism provides a critical assessment of the international effort to restrict terrorist financing. It evaluates the costs and benefits and offers recommendations for more effective policies for the future.

Beyond Hell and Back: How America's Special Operations Forces Became the World's Greatest Fighting Unit

by Dwight Jon Zimmerman

From the publisher:
An inside look at seven of the most harrowing and significant Special Operations missions ever.

Courage beyond reason. Loyalty beyond faith. Perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity. These are just some of the qualities of the members of the U.S. Special Operation Forces. BEYOND HELL AND BACK details the seven defining Special Ops missions that have made the Special Operation Forces the best fighting unit in the world, including:

*THE RESCUE OF BAT-21: The largest and longest Combat Search and Rescue mission in the Vietnam War lasted 17 days and cost the lives of 13 Americans—all to rescue one man and the invaluable knowledge he alone possessed.

* TASK FORCE NORMANDY: Planned in secrecy and executed with flawless efficiency, Task Force Normandy was an Army/Air Force Special Operations joint op that fired the opening shots behind enemy lines in Operation Desert Storm.

*OPERATION EAGLE CLAW: The devastating Special Forces operation mounted to retrieve 52 American hostages in Iran resulted in the deaths of eight members of the rescue team. This failure ultimately led to the creation of Special Operations Command.

*BASHER 52: Captain Scott O’Grady was shot down over the “no fly” zone above Bosnia, and his daring rescue was one of the Marine Corps’ finest operations ever.

These are a few of the dramatic true tales that represent the defining moments that helped shape the operational methods, planning, and deployment for all future Special Ops missions. BEYOND HELL AND BACK is the greatest collection of Spec Ops missions ever assembled.

The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America

by Susan Faludi

From the publisher:
From the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and best-selling author of Backlash — an unflinching dissection of the mind of America after 9/11.

Susan Faludi is the author of Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man and Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Nation, among other publications. She lives in San Francisco.

From the critics:
Rich, incisive analysis of the surreality of American life in the wake of 9/11. - Kirkus

Iran and the Rise of its Neoconservatives: The Politics of Tehran's Silent Revolution

by Anoush Ehteshami, Mahjoob Zweiri, and Mahjoob Zweiri

From the publisher:
The election of the hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Iranian Presidency in 2005 shocked the world.

In this compelling book, Iran experts Anoush Ehteshami and Mahjoub Zweiri penetrate the labyrinth of Iranian politics and reveal the forces which brought Ahmadinejad to power. They argue that the power base behind Ahmadinejad represents a kind of Iranian version of American neo-conservativism. Politicians and clerics exiled from influence under the reformist President Khatami have seized their chance to get back in to power and push an uncompromising foreign policy agenda. In an analysis which has major implications for US and EU policymakers, Ehteshami and Zweiri examine this group’s agenda on issues like Iraq and nuclear enrichment, and assess its strategies for implementing it. Iran and the Rise of Its Neoconservatives is the essential guide to the politics to this turbulent nation, whose importance to world security has never been more keenly felt.

Security in the New Europe

by Andrew Cottey

From the publisher:
Following the end of its Cold War division, Europe's traditional security problem of war between European states is being displaced by a new set of challenges with which peoples, governments, and organizations like the EU and NATO are only beginning to come to terms. This broad-ranging new text develops a comprehensive framework for understanding the key security issues and dilemmas confronting Europe in the twenty-first century.

"A comprehensive and cogent assessment. It has the great merit, without minimising the troubling global and domestic issues that need to be addressed, of focussing our attention on the successful development of Europe as a 'security community' and just how much, in terms of their security and well-being, the end of the Cold War has turned out to be a Good Thing for most Europeans most of the time." -- Lawrence Freedman, King's College London

Modern Terrorism and Psychological Trauma

by Brian Trappler

From the publisher:
Modern Terrorism and Psychological Trauma brings together a rich collection of insightful studies by leading psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental-health professionals, providing readers with a deep understanding of the nature of psychological trauma induced by modern terrorism.

Brian Trappler, a renowned psychiatrist specializing in treating traumatized patients, organizes the literature anew such that this volume can explain how terrorist-induced psychological trauma may be treated in the therapeutic setting to achieve the most rapid and enduring alleviation of symptoms from both short-term and long-term exposure to terrorism, especially posttraumatic stress disorder.

Through studies focusing on victims of terrorism in America on 9/11 and afterward in England, Spain, Israel, and other countries, as well as studies of pre-9/11 victims, especially Holocaust survivors, this anthology explains how mental-health professionals conceptualize and analyze the nature of terror-induced psychological trauma at both the individual and the community level, and why their research findings have profound treatment implications for men and women of every age, socioeconomic status, religion, nationality, and ethnic background.

Brian Trappler, MD, is the director of Outpatient Services at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn, New York, and an associate clinical professor in psychiatry at the State University of New York at Brooklyn.

Asian Security Handbook

by William. Carpenter and David Wiencek (editors)

From the publisher:
This is the third edition of Asian Security Handbook. The previous volumes were published in 1996 and 2000. Because of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it is appropriate that we focus in this edition on the War on Terrorism and the impact it is having in Asia. The introductory chapter outlines the new security environment brought about by the events of September 11 and provides a context for the country profile chapters that follow.

The country-specific chapters provide wide-ranging coverage of the political-security situation in 23 individual nations and update our previous assessments. For this edition, new chapters on Bangladesh, Brunei, and Nepal have been added.

The chapters presented here bring together the insights and expertise of our contributors, a diverse group of international security analysts and Asian affairs experts from government, academia, and the private sector. They bring significant experience, as well as a variety of perspectives, to the book. They have written sharply focused chapters that are designed to be analytical and interpretive. A short bibliographic list for further reading and reference appears at the end of each chapter.

The analysis is designed to offer regional breadth with the intention of providing a handbook or primer that is relevant and accessible to a general audience, including students and training classes, the business and investment community, as well as specialists in Asian studies and international security affairs. Given such comprehensive coverage, this book will be a one-stop resource for those interested in geopolitical trends, terrorism and political risk, and defense and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region.