Understanding Terrorism: Building on the Sociological Imagination

by Bernard Phillips

From the publisher:
Two fundamental problems within the social sciences are the failure to integrate the existing segments of knowledge and a very limited ability to point out directions for solving social problems, given that lack of integrated knowledge.

This volume illustrates the integrated work of seven sociologists to reverse this situation not only for the problem of terrorism but also for any substantive or applied problem. C. Wright Mills in The Sociological Imagination castigated the failure to integrate social science knowledge, and this volume carries forward his efforts to analyze human complexity. To understand and confront terrorism we require not only the integration of social science knowledge bearing on that problem, as illustrated by these authors. We also require the integration of that knowledge with the understanding of those on the front lines in order to connect the dots of specialized basic and applied knowledge, which this volume makes possible.

Contributors: J. I. (Hans) Bakker, Adam Rafalovich, Thomas J. Scheff, Sando Serge, Jonathan H. Turner, Todd Powell-Williams.

Bernard Phillips, a student of C.Wright Mills, received a Ph.D. at Cornell and taught at the Universities of North Carolina and Illinois before teaching at Boston University. He is editor, most recently, with Harold Kincaid and Thomas Scheff, of Toward a Sociological Imagination: Bridging Specialized Fields (University Press of America 2002).

The House of Wisdom: Five Years in Iraq

by Franco Pagetti

From the publisher:
In January 2003 Franco Pagetti went to Baghdad. Three months later he was photographing the city through the fall of Saddam, capturing a population in the throws of released dictatorship, more interested in the Iraqi destiny than that of the US war machine churning its way through the city. But it soon became increasingly difficult for foreign journalists to stay and work. By the end of 2003 the insurgency had developed rapidly.

The first targets being the US military, with roadside bombs and ambushes, soon after
any foreigner was in danger. Many journalists retreated from the country. Pagetti however stayed, he found a way to carry on working although it was becoming
more treacherous than ever. Committed to his cause of documenting the unfolding story of Iraq and its people, four years later he was still there, in a country that has now descended into a desperate and bloody civil war. No one is safe now, innocent civilians are killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught in the middle of the Shiite-Sunni conflict.

Pagetti's only hope to continue his determined quest was to work embedded with the US military, and find ways of slipping through the cracks to document the reality of
the Iraqi dream that became a living nightmare. Whilst embedded he also captured the face of war at the frontline, the events at Fallujah in 2004, and the innumerable operations against both Sunni and Shia. 2008 will herald the fifth year of a further
evolving and complex situation. Pagetti will be there, his images showing a unique presence and a steadfast dedication to follow the unfolding, and uncertain, future of a country torn.

Franco Pagetti is the most recent member of the respected VII agency, joining in November 2007. He has emerged as one of the principal chroniclers of the Iraq war, his photographs appearing in Stern, Le Figaro and most notably in TIME Magazine, are the definitive images of the most important news story of our time. Most of his recent work has involved conflict situations: Afghanistan, Kosovo, East Timor, Kashmir, Palestine, Sierra Leone and South Sudan.

Mission of Folly: Why Canada Should Bring Its Troops Home from Afghanistan

by James Laxer

From the publisher:
Mission of Folly is a candid report on Canada's participation in America's war on terror.

Laxer explores the policy vacuum that resulted in Canadian troops being sent to fight a war that would last longer than any previous Canadian allied engagement.

With passion and perspicacity he details the motives underlying the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.

Rumsfeld's Wars: The Arrogance of Power

by Dale R. Herspring

From the publisher:
Not since Robert McNamara has a secretary of defense been so hated by the military and derided by the public, yet played such a critical role in national security policy--with such disastrous results.

Donald Rumsfeld was a natural for secretary of defense, a position he'd already occupied once before. He was smart. He worked hard. He was skeptical of the status quo in military affairs and dedicated to high-tech innovations. He seemed the right man at the right time--but history was to prove otherwise.

Now Dale Herspring, a political conservative and lifelong Republican, offers a nonpartisan assessment of Rumsfeld's impact on the U.S. military establishment from 2001 to 2006, focusing especially on the Iraq War--from the decision to invade through the development and execution of operational strategy and the enormous failures associated with the postwar reconstruction of Iraq.

Extending the critique of civil-military relations he began in The Pentagon and the Presidency, Herspring highlights the relationship between the secretary and senior military leadership, showing how Rumsfeld and a handful of advisers--notably Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith--manipulated intelligence and often ignored the military in order to implement their policies. And he demonstrates that the secretary's domineering leadership style and trademark arrogance undermined his vision for both military transformation and Iraq.

Herspring shows that, contrary to his public deference to the generals, Rumsfeld dictated strategy and operations--sometimes even tactics--to prove his transformation theories. He signed off on abolishing the Iraqi army, famously refused to see the need for a counterinsurgency plan, and seemed more than willing to tolerate the torture of prisoners. Meanwhile, the military became demoralized and junior officers left in droves.

Rumsfeld's Wars revisits and reignites the concept of "arrogance of power," once associated with our dogged failure to understand the true nature of a tragic war in Southeast Asia. It provides further evidence that success in military affairs is hard to achieve without mutual respect between civilian authorities and military leaders--and offers a definitive case study in how not to run the office of secretary of defense.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Crossroads of Intervention: Insurgency and Counterinsurgency Lessons from Central America

by Todd Greentree

From the publisher:
The challenges that vex the United States today in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere are not altogether as new and unique as they seem. U.S. involvement in Central America during the 1980s clearly demonstrated the costs, risks, and limits to intervention and the use of force in internal conflicts. Much can be learned today about the nature of irregular warfare from the experiences of the United States and the other protagonists in Central America during the final phase of the Cold War.

The U.S. perceived a threat to national security in these wars from determined insurgents with a compelling revolutionary ideology and powerful allies that linked them to other conflicts around the world.

This strategy and policy analysis makes a new contribution to irregular warfare theory through an examination of the origins, strategic dynamics, and termination of the Sandinista insurrection in Nicaragua, the decade long counterinsurgency of the Salvadoran government against the FMLN guerrillas, and the concurrent Contra insurgency against the Sandinistas. Many of the lessons about the fundamental and recurring nature of irregular warfare are being rediscovered in the current challenges of radical Islam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, despite the great differences in circumstance, culture, and geography.

In the Central American case, three successive Presidents encountered serious domestic controversy over U.S. policies and refrained from sending U.S. combat troops to intervene directly. Most importantly, they prudently heeded warnings that internal wars of all types are rarely subject to military solutions, because their natures are equally and fundamentally political.

Greentree presents his argument as a strategy and policy case study of the civil wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador during the final decade of the Cold War. The book comprises an examination of the origins, strategic dynamics, and termination of these wars from the points of view of the main participants--Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, the Soviet Union, and the United States. It also develops a general conceptual framework for understanding the nature of insurgency, counterinsurgency, revolution, and intervention that builds on classic strategic theory and contemporary thought on irregular warfare.

From the perspective of global superpower conflict, the wars in Central America were peripheral "small wars" or "low intensity conflicts". However, for the internal protagonists these were total and bloody wars for survival. Involvement in such wars has been cyclical in the U.S. experience, and it is misfortunate, if not tragic, that the greatly similar problems encountered across widely varying circumstances are quickly forgotten.

"Crossroads of Intervention is a superb examination of the Central American wars of the 1980s. Greentree brilliantly describes the mixed motives, unintended consequences, and moral dilemmas of these wars, and persuasively brings to light their status as a bridge between Vietnam and Iraq. Military strategists keen on learning more about irregular warfare will find rich rewards in this study. Greentree knows the region intimately and has a knack for asking-and answering persuasively-the larger questions. Briskly written and eminently readable, this work belongs on the bookshelf of all students of American foreign and military policy." - David Hendrickson, Professor of Political Science, Colorado College

The Road to Democracy in Iran

by Akbar Ganji

From the publisher:
Akbar Ganji, called by some "Iran's most famous dissident," was a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But, troubled by the regime's repressive nature, he became an investigative journalist in the 1990s, writing for Iran's pro-democracy newspapers. Most notably, he traced the murders of dissident intellectuals to Iran's secret service. In 2000 Ganji was arrested, sentenced to six years in prison, and banned from working as a journalist. His eighty-day hunger strike during his last year in prison mobilized the international human rights community.

The Road to Democracy in Iran, Ganji's first book in English, demonstrates his lifelong commitment to human rights and democracy. A passionate call for universal human rights and the right to democracy from a Muslim perspective, it lays out the goals and means of Iran's democracy movement, why women's rights trump some interpretations of Islamic law, and how the West can help promote democracy in Iran (he strongly opposes U.S. intervention) and other Islamic countries.

Throughout the book Ganji argues consistently for universal rights based on our common humanity (and he believes the world's religions support that idea). But his arguments never veer into abstraction; they are rooted deeply in the realities of life in Islamic countries, and offer a clear picture of the possibilities for and obstacles to improving human rights and promoting democracy in the Muslim world.

Ganji goes beyond religion, ethnicity, or nationality in recognizing universality of concepts such as democracy and human rights. Thus he brings Iran back to the world, allying himself with democratic elements in his country no matter what their creed, and drawing freely upon the writings of democratic thinkers in the West. --Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran

Grandmothers Against the War: How We Got Off Our Fannies and Stood Up for Peace

by Joan Wile

From the publisher:
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night thinking, "I've got to DO something," but felt like you were just one person who couldn't bring about change? Well, Joan Wile woke up one night thinking she had to do something about the war in Iraq. Little did she know how far she would go . . .

Joan founded Grandmothers Against the War in 2003. In this outspoken memoir, she tells the amazing story of the courageous, spunky women who stood up for their beliefs and refused to back down. From getting arrested and jailed in Times Square, to marching to Washington, D.C., to speaking and performing in Europe, these activists are sure to inspire you with their hope and determination against all odds.

It's never too late to change your life-and take action!

Joan Wile is the founder of Grandmothers Against the War and has been devoted to it since 2003. She is also an award-winning singer/songwriter with an extensive background in recording studios and cabarets. She has written six musicals, four of which were produced off and off-off Broadway. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, and on michaelmoore.com. She attended the University of Chicago, and is the mother of two children, and grandmother of five.

Eight Lives Down: The Story of the World's Most Dangerous Job in the World's Most Dangerous Place

by Chris Hunter

From the publisher:
It’s a blazing hot day in Iraq. Wearing eighty-five pounds of armor, Major Chris Hunter crosses a barren landscape toward a bomb that has been expertly rigged to kill and maim. Exposed to snipers, prepared for the demonic tricks the enemy plays—like trip wires and secondary devices—Chris knows this mission could be his last. But with his heart hammering in his chest, he also knows one thing above all: he simply cannot afford to fail. In this riveting first-person account, bomb-disposal operative Chris Hunter takes us behind the scenes in an eye-opening, never-before-seen portrait of the most dangerous job in the most dangerous place on earth. . . .

By the time he got to Iraq, Chris Hunter was one of the most experienced bomb-disabling operators in the British armed forces. But Iraq was different. A place where terrorists and soldiers were climbing the same deadly learning curve. Where new devices and new tactics led to countermeasures, and the line between killer and innocent bystander was impossible to draw. As Hunter’s unit became more skilled at disabling bombs, the bombers became more skilled and determined—until Hunter ended up with a price on his head and bombs designed just for him.

From a horrifying ambush in the heart of Shia-dominated Basra to the chilling interrogation of a captured bomber, Hunter guides us through his hellish high-stakes, high-pressure world, where every decision could be your last, and where boredom is interrupted by terror, fury, and raucous humor. A first-of-its-kind account, Eight Lives Down is gritty, immediate, and heart-breaking—the chronicle of a man clinging to his sanity, his marriage, and his duty to his fellow soldiers.

"This isn't a book about the ethics of war ... it's a book about a soldier doing the most dangerous job there is and managing to remain not just sane but also incredibly sympathetic.... [Hunter] writes grippingly, honestly, thoughtfully and above all simply. There's no need for frills with raw material like this."—The Guardian, UK

34 Days: Israel, Hezbollah, and the War in Lebanon

by Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

From the publisher:
This is the first comprehensive account of the progression of the Second Lebanese War, from the border abduction of an Israeli soldier on the morning of July 12, 200, through the hasty decision for an aggressive response; the fateful discussions in the Cabinet and the senior Israeli command; to the heavy fighting in south Lebanon and the raging diplomatic battles in Paris, Washington and New York.

The book answers the following questions: has Israel learned the right lessons from this failed military confrontation? What can Western countries learn from the IDF's failure against a fundamentalist Islamic terror organization? And what role did Iran and Syria play in this affair? 34 Days delivers the first blow-by-blow account of the Lebanon war and new insights for the future of the region and its effects on the West.

America's "War on Terrorism": New Dimensions in US Government and National Security

by John E. Owens and John W. Dumbrell (Editors)

From the publisher:
America's War on Terrorism New Dimensions in US Government and National Security offers an original and multifaceted analysis of the Bush administration's responses to 9/11.

The book brings together American and European analyses of the enormous institutional, political, and policy shifts in the early 21st century wrought by 9/11 and the war on terror.

Mass Media, Mass Propaganda: Understanding the News in the War on Terror

by Anthony DiMaggio

From the publisher:
This work examines how the mainstream American media reacts to pro-war and anti-war themes throughout the War on Terror in regards to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Using a political economy approach, the author addresses the ways in which corporations that own media reinforce official doctrines and propaganda by contrasting the content of American media to that of other global media.

KUBARK: Counterintelligence Interrogation

by Central Intelligence Agency

From the publisher:
The CIA's one-and-only official interrogation manual was published in 1963 and has recently been made available online; this hardcover edition marks the Agency's redactions and includes the extensive descriptive bibliography of the original. This is not a facsimile but a typeset reference edition. KUBARK contains fascinating analysis on types of interrogatees (and interrogators) and a number of nonviolent (as well as violent) strategems. This is a work of historic importance and a fundamental source document for students of the Cold War.

KUBARK is the foundation for modern CIA intelligence doctrine and its relevance is refreshed with each new prisoner and interrogation headline.

From LWBN:
This title was issued in January; we failed to list it at that time.

Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

by John Robb

From the publisher:
John Robb's astonishing insights have taken him from obscure military blogger to widely read strategic thinker. In this groundbreaking instant classic, Robb explains how terrorists are waging a global war against larger adversaries with relative ease and carrying out small, inexpensive actions, like sabotaging an oil pipeline, that generate a huge return. He shows how combating the shutdown of the world's oil, high-tech, and financial markets could cost us the thing we've come to value the most, global economic and cultural integration, and what we must do now to safeguard against this new method of warfare.

John Robb (Boston, MA) is a former U.S. counterterrorism operation commander, successful technology entrepreneur, and respected analyst. His writings on war have appeared in the New York Times, Wired, and Fast Company.

Women and Nation-Building

by Cheryl Benard

From the publisher:
Does women's participation in nation-building make a difference to the post-conflict trajectories of very volatile societies? Women and Nation-Building presents compelling findings for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars concerned with both the academic and pragmatic implementation of an engendered approach to nation-building. The book concludes that the steps necessary to strengthen nation-building activities include an emphasis on human security, establishing governance based on the principles of equity and the rule of law, and women's early economic inclusion in reconstruction activities. Societies on a path toward equity and the rule of law are more peaceful and more prosperous, and the status of women is not merely a litmus test but an active agent in bringing about such an outcome.

Moment of Truth in Iraq

by Michael Yon

From the publisher:
Never underestimate the American soldier. That's the moral of former Green Beret Michael Yon's brilliant battle-by-battle, block-by-block tale of how America's new 'greatest generation' of soldiers is turning defeat and disaster into victory and hope in Iraq.

The American soldier is the reason General David Petraeus's brilliant strategy of moving our soldiers off isolated bases and out among the Iraqi people is working. Working to find and kill terrorists, reclaim neighborhoods, and help lead Iraq to democracy.

Yon is no cheerleader. According to the New York Times, he has logged more time in combat situations in Iraq than any other U.S. reporter. When failed American leadership was driving Iraq into chaos and civil war, nobody told the story earlier or better than Michael Yon. The top brass was so mad that twice the U.S. military denied him access to Iraq.

So Yon has supreme credibility when he says that we are finally winning, not primarily with our overwhelming technology, not with shock and awe destruction, but with the even more powerful force of American values--with the courage and leadership, strength and compassion of our soldiers.

Moment of Truth in Iraq is packed with Yon's trademark thrilling and often heart-rending tales from the battlefield:

* The American commander fed up with phony Al Qaeda 'documentaries' that showed terrorists shooting at bombed out American vehicles as if they had beaten us in open battle. The commander and his men staged the "bombing" of a broken down truck, then when the terrorists came to put on their act, Navy SEAL snipers killed every one.

* Follow the exploits of the great "Deuce Four" battalion that became the center of a "warrior cult" dreaded by terrorists and revered by Iraqis.

* Think Iraqi soldiers can't fight? Read about the elite Iraqi SWAT team taking down a terror cell for the murder of four American soldiers and a brave Iraqi guide.

* Think Americans are occupiers, not liberators, of Iraq? Tell that to the wounded Iraqi interpreter, who, convinced he was about to die, begged his U.S. commander to have his heart cut out and buried in America.

* Learn why so many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers.

* Brutalized by Saddam for decades, Iraqis hungered for strength entwined with justice and tempered by mercy. The American soldier delivered.

Here is the true, untold story of the American soldier and the courage and values that are bringing victory for America-and Iraq.

Constitutional Limits on Coercive Interrogation

by Amos N. Guiora

From the publisher:
On September 11, 2001 terrorism instantly became the defining issue of our age. The resulting debates surrounding the inherent tension between national security interests and individual civil rights has focused national and international attention on how post-9/11 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and around the world have been interrogated. All concerned agree that, while interrogation practices represent a crucial meeting ground between human rights and counter-terrorism measures, the limits placed on interrogators are perhaps the most difficult to define for they determine how "far" a civil society is willing to go in fighting the exigencies that terror presents.

In The Constitutional Limits of Coercive Investigation, Amos Guiora offers a theoretical analysis and a practical application of coercive interrogation, and in doing so, suggests developing and implementing a hybrid paradigm based on American criminal law, the Geneva Convention, and the Israeli model of trial as the most relevant judicial regime.

Guiora offers a unique contribution to the public debate by creatively utilizing a historical analysis of the system of "justice" for African-Americans in the Deep South of the past century to serve as a guide for the constitutional rights and protections which need to be granted or extended to an unprotected class. He then indicates which interrogation methods are within the boundaries of the law by both recommending protection of the detainees and providing interrogators with the tools required to protect America's vital interests.

By combining his impressive professional experience in this area with his considerable academic expertise, Guiora has written a timely and thought-provoking book. His use of the lessons learned from the interrogations of African Americans in the Deep South is highly original and very illuminating. The result is a very attractive and helpful expert guide on how to handle the explosive mix of coercive methods and human rights. This is a must-read for policymakers, human rights proponents and all those interested in one of the most difficult dilemmas facing liberal democracies today. -- Tom Zwart, Utrecht University School of Law

Confronting Global Terrorism: The Framework of a Liberal Grand Strategy (Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law)

by Tom Farer

From the publisher:
This book brings together and subjects to critical scrutiny the core controversies connected to the so-called "War on Terror: When is it legitimate and prudent to use force? Is torture ever justified? Do we need to suspend human rights in order to fight terrorism? Is multi-culturalism the answer to communal conflict? Is Israel's treatment of the Palestinians illegal and immoral, an accelerator of terrorism, or legitimately defensive and largely irrelevant to the terrorism problem? Are terrorists responding to concrete U.S. policies or do they simply hate and wish to destroy Western societies? Liberal intellectuals and political leaders have been slow to articulate a grand strategy informed by liberal values for confronting these issues surrounding global terrorism. The book outlines the framework of a liberal strategy, and exposes the costs of the neo-conservative alternative that has driven US foreign policy since 9/11.

"Tom Farer's book is a pleasure to read, both for the specialist and for the lay person. First of all, it is extremely well written, eloquent in a way few texts nowadays are. Farer's language is very rich without being archaic, serious but replete with healthy irony: it inspires envy of everyone who writes on similar topics." -- Vojin Dimitrijevic, Professor of International Law and Member, Permanent Court of International Arbitration

Bad Days in Basra: My Turbulent Time as Britain's Man in Southern Iraq

by Hilary Synnott

From the publisher:
This is the story of Sir Hilary Synnott’s time as Britain’s most senior representative in Southern Iraq, from 2003 to 2004, trying to keep the region together as the rest of the country descended in to murderous violence.

By turns wryly comic, revealing and heart-breaking, it offers a never seen before glimpse in to the high politics of the occupation. Shuttling between the gilded palaces of the Green Zone and the Coalition HQ in Basra, Synnott had to deal with his American counterpart Paul Bremer's brash indifference to what was going on in the South, the fickleness of his London masters, who could never make up their minds, and the brutal political realities of a country under occupation.

Bearing witness for first time to the chaotic fashion in which the coalition was run and the disastrous impact of its policies, Synnott's unique insider account is the most important primary source yet on how Southern Iraq spun out of control. It is also an entertaining and witty portrait of the absurdities of life inside the occupying coalition.

"A compelling picture of the administrative turmoil after Saddam Hussein was ousted. Hilary Synnott was one of a number of resourceful, determined individuals trying to make order out of chaos in the country, and this book gives an illuminating insight into the role of the British contingent in the South-East and its tussles with the centre in Baghdad. Whether you want to enjoy the tragi-comedy of the story or learn the telling lessons from the mistakes, you can have confidence in this shrewd, balanced and authentic account."- Sir Jeremy Greenstock, former Prime Ministerial Envoy to Iraq

Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?

by Morgan Spurlock

From the publisher:
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and director Morgan Spurlock, who volunteered his body as a guinea pig for the fast food industry in the hit documentary Super Size Me, now sets his sights even higher in Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?

Spurlock is a jittery father-to-be with a simple question: If OBL is behind 9/11 and all the ensuing worldwide chaos, then why can’t we just catch him? And furthermore, why is his message so compelling to so many people? So the intrepid Spurlock kisses his anxious wife goodbye and–armed with a complete lack of knowledge, experience, or expertise–sets out to make the world safe for infantkind and find the most wanted man on earth.

After boning up on his basic knowledge of OBL, Islam, and the Global War on Terror–and learning how to treat “sucking chest wounds” in a “Surviving Hostile Regions” training course–he hits the Osama trail. He zigzags the globe, drawing ever closer to the heart of darkness near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where OBL is rumored to be hiding. Along the way he interviews imams and princes, refugees and soldiers, academics and terrorists. He visits European ghettos where youth aspire to global jihad, breaks the Ramadan fast with Muslims in Cairo, rides in the bomb squad van in Tel Aviv, and writes his blood type on his Kevlar vest at a U.S. base outside of Kandahar. And then the fun really starts.

Companion to the acclaimed documentary, Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? delves even deeper. What readers come away with is possibly the first-ever funny book about terrorism, as well as a greater understanding of aconflict that has cast a shadow across America and the world.

Morgan Spurlock is an award-winning writer, producer, and director. His movie Super Size Me is one of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time, and earned him an Oscar nomination, and the Best Director prizes at the Sundance and Edinburgh film festivals. He has also produced documentary films, including What Would Jesus Buy? and the acclaimed television show 30 Days, which is in its third season. He lives in New York with his wife, Alex.

The Triumph of the Martyrs: A Reporter's Journey into Occupied Iraq

by Nir Rosen

From the publisher:
He is one of the few Western journalists to get inside the Sunni insurgency, and his book contains a memorable portrait, among other things, of Fallujah under the chaotic rule of the mujahideen. - The New York Review of Books

Represents brave reportage and significantly increases our understanding of what Rosen describes as an already raging civil war. - Publishers Weekly

If you want to gain a better understanding and tangible feel, on a pragmatic, smell-of-the-streets level, of the cause-and-effect cycle of coalition actions upon the Iraqi people, then Rosens book is a good place to start. - Washington Monthly

Journalist Nir Rosen unabashedly chronicles the violent shift of Iraq from the toppled regime symbolized by Saddams fallen statue to a country holding its first elections in 2005 while descending into civil war. Fluent in Iraqi-accented Arabic, Rosen moved beyond the Green Zone and infiltrated the inner world of the average Iraqi during his one-and-a-half year stint. He bravely experienced the Iraqis plight and articulates in The Triumph of the Martyrs the factors contributing to their suffering, notably the palpable tension between the Iraqis and the Americans and the bitter divisions between the Sunnis and the Shias. To give proper voice to these dissensions, Rosen interviewed emerging sect leaders; joined Shias on their annual pilgrimage; and spoke with Iraqi civilians about their experiences with American soldiers and why they so vehemently oppose the occupation. Rosens risky reportage, however, also brought him to the brink of death, with suspicious Iraqis interrogating him at gunpoint and bombs exploding dangerously close to his living quarters. In his account of the chaotic fledgling republic, Rosen fluidly permeates the boundaries among its warring sides. Triumph of the Martyrs is the first paperback edition of the book published in hardcover in 2006 as In the Belly of the Green Bird.

Born in New York City in 1977, Nir Rosen is a freelance writer, photographer, and filmmaker who has worked in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and other popular tourist destinations. He is a fellow at the New America Foundation and currently resides in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Renegotiation of the Just War Tradition and the Right to War in the Twenty-First Century

by Cian O'Driscoll

From the publisher:
This book examines the manner by which the just war tradition has been invoked, engaged, and developed in the context of the war on terror. It pays particular attention to the questions of anticipatory war, humanitarian intervention, and punitive war, and looks to compare current thinking on these issues to classical ideas about when and how war might be justified. In doing so, it draws our attention to the renegotiation of the right to war that is taking place in the post-9/11 world, while also illuminating the stories of change, continuity, and contestation that underpin the ongoing development of the just war tradition.

Cian O’Driscoll is a lecturer in International Relations at the University of Glasgow. He completed his PhD in 2006 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Prior to this he studied at the University of Limerick, Dalhousie University, and the University of Oslo. Cian has published a number of articles on the just war tradition, contributing to The Cambridge Review of International Affairs, International Relations, and the Journal of Military Ethics. Cian currently convenes the MSc in International Politics at the University of Glasgow.

"In this lucid volume, Cian O'Driscoll examines critically the use of the idiom of just war proffered by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair to justify the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. O'Driscoll takes up the arguments of contemporary just war scholars who either contested or accepted the rationale of the two war leaders, engaging their positions in a balanced, hard-hitting analysis. [This book] is a significant contribution to just war scholarship and Cian O'Driscoll is a scholar we will hear more from in years to come."-- Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago, author of Just War against Terror

From LWBN:
The publication date shown on Amazon for this title is April 15; on the publisher's website it is "April"; on Barnes & Noble it is May 27.

A Solitary War: A Diplomat's Chronicle of the Iraq War and Its Lessons

by Heraldo Munoz

From the publisher:
Beginning with a "telling phone call from Condi," the former president of the UN Security Council tells for the first time the behind-the-scenes story of the Iraq war, as seen from an international perspective. Ambassador Munoz examines the United States' controversial decision to take a unilateral stand and the repercussions for both the U.S. and the rest of the world. This fascinating book explains why a multilateral approach to foreign policy, including reliance on international organizations such as the UN, is imperative in today's world. A Solitary War offers a compelling argument for rebuilding trust among the international community and returning to a truly cooperative global order.

Ambassador Heraldo Munoz was deputy foreign minister of Chile between March 2000 and January 2002 and minister secretary-general of government prior to assuming his present post as Chilean ambassador to the UN. In that capacity, and as the recent president of the UN Security Council, he was a direct participant in the diplomatic initiatives and negotiations on key international issues, from Iraq and Lebanon to Sudan and Haiti.

Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East

by Quil Lawrence

From the publisher:
The American invasion of Iraq has been a success - for the Kurds. Kurdistan is an invisible nation, and the Kurds the largest ethnic group on Earth without a homeland, comprising some 25 million moderate Sunni Muslims living in the area around the borders of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Through a history dating back to biblical times, they have endured persecution and betrayal, surviving only through stubborn compromise with greater powers. They have always desired their own state, and now, accidentally, the United States may have helped them take a huge step toward that goal.

As Quil Lawrence relates in his fascinating and timely study of the Iraqi Kurds, while their ambition and determination grow apace, their future will be largely dependent on whether America values a budding democracy in the region, or decides to yet again sacrifice the Kurds in the name of political expediency. Either way, the Kurdish north may well prove to be the defining battleground in Iraq, as the country struggles to hold itself together. At this extraordinary moment in the saga of Kurdistan, informed by his deep knowledge of the people and region, Lawrence's intimate and unflinching portrait of the Kurds and their heretofore quixotic quest offers a vital and original lens through which to contemplate the future of Iraq and the surrounding Middle East.

Quil Lawrence is the Middle East correspondent for BBC/ PRI's The World, and has spent much of the last seven years in Iraq and Kurdistan. He has reported for National Public Radio, the Los Angeles Times, and the Christian Science Monitor, and has won awards for his reporting from Colombia, Sudan and Iraq. This is his first book.

From the critics:
Mr. Lawrence, a sympathetic but not uncritical observer, makes it easy to root for a people whose struggle has long seemed, to quote Neville Chamberlain on Czechoslovakia, "a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing." - New York Times

Al Qaeda in Its Own Words

by Gilles Kepel (Editor), Jean-Pierre Milelli (Editor), Pascale Ghazaleh (Translator)

From the publisher:
Despite the frequent appearances of Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri on television screens worldwide, Al Qaeda remains an elusive entity. As the world has grown increasingly familiar with the spectacle of Islamist terrorism, Al Qaeda’s essential worldview has remained bewilderingly opaque. To reveal its inner workings, Gilles Kepel and his collaborators, all scholars of Arabic and Islam, have collected and brilliantly annotated key texts of the major figures from whom the movement has drawn its beliefs and direction. The resulting volume offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assumptions of the salafist jihadists who have reshaped political life at the beginning of the third millennium.

Excerpts from the work of Azzabdallah Azzam, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi—drawn from speeches, internet postings, and published writings—tell the story of Al Qaeda’s evolution, from its origins in the Afghan war through the war in Iraq. These texts reveal the rational, discursive mode used to persuade and to justify violent armed struggle in a universe defined by militant Islam. Substantial interpretive introductions to each leader’s work and extensive critical commentary provide unparalleled access to the intellectual and doctrinal context of Al Qaeda in which these radical ideas have taken shape.

By viewing Al Qaeda from within, this indispensable volume reveals the terrorist network’s insidious role in the global web culture of today and the full dimensions of its frightening threat to world stability and security.

Publishers Weekly : With this book, Kepel and Milelli, professors at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, have produced a seminal study of al-Qaeda, introducing the key texts and figures inspiring this still shadowy movement...Kepel and Milelli compellingly present the online texts that serve as al-Qaeda's "doctrine," dissecting the discourse and identifying the images and rhetoric al-Qaeda depends upon. This view of al-Qaeda from within presents sobering evidence of the threat al-Qaeda poses and is an indispensable read.

The Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle against Authoritarian Rule

by Fakhreddin Azimi

From the publisher:
The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 launched Iran as a pioneer in a broad-based movement to establish democratic rule in the non-Western world. In a book that provides essential context for understanding modern Iran, Fakhreddin Azimi traces a century of struggle for the establishment of representative government.

The promise of constitutional rule was cut short in the 1920s with the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Shah, whose despotic rule Azimi deftly captures, maintained the façade of a constitutional monarch but greeted any challenge with an iron fist: “I will eliminate you,” he routinely barked at his officials. In 1941, fearful of losing control of the oil-rich region, the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate but allowed Mohammad Reza to succeed his father. Though promising to abide by the constitution, the new Shah missed no opportunity to undermine it.

The Anglo-American–backed coup of 1953, which ousted reformist premier Mohammed Mosaddeq, dealt a blow to the constitutionalists. The Shah’s repressive policies and subservience to the United States radicalized both secular and religious opponents, leading to the revolution of 1979. Azimi argues that we have fundamentally misunderstood this event by characterizing it as an “Islamic” revolution when it was in reality the expression of a long-repressed desire for popular sovereignty. This explains why the clerical rulers have failed to counter the growing public conviction that the Islamic Republic, too, is impervious to political reform—and why the democratic impulse that began with the Constitutional Revolution continues to be a potent and resilient force.

Twentieth-century Iranian history provides wonderful examples of recurring themes of revolution, authoritarian rule, and the attempt to create democratic institutions. In this landmark book, Fakhreddin Azimi illuminates a subject of the greatest importance to Iran, the Middle East, and, indeed, the rest of the world. Elegantly written and deeply informative, The Quest for Democracy in Iran is a must read. --Roger Owen, Harvard University

Azimi's impressive book offers a penetrating analysis of what sustained authoritarian rule in Iran over the last one hundred years and how the aspirations and quest for social justice, the rule of law, and freedom have remained both frustrated and resilient. He shows that the key hopes and agendas associated with the 1906 Constitutional Revolution remain as salient as ever. --Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University

The Quest for Democracy in Iran is a book of immense erudition, yet it is also a work of passion and sympathy for the Iranian people. A rigorous and fair-minded assessment of the Pahlavi dynasty and the revolution under Khomeni, it will command the attention of the general public as well as scholars. --Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas at Austin

War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism

by Douglas J. Feith

From the publisher:
Of all the players in the planning and evolution of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism, few were more integral -- or more controversial -- than Douglas Feith, the chief strategist on Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon policy team. A highly influential international policy analyst for more than a quarter century before joining the Bush Administration in 2001, Feith worked closely with Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Cheney, and President Bush in defining the U.S. response to the attacks of 9/11 -- from the successful war on Afghanistan to the more challenging invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.

Now, in this candid and revealing memoir, Feith -- a founding member of the "neoconservative" movement and an architect of the administration's preventive strategy in the war on terrorism -- offers the most in-depth and authoritative account yet of the Pentagon's evolving stance during one of the most controversial eras of American history. Drawing upon a unique trove of documents and records, this extraordinary chronicle will put the reader in the room for scores of previously unreported senior-level meetings, showing how hundreds of critical decisions were made in defense of American interests during and after the crisis of 9/11 -- decisions both successful and controversial. Where journalists like Bob Woodward could only speculate, Feith is the first inside player to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, at a time when history hung in the balance.

As the political battles over Iraq and the Bush administration surge onward, one thing has been missing: A fair and accurate assessment of how the battles were joined, from inside the team that planned them. With this exceptional work of history, Douglas Feith contributes the only thing that can change the course of the debate: the truth.

Terrorist Recognition Handbook: A Practitioner's Manual for Predicting and Identifying Terrorist Activities, Second Edition

by Malcolm Nance

From the publisher:
Written by a 20-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community, this second edition reflects the latest geopolitical factors affecting global terrorist incidents and regional insurgencies. A new section includes an analysis of transformations within Al Qaeda, coverage of the modern insurgency, and new global and regional terrorist groups. Completely updated, the section on terrorist tactics reveals the latest trends and attack methods and includes a new chapter on previously unseen suicide bombings. This book is an invaluable training tool on how to identify an attack; how to mitigate damage from successful attacks; and how to recognize the various stages of developing terrorist plots.

Ending the Iraq War: A Primer

by Phyllis Bennis

From the publisher:
Even before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, challenging questions were on the rise. Why did three separate U.S. administrations, so different in so many ways, all agree on maintaining crippling economic sanctions on Iraq? Was it really the United Nations that imposed those "international" sanctions? Why was the second Bush administration so determined to go after Saddam Hussein? What was Operation Iraqi Freedom all about? What did oil have to do with it? And what about those U.S. bases constructed across Iraq? Was Saddam Hussein really connected to the September 11 attacks? Was this really "Bush's war," and what does Congress have to do with it? Is the U.S. occupation of Iraq connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? With tens of thousands of U.S. troops bogged down in Iraq, is an attack on Iran even possible? Are those who oppose the war really anti-American and "soft on terrorism?"

Even if the mainstream press in the U.S. ignores many of those questions, independent analysts have examined them since before the war began. Phyllis Bennis was one of the many Middle East and UN-watchers who anticipated disaster long before the first U.S. troops crossed into Iraq. Here, in an easy-to-read, "Frequently Asked Questions" format, Institute for Policy Studies scholar Bennis provides clear, unambiguous and honest answers to those and many more queries. With the Bush administration and most Democratic presidential candidates for the 2008 elections agreeing that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq "indefinitely" this handy guide is a must-read.

Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. and the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. She is a long-time analyst of U.S. policy in the Middle East, particularly regarding the Iraq war and Israel-Palestine conflict. Her books include Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN Defy U.S. Power and Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer.

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

Red Zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad

by Oliver Poole

From the publisher:
Imagine cheering on your national football team as your country falls apart; risking suicide bombers and kidnappers to go to the shops; or driving your wife to hospital through roadblocks manned by terrorists as she's about to give birth... Red Zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad is Oliver Poole's extraordinary account of daily life for Iraqis, as well as the British and American soldiers sent to Iraq. It's also the story of Ahmed Ali, tourist guide turned Telegraph interpreter, a job that made him an insurgent target.

Poole first crossed into Iraq in March 2003, from Kuwait, as a Daily Telegraph reporter, 'embedded' in the back of an American armoured vehicle. Three weeks later, his unit had fought their way to Baghdad. But when Poole returned to London, he was haunted by the dead: had the bloodshed been worthwhile?

Eighteen months later, as the Telegraph's Baghdad Bureau Chief, he came back to find a country racked by suicide bombs and the burgeoning horror of the Sunni-Shia civil war. There he met Ahmed, his closest friend in Baghdad. For the next two years, they worked out of the Baghdad hotel suite where Poole lived. Inevitably, they could not remain unscathed: Poole's hotel-home was blown up and finally Ahmed's family, part Shia, part Sunni, tainted by their international connections, became engulfed by the violence.

Fear Up Harsh: An Army Interrogator's Dark Journey Through Iraq

by Tony Lagouranis and Allen Mikaelian

From the publisher:
When the U.S. went to war with Iraq, Lagouranis-who joined the Army prior to September 11-was tapped to be an interrogator in places like Abu Ghraib and Fallujah. He believed in his mission, but he soon discovered that pushing the legal limits of interrogation was encouraged. Under orders, he-along with numerous other soldiers-abused and terrorized hundreds of prisoners by adding "enhancements" to "Fear Up Harsh," an official tactic designed to terrify prisoners into revealing information.

This is an unflinching first-hand account of how one man struggled with his own conscience and ultimately broke the silence surrounding interrogation practices. The first Army interrogator to step forward and publicly denounce these tactics, Lagouranis reveals what went on in Iraqi prisons-raising crucial questions about American conduct abroad.

Tony Lagouranis has appeared on Democracy Now, the PBS Frontline documentary "The Torture Question," and MSNBC's Hardball. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Allen Mikaelian is a doctoral fellow in history at American University and author of the New York Times bestseller Medal of Honor.

Party of Defeat

by David Horowitz and Ben Johnson

From the publisher:
A nation divided in wartime invites its own defeat. Yet that is precisely how America is facing the global war on terror. In a brutally honest assessment, David Horowitz and Ben Johnson show that the American left, led by the Democratic Party, is waging a ferocious political war against its own government that has left our country more seriously divided than at any time since the Civil War. And the consequences could be disastrous.

In the fight against Islamic terrorists, America faces perennial questions that have become suddenly urgent: What is legitimate criticism of military policy in wartime? When does criticism cross the line and undermine the national interest? Democrats now routinely cross that line, Horowitz and Johnson show. Their candid and explosive reporting forces us to confront the consequences of these unprecedented attacks on the US war effort.

Examining the anti-war arguments of Democratic leaders like Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi, Party of Defeat reveals their fundamental misunderstanding of our enemy and an antipathy to the American cause going back to Vietnam. As radical Islam emerged in the 1970s, it found an ally in a left-wing establishment now thoroughly conditioned to blame America first. Our failure to confront the religious thugs who humiliated us in Iran encouraged the increasingly aggressive-and deadly-Islamist movement that eventually drew us into full-scale war.

Yet the cowardice and neglect of the Carter and Clinton years pale in comparison with the Democrats' defection from the war in Iraq-a war they first authorized then abandoned. This betrayal of our forces in the field has opened, incredibly, a domestic front in our country's fight forsurvival against an enemy fanatically devoted to our extermination.

David Horowitz is a celebrated political convert from radicalism. From the Cold War to the War on Terror, he has won fame for relentlessly unmasking the enemies of American freedom. He is president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center in Los Angeles, where he works with Ben Johnson, managing editor of FrontPage Magazine

Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo

by Murat Kurnaz

From the publisher:
In October 2001, nineteen-year-old Murat Kurnaz traveled to Pakistan to visit a madrassa. During a security check a few weeks after his arrival, he was arrested without explanation and for a bounty of $3,000, the Pakistani police sold him to U.S. forces.

He was first taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he was severely mistreated, and then two months later he was flown to Guantanamo as Prisoner #61. For more than 1,600 days, he was tortured and lived through hell.He was kept in a cage and endured daily interrogations, solitary confinement, and sleep deprivation. Finally, in August 2006, Kurnaz was released, with acknowledgment of his innocence. Told with lucidity, accuracy, and wisdom, Kurnaz's story is both sobering and poignant--an important testimony about our turbulent times when innocent people get caught in the crossfire of the war on terrorism.

"A vital document that should - rightly - shock and appall." — Kirkus

"This book hurts. As it should. Whoever reads this book won't forget it for a long time." - Tageszeitung

"This book is both impressive and oppressive and should be made required reading for our foreign minister and for all the people who stood in the way of this man's return." - Frankfurter Rundschau

"If you want to know the exact meaning of the true the cost in terms of human rights and humanity in the international war on terror, read this book. It will be a shocking experience." - Tagesspiegel

Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century

by Philip Bobbitt

From the publisher:
An urgent reconceptualization of the Wars on Terror from the author of The Shield of Achilles (“magisterial”— The New York Times, “a classic for future generations”—The New York Review of Books).

In this book Philip Bobbitt brings together historical, legal, and strategic analyses to understand the idea of a “war on terror.” Does it make sense? What are its historical antecedents? How would such a war be “won”? What are the appropriate doctrines of constitutional and international law for democracies in such a struggle?

He provocatively declares that the United States is the chief cause of global networked terrorism because of overwhelming American strategic dominance. This is not a matter for blame, he insists, but grounds for reflection on basic issues. We have defined the problem of winning the fight against terror in a way that makes the situation virtually impossible to resolve. We need to change our ideas about terrorism, war, and even victory itself.

Bobbitt argues that the United States has ignored the role of law in devising its strategy, with fateful consequences, and has failed to reform law in light of the changed strategic context. Along the way he introduces new ideas and concepts—Parmenides’ Fallacy, the Connectivity Paradox, the market state, and the function of terror as a by-product of globalization—to help us prepare for what may be a decades-long conflict of which the battle against al Qaeda is only the first instance.

At stake is whether we can maintain states of consent in the twenty-first century or whether the dominant constitutional order will be that of states of terror. Challenging, provocative, and insightful, Terror and Consent addresses the deepest themes of governance, liberty, and violence. It will change the way we think about confronting terror—and it will change the way we evaluate public policies in that struggle.

“Terror and Consent is the most profound analysis of the wars against terror. Bobbitt puts the threat in its proper historical and theoretical context, explains its relationship to globalization, international law and the domestic constitutional structure and offers tough-minded but humane prescriptions. No one understands the challenge of the terror threat in all its dimensions as well as Philip Bobbitt.”
- Jack Goldsmith, Shattuck Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and author of The Terror Presidency

“Philip Bobbitt has long been one of the most thoughtful and wise commentators on the state of the modern world and the challenge that it faces. But in this book, he sets out with clarity and courage the first really comprehensive analysis of the struggle against terror and what we can do to win it. Above all, he understands that this war is new in every aspect of its nature — how it has come about, the profound threat that it poses, how it has to be fought and the revolution in traditional thinking necessary to achieve victory. It may be written by an academic but it is actually required reading for political leaders.” -- Tony Blair

The Great Satan vs. the Mad Mullahs: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other

by William O. Beeman

From the publisher:
For more than twenty-five years, the United States and Iran have been diplomatically estranged, each characterizing the other not only as a political adversary, but also as devious, threatening, and essentially evil. According to William O. Beeman’s provocative book, The “Great Satan” vs. the “Mad Mullahs,” such demonization is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as both countries have embraced exactly the policies and rhetoric that would particularly threaten or insult the other. Drawing on his experience as a linguistic anthropologist, Beeman parses how political leaders have used historical references, religious associations, and the mythology of evil to inflame their own citizens against the foreign country, and proposes a way out of this dangerous debacle.

“William Beeman’s analysis of dissonant perceptions of Iran and the USA is compelling and important. . . . I am particularly grateful for this work.” — James Peacock, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“[Beeman] is more interested in informing the reader than in impressing his peers. The other strength of the book lies in the author’s knowledge of Iranian history and culture. . . . It challenges the reader and forces him to question stereotypes about Iran and Washington’s perspective on the country.” — Abbas William Samii, Middle East Journal