World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism

For almost half a centuryas a magazine editor and as the author of numerous bestselling books and hundreds of articlesNorman Podhoretz has helped drive the central political and intellectual debates in this country. Now, in this beautifully written and powerfully argued book, he takes on the most controversial issue of our timethe war against the global network of terrorists that attacked us on 9/11.

 

In World War IV, Podhoretz makes the first serious effort to set 9/11 itself, the battles that have followed it in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the war of ideas that it has provoked at home into a broad historical context. Through a brilliant telling of this epic story, Podhoretz shows that the global war against Islamofascism is as vital and necessary as the two world wars and the cold war (“World War III”) by which it was preceded. He also lays out a compelling case in defense of the Bush Doctrine, contending that its new military strategy of preemption and its new political strategy of democratization represent the only viable way to fight and win the special kind of war into which we were suddenly plunged.

 

Different in certain respects though the Islamofascists are from their totalitarian predecessors, this new enemy is equally dedicated to the destruction of the freedoms for which America stands and by which it lives. But it took the blatant aggression of 9/11 to make most Americans realize that war had long since been declared on us and that the time had come to fight back. Past administrations, both Republican and Democratic, had failed to respond with appropriate force to attacks by Muslim terrorists on American citizens in various countries, and even the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 was treated as a criminal act rather than an act of war. All this changed after 9/11, when the whole country rallied around President Bushs decision to bring the war to the enemys home ground in the Middle East.

 

The successes and the setbacks that have followed are vividly portrayed by Podhoretz, who goes on to argue that, just as in the two great struggles against totalitarianism in the twentieth century, the key to victory in World War IV will be a willingness to endure occasional reverses without losing sight of what we are fighting against, what we are fighting for, and why we have to win.

"'One of the few proud neoconservatives remaining, Podhoretz offers an impassioned defense of President Bush's foreign policy, gleefully attacking those on the left and the right who harbor suspicions that Bush fils is less than infallible. Convinced that we are in the middle of the fourth world war (the Cold War was the third), he attempts to steel us for the years of conflict to come. But Podhoretz's argument falls flat because of his refusal to face difficult realities in Iraq. He insists that the media has 'resolutely tried to ignore any and all signs of progress' and repeatedly asserts that those with whom he disagrees are committed to seeing the U.S. fail in Iraq in order to enhance their professional reputations. Even in describing how the events of September 11 drew America together, Podhoretz cannot resist partisan sniping: '[E]ven on the old flag-burning Left, a few prominent personalities were painfully wrenching their unaccustomed arms into something vaguely resembling a salute.' Podhoretz's take-no-prisoners writing style will delight his partisans while infuriating his ideological opponents, whom he brands as members of a 'domestic insurgency against the Bush Doctrine.' (Sept.)' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Norman Podhoretz has helped drive the political and intellectual debates in this country for more than forty years. In WORLD WAR IV, he takes on the most controversial issue of our time— the war against the global network of terrorists. Arguing that this war is as legitimate and as necessary as the two World Wars and the Cold War (“ World War III” ), he lays out a compelling case in defense of Bush’ s policies and actions.

With clarity and laser-like intelligence, Podhoretz brings the threat of Islamic extremists into focus. Like the fascists and totalitarians of the last century, the new enemy, and the states breeding and financing its terrorist army, is dedicated to the destruction of the freedoms America stands for. Podhoretz recounts the dismal failure of past administrations to respond with appropriate force to attacks on American citizens by Moslem terrorists in Sudan, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, and, most significantly, the bombing of the World Trade Center by al Qaeda in 1993. The shocking events of 9/11 not only marked the escalation of hostilities, they put the world on notice.

As Podhoretz chronicles President Bush’ s strategies, along with the setbacks and successes in the war on terror to date, he makes it clear that like the “ greatest generation” of the 1940s, and those who fought the ideological struggles of the 1950s and beyond, this generation must take on the responsibility— and the privilege— of protecting American values and freedoms. His arguments demand to be taken seriously by even the bitterest opponents of the Bush foreign policy.

NORMAN PODHORETZ is now editor at large for Commentary magazine, of which he was editor in chief for thirty-five years. He is also an adjunct fellow of the Hudson Institute and the author of numerous bestselling books, including Making It, Breaking Ranks, Ex-Friends, My Love Affair with America, and The Prophets.

PROLOGUE

1: The 9/11 Blame Game

2: How We Emboldened the Terrorists

3: Enter the Bush Doctrine

4: From World War III to World War IV

5: "Jackal Bins" Then and Now

6: Varieties of Anti-Americanism

7: The Mainstream Media

8: Isolationists Right and Left

9: Liberal Internationalists

10: Realists

11: The Radicalization of the Democrats

12: Defeatism on the Right

13: Bush, Reagan, and Truman

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX