Synopses & Reviews
An essential and page-turning narrative on the history of drone warfare by the acclaimed author of Rumsfeld, exploring how this practice emerged, who made it happen, and the real consequences of targeted killingAssassination by drone is a subject of deep and enduring fascination. Yet few understand how and why this has become our principal way of waging war. Kill Chain uncovers the real and extraordinary story; its origins in long-buried secret programs, the breakthroughs that made drone operations possible, the ways in which the technology works and, despite official claims, does not work. Taking the reader inside the well-guarded world of national security, the book reveals the powerful interests - military, CIA and corporate - that have led the drive to kill individuals by remote control. Most importantly of all, the book describes what has really happened when the theories underpinning the strategy -- and the multi-billion dollar contracts they spawn -- have been put to the test. Drawing on sources deep in the military and intelligence establishments, Kill Chain unveils the true effects, as demonstrated by bloody experience, of assassination warfare, a revelation that readers will find surprising as well as shocking.
Synopsis
An essential and engaging political history of drone warfare by the acclaimed author of Rumsfeld, exploring how this new type of warfare came about, who made it happen, and why
For the first time in our military history, how we wage war is being built around a single strategy: the tracking and elimination of "high value targets"—in other words, assassination by military drone. Kill Chain is the story of how this new paradigm came to be, from WWII to the present; revealing the inner workings of these military technologies; introducing the key figures behind the transformation as well as the people on whom these deadly technologies have been tested; and illuminating the effects of drone warfare on our global image. This book will shed new light on the subject, from drone development in WWII and their use in the Vietnam War, to their embrace by the Bush administration and their controversial use by President Obama today.
Cockburn will detail the corporate and political agendas that have effectively legitimized the once-banned practice of assassination, and the devastating effects of drone strikes gone awry.
About the Author
Andrew Cockburn is the Washington Editor of Harper's magazine and the author of many articles and books on national security, including the New York Times Editor's Choice Rumsfeld and The Threat, which destroyed the myth of Soviet military superiority underpinning the Cold War. He is a regular opinion contributor to the Los Angeles Times and has written for, among others, the New York Times, National Geographic and the London Review of Books.