Synopses & Reviews
Nothing will be the same after September 11th. This is the wisdom, offered and widely received since the announcement of the war on terrorism: a permanent war declared on both an unknown enemy and an abstract noun. But in Theater of War, Lewis Lapham shows with customary intelligence and wit that the recent imperial behavior of the United States government is perfectly consistent with the practice of past administrations.
Finding skeptics in the battle against evil has been a rare achievement. For example, as Lapham points out: “Ted Koppel struck the preferred note of caution on November 2 when introducing the Nightline audience to critics of the American bombing of Afghanistan: ‘Some of you, many of you, are not going to like what you hear tonight. You don’t have to listen.’” Unpopular opinions seldom make an appearance on the network news, and during the months since the destruction of the World Trade Center, the voices of dissent have been few and far between. Lewis Lapham is an exception. Almost alone among mainstream political commentators, he has had the courage to question the motive and feasibility, as well as the imperial pretension, of the Bush administration’s infinite crusade against the world’s evildoers.
Synopsis
AMERICA'S MAINSTREAM DISSIDENT DEBUNKS THE "WAR ON TERRORISM." In the two years since September 11, finding skeptics in the battle against evil has been a rare achievement. Unpopular opinions seldom make an appearance on the network news, and voices of dissent have been few and far between. Lewis Lapham is an exception. Almost alone among mainstream political commentators, he has had the courage to question the motive and feasibility, as well as the imperial pretension, of the Bush administration's infinite crusade against an unknown enemy and an abstract noun.
About the Author
Lewis Lapham is the editor of
Lapham’s Quarterly. Formerly the editor of
Harper’s Magazine, he is the author of several books, including
Money and Class in America,
Theater of War (The New Press),
Gag Rule, and
Pretensions to Empire (The New Press). He lives in New York City.