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Overblown How Politicians & the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats & Why We Believe Them

by John Mueller
Overblown How Politicians & the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats & Why We Believe Them

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ISBN13: 9781416541714
ISBN10: 1416541713
Condition: Standard
DustJacket: Standard

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Why have there been no terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11? It is ridiculously easy for a single person with a bomb-filled backpack, or a single explosives-laden automobile, to launch an attack. So why hasn't it happened? The answer is surely not the Department of Homeland Security, which cannot stop terrorists from entering the country, legally or otherwise. It is surely not the Iraq war, which has stoked the hatred of Muslim extremists around the world and wasted many thousands of lives. Terrorist attacks have been regular events for many years -- usually killing handfuls of people, occasionally more than that.

Is it possible that there is a simple explanation for the peaceful American homefront? Is it possible that there are no al-Qaeda terrorists here? Is it possible that the war on terror has been a radical overreaction to a rare event? Consider: 80,000 Arab and Muslim immigrants have been subjected to fingerprinting and registration, and more than 5,000 foreign nationals have been imprisoned -- yet there has not been a single conviction for a terrorist crime in America. A handful of plots -- some deadly, some intercepted -- have plagued Europe and elsewhere, and even so, the death toll has been modest.

We have gone to war in two countries and killed tens of thousands of people. We have launched a massive domestic wiretapping program and created vast databases of information once considered private. Politicians and pundits have berated us about national security and patriotic duty, while encroaching our freedoms and sending thousands of young men off to die.

It is time to consider the hypothesis that dare not speak its name: we have wildly overreacted. Terrorism has been used by murderous groups for many decades, yet even including 9/11, the odds of an American being killed by international terrorism are microscopic. In general, international terrorism doesn't do much damage when considered in almost any reasonable context.

The capacity of al-Qaeda or of any similar group to do damage in the United States pales in comparison to the capacity other dedicated enemies, particularly international Communism, have possessed in the past. Lashing out at the terrorist threat is frequently an exercise in self-flagellation because it is usually more expensive than the terrorist attack itself and because it gives the terrorists exactly what they are looking for. Much, probably most, of the money and effort expended on counterterrorism since 2001 (and before, for that matter) has been wasted.

The terrorism industry and its allies in the White House and Congress have preyed on our fears and caused enormous damage. It is time to rethink the entire enterprise and spend much smaller amounts on only those things that do matter: intelligence, law enforcement, and disruption of radical groups overseas. Above all, it is time to stop playing into the terrorists' hands, by fear-mongering and helping spread terror itself.

Synopsis

Proposes that an exaggerated fear of terrorism, fueled by the Bush Adminstration and the terrorism industry, resulted in an unneccessary war and diverted resources that could have been used on a much smaller scale to target and disrupt radical overseas groups.

Synopsis

A scholar and expert on national security argues that the threat of terrorism has been vastly inflated, arguing that industry and its political allies have manipulated the system, spent billions of dollars, preyed on Americans' fears, and launched an unnecessary military operation. 60,000 first printing.

About the Author

John Mueller holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies, Mershon Center, and is professor of Political Science at Ohio State University, where he teaches courses in international relations.

He is the author of several classic works of political science and many editorial page columns and articles in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, Reason, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

Mueller is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has been a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, and has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has also received several teaching prizes.


Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction: Overblown

PART I:

TERRORISM'S IMPACT

1. The Limited Destructiveness of Terrorism

2. Overreacting to Terrorism: The Terrorism Industry

PART II:

HISTORICAL COMPARISONS

3. Dates of Infamy: Pearl Harbor and 9/11

4. Cold War, Containment, and Conspiracy

5. Nuclear Fears, Cold War Terrorism, and Devils du Jour

6. Disorderliness in the New World Order

PART III:

APPROACHING TERROR AND TERRORISM

7. An Alternative Terrorism Policy: Absorbing, Policing, Reducing Fear, Avoiding Overreaction

8. Terrorism and Terror

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index


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`
sanfiv , February 26, 2007
To the Author - 9-11 TRUTH (Neocon Crimes) (1) Neocons withdrew and delayed Norad response by simultaneous war games. (2) Neocons preset charges in World Trade Center during a security drill with the cameras off. (3) Neocons exploded WTC 1 & 2 one hour after the plane explosion, as can be seen on video. (4) Neocons set fire and imploded WTC 7 at 5 pm, destroying a command center & Wall St. accounting records. (5) Neocons ordered no defense of the Pentagon when imminent attack was known, as reported by eyewitness. (6) Neocons hit the Pentagon with a small missile plane, destroying Defense accounting records. (7) Neocons hit the Pennsylvania plane with a missile, as reported by witnesses, and it exploded in small pieces. (8) Neocons removed the steel evidence at WTC site before investigation, and military thermite explosive has been found. (9) Neocons removed videotapes at the Pentagon, and the black boxes from the WTC planes. (10) Neocons broadcast fake al-Qaeda video in English, FBI reported no link between 9-11 and al Qaeda.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781416541714
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
11/01/2006
Publisher:
SIMON & SCHUSTER TRADE
Pages:
259
Height:
9.30 in.
Width:
6.40 in.
Thickness:
.90 in.
Grade Range:
General/trade
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
2006
UPC Code:
2801416541716
Author:
John Mueller
Author:
Mueller
Subject:
Cold war
Subject:
Terrorism -- United States -- Prevention.
Subject:
War on Terrorism, 2001-

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