The Matador's Cape: America's Reckless Response to TerrorThe Matador's Cape delves into the causes of the catastrophic turn in American policy at home and abroad since 9/11. In a collection of searing essays, the author explores Washington's inability to bring 'the enemy' into focus, detailing the ideological, bureaucratic, electoral and (not least) emotional forces that severely distorted the American understanding of, and response to, the terrorist threat. He also shows how the gratuitous and disastrous shift of attention from al Qaeda to Iraq was shaped by a series of misleading theoretical perspectives on the end of deterrence, the clash of civilizations, humanitarian intervention, unilateralism, democratization, torture, intelligence gathering and wartime expansions of presidential power. The author's breadth of knowledge about the War on Terror leads to conclusions about present-day America that are at once sobering in their depth of reference and inspiring in their global perspective. |
Contents
Section 20 | 158 |
Section 21 | 178 |
Section 22 | 192 |
Section 23 | 197 |
Section 24 | 201 |
Section 25 | 203 |
Section 26 | 211 |
Section 27 | 215 |
Section 9 | 82 |
Section 10 | 92 |
Section 11 | 107 |
Section 12 | 109 |
Section 13 | 111 |
Section 14 | 127 |
Section 15 | 131 |
Section 16 | 133 |
Section 17 | 135 |
Section 18 | 146 |
Section 19 | 157 |
Section 28 | 217 |
Section 29 | 225 |
Section 30 | 235 |
Section 31 | 238 |
Section 32 | 240 |
Section 33 | 244 |
Section 34 | 257 |
Section 35 | 258 |
Section 36 | 264 |
Section 37 | 283 |
Section 38 | 286 |
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Administration’s al Qaeda alleged allies American antiwar Arab argued Atta attack basic believe Berman Bush Administration Bush’s civilians civilizations claim Clash of Civilizations Cold Cold War conflict Constitution counterterrorism crimes criminal critics cultural danger death decision defense democracy democratic detainees effective enemy ethnic Europe Europeans executive explain fear force foreign policy Framers genocide global Hamburg cell hijackers human rights humanitarian Huntington Ikenberry innocent international law interrogation invade Iraq Iraq war Iraqi Islamic Islamist jihad jihadists Kagan killing Kosovo Laden liberal Mann Middle East military moral multilateralism murder Muslim national security neoconservatives nuclear Osama bin Laden political postwar President president’s problem psychological Qaeda radical reason regime religious response to 9/11 Rieff role Rwanda Saddam Saddam Hussein Samantha Power simply Soviet strategy suicide missions suicide terrorism terrorists threat tion torture unilateral United violence war on terror weapons West Western Wolfowitz
Popular passages
Page 21 - Ce sont d'ordinaire les fripons qui conduisent les fanatiques, et qui mettent le poignard entre leurs mains; ils ressemblent à ce Vieux de la Montagne qui faisait, diton, goûter les joies du paradis à des imbéciles, et qui leur promettait une éternité de ces plaisirs dont il leur avait donné un avantgoût, à condition qu'ils iraient assassiner tous ceux qu'il leur nommerait.