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djmax's review against another edition
4.0
It is not an easy read by any measure, but it lays out compelling facts (and lack thereof) around the targeted killing operation the United States has been running for the last 20+ years through administrations of both parties. It is truly shameful, and what a lost generation we have created on both sides of the ocean.
larry1138's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the audiobook version from Audible.
I'm not sure how Jeremy Scahill did it, but he somehow crafted an immensely detailed look at the most secret part of U.S. foreign and military policy. I've already read much on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I've read "Relentless Strike" by Sean Naylor detailing the history of American special forces and the rise of JSOC. I've read "Kill Chain" by Andrew Cockburn detailing the deadly overconfidence of U.S. military technology's ability to win wars simply and quickly. But this book puts all of that into a cohesive and disturbing context set in the post 9/11 era up until about 2013.
The rise of Dick Cheney's neoconservative vision for a global shadow war promoting U.S. interests abroad and the development of a task force that could pull it off. The slow but steady radicalization and eventual assassination of American citizen turned radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The use of drone strikes in Afghanistan and Yemen that actually hindered U.S. efforts at promoting peace. The shadow war between Ethiopia and Somalia that the U.S. helped orchestrate, resulting in the strengthening of terrorist organization al-Shabaab. The development of legal and philosophical justifications for torture, assassination, and the right for U.S. special forces to deploy anywhere to hunt down suspected terrorists. The solidification of the "world is a battlefield" philosophy from Bush to Obama. The transformation of JSOC into an efficient killing machine rivaling the intelligence capabilities of the CIA and augmented by private military corporations.
These are all the revelations you will explore deeply when you read this book. The Somalia chapters took me completely by surprise. The whole book though is eye opening, disturbing, and very important. There was so much I did not know even with my own extensive background in research on the War on Terror and modern military conflicts in the Middle East. Scahill provides an incredible overarching political, geographical, and contemporary historical context of each region he covers, from Washington to Afghanistan to Yemen to Somalia. And if you listen to the audiobook version, Tom Weiner has an excellent voice for the serious tone of this very long volume.
A high recommend from me even though many may find it quite dense, but that's kind of the point. There is so much to learn about in this book, and it's important that you do.
I'm not sure how Jeremy Scahill did it, but he somehow crafted an immensely detailed look at the most secret part of U.S. foreign and military policy. I've already read much on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I've read "Relentless Strike" by Sean Naylor detailing the history of American special forces and the rise of JSOC. I've read "Kill Chain" by Andrew Cockburn detailing the deadly overconfidence of U.S. military technology's ability to win wars simply and quickly. But this book puts all of that into a cohesive and disturbing context set in the post 9/11 era up until about 2013.
The rise of Dick Cheney's neoconservative vision for a global shadow war promoting U.S. interests abroad and the development of a task force that could pull it off. The slow but steady radicalization and eventual assassination of American citizen turned radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The use of drone strikes in Afghanistan and Yemen that actually hindered U.S. efforts at promoting peace. The shadow war between Ethiopia and Somalia that the U.S. helped orchestrate, resulting in the strengthening of terrorist organization al-Shabaab. The development of legal and philosophical justifications for torture, assassination, and the right for U.S. special forces to deploy anywhere to hunt down suspected terrorists. The solidification of the "world is a battlefield" philosophy from Bush to Obama. The transformation of JSOC into an efficient killing machine rivaling the intelligence capabilities of the CIA and augmented by private military corporations.
These are all the revelations you will explore deeply when you read this book. The Somalia chapters took me completely by surprise. The whole book though is eye opening, disturbing, and very important. There was so much I did not know even with my own extensive background in research on the War on Terror and modern military conflicts in the Middle East. Scahill provides an incredible overarching political, geographical, and contemporary historical context of each region he covers, from Washington to Afghanistan to Yemen to Somalia. And if you listen to the audiobook version, Tom Weiner has an excellent voice for the serious tone of this very long volume.
A high recommend from me even though many may find it quite dense, but that's kind of the point. There is so much to learn about in this book, and it's important that you do.
drifterontherun's review against another edition
4.0
What you make of 'Dirty Wars' will ultimately come down to what you make of the title. Is there any such thing as a "clean" war? War is hell, so we're told, so that it's dirty goes without saying. As a result many won't find much worth meriting attention here then, as Jeremy Scahill's nearly 800-page book is full of the kind of first-hand reports from grieving relatives of the innocent victims of drone and missile strikes and botched night raid operations that those in the government and military have been writing off for generations as "collateral damage". Scores of innocent civilians died in allied attacks in WWII (notably in the completely unnecessary firebombing of Dresden which killed more innocent civilians than all the governmental drone, missile and botched night raids have combined) and do in nearly every armed conflict. So what's the big deal?
Scahill and company (one of whom would be the journalist- often cited in these pages- Glenn Greenwald, of Edward Snowden fame) would argue that it's because the government for the most part keeps these operations secret. Indeed, many of Scahill's sources for much of the information here are either kept anonymous for fear of reprisal or part of the huge data dump of confidential files dropped by Wikileaks back some years ago. You should feel outrage then when reading this book not exactly because the government engages in messy raids based on oftentimes bad Intel which leads to the deaths of innocents but because they do it in secret. Bill Clinton didn't get impeached for having sex with an intern but for lying about it while under oath. The analogy seems somewhat fitting here.
There is no doubt that Jeremy Scahill is one of the best investigative journalists working today and the sheer amount of research that went into this book clearly must have been staggering. At times, the book feels muddled as the use of technical and military jargon and back-to-back quotes can feel a bit overwhelming. The book works best then when it is focused on the personal lives and motivations of its characters, most notably the radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki. Scahill threads Al-Awlaki's story throughout 'Dirty Wars', both using it to open and nearly close the book. Indeed, the central theme Scahill appears trying to get across is the outrage we should feel that an American citizen was targeted for assassination and then killed without being first charged publicly with a crime. Scahill's argument doesn't resonate with me here and, while Al-Awlaki's personal story is fascinating, is the weakest in the book.
With everything about the man Scahill includes here there is no doubt that Al-Awlaki was a threat to the lives of American citizens both in the United States and elsewhere and as a result, from a national security perspective, needed to be killed. I for one am glad Obama pulled the trigger on this one. Al-Awlaki never personally raised arms against the United States as far as we know but his influence and his calls for violence against innocent civilians is made evident both in the blog posts and statements Al-Awlaki made (many of which are included here) and his obvious influence on terrorists from Nidal Hasan (the Ft. Hood massacre) to the Boston marathon bombers. I certainly have no sympathy or outrage to share for his death. The fact that he's an American citizen makes no difference.
What is outrageous is the unexplained killing of Al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son two weeks after Al-Awlaki's own death by drone, and to this day the explanation for this has been withheld. Similarly the jailing, encouraged by President Obama, of a Yemeni journalist is also outrageous and without explanation. He certainly should be released.
My central takeaway from 'Dirty Wars' and the lasting impression of the book isn't whether or not the United States has the right to assassinate whomever it chooses in the name of the greater "war on terror" (a dubious claim from whatever side of the political aisle you hail from) but if any of these assassinations, warranted or not, are doing any good at all. That the United States has ramped up the war on terror to include covert and clandestine operations isn't really a surprise to anyone who has been following the news since September 11th and I am surprised only by those who are surprised by it, but what these operations should do is spark a discussion about what this is leading us to.
Ironically, the most poignant quote out of the entire war on terror comes from Donald Rumsfeld when he asked the question all of us should be asking which is the following:
“Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?”
Except keeping in mind that alongside the madrassas and the clerics as an increasingly effective tool for recruitment is the U.S. government. This seems to be the final point Scahill makes here, a choice between "perpetual war" or military disengagement from the Muslim world entirely. As fucked up as a world with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS, etc etc is, is there any way to win in a militantly religious war that increasingly feels like a game of "whack-a-mole"? Or is it better to leave before we get dragged further into the muck and mire of it all? With Hillary Clinton on the horizon, is that even possible any more?
Scahill and company (one of whom would be the journalist- often cited in these pages- Glenn Greenwald, of Edward Snowden fame) would argue that it's because the government for the most part keeps these operations secret. Indeed, many of Scahill's sources for much of the information here are either kept anonymous for fear of reprisal or part of the huge data dump of confidential files dropped by Wikileaks back some years ago. You should feel outrage then when reading this book not exactly because the government engages in messy raids based on oftentimes bad Intel which leads to the deaths of innocents but because they do it in secret. Bill Clinton didn't get impeached for having sex with an intern but for lying about it while under oath. The analogy seems somewhat fitting here.
There is no doubt that Jeremy Scahill is one of the best investigative journalists working today and the sheer amount of research that went into this book clearly must have been staggering. At times, the book feels muddled as the use of technical and military jargon and back-to-back quotes can feel a bit overwhelming. The book works best then when it is focused on the personal lives and motivations of its characters, most notably the radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki. Scahill threads Al-Awlaki's story throughout 'Dirty Wars', both using it to open and nearly close the book. Indeed, the central theme Scahill appears trying to get across is the outrage we should feel that an American citizen was targeted for assassination and then killed without being first charged publicly with a crime. Scahill's argument doesn't resonate with me here and, while Al-Awlaki's personal story is fascinating, is the weakest in the book.
With everything about the man Scahill includes here there is no doubt that Al-Awlaki was a threat to the lives of American citizens both in the United States and elsewhere and as a result, from a national security perspective, needed to be killed. I for one am glad Obama pulled the trigger on this one. Al-Awlaki never personally raised arms against the United States as far as we know but his influence and his calls for violence against innocent civilians is made evident both in the blog posts and statements Al-Awlaki made (many of which are included here) and his obvious influence on terrorists from Nidal Hasan (the Ft. Hood massacre) to the Boston marathon bombers. I certainly have no sympathy or outrage to share for his death. The fact that he's an American citizen makes no difference.
What is outrageous is the unexplained killing of Al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son two weeks after Al-Awlaki's own death by drone, and to this day the explanation for this has been withheld. Similarly the jailing, encouraged by President Obama, of a Yemeni journalist is also outrageous and without explanation. He certainly should be released.
My central takeaway from 'Dirty Wars' and the lasting impression of the book isn't whether or not the United States has the right to assassinate whomever it chooses in the name of the greater "war on terror" (a dubious claim from whatever side of the political aisle you hail from) but if any of these assassinations, warranted or not, are doing any good at all. That the United States has ramped up the war on terror to include covert and clandestine operations isn't really a surprise to anyone who has been following the news since September 11th and I am surprised only by those who are surprised by it, but what these operations should do is spark a discussion about what this is leading us to.
Ironically, the most poignant quote out of the entire war on terror comes from Donald Rumsfeld when he asked the question all of us should be asking which is the following:
“Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?”
Except keeping in mind that alongside the madrassas and the clerics as an increasingly effective tool for recruitment is the U.S. government. This seems to be the final point Scahill makes here, a choice between "perpetual war" or military disengagement from the Muslim world entirely. As fucked up as a world with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS, etc etc is, is there any way to win in a militantly religious war that increasingly feels like a game of "whack-a-mole"? Or is it better to leave before we get dragged further into the muck and mire of it all? With Hillary Clinton on the horizon, is that even possible any more?
oisin175's review against another edition
5.0
Truly chilling. The things that are done in our name without our knowledge are pretty serious. These issues really should be covered in school.
squiddyvicious's review against another edition
4.0
Not the fastest read but a pretty chilling look into the extrajudicial killing program of the United States.
svarnyp's review against another edition
5.0
EN / CZ
This is book was for me something of a Lovecraftian read - a book that takes our happy daily lifes and then shatters their peacefulness and innocence by showing us what is going on under the surface. A similar experience as with McMafia or similar books. Currently, with the new US administration, this book becomes even more frightening.
What is it about? Basically the story of how the War on Terror went of the rails and became a permanent war with very shady processes governing it. Although it addresses many details of this change, legal earthquakes, motives of different actors, there is an underlying narrative showing how the US decided to kill one of their citizens without any court or attempt to capture them.
Do not let the immense size of the book scare you, it is worth it and if you do not have time, read at least the last chapter (I guess called Perpetual war in the English version) as it sums up the main points. However, reading the whole book was an experience a little bit similar to reading Merle's Death Is My Trade - the slow and gradual change from normality to madness.
The only drawback I would list is the length and from it following pacing. However, I consider it as an attempt of a complete description of the situation and this picture is really built up from a lot of small pieces.
CZ
Jednoznačně doporučuji přečíst, alespoň poslední kapitolu, která shrnuje poslání knihy. Vskutku opus zachycující složitou mozaiku událostí a snažící se podat ucelený a úplný obraz reality "špinavých" válek. Kniha popisuje legalizaci mezinárodní neohraničené špinavé války - zabíjení lidí, kteří jsou teroristy či z terorismu alespoň podezřelí.
Jak Bushova, tak Obamova administrativa postupně vybudovala aparát, který nahání hrůzu pro svou bezohlednost a totální absenci dohledu či kontroly. Ač ve svém inauguračním proslovu prezident Obama ubezpečoval, že o zabíjení lidí nerozhoduje nějaká tajemná skupina za zavřenými dveřmi a nedochází k civilním ztrátám - opak toho, co se ten den dělo v Jemenu.
This is book was for me something of a Lovecraftian read - a book that takes our happy daily lifes and then shatters their peacefulness and innocence by showing us what is going on under the surface. A similar experience as with McMafia or similar books. Currently, with the new US administration, this book becomes even more frightening.
What is it about? Basically the story of how the War on Terror went of the rails and became a permanent war with very shady processes governing it. Although it addresses many details of this change, legal earthquakes, motives of different actors, there is an underlying narrative showing how the US decided to kill one of their citizens without any court or attempt to capture them.
Do not let the immense size of the book scare you, it is worth it and if you do not have time, read at least the last chapter (I guess called Perpetual war in the English version) as it sums up the main points. However, reading the whole book was an experience a little bit similar to reading Merle's Death Is My Trade - the slow and gradual change from normality to madness.
The only drawback I would list is the length and from it following pacing. However, I consider it as an attempt of a complete description of the situation and this picture is really built up from a lot of small pieces.
CZ
Jednoznačně doporučuji přečíst, alespoň poslední kapitolu, která shrnuje poslání knihy. Vskutku opus zachycující složitou mozaiku událostí a snažící se podat ucelený a úplný obraz reality "špinavých" válek. Kniha popisuje legalizaci mezinárodní neohraničené špinavé války - zabíjení lidí, kteří jsou teroristy či z terorismu alespoň podezřelí.
Jak Bushova, tak Obamova administrativa postupně vybudovala aparát, který nahání hrůzu pro svou bezohlednost a totální absenci dohledu či kontroly. Ač ve svém inauguračním proslovu prezident Obama ubezpečoval, že o zabíjení lidí nerozhoduje nějaká tajemná skupina za zavřenými dveřmi a nedochází k civilním ztrátám - opak toho, co se ten den dělo v Jemenu.
geekchicohio's review against another edition
5.0
While reading Jeremy Scahill's new book Dirty Wars: The World is A Battlefield, I described it to a friend as a "direct sequel" to Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower. Now that I've finished it, I'll gladly double-down on that assertion--and not only because it's a spiritual successor to that book, but also because it too deserves a Pulitzer.
Where Wright led us through the story of the rise of radical Islam to its climax on September 11, Scahill takes us through the following decade. As Wright told the story of both the FBI team following bin Laden and the man himself, Scahill follows JSOC, the CIA, various privateers and warlords, and their fight against the likes of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Shabab, the Taliban, and others.
The book tells the story of the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command, and the quiet deployment of special and covert ops forces in countries around the world, and away from the places where official wars have been declared. These so-called small wars are taking place off the books and out of most headlines in places like Somalia, Yemen, Mali, and Pakistan. The new military doctrine that "The world is a battlefield" has allowed both the Bush and the Obama administration to bend the letter of the law to mean that war can be waged anywhere, any time, as long as it is in the interest of the United States of America.
Dirty Wars finds its humanity, and it's most personal story, in the life and death of Anwar al-Awlaki. The American born cleric who transformed from a pro-US defender of democracy and non-violence in the wake of 9/11 to a radicalized firebrand who preached on jihad and praised the deaths of Americans. Awlaki's story echoes the themes of the rest of the book: the best anti-terrorism efforts of the United States inexorably inflame radical Islam rather than suppress it, and rather than learn from these failures, our country simply walks further down a darkened path from which return is unlikely.
The book is incredibly well reported, it touches on nearly every major story of the post-9/11 national security beat. The breadth and depth of the interviews that support its stories make it clear that Scahill is not alone in his concern about the path American militarism has taken. Current and former officials, analysts, fighters, tribesman, warlords, and victims' families come together to tell a story of unchecked power, imprecise violence, and global war.
Dirty Wars' darkest chapters are easily its 34th and 35th. The former is comprised largely of a letter from American-educated Nasser A. Al-Aulaqi to President Barack Obama, pleading with the President to reconsider his apparent desire to kill--without charge or trial--Nasser's son Anwar. The latter tells in gruesome detail the story of a botched raid on a homestead in Gardez, Afghanistan, where JSOC forces descended on the household of anti-Taliban Afghani police officer killing several members of the family--some of them women--and then callously attempting to cover up the mistake.
Scahill's book is easily one of the most important of the year, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing the book's companion film, also titled Dirty Wars. I recommend it highly and almost without qualification. It will leave you with pressing questions that you'll be immediately wanting to ask of your politicians.
When can, or can't, the President decide to kill an American abroad?
Why is the Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye still in prison?
and perhaps most upsettingly,
Why was Anwar al-Awlaki's American-born 16-year-old son Abdulrahman, an innocent boy, killed by a drone strike while eating with his cousins?
Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield will make you want the answers.
Where Wright led us through the story of the rise of radical Islam to its climax on September 11, Scahill takes us through the following decade. As Wright told the story of both the FBI team following bin Laden and the man himself, Scahill follows JSOC, the CIA, various privateers and warlords, and their fight against the likes of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Shabab, the Taliban, and others.
The book tells the story of the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command, and the quiet deployment of special and covert ops forces in countries around the world, and away from the places where official wars have been declared. These so-called small wars are taking place off the books and out of most headlines in places like Somalia, Yemen, Mali, and Pakistan. The new military doctrine that "The world is a battlefield" has allowed both the Bush and the Obama administration to bend the letter of the law to mean that war can be waged anywhere, any time, as long as it is in the interest of the United States of America.
Dirty Wars finds its humanity, and it's most personal story, in the life and death of Anwar al-Awlaki. The American born cleric who transformed from a pro-US defender of democracy and non-violence in the wake of 9/11 to a radicalized firebrand who preached on jihad and praised the deaths of Americans. Awlaki's story echoes the themes of the rest of the book: the best anti-terrorism efforts of the United States inexorably inflame radical Islam rather than suppress it, and rather than learn from these failures, our country simply walks further down a darkened path from which return is unlikely.
The book is incredibly well reported, it touches on nearly every major story of the post-9/11 national security beat. The breadth and depth of the interviews that support its stories make it clear that Scahill is not alone in his concern about the path American militarism has taken. Current and former officials, analysts, fighters, tribesman, warlords, and victims' families come together to tell a story of unchecked power, imprecise violence, and global war.
Dirty Wars' darkest chapters are easily its 34th and 35th. The former is comprised largely of a letter from American-educated Nasser A. Al-Aulaqi to President Barack Obama, pleading with the President to reconsider his apparent desire to kill--without charge or trial--Nasser's son Anwar. The latter tells in gruesome detail the story of a botched raid on a homestead in Gardez, Afghanistan, where JSOC forces descended on the household of anti-Taliban Afghani police officer killing several members of the family--some of them women--and then callously attempting to cover up the mistake.
Scahill's book is easily one of the most important of the year, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing the book's companion film, also titled Dirty Wars. I recommend it highly and almost without qualification. It will leave you with pressing questions that you'll be immediately wanting to ask of your politicians.
When can, or can't, the President decide to kill an American abroad?
Why is the Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye still in prison?
and perhaps most upsettingly,
Why was Anwar al-Awlaki's American-born 16-year-old son Abdulrahman, an innocent boy, killed by a drone strike while eating with his cousins?
Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield will make you want the answers.
cmoze66's review against another edition
4.0
I have been in the zone lately! The last 3 or 4 books I've read have been 4 or 5 stars. Hope I didn't just jinx myself.
toddgrotenhuis's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent reporting on how the US government (and their mercenaries) have declared perpetual war, fueled conflicts, and targeted noncombatants around their world, including their own citizens.