Overblown
Subtitle: how politicians and the terrorism industry inflate national security threats, and why we believe them
By: John Mueller
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 259
ISBN-13: 9781416541714
Subjects: War on Terrorism, 2001-2009; Cold War; Opération Liberté immuable, 2001-; Influence; Prévention; Guerre froide; Terrorisme; Politique gouvernementale; Government policy; Terrorism; Prevention
Description: Why have there been no terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11? It is easy for a single person with a bomb-filled backpack to launch an attack. So why hasn't it happened? The answer is surely not Homeland Security, which cannot stop terrorists, legally or otherwise; surely not the Iraq war, which has stoked the hatred of Muslim extremists around the world. 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? We have gone to war in two countries and killed tens of thousands; we have launched a massive domestic wiretapping program and created vast databases of information once considered private; 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.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-244) and index.
Table of contents: title: pt. I. Terrorism's impact. The limited destructiveness of terrorism ; Overacting to terrorism: the terrorism industry.; title: pt. II. Historical comparisons. Dates of infamy: Pearl Harbor and 9/11 ; Cold War, containment, and conspiracy ; Nuclear fears, Cold War terrorism, and devils du jour ; Disorderliness in the New World order.; title: pt. III. Approaching terror and terrorism. An alternative terrorism policy: absorbing, policing, reducing fear, avoiding overreaction ; Terrorism and terror.