Dark side
Subtitle: the inside story of how the war on terror turned into a war on American ideals
By: Jane Mayer
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Doubleday
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 392
ISBN-13: 9780385526395
Subjects: Politics and government; War on Terrorism, 2001-2009; September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001; War and emergency powers; Influence; Military interrogation; Internationaler Terrorismus; Freiheitsrecht; Bekämpfung; History
Description: In the days immediately following September 11th, the most powerful people in the country were panic-stricken. Radical decisions about how to combat terrorists and strengthen national security were made in a state of chaos and fear, but the key players, Vice President Cheney and his powerful, secretive adviser David Addington, used the crisis to further a long-held agenda to enhance presidential powers to a degree never known in U.S. history, and obliterate Constitutional protections that define the very essence of the American experiment. This is a dramatic account of how the United States made terrible decisions in the pursuit of terrorists around the world--decisions that not only violated the Constitution, but also hampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. Whatever the short-term gains, there were incalculable losses in terms of moral standing, our country's place in the world, and its sense of itself.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [361]-369) and index.

National Book Award Finalist, Nonfiction, 2008
Table of contents: title: Panic; title: Blame; title: The warning; title: Men of zeal; title: Detainee 001; title: Outsourcing torture; title: Inside the black sites; title: The experiment; title: The memo; title: A deadly interrogation; title: Blowback; title: Cover-up.