The dark side : the inside story of how the war on terror turned into a war on American ideals /

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, secret...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mayer, Jane (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Doubleday, [2008]
Edition:First edition.
Subjects:
Online Access:Sample text
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Contributor biographical information
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Description
Summary: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.
Physical Description:392 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Awards:National Book Award Finalist, Nonfiction, 2008.
New York Times 10 Best Books of the year, 2008
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, 2009
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-369) and index.
ISBN:0385526393
9780385526395