The Dark Side : The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals

The Dark Side : The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, by Jane Mayer

This is an extremely timely, readable and fascinating study of the Bush administration's response to the 9/11 attacks. The Dark Side has received much praise and it is so-well deserved! Mayer's book grew out of a series of articles she wrote for The New Yorker, for which she is a staff writer. The subtitle so aptly describes the book: "The inside story of how the war on terror turned into a war on American ideals." Indeed, as Mayer shows, much of the response was led by Vice President Dick Cheney as he and his staff created procedures to arrest anyone who was the suspected, in even the remotest way, of knowing anything about the attack. Habeas corpus was clearly disregarded as were any international treaties or agreements regarding the treatment of individuals suspected of international war crimes. Mayer documents these developments in detail; footnotes are provided as well as an extensive bibliography. Looming over her study is the question of the use of torture on those captured. The actual methods of torture used are described in detail. Additionally, the origin of the use of the Guantanamo Bay camp as a prison for those suspected terrorists is also documented. With these two topics so hotly debated in current politics, The Dark Side becomes an extremely important source of information. Mayer has written a remarkably important book and is highly recommended.
-Roy