Trapped in the War on Terror

By Ian S. Lustick

Book Overview

The first principle of terrorism is to understand that the weak win by exploiting the strength of the powerful. When 9/11 terrorists with box cutters hijacked American airliners, they transformed America's preeminent transportation system into a devastating weapon of attack. They also set a trap with the promise of revenge and security as the bait. The hijackers' biggest victory was to goad our government into taking the bait by unleashing the War on Terror. The worry, witch-hunt, and waste that have ensued are, according to Ian S. Lustick, destroying American confidence, undermining our economy, warping our political life, and isolating us from our international allies.

The media have given constant attention to possible terrorist-initiated catastrophes and to the failures and weaknesses of the government's response. Trapped in the War on Terror, however, questions the very rationale for the War on Terror. By analyzing the virtual absence of evidence of a terrorist threat inside the United States along with the motives and strategic purposes of al-Qaeda, Lustick shows how disconnected the War on Terror is from the real but remote threat terrorism poses. He explains how the generalized War on Terror began as part of the justification for invading Iraq, but then took on a life of its own. A whirlwind of fear, failure, and recrimination, this "war" drags every interest group and politician, he argues, into selfish competition for its spoils.

Facing the threat of nuclear incineration during the Cold War, America overcame panic about nonexistent communist sleeper cells poised to destroy the country, a panic fueled by the destructive hysteria of McCarthyism. Through careful analysis of the Soviet threat, the nation managed to sustain a productive national life and achieve victory, despite the terrifying daily possibility of catastrophe. This book is inspired by that success. It points the way forward, not toward victory in the War on Terror but to victory over it. The first and most difficult step toward that victory is to know the enemy. In large measure, as Trapped in the War on Terror shows, that means understanding how al-Qaeda is making us our own worst enemy.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812239830
• ISBN13: 9780812239836
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The Cure is Worse than the Disease

Professor Lustick's book is a devestating critique of the so-called "war on terror", which has been a disaster for the nation and must end. He quite correctly argues that the cure (the WOT) has been much worse than the disease (terrorism). The WOT has created an awful culture of fear that now permeates our society. Prof. Lustick talks about how we can face the terrorist threat in a rational way and not give in to fear. This is a great book and the only disappointment is that there are not more books like it. Wake up America! The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. One day people like Prof. Lustick will be viewed as being ahead of their time.

Sanity about the "war on terror"

Finally some sanity about the so-called "war on terror": Ian Lustick's "Trapped in the War on Terror" persuasively argues that the real peril is not terrorists but the "war" itself. Lustick shows how a cabal of neoconservative leaders hijacked the country's response to 9/11, hatching long-held plans to attack Iraq while vastly enlarging executive power. Most originally, he details the ways in which the "war" has grown. Stoked by continual fear-mongering by pandering politicians, newly-minted terror "experts," and an unquestioning media, the "war" has spiraled into a whirlwind none can control. The result has been monumental waste of money and lives. Beyond the Iraq war and the Homeland Security behemoth, countless billions of federal dollars are now being squandered on terror-related programs. Smelling an opportunity, all manner of businesses, interest groups, bureaucrats, and others have been only too happy to feed at the anti-terror trough. Meanwhile, political leaders on both left and right are too cowardly to tell Americans some simple truths. The bad news: terrorism has always been and will always be a tool in some political conflicts. Therefore, the "war" on terror can never be won. The good news: terrorism poses remarkably little danger to Americans compared to any number of risks we blithely run every day. The most dangerous forms, such as a nuclear bomb exploding in a city, are extremely unlikely. Few have had the courage or ability to tell this story. Read "Trapped in the War on Terror" as a necessary first step for bringing America back to its senses.

An Inconvenient Truth

Having heard Ian Lustick speak today at Princeton Univrsity I immediately ordered his book (on which the talk was based). HIs revelations on the subject of the War on Terror are frightening because since 2001 we are led to believe only war and destruction will deliver us from evil. I hope a lot of smart people will buy this book and spread the word.

Well put-together case

I was especially struck by the author's parallels between today's "terrorist" cells and those of 1950's Communists (equally far-fetched). Also appreciated his coverage of the Administration's mixed messages of "there are plotters everywhere" and "don't panic". My only disappointment was that he never touches on the overblown airport security situation (Kabuki as its often called); one could infer that he agrees with that policy, although logically he wouldn't.

The first sensible book on the subject

With the "war" generating more harsh rhetoric and more flying spittle by the day, here's the first book that dares to tell the truth: the metaphor doesn't fit. The prosecution of the war on terror makes about as much sense as trying to fight the war on poverty by sending tanks into West Virginia. Lustick gets past the distortions of the day and gets to the heart of the matter.