A review by skitch41
The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program by The Staff of the Intercept, Jeremy Scahill
5.0
(Full Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book for free through a Goodreads Giveaway contest. The views expressed are my own and do not reflect that of the author, the publisher, or Goodreads)
Every U.S. President, even the great ones, have a black mark on their record that seems to leave a taint in people's minds. Washington: his inability to resolve the Native American conflicts; Jefferson: the Trade Embargo; Lincoln: ignoring habeas corpus; Theodore Roosevelt: his dishonorable discharging of African-American soldiers over crimes they didn't commit; and Franklin Roosevelt: internment of Japanese-Americans. For Barack Obama, his greatest black mark will be his drone campaign and not just for the untold number of civilian casualties it caused but for the fact that it stands against everything he spoke out against about the War on Terror when he first ran for president. This book, written using sources and documents obtained from military and intelligence units, gives us the clearest picture of how the drone warfare campaign was being conducted during Obama's presidency. The number of potential civilian deaths is shocking, especially when the documents show that not only were few terrorists and insurgents actually killed compared to the number of civilians, but that the military and intelligence agencies used methods of metadata that are prone to all kinds of human errors. Thus, it is possible that the drone strikes never actually hit their targets. It is outrageous and scandalous! What's worse, one of the chapters of this book details how the military is selling the surveillance data it has used in the drone campaign to police forces. It's less obvious than selling police forces an armored personnel vehicle, but no less insidious and disturbing from a constitutional point of view. What could be even worse than that? Since this book was published last year, it is unlikely that any of the policies that have made the drone campaign possible have probably not been altered much. Now these drones have fallen into the hands of a new president who has said that he would "bomb the hell out of them [terrorists]" and even suggested targeting terrorists' families. With that in mind, think of how many more innocent people will suffer from the unseen threat of drones. Aside from the military jargon at the beginning, which may confuse some people, this book was not just a great read, it was a necessary read. I highly recommend this book to all Americans.
Every U.S. President, even the great ones, have a black mark on their record that seems to leave a taint in people's minds. Washington: his inability to resolve the Native American conflicts; Jefferson: the Trade Embargo; Lincoln: ignoring habeas corpus; Theodore Roosevelt: his dishonorable discharging of African-American soldiers over crimes they didn't commit; and Franklin Roosevelt: internment of Japanese-Americans. For Barack Obama, his greatest black mark will be his drone campaign and not just for the untold number of civilian casualties it caused but for the fact that it stands against everything he spoke out against about the War on Terror when he first ran for president. This book, written using sources and documents obtained from military and intelligence units, gives us the clearest picture of how the drone warfare campaign was being conducted during Obama's presidency. The number of potential civilian deaths is shocking, especially when the documents show that not only were few terrorists and insurgents actually killed compared to the number of civilians, but that the military and intelligence agencies used methods of metadata that are prone to all kinds of human errors. Thus, it is possible that the drone strikes never actually hit their targets. It is outrageous and scandalous! What's worse, one of the chapters of this book details how the military is selling the surveillance data it has used in the drone campaign to police forces. It's less obvious than selling police forces an armored personnel vehicle, but no less insidious and disturbing from a constitutional point of view. What could be even worse than that? Since this book was published last year, it is unlikely that any of the policies that have made the drone campaign possible have probably not been altered much. Now these drones have fallen into the hands of a new president who has said that he would "bomb the hell out of them [terrorists]" and even suggested targeting terrorists' families. With that in mind, think of how many more innocent people will suffer from the unseen threat of drones. Aside from the military jargon at the beginning, which may confuse some people, this book was not just a great read, it was a necessary read. I highly recommend this book to all Americans.