Spies, Lies and the War on Terror

by Paul Todd, Jonathan Bloch, Patrick Fitzgerald

The advent of the War on Terror has seen intelligence agencies emerge out of the shadows to become major political players. 'Rendition', untrammelled surveillance, torture and detention without trial are now fast becoming the norm. Spies, Lies and the War on Terror traces the transformation of intelligence from a tool for law enforcement to a means of avoiding the law - both national and international.

The new culture of victimhood in the US and among partners in the 'coalition of the willing' has crushed domestic liberties and formed a global network of extra-legal licence. State and corporate interests are increasingly fused in the new business of privatising fear. Todd & Bloch argue that the bureaucracy and narrow political goals surrounding intelligence actually have the potential to increase the terrorist threat.

This lively and shocking account is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the new power of intelligence.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Roger Cottrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb and thought provoking selection on how the war on terror has been subverted to service the agendas of a declining Imperialism. My father (who was in airforce intelligence after Suez) once said that America will truly become dangerous when (like the British Empire) it goes into decline. He has also likened Iraq and its associated circus of extraordinary rendition, homeland security and sweeping attacks on democratic rights, to Suez "only worse." He may be right on both counts. According to this book, he certainly is.