Book Review: The Dark Side by Jane Mayer

 Book Review: The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals.  Jane Mayer. Doubleday: New York, 2008.

Prepare to be shattered. This is a difficult book to read.

Mysteries of Bush Administration Response Post 9/11 Revealed

Jane Mayer’s meticulous dissection of the actions of the Bush administration post 9/11 is an extraordinary service to Americans and to the world. Many of us have been trying to understand how this presidency went so wrong.  As you read Mayer’s amazing interviews, with their exquisite detail, you finally understand.

Mayer begins with the response to 9/11 by focusing on Vice President Cheney.  Panic prevailed inside the White House, the FBI, and the CIA for the first several months post 9/11. Our leaders expected another terrorist attack momentarily and the arrival of letters containing anthrax spores reinforced the atmosphere of paranoia.  Caught off guard by the terrorist attacks, despite the fact that they had been repeatedly warned that Al-Quaeda terrorists were in the country, President Bush and his top team, reacted with an extremely aggressive, tough approach focused on preventing future terror attacks. To do this they needed, they thought, to vastly expand the scope of presidential power as it then existed.

Expanding Presidential Power By Secret Legal Team

Expanding  executive power had long been a dream of Vice President Cheney and 9/11 gave him the opportunity to move rapidly in this direction. A new strategy was designed and put into effect by a small group of select lawyers to President Bush and Vice President Cheney.  Their work was marked by secrecy and in retrospect, by very poor legal analysis. They included David Addington, John Yoo and Alberto Gonzales. Together they crafted the legal opinions and policies, which led to the embrace of torture, rendition, black sites, Abu Graib, Guantanamo, military tribunals and most egregious of all, the Iraq War itself.

Silencing Dissent by Intimidation                 

The problem with all this was that it came from intense emotional reactions of rage and revenge. It was put into place very quickly without deliberation, careful discussion, or counsel from other branches of government. If anyone dared challenge the legitimacy of one of these policies, their loyalty was challenged and they were silenced.

Those Who Dared to Say No

The unsung heroes here are the conservative lawyers who so honored the US Constitution and the values the US was built on, that they dared to question policies such as the use of torture and its effect on the ability to try detainees in any fair process. I was left with a lasting impression of how even powerful leaders like Colin Powell, were cowed and bullied by bullies like Bush, Cheney and Addington.  Fear of losing their jobs, their reputations, their friends and colleagues, apparently kept them from speaking out against what they knew was wrong. Only a few people had the courage to say no directly to President Bush.

Bullying Tactics Not Unique to US

This dynamic is not unique to the United States or to this situation. Bullying and intimidation goes on in political situations all over the world and sometimes peoples’ lives are at stake. When you read descriptions of how CIA interrogators tortured people over and over again  you will get sick. Perhaps you will weep that our own countrymen and women could treat their fellow human beings this way. The responsibility for setting this in motion goes to the very top. Clearly war crimes were committed.

Where do we go from here? It will take many generations to clean up this mess.  We owe Jane Mayer an extraordinary debt for what she has done here.