United States and Terrorism

An Ironic Perspective

Inbunden, Engelska, 2015

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What is terrorism? Academics search in vain for the unholy grail: the definition of terrorism that will exonerate or condemn American officials. There are many vying definitions and no tribunal to resolve the contest. In this unique essay, Ron Hirschbein analyzes conflicts in which officials themselves called their actions “terrorist.” He reveals that terrorism didn’t always get bad press. In fact, terror bombing was indispensable to winning World War II. Not only did the Allied Forces bombed German cities, but they also used the nuclear bomb in Japan, killing many noncombatant civilians. During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear annihilation became the strategy to deter war between the superpowers. Many ironies are brought to light in revisiting these conflicts, such as the fact that it was accepted that safety depended upon the willingness to detonate weapons of mass destruction. Not even American citizens enjoyed noncombatant immunity during the Cold War as they were held hostage to mutually assured destruction and marked for sacrifice in various strategic scenarios. Indeed, their lives were risked in confronting crises in Berlin and Cuba. Subsequent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, as well as the War on Terror itself, are also examined. Like World War II, all involved killing noncombatants by accident or design. Casting these conflicts in an ironic light reveals incongruities in language and situations in which triumphant dreams become self-defeating realities (as with the second Iraq war). The War on Terror, now rebranded as an “Overseas Contingency Plan” seems to be the answer to a Jihadist’s prayer. Further, U.S.-led covert attacks and assassinations by drones raise many discussions of legalities. And today the curse of terrorism is fodder for captivating primetime entertainment, enjoyed even by the president of the United States.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2015-04-21
Mått161 x 235 x 20 mm
Vikt458 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor226
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781442237773

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AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Quest for the Unholy GrailChapter 1: World War II: Theory And Practice Of Terrorism From Cold-Blooded Isolationism to Hot-Blooded Warfare Bad Japanese, Good Germans, and Russian ComradesFrom Emnity To Amity: The Occupations Of Japan And GermanyChapter 2: Celebrating Nuclear Terror—Irony Of The Cold WarA Nukespeak /Doublethink PrimerThe Irony of American Nuclear EndeavorsOldest Psychology/Newest LogicWhen Deterrence Fails Nuclear Terror And War Prevention Retirement WisdomChapter 3: Goodwill Toward Men Without Peace On EarthA World without EnemiesHubris: Promoting What You Would PreventKorea: The Forgotten WarVietnam: The War We Can’t ForgetCoda: A Lesson from Grand FenwickChapter 4: The War on TerrorThe Transmutation of TerrorismTerrorism Experts9/11 and Its DiscontentsIraq: A Never-Ending-StoryDrones: Terrorism-LiteChapter 5: Terrorism As EntertainmentShock and Awe Becomes Aw ShucksDaydreaming In the Aftermath of 9/11The Present Is a Foreign Country The Sacred and the ProfaneWatching Homeland with President ObamaBibliographyAbout the AuthorIndex

Hirschbein has a wry, engaging, and insightful perspective on the US and terrorism. He reminds readers that ‘terrorism didn't always get a bad press.’ During WW II, the US government celebrated the terror bombings of Germany and Japan and during the Cold War extolled the virtue of nuclear terrorism as an indispensable strategy to deter war among superpowers. More recently, however, the American government views terrorism as evil, the illegitimate and intolerable actions of its enemies. Hirschbein's thesis is that the calculated use of violence to accomplish goals in foreign policy, regardless of whether defined as terrorism, rarely accomplishes the goals of the perpetrators (even when the perpetrator is the US government). . . .[H]e raises issues worthy of attention from ethicists, historians, political scientists, and everyone else concerned with the future of humanity. . . .[T]he book is a fascinating collection of provocative observations that should not be ignored. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.