From 9/11 to Terror War: The Dangers of the Bush Legacy

The September 11 terror attacks and subsequent war in Afghanistan are considered by many a dangerous new era in global politics. In a comprehensive study of the world since September 11, Douglas Kellner provides a detailed examination of the Bush administration's response to the terror attacks and subsequent U.S. interventions. In this sustained critical analysis of Bush administration policy, Kellner argues that global terrorism instead requires a multilateral and global solution. The book shows how September 11 provided an opportunity for the Bush administration to push through hard-right domestic and foreign policies, many of which were being contested and blocked in Congress pre-September 11. Kellner describes the Bush legacy of unilateralism in foreign policy, which greatly undermines national security while isolating the U.S. and creating new enemies; a failed economic policy that enriched its supporters and corporate allies while turning economic surpluses into deficits; and a sustained policy of attacks on democracy, civil liberties, justice, and the U.S. constitutional system of checks and balances. The book documents several important factors largely overlooked by the media, including: 1. The relations between the Bush family, the bin Ladens, Cheney and the tangled web of oil, money, and money behind both the Enron, Halliburton and other corporate scandals and the September 11 attacks and subsequent Terror War; 2. The ways that the Bush administration deprioritized terrorism pre-September 11 and put aside Clinton administration plans to deal with bin Laden and terrorism; 3. How Republican Party and Bush administration economic policies helped enable corporate corruption and have led to economic crisis; 4. How Bush administration unilateralism is intensifying war and repression throughout the world and how his new doctrine of "preemptive strikes" threatens to unleash an era of war.