America's Secret War
Encyclopedia
America's Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between America and Its Enemies, a book by Stratfor
founder George Friedman
, is an attempt to analyze United States
foreign policy
in 2004; specifically, the war efforts in Afghanistan
and Iraq
, and the war on terror
.
America's Secret War was published as a 368-page hardcover by Doubleday in October 2004 (ISBN 0-385-51245-7). Blackstone Audiobooks
released unabridged recordings of the book on cassette (ISBN 0-7861-2893-3), CD (ISBN 0-7861-8283-0), and MP3 CD
(ISBN 0-7861-8322-5) in December, 2004. Broadway Books
published a 384-page paperback (ISBN 0-7679-1785-5).
Stratfor
Strategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known as STRATFOR, is a global intelligence company founded in 1996 in Austin, Texas by George Friedman who is the founder, chief intelligence officer, and CEO of the company...
founder George Friedman
George Friedman
George Friedman is an American political scientist and author. He is the founder, chief intelligence officer, financial overseer, and CEO of the private intelligence corporation Stratfor...
, is an attempt to analyze United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
in 2004; specifically, the war efforts in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and the war on terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
.
America's Secret War was published as a 368-page hardcover by Doubleday in October 2004 (ISBN 0-385-51245-7). Blackstone Audiobooks
Blackstone Audiobooks
Blackstone Audio is the largest independent audiobook publisher in the United States, offering over 4,500 audiobooks. The company is based in Ashland, Oregon with five in-house recording studios. It is the official publisher of audio plays by the award-winning Hollywood Theater of the...
released unabridged recordings of the book on cassette (ISBN 0-7861-2893-3), CD (ISBN 0-7861-8283-0), and MP3 CD
MP3 CD
An MP3 CD is a Compact Disc that contains digital audio in the MP3 file format. Discs are written in the Yellow Book standard data format , as opposed to the Red Book standard audio format ....
(ISBN 0-7861-8322-5) in December, 2004. Broadway Books
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
published a 384-page paperback (ISBN 0-7679-1785-5).
Publisher comments on book contents
- Al Qaeda’s war plans and how they led to 9/11
- The threat of a suitcase nuclear bomb in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and how that changed the course of the war. - The deal the U.S. made with RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
which made the invasion of Afghanistan possible — and how those deals affect the United States today. - How fear and suspicion of the Saudis after 9-11 tore apart the Bush-Saudi relationship and why Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
’s closest friends in the administration became the Saudi’s worst enemies. - The real reasons behind George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
’s invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
and how WMDWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
s became the cover for a much deeper game. - How the CIA miscalculated about Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
’s and Iran’s real plans, leaving the U.S. bogged down in the war. - How the war in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
began with a ruse, pretending that a “target of opportunity” attack on Saddam Hussein had presented itself. - The real story about why the U.S. raises and lowers its alert status and why the United States can’t find and destroy al Qaeda.
- The strategic successes that are slowly leading the United States to victory http://www.edunow.com/0385512457.shtml http://www.americassecretwar.com/about_book_overview.html
Independent reviews
"As for Iraq, the author points out seven enormous errors on the part of American foreign policy: the failure to comprehend that Ahmed ChalabiAhmed ChalabiAhmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi is an Iraqi politician. He was interim oil minister in Iraq in April-May 2005 and December-January 2006 and deputy prime minister from May 2005 until May 2006. Chalabi failed to win a seat in parliament in the December 2005 elections, and when the new Iraqi cabinet was...
was actually an Iranian agent: relying on Chalabi's misleading evidence pertaining to Iraq's WMDs: not being aware of how well organized the Shiites in Iraq had been-thanks to the Iranians: the failure to understand that Saddam Hussein had a war plan following the fall of BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
: failing to understand that the war in Iraq would not end with the fall of Baghdad: not admitting for several months after the war that there was an organized resistance in Iraq: not having sufficient troops the U.S. Army could deploy. As mentioned, for the first time in American history, the United States attempted to fight a global war with a force no larger than the peacetime cadre it began with." The Best Reviews
"George Bush invaded Iraq, not to rid the world of a tyrantTyrantA tyrant was originally one who illegally seized and controlled a governmental power in a polis. Tyrants were a group of individuals who took over many Greek poleis during the uprising of the middle classes in the sixth and seventh centuries BC, ousting the aristocratic governments.Plato and...
with weapons of mass destructionWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
or to showcase democracy in the heart of the Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, but to force the Saudis' hand in the Global War on Terror. Moreover, the U.S. is already planning an invasion of northwestern PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
because that nation represents the end game in the war against Islamic extremism. How do we know? Because George Friedman says so." Review by Tom Miller
"... Friedman’s stock-taking exercise is compelling as a distillation of corporate intelligence, where the spin is less about maintaining the image of particular politicians or governments, and more about being right so that money can be made." —Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
Errata
Broadway Books published a 384-page paperback (ISBN 0-7679-1785-5)
in Chapter 6 'September 11', section 'The Assault': Mistaken references
to which airliners struck which of the World Trade Center towers. The
book refers to American 11 hitting the south tower at 8:46 am. and that
United 175 hit the north tower at 9:02 am. This is incorrect. The north
tower was struck first, by American 11, followed 16 minutes later by
the south tower being struck by United 175.
External links and references
- UK on line bookstore Pages:368 ISBN 0-316-72862-4