Dirty Wars

Resumen del libro

Dirty Wars follows journalist Jeremy Scahill, author of the international bestseller Blackwater, into the heart of the US War on Terror's most dangerous battlefields as he uncovers the most important foreign policy story of our time. From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond, the book reports from the frontlines of Scahill's high-stakes investigation.

Through extensive on-the-ground reporting Scahill reveals that forces within the US military have been empowered by the Bush and Obama administrations to conduct clandestine wars throughout the world without the knowledge or approval of Congress or the American people. As Scahill shows, Obama's notorious 'Kill List' was just the tip of the iceberg.

The foot solders in America's secret wars operate daily across the globe and inside the United States with carte blanche permission from the White House to do whatever is necessary to hunt down, capture or kill individuals designated by the president as enemies of America. They are drawn from the ranks of the Navy SEALs, Blackwater and other defense contractors, the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, a project run for years by the controversial General Stanley McChrystal that is not subject to Congressional or public oversight, yet it is regularly at the center of assassinations, kidnappings and other lethal "direct actions."

Scahill reports from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Kenya, Somalia and other sovereign countries where agents of the US government target and kill individuals deemed dangerous to America and civilians alike-sometimes in collusion with the country's leadership (as in Yemen), and at times in direct violation of orders from the government to desist operations within its borders (as has been seen in Pakistan). With unrestricted funds from "black budgets", these Special Forces perform strike operations across the globe, reconnaissance in denied areas, special intelligence missions, targeted assassination and more. While the Bush administration undoubtedly helped create and entrench these ghost militias, President Barack Obama made their seat at the table of U.S. military might permanent. The Obama administration has substantially expanded the role of U.S. Special Operations Forces across the globe, increasing the presence to thousands of secret Special Forces in 75 countries.

As America's covert wars spread violence and chaos across the planet, the country is being drawn ever deeper into conflicts with the potential for enormous blowback and instability, putting us all at greater risk. Through Scahill's reportage, we meet two parallel casts of characters. First, the CIA agents, shooters, mercenaries and Special Forces operators who populate the dark side of America's war and intelligence service and go on the record - many for the first time. Second, the human victims of this unaccountable violence are also given a voice. The survivors of night raids and drone strikes and the victims of torture in so-called black detention sites put a human face on the Dirty Wars the United States struggles to keep hidden. Wars that are fought in our name, but that make our world a more dangerous place.

Biografía del autor

Jeremy Scahill es un periodista de investigación galardonado con el premio Polk. Colabora habitualmente en la revista The Nation y como corresponsal para el programa informativo Democray Now! Scahill ha ejercido una dilatada labor como reportero en Irak, la antigua Yugoslavia y Nigeria. Actualmente, trabaja con una beca literaria de la Puffin Foundation en el The Nation Institute. Scahill vive en Brooklyn, Nueva York. Blackwater: el auge del ejército mercenario más poderoso del mundo es su primer libro.