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A Pretext for War by James Bamford
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A Pretext for War

9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America’s Intelligence Agencies

9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America’s Intelligence Agencies

9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America’s Intelligence Agencies

9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America’s Intelligence Agencies

By James Bamford

By James Bamford

By James Bamford

By James Bamford

By James Bamford
Read by Ray Childs

By James Bamford
Read by Ray Childs

By James Bamford
Read by Robertson Dean

By James Bamford
Read by Robertson Dean

Best Seller
Paperback $15.95

May 10, 2005 | 480 Pages

Ebook $10.99

May 10, 2005 | 480 Pages

Audiobook Download $12.95

Jun 08, 2004 | 300 Minutes

Audiobook Download $19.95

Feb 09, 2004 | 720 Minutes

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    A Pretext for War by James Bamford
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    May 10, 2005 | 480 Pages
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    About A Pretext for War

    A Pretext for War reveals the systematic weaknesses behind the failure to detect or prevent the 9/11 attacks, and details the Bush administration’s subsequent misuse of intelligence to sell preemptive war to the American people. Filled with unprecedented revelations, from the sites of “undisclosed locations” to the actual sources of America’s Middle East policy, A Pretext for War is essential reading for anyone concerned about the security of the United States. 

    Acclaimed author James Bamford–whose classic book The Puzzle Palace first revealed the existence of the National Security Agency–draws on his unparalleled access to top intelligence sources to produce a devastating expose of the intelligence community and the Bush administration.


    About A Pretext for War

    A Pretext for War reveals the systematic weaknesses behind the failure to detect or prevent the 9/11 attacks, and details the Bush administration’s subsequent misuse of intelligence to sell preemptive war to the American people. Filled with unprecedented revelations, from the sites of “undisclosed locations” to the actual sources of America’s Middle East policy, A Pretext for War is essential reading for anyone concerned about the security of the United States. 

    Acclaimed author James Bamford–whose classic book The Puzzle Palace first revealed the existence of the National Security Agency–draws on his unparalleled access to top intelligence sources to produce a devastating expose of the intelligence community and the Bush administration.


    About A Pretext for War

    The bestselling author of Body of Secrets and The Puzzle Palace presents his most hard-hitting book to date—a sweeping, authoritative, and fearless account of the failures of America’s intelligence agencies and the Bush administration’s calculated efforts to sell a war to the American people.

    In The Puzzle Palace, James Bamford revealed the existence of the NSA, the largest, most secretive, and best-financed intelligence organization in the world. In Body of Secrets, he took readers inside the ultrasecret agency, charting its deeds and misdeeds from its founding in 1952 to the end of the twentieth century. Now Bamford applies his relentless investigative drive and unparalleled access to intelligence sources to produce a headline-making book about the most pressing issues of the present day.

    From the mishandling of the pre-9/11 threat to the unproven claims about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, Bamford argues that the Bush administration has co-opted the intelligence community for its own political ends, and at the expense of American security.  Bamford makes the case that the Bush administration’s Middle East policy decisions, from overthrowing Saddam to ignoring the situation of the Palestinians, are driven by long-held beliefs and goals of an elite group of conservatives inside and outside of government.

    A Pretext for War     homes in on the systematic weakness that led the intelligence community to ignore or misinterpret evidence of the impending terrorist attacks of 9/11—a failure rooted in the refusal to acknowledge the central role of the Palestinian cause in igniting Arab rage against the United States.  Compounding the errors, the Bush administration’s immediate response to 9/11 was to call for an attack on Iraq, and it subsequently invented justifications for the preemptive war that has ultimately left the United States more vulnerable to terrorism.  

    A Pretext for War     is an unprecedented, utterly convincing exposé of the most secretive administration in history.  

    About A Pretext for War

    In A Pretext for War, acclaimed author James Bamford–whose classic book The Puzzle Palace first revealed the existence of the National Security Agency–draws on his unparalleled access to top intelligence sources to produce a devastating expos? of the intelligence community and the Bush administration. A Pretext for War reveals the systematic weaknesses behind the failure to detect or prevent the 9/11 attacks, and details the Bush administration’s subsequent misuse of intelligence to sell preemptive war to the American people.

    Filled with unprecedented new revelations, from the sites of “undisclosed locations” to the actual sources of America’s Middle East policy, A Pretext for War is essential reading for anyone concerned about the security of the United States.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also by James Bamford

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    Body of Secrets
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    Also by James Bamford

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    Also by James Bamford

    The Shadow Factory
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    See all books by James Bamford

    Also by James Bamford

    The Shadow Factory
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    About James Bamford

    James Bamford, the author of the bestsellers Body of Secrets and The Puzzle Palace, has written extensively on national security issues, including investigative cover stories for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Formerly the Washington investigative producer for… More about James Bamford

    About James Bamford

    James Bamford, the author of the bestsellers Body of Secrets and The Puzzle Palace, has written extensively on national security issues, including investigative cover stories for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Formerly the Washington investigative producer for… More about James Bamford

    About James Bamford

    James Bamford, the author of the bestsellers Body of Secrets and The Puzzle Palace, has written extensively on national security issues, including investigative cover stories for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Formerly the Washington investigative producer for… More about James Bamford

    About James Bamford

    James Bamford, the author of the bestsellers Body of Secrets and The Puzzle Palace, has written extensively on national security issues, including investigative cover stories for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Formerly the Washington investigative producer for… More about James Bamford

    Product Details

    Category: World Politics | 1950 – Present Military History

    Paperback | $15.95
    Published by Anchor
    May 10, 2005 | 480 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9781400030347

    Category: World Politics | 1950 – Present Military History

    Ebook | $10.99
    Published by Anchor
    May 10, 2005 | 480 Pages | ISBN 9780307275042

    Category: World Politics | 1950 – Present Military History | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $12.95
    Published by Random House Audio
    Jun 08, 2004 | 300 Minutes | ISBN 9780739312551

    Category: World Politics | 1950 – Present Military History | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $19.95
    Published by Random House Audio
    Feb 09, 2004 | 720 Minutes | ISBN 9781415904848

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    Praise

    “Probably the best one-volume companion to the harrowing events in the war on terrorism since 1996.” –Time“Highly readable and well-researched. . . . Bamford does a superb job of laying out and tying together threads of the Sept. 11 intelligence failures and their ongoing aftermath, using original research, the public record and a light, fast-paced writing touch.” –The Washington Post Book World “A damning portrait of the country’s intelligence agencies. . . . Bamford unearths new details . . . to create a vivid, unsettling narrative. . . . Highly persuasive.” –The New York Times"Not only contains significant new information, but also combines that information with previously known material to make . . . sense of Sept. 11 and its aftermath. . . . A vital book." –Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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