Reddit reviews The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth
We found 5 Reddit comments about The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Penguin Books
Unfortunately, the most efficient way to become knowledgable about the Middle East is to read. A lot. The Middle East is a far more complex place than most people imagine and understanding the region requires a great deal of knowledge. I have been studying the Middle East for nearly a decade and I still feel like there is so much that I do not know. I would start by reading reputable news sources every day. Places like The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, Financial Times, are the Los Angeles Times are good English language news sources that you should look at. Additionally, I have written up a suggested reading list for learning about the Middle East, though it is a bit more security-related since that's my area of expertise. I hope it helps. And feel free to ask any questions if you have them.
Books - General History of the Middle East
Books - Middle East Military History
Books - Middle East Terrorism and Substate Violence
Books - U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East
Think Tanks
Below is a list of several different think tanks, which frequently publish everything from extension research and analysis to quick and succinct blog posts about the issues in the Middle East. Some of these think tanks specifically focus on the Middle East, while for others it is only one area of their research.
Journals, Blogs, Podcasts, and other Publications
If you're interested in this kind of stuff, I recommend The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. He really dives into the role of the CIA and the DOD and how they insert operatives all over the place.
I bought it expecting cool Jason Bourne-like stuff, and ended up becoming very informed and depressed about some of the shady things our intelligence communities have done and continued to do. It's interesting in the sense that it feels messed up but also that it could be saving lives.
There's a good book on this subject. It's called The Way Of The Knife: The CIA a Secret Army and a War at the Ends of the Earth by Mark Mazzetti.
Well, since you insist, I'll highlight one major mistake of the Obama Presidency--not mobilizing all the voters who supported him to put pressure on Congress. He had a strong internet and social media presence, and he let that go to waste. When Congress wouldn't work with him, why didn't he use the internet and go on air to highlight the Congressional opposition and ask his voters to join him in putting pressure on Congress? He could have organized targeted email and other types of campaigns his supporters could participate in, for each issue.
And the public support was there. Obama effectively sleeping at the wheel of hope and change is part of what led to the Occupy movement. People were frustrated with his inattention and inaction on issues.
Why did he basically disappear from the public view his first 6 months of his Presidency? Where was his version of FDR's weekly fireside chats to the public? After all, he was proposing relief and infrastructure plans at least as grand as FDR's, and at a time when millions of Americans were hurting economically (and 8 years later, many millions still are).
Why didn't he hit the road and support progressive candidates that would help him carry his agenda? Obama doesn't seem to be much of a people person, more of an ivory tower academic.
The man did not do everything he could have done to try to get his agenda through. And maybe he never intended to do so. All his economic advisors were Federal Reserve Bank and Wall Street bred. I don't think he ever intended to bring folks a whole lot of "hope and change", personally.
And don't accuse me of whining, and otherwise lay off personal attacks of people. It detracts from the debate of issues.
You wish everyone complaining had an actual plan? I wish people like you actually had more information on what Obama's campaign funding sources were, looked hard at who he surrounded himself with, and looked at his specific actions as President. Then, you might see that he was a lot of campaign talk, and little intended action. He's a centrist neoliberal who enacted the most conservative version of national healthcare possible. And man, did he ever take a shine to the Bush/Cheney neocon drone program--expanded it, in fact! More info on this here.
(amazon description)...
The most momentous change in American warfare over the past decade has taken place in the corners of the world where large armies can’t go. The CIA, originally created as a Cold War espionage service, is now more than ever a paramilitary agency ordered by the White House to kill off America’s enemies. In The Way of the Knife, Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti recounts the untold story of America’s shadow war, one that blurred the lines between soldiers and spies and lowered the bar for waging war across the globe. This new approach—carried out by CIA operatives and special operations troops—has been embraced by Washington as a lower-risk and cost effective alternative to the messy wars of occupation, but as Mazzetti demonstrates in this revealing book, the way of the knife has created enemies just as it has killed them.
Hardcover: new from $2.60 + $3.99
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Knife-Secret-Army-Earth/dp/014312501X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411871181&sr=8-1&keywords=mark+mazzetti+the+way+of+the+knife
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Mark Mazzetti book discussion (2013, 59 minutes): http://www.c-span.org/video/?312117-8/book-discussion-way-knife