Bush and Cheney: How They Ruined America and the World

In this polemic against neoconservatism and American imperialism, Griffin (The New Pearl Harbor Revisited), emeritus professor of philosophy of religion and theology at Claremont University, argues that the 9/11 terrorists surpassed their own ambition to take on America by giving the U.S. pretext to sow chaos in the Middle East. Terrorist actions are crimes, not wars, Griffin explains, but proclaiming a “war on terror” allowed George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to beef up the military with nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, radar-evading fighter jets, and high-tech missiles that were of little use against al-Qaeda. The “Bush-Cheney administration,” as Griffin labels it, invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, spent trillions, and bungled both wars. Eschewing impartiality, Griffin inundates readers with articles, editorials, reports, and expert opinions to undergird his theses. Some of these theses are uncontroversial—for example, that all claims supporting the Iraq invasion were false. Some are believable, if debatable, as with assertions revealing neocon desires for regime change in Russia. Others are more controversial: the book’s second half parrots the supposed evidence that allegedly reveals that the twin towers collapsed due to controlled demolitions, probably engineered by Bush and Cheney. Griffin’s 9/11 trutherism derails what is an otherwise well-researched and solidly backed screed on the pervasive influence of neoconservative thought on America’s political establishment. (Dec.)