The United States and Terrorism: An Ironic Perspective

(Hardback)

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What is terrorism Academics search in vain for the unholy grail: the definition of terrorism that will exonerate or condemn American officials. There are many vying definitions and no tribunal to resolve the contest. In this unique essay, Ron Hirschbein analyzes conflicts in which officials themselves called their actions terrorist. He reveals that terrorism didnt always get bad press. In fact, terror bombing was indispensable to winning World War II. Not only did the Allied Forces bombed German cities, but they also used the nuclear bomb in Japan, killing many noncombatant civilians. During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear annihilation became the strategy to deter war between the superpowers. Many ironies are brought to light in revisiting these conflicts, such as the fact that it was accepted that safety depended upon the willingness to detonate weapons of mass destruction. Not even American citizens enjoyed noncombatant immunity during the Cold War as they were held hostage to mutually assured destruction and marked for sacrifice in various strategic scenarios. Indeed, their lives were risked in confronting crises in Berlin and Cuba. Subsequent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, as well as the War on Terror itself, are also examined. Like World War II, all involved killing noncombatants by accident or design. Casting these conflicts in an ironic light reveals incongruities in language and situations in which triumphant dreams become self-defeating realities (as with the second Iraq war). The War on Terror, now rebranded as an Overseas Contingency Plan seems to be the answer to a Jihadists prayer. Further, U.S.-led covert attacks and assassinations by drones raise many discussions of legalities. And today the curse of terrorism is fodder for captivating primetime entertainment, enjoyed even by the president of the United States.

Reviews

Hirschbein has a wry, engaging, and insightful perspective on the US and terrorism. He reminds readers that terrorism didn't always get a bad press. During WW II, the US government celebrated the terror bombings of Germany and Japan and during the Cold War extolled the virtue of nuclear terrorism as an indispensable strategy to deter war among superpowers. More recently, however, the American government views terrorism as evil, the illegitimate and intolerable actions of its enemies. Hirschbein's thesis is that the calculated use of violence to accomplish goals in foreign policy, regardless of whether defined as terrorism, rarely accomplishes the goals of the perpetrators (even when the perpetrator is the US government). . . .[H]e raises issues worthy of attention from ethicists, historians, political scientists, and everyone else concerned with the future of humanity. . . .[T]he book is a fascinating collection of provocative observations that should not be ignored. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE *
Ron Hirschbein is an ironist, a man of the left who takes exception to American exceptionalism, one whose professional mission is to bring to light the mismatch between elite-produced propaganda and 'whats really going on.' * Chico Enterprise-Record *
[The book combines] a candid, hard-hitting analysis with unexpected ironic observation in exploring the myths and propaganda in terrorist experiences. . . .[This book is] a college-level reference perfect for political science debates and terrorist history studies alike. * Midwest Book Review *
With razor-sharp analysis and searing wit, Ron Hirschbein exposes the inglorious history of the worlds most powerful concept today: terrorism. Peeling back the layers of myth and propaganda in prevailing accounts of terrorism, Hirschbein outlines an alternative history of the way in which the concept has affected US foreign and domestic policy over time. If you ever wondered how the US wound up at Abu Ghraib, Camp X-Ray or using drones to kill children, this book is for you. Rigorous, insightful, and deeply ethical, this is academic criticism at its very best. -- Richard Jackson, Director, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, New Zealand
A groundbreaking, highly-readable book designed for those willing to rethink, without prejudice, what they thought previously to be self-evident and undeniable in U.S. foreign policy. -- Ovadia Ezra, Tel Aviv University
Witty and ironic, Ron Hirshbein's book is also deadly serious. Here we have a first-rate account of how America's excessive and self-interested uses of terror have resulted in the futility of our present war on terror. It is a must-read for everyone concerned with terrorism and American military affairs. -- Robert Paul Churchill, Elton Professor of Philosophy, George Washington University
Ron Hirschbeins latest book lays bare the myriad contradictions in the war on terror. Rarely has such a dark topic had such a light touch, thanks to his inimitable, provocative and oh-so-readable style. -- Graeme Orr, professor, University of Queensland, Australia

Author Bio

Ron Hirschbein taught war and peace studies at California State University, Chico and founded the Universitys Chico Peace Institute.