In the days immediately following September 11th, the most powerful people in the country were panic-stricken. Radical decisions about how to combat terrorists and strengthen national security were made in a state of chaos and fear, but the key players, Vice President Cheney and his powerful, secretive adviser David Addington, used the crisis to further a long-held agenda to enhance presidential powers to a degree never known in U.S. history, and obliterate Constitutional protections that define the very essence of the American experiment. This is a dramatic account of how the United States made terrible decisions in the pursuit of terrorists around the world--decisions that not only violated the Constitution, but also hampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. Whatever the short-term gains, there were incalculable losses in terms of moral standing, our country's place in the world, and its sense of itself.--From publisher description.
- ISBN10 0385526393
- ISBN13 9780385526395
- Publish Date 20 August 2008 (first published 15 July 2008)
- Publish Status Remaindered
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Random House USA Inc
- Imprint Doubleday & Co Inc.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 392
- Language English