William Shawcross, the British journalist, historian, and human rights advocate—once a fierce critic of the Nixon-Kissinger years, now a defender of the West’s struggle against radical Islam—has written the best book yet on the dilemmas Western governments face in dealing with Islamic terrorists.1
Shawcross focuses on three general topics: the Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism protocols that emerged after 9/11 and their relationship with past Western efforts at punishing war criminals at Nuremberg; the poorly thought out and ultimately cancelled decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal civilian court in Manhattan; and the strange somersault of President Obama, who has now embraced or expanded almost every measure that Senator and candidate Obama alleged was either anti-constitutional, counter-productive, or near barbarous.
