The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 Book

In his follow-up to the insightful, The Price of Loyalty, Suskind provides crucial insight into the mindset of the inner circle in the Bush White House in the wake of 9-11. The title refers to Dick Cheney's assertion that, if there is even a one percent chance that someone has the desire and the ability to inflict damage on the United States, our government must act as if it were a certainty. It is the panic-driven premise that warranted the administration's promulgation of preemptive war as a principle of national policy(more accurately, the policy is preventitive war, since preemption requires tangible evidence of imminent intention and capacity for attack), that drove our invasion of Iraq, that fueled the move to use torture, and that justifies suspension of habeas corpus, warrantless wiretapping, etc. Well-written and well-documented, this book should be read by anyone who hopes to understand what has happened to our country during the past 7 years.