Book Review: War By Other Means by John Yoo
Most of you probably haven’t heard of John Yoo but you did see his work unfold between the years of 2001 and 2003. John Yoo is a professor at the University of California Berkley Law School and has once the assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Council in the Department of Justice. During his stint in the Bush Administration, he was right in the middle of some major decisions, such as Guantanamo Bay, the Iraq invasion, and how to treat terrorists. John Yoo is the author of War By Other Means, a book that describes the critical time after the September 11 terrorist attacks and the decisions that were made by the Bush Administration.
I was originally assigned War By Other Means as a required reading for my Homeland Security class in college but I did not finish the book and made it a priority to do so after the semester wrapped up. I’m glad that I made that decision. The book is filled with a lot of insight into the Bush Administration, the justification behind their course of action after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and much more. Even though the book does contain a lot of good information, there were definitely times that the progression stalled and there wasn’t too much to reinitialize interest in the topics being discussed. At times, it felt like Yoo was repeating himself and the subject just kept dragging on. Those type of moments were few and far between, but they did require me to set the book down for a couple of days in order to get my interest peaked once again.
I must warn you, this book takes a very right wing approach, as it is practically a defense of the actions taken by the Bush Administration. Although I’m not a big fan of biased books, it was quite refreshing to read literature that was not produced by the media, which often is in the pocket of left wing politicians. John Yoo brings up some excellent points in the book, especially when discussing the topics of interrogation and wiretapping. I believe that this is a book that every American should read, even if they aren’t too interested in politics or homeland security. The information within the book put some pieces together for me and filled in some gaps that I had about our nation’s defense system, the laws that run our country, and the policies that the Bush Administration put into place. I think this is a good starting point for people who want to know more about what went on after September 11 and for individuals who desire to be familiar with the topic of homeland security and all that goes along with it.
If you want a preview of the book, you can check out it out on Google Books.