in election of 2008, 118–20
Guantanamo closure and, 126, 128–32, 156, 222–24
immigration and, 156, 172–75, 237, 258
Iraq war and, 111–14, 116, 231–32
ISIS and, 238
Libya and, 180–82
on Manning, 197–98
National Defense University speech of, 152, 188, 191, 225, 238
Presidential Policy Guidance of, 151–52, 376n
A Promised Land, 114–15
reelection of, 183
surveillance as viewed by, 112, 116
torture and, 112, 123, 126, 127, 156, 191–92, 210, 213
War on Terror of, xvi, xvii, 111–13, 115, 119, 120, 121–54, 221–27, 231–35, 238, 239, 254, 265–66, 314
War on Terror of, vs. the left, 187–219
War on Terror of, vs. the right, 155–86
Obama, Michelle, 173
Obey, Dave, 129
Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria, 282, 283, 336
Odierno, Ray, 76, 110
Office of Special Plans, 67
Oklahoma City bombing, 3–12, 17, 26, 317, 336–38
Omar, Ilhan, 282, 283, 327, 336
Omar, Mullah Mohammed, 38
O’Reilly, Bill, 20, 198, 242–43, 337
Orlando nightclub shooting, 236
Ortiz, David, 225
Owens, William “Ryan,” 266, 287
Ozols, Valdis, 31
Packer, George, 100
Padilla, Jose, 30–31, 104, 106, 327
Page, Carter, 290, 297
Page, Lisa, 252, 273
Page, Wade Michael, 184–86
Pakistan, 38, 39, 122–25, 128, 136, 142, 143, 224–25
Palantir, 33, 307–8, 315
Palestinians, 26, 61–62, 65, 66, 138
Palin, Sarah, 119, 157, 240
Panetta, Leon, 123, 124, 179, 211, 212
Pantaleo, Daniel, 260
Papadopoulos, George, 250, 252
Paris attacks (2015), 236–37, 242
Park51 (Cordoba House; Ground Zero Mosque), 160–64, 176, 178, 226
Patrick, Dan, 310
PATRIOT Act, 30–32, 34, 35, 88, 94, 106, 188, 257, 296, 298, 327, 329
Paul, Rand, 135, 157, 240
Paul, Ron, 117, 135, 240
Pearce, Russell, 171
Pearl, Daniel, 160–61
Pearl, Judea, 161, 164
Pelosi, Nancy, 34, 204, 293, 296, 334
Pence, Mike, 272, 301–2, 304, 306, 334
Perez, Miguel, Jr., 277
Perry, Rick, 293
Peskov, Dmitry, 250
Petraeus, David, 75, 108–11, 113–14, 116, 142–45, 158–59, 227, 233, 244, 248, 299–300, 324, 368n
Pillar, Paul, 67, 309
Playing to the Edge (Hayden), 32
Pletka, Danielle, 82
Podobnyy, Victor, 290
Poitras, Laura, 203
police, 215–19, 324–25
Pompeo, Mike, 226, 247, 267, 278, 293, 301, 308–9
Potok, Mark, 185
Pottinger, Matt, 308–9
Poulsen, Kevin, 195
Powell, Colin, 62–64, 70–72, 96–99, 119, 262, 315
Prager, Dennis, 20
Pratt, Larry, 10
presidential elections
of 2004, 100–103
of 2008, 117–20, 182
of 2016, xiv, 247–56, 264, 267, 272, 286, 288, 290, 294
of 2020, xi–xii, xvi, 314–15, 322, 331–33
Pressley, Ayanna, 282
Prince, Erik, 75, 265, 271–72
Promised Land, A (Obama), 114–15
Putin, Vladimir, 207, 239, 242–43, 247–48, 254, 272, 286
Qaddafi, Moammar, 43, 45, 179–81
QAnon, 285, 332
Qureshi, Faheem, 121–22, 124–26, 136
racism, xvi, xvii, 157, 158, 164
see also white supremacists
Rahman, Gul, 39–44, 128, 259
Ramsundar, Shane, 328
Raphel, Robin, 274
Ratcliffe, John, 294–96
Rauf, Faisal Abdul, 160–64, 180
Raziq, Abdul, 274
Reagan, Ronald, 55, 56
Reid, Harry, 163
Reilly, Ryan J., 216
Reno, Janet, 15
Republicans; the right, xii, 9–10, 92
9/11 and, 51–85, 89–90
Obama’s War on Terror and, 155–86
Security State and, 17
Rhodes, Ben, 112, 129–30, 132, 149, 153–54, 204, 305
Rice, Condoleezza, 64, 112
Rich, Seth, 251
Ridge, Tom, 87
Risen, James, 82–83
Rittenhouse, Kyle, 323, 324
Rizzo, Frank, 325
Rizzo, John, 291
Robb-Silberman Commission, 83
Robertson, Pat, 166
Rockefeller, Jay, 34, 210
Rodriguez, David, 146
Rodriguez, Jose, 178, 210, 212, 214, 291
Rogers, Mike, 203, 204, 226–27, 267
Romero, Anthony, 192
Romney, Mitt, 117, 158, 179, 181–84, 240, 294
Rondeau, Renee, 47
Rosenblatt, Roger, 24
Rosenstein, Rod, 287–88
Rove, Karl, 53, 68, 117
Roy, Arundhati, 95
Royce, Ed, 84
Royko, Mike, 5–6
Ruby Ridge, 3–4, 8–10
Rudman, Warren, 88
Rumsfeld, Donald, 37, 38, 48, 59, 62, 64, 67, 71, 74, 79–81, 96, 98, 131, 168, 313, 316
Ruppersberger, Dutch, 203, 205–6
Russia, 207, 225–27, 239, 242–43, 247–54, 264, 265, 267, 271, 272, 278, 286–88, 290–92, 294
Saddam Hussein, 62–74, 81, 94, 96, 97, 238, 308
as connected to al-Qaeda and 9/11, 64–67, 71, 72, 238, 309
weapons of, 67, 68, 70–71, 81, 83, 96, 97, 99–100
Salaam, Yusef, 158
Saleh, Ali Abdullah, 179
Sanchez, Ricardo, 79, 80
Sanders, Bernie, 129, 188, 208, 238, 248, 251, 314–15
Sanner, Beth, 306
Sassaman, Nate, 76
Sater, Felix, 250
Savage, Charlie, 130, 134
Sayoc, Cesar, 285
Scahill, Jeremy, 29, 125, 187
Scaife, Richard Mellon, 169, 170
Scalia, Antonin, 21–22
Scheuer, Michael, 15, 43, 117, 265, 285, 293
Schiff, Adam, 254, 290–91, 293, 296
Schlesinger, James, 80, 259
Schmidt, Eric, 33
Schindler, John, 207
Schmitz, Joseph, 169
Schoenfeld, Gabriel, 183
Schumer, Chuck, 103
Scowcroft, Brent, 99
Secure Communities, 173–74
Security State, 13–49
Sessions, Jeff, 68, 80–81, 85, 174, 237, 242, 261, 287
Sewall, Sarah, 115
Shadid, Anthony, 72
Shahzad, Faisal, 150–51
Shanahan, Patrick, 279
Sharif, Ahmed, 163
Shelby, Richard, 17
Shinseki, Eric, 71, 313
Sicknick, Brian, 334
Sikhs, 19, 184, 186
Silverstein, Larry, 19–20
Simon, Mandy, 216–17
Singh, Nikhil Pal, 337–38
Sky, Emma, 110
Slahi, Mohamedou Ould, 48
Slotkin, Elissa, 336–37
Smith, Lamar, 175
Smith, Sean, 153
Snowden, Edward, 18, 189–90, 201–4,
206–11, 214–15, 219, 221, 225, 227, 235, 287
Soleimani, Qassem, 232, 299–302, 327
Somalia, xii, 111, 266, 268–69
Sondland, Gordon, 293, 294
Sontag, Susan, 22–24, 26, 93, 150
Soros, George, 264, 285
Soufan, Ali, 40
Southern Poverty Law Center, 2, 171, 237, 243
Soviet Union, 14–15, 55, 62, 92, 102
Soyster, Harry, 169
Special Operations forces, 37–38, 124, 145
Specter, Arlen, 88
Speer, Christopher, 49
Spencer, Robert, 54, 138, 162, 167, 185–86, 226, 243
Stack, Andrew Joseph, 177
State Department, 15, 62, 62, 66, 75, 158, 189, 249, 264, 302, 310
Steele, Christopher, 295
Steinbach, Michael B., 235
STELLARWIND, 32–36, 82–83, 112, 123, 183, 202, 205, 219, 291–92, 320
Stepanian, Andy, 258
Stern, Howard, xiii, 69
Stevens, Christopher, 153, 181
Stone, Roger, 252, 322, 324
Strassmeir, Andreas, 2, 6–7
Strzok, Peter, 252, 273, 290
Sullivan, Andrew, 53
Sullivan, Jake, 249
Summers, Evy, 165
Sund, Steven, 334
Supreme Court, 166, 332
Boumediene v. Bush, 129–31
U.S. v. Hamdi, 134
surveillance, 32–37, 123, 152–53, 188, 199–208, 219, 235, 236, 244, 285, 296, 329
Obama’s view of, 112, 116
STELLARWIND program, 32–36, 82–83, 112, 123, 183, 202, 205, 219, 921–92, 320
Trump and, 288–92
Suskind, Ron, 57
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, 101
Syria, 43, 66, 228, 229, 238–40, 244, 248, 255, 271, 278–80, 287, 300
Taliban, xii, xiii, 37, 38, 46–47, 59, 60, 94, 142–47, 272, 274–75
Taylor, Breonna, 316
Taylor, Miles, 295
Tenet, George, 14, 15, 17, 32, 36, 42–45, 62, 65, 68, 71, 83, 116, 126, 127, 306
terrorism, xviii
Islam and, 27, 83–85, 91, 136, 138–39, 159–60, 162, 233
1996 antiterrorism legislation, 10–11
white, see white terrorism
Thacker, Charles Robert, Jr., 313
Thakur, Udit, 170
Thiel, Peter, 271, 307
Thomas, Cal, 6
Thomas, Philippa, 197
Thomas, Tony, 320
Thompson, Bennie, 177
Thomson Correctional Center, 130
Time, 24, 100, 163
Times Square, 150–51
Tineo, Edwin, 311
Tineo, Michael, 60–61
Tlaib, Rashida, 282
torture, 39–47, 71, 79–81, 105, 116, 117, 123, 125–29, 134, 178–79, 188, 190–92, 196–98, 209–14, 227, 259, 291, 355n
at Abu Ghraib, 79–80
bin Laden information and, 178, 179
Clinton on, 112
at Guantanamo, 47–49
Obama and, 112, 123, 126, 127, 156, 191–92, 210, 213
Trump on, 242
waterboarding, 40, 44, 117, 237, 178–79, 211
Townsend, Stephen, 275
Trump, Donald, xiii, 69, 157, 158, 178, 182, 184, 226, 240–47, 249, 256
Afghanistan war and, xi–xiii, 241, 274–75, 287
Black Lives Matter protests and, 315–27
Cordoba House project and, 162, 164
coronavirus pandemic and, 303–13, 315, 321, 327
drone strikes and, 267–69
immigration and, 240–42, 258–64, 276–78, 310–11
impeachment hearings against, 293–94, 314, 336
Iran and, 300–302
ISIS and, 274, 275, 278, 280
march on Capitol and, 333–36
9/11 and, 17
Obama’s birth certificate and, xvii, 157–58, 296
in presidential election of 2016, xiv, 250–56, 264, 267, 272, 286, 288, 290, 294
in presidential election of 2020, xi–xii, xvi, 314–15, 322, 331–33
Russia and, 249–50
the Squad and, 282–83
surveillance and, 288–92
Syria and, 278–80, 287
on torture, 242
Ukraine deal and, 292–94, 296
War on Terror of, xii–xiii, xvi, xvii, 241–45, 257–98, 315, 338
white supremacists and, 284, 324
Trump, Donald, Jr., 250
Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan, 225–27
Udall, Mark, 212
Ukraine, 292–94, 296
United Arab Emirates (UAE), 103, 271
United Nations (UN), 3, 70–71, 97, 98, 123, 124, 127, 189, 216
Unveiling Islam (Caner and Caner), 58
Veselnitskaya, Natalia, 250
Vietnam War, 55–56, 70, 71, 80, 92, 96, 101, 108, 117–18, 147, 245, 275
Vindman, Alexander, 294
Vines, Jerry, 58, 59
Volker, Kurt, 293
Votel, Joe, 239
Vought, Russell, 282
Waco siege, 4, 6, 9, 10
Wail, Abu, 109
Walker, William, 334
Wall, Sally, 166
Wall Street Journal, 19, 82, 160, 186, 335
Warner, Mark, 291
War on Terror
activism against, 187, 189
AUMF in, 25, 123, 181, 238
of Bush, xvi, 24–27, 30, 32, 35, 37, 38, 46, 56, 58–62, 65, 82–85, 87, 88, 91, 93, 94, 105, 107, 133–35, 148, 187, 188, 192
construction of, 24
decadent phase of, 221–40, 302
enemy as defined in, 24–26, 38, 61, 83–85, 135–36, 148
human costs of, 224–25, 329, 414n
liberals and, 52–54, 82, 85, 87–120, 187–219, 263
name of, 26–27
of Obama, xvi, xvii, 111–13, 115, 119, 120, 121–54, 221–27, 231–35, 238, 239, 254, 314
of Obama, vs. the left, 187–219, 265–66
of Obama, vs. the right, 155–86
Sanders and, 314–15
sustainable, 121–54, 155–56, 172, 193, 199, 221, 232, 234, 239, 265, 314, 315, 337
of Trump, xii–xiii, xvi, xvii, 241–45, 257–98, 315, 338
Washington Post, 8, 23, 65, 82, 100, 128, 145, 162, 194, 203, 216, 277, 306, 310, 332
Washington Times, 156, 167
Waters, Maxine, 93
Weaver, Randy, 3, 10
Weekly Standard, 23, 60, 66, 72, 81
Weiner, Anthony, 253
West, Allen, 76, 170–71, 332
white supremacists, 2–4, 7–10, 12, 111, 137, 157, 246, 284–85, 295, 317, 322–25
Charlottesville rally of, 284, 317, 323
Trump and, 284, 324
white terrorism, 9, 12, 27, 177, 184–86, 219, 295, 317–18
Oklahoma City bombing, 3–12, 17, 26, 317, 336–38
Whitman, Christine Todd, 19, 21, 56
Whitmer, Gretchen, 322, 337
Wieseltier, Leon, 100
WikiLeaks, 194–97, 198–99, 202, 207, 211, 251, 252, 267
Wilders, Geert, 163, 181, 236
Wilentz, Sean, 208
Wilkerson, Larry, 71
Wilson, Charles, 52
Wilson, Darren, 215
Wilson, Frederica, 270
Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting, 184, 186
Wittes, Ben, 292
Wolf, Chad, 325, 326, 330
Wolford, Elizabeth, 328
Wolfowitz, Paul, 56–57, 66, 67, 69, 71
Woods, Tyrone, 153
Woodward, Bob, 304
Woolsey, Jim, 169
Wooten, Dawn, 260
World Trade Center
Ground Zero Mosque, 160–64, 176, 178, 226
1993 bombing of, 5, 11, 66
Wray, Christopher, 36
Wright, Dustin M., 269
Wurmser, David, 67
Wyden, Ron, 204, 205, 208, 289
Xi Jinping, 308
Yanukovych, Viktor, 239
Yasin, Zayed M., 23
Yates, Sally, 282
Yemen, 128, 133, 179, 266, 287, 314
Yingling, Paul, 279, 319
Yoo, John, 25–26, 32, 44, 47, 127, 134, 211, 294
Young, Neil, 17
Yousef, Ramzi, 5
Youssef, Mohamed, 30
al-Zarqawi, Abu Musab, 71, 72, 76–79, 81, 83–84, 109, 143, 228, 230, 238
al-Zawahiri, Ayman, 155, 167
Zelensky, Volodymyr, 292–94
Zelinsky, Aaron, 322, 324
Zetter, Kim, 195
Zero Dark Thirty, 213
Zhu, Xilong, 277
Ziglar, James, 29
Zimmerman, George, 216
Zubaydah, Abu, 40–42, 45, 178–79, 210–11, 353n, 355n
Zuboff, Shoshana, 33, 199
Zuckerberg, Mark, 208
Zuley, Richard, 47–48, 260
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For nearly the entire War on Terror, Spencer Ackerman has been a national-security correspondent for outlets like The New Republic, WIRED, The Guardian, and currently The Daily Beast. He has reported from the frontlines of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. He shared in the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism for Edward Snowden's NSA leaks to The Guardian, a series of stories that also yielded him other awards, including the Scripps Howard Foundation's 2014 Roy W. Howard Award for Public Service Reporting and the 2013 IRE medal for investigative reporting. Ackerman's WIRED series on Islamophobic counterterrorism training at the FBI won the 2012 online National Magazine Award for reporting. He frequently appears on MSNBC, CNN, and other news networks.
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.
*I have obscured his name at the specific request of his family.