And Endless War, Power, Pay Any Price: Greed

Excellent book that provides context for out seemingly endless wars in the Middle East and elsewhere. Deserves to be read widely and discussed in the mainstream media. James Risen deserves his reputation as one of the outstanding investigative reporters of our time.

Good book
in theory we have an amazing amount of freedoms but in practice it's another story....something really wrong is going on here
authors anger pops up a bit but the stuff he's reporting on effects the heart of our most clear cut constitutional rights

This book deserves to be read by every thinking American. Mr. Risen has revealed a shocking account of events in the middle east and those who put greed and power against the well being of our country. One hopes the political elites of the nation will react to
the military-industrial complex that has far too much power and influence. If not checked, it seems endless war is in our future.

James Risen might be in prison very soon, but his voice is louder than ever. "Pay Any Price" is a bold follow up to his controversial last book, "State of War." Risen takes aim with America's constant wars in the Middle East. He appears to place equal blame on both Bush and Obama for the mishandling of wars, persecution of journalists, and creation of a surveillance state.

Risen's focus on torture and technology are two of the major highlights of this book. In the early 2000s, evidence of widespread "enhanced interrogation techniques" were leaked to the press. Photos of horrific torture situations were toxic to the Bush presidency (despite his reelection). Both Bush and Obama have tried to stifle investigations, releases, and transparency regarding this nightmarish experience for those involved. Risen explains unmercilessly that U.S. military forces likely manipulated Geneva Conventions. Judicial opinions in the Bush White House set a standard of calling prisoners of war by the title, "enemy combatants." This semantic change "allowed" the U.S. military to carry out excessive torture techniques.

"Pay Any Price" is the first book to catalog a complex connection with the American Psychological Association (APA) on the issue of torture. Risen alludes to some collusion between leaders in the APA Ethics Board and intelligence community. He suggests that the APA, who writes formal ethics codes for psychologists, may have hindered and delayed necessary changes to the code that would prevent psychologists from aiding in torture/enhanced interrogation. This is a dark and, previously, unknown past. The meeting was held secretly and the attendees never shared with the outside public.

Amidst these atrocities, Risen highlights the rise of a surveillance state. Mentioning veteran NSA analysts such as Binney and Drake, Risen adds to the growing collective of journalists speaking out against overreach. He perfectly catalogues and highlights the conflicts of interest present in Congress. As a reader, I felt powerless -- but stirred -- by the blanket collection of data (U.S. or otherwise). Risen adeptly notes how Congress pushes dissenting voices out of the system; thus, protecting themselves.

"Pay Any Price" is a terrific addition to a growing list of books, which highlight the atrocities present in the last two administrations. Risen is brave and patriotic in his delivery, with a stated intention of preserving democracy. What's necessary, is an informed public.

This got my blood pressure up. Risen makes clear the reason we need a free press. The fact that he is being hounded by our government for telling embarrassing things about our leaders is not a reason to censor him. Well written and enthralling.

Very compelling read. Describes very well the erosion in privacy that continues even today. The fraud/spending abuses mainly of government contractors without sufficient (or any!) supervision is also revelatory.

There's an important line to draw between protecting secrets that allow necessary operations & abuses of power that use secrecy to protect the perpetrators. This book discusses the relationship between these lines and freedom of the press.wpup

I wish this were fantasy and fiction. I regret knowing some of the details in advance and these were accurately reported. I cautiously assume the balance of the book is also an accurate record of actions that will impact generations.

A totally depressing read, especially the chapters describing the manner in which we "rebuilt" Iraq by delivering billions of dollars in cash to a increasingly corrupt post-invasion regime that was "overseen" by a bunch of overzealous Americans trying to impose market solutions on a country that was falling apart before their eyes and in which more and more people were sucked into our top leadership's belief that torture would produce answers. There will be no accountability in the US for the long, long list of policy mistakes, poor decisions, and outright criminal behaviour covered in detail here and elsewhere. Without moral authority, American has no authority.

The elaboration of our American Economical, Political and Societal systems were well exemplified upon by author James Risen. He sheds light on the privatization of corporations, each branches hands in current events, and remains unbiased upon his findings.

Explains the inner workings and motivations of the 43 Presidents Men. I bought it because , although I'm a Republican, I wanted an opposing view of that comedy of errors and I could hardly expect that from the Cheney or Rove camp. I thought Risen approached the subject with as open a mind possible considering he writes for the New York Times. I had my own opinions about why we Invaded Iraq and although he never mentioned it outright Bush and Cheney for sure are part of the Cabal that watched in horror as Saddam burned up their resources in Kuwait in '91.

Was that high expectations? I guess not. The book definitely got a wow factor with quite some striking facts presented, but when a single (yes, a strong and mind-blowing one) fact is evenly spread like a thin layer of butter over 30 pages re-iterating the same thing again and again it's not a win. It's a Hollywood 3 hours movie based on a 10 pages original story. The flow is very very slow and let's be frank - boring. I'd say a single A4 resume of the book would have much stronger impact than a book itself. Just my 2 cents of course.

Even as a self described progressive thinker this thesis may be too one sided for even me. His point is well taken but lets also balance this view with the notion that in times of a reactionary attack bad things can and do happen. While we can't ignore these consequences he does little to offer a solution but rather is repetitive in his righteous proclamation that they exist.