Bush vs the Beltway--Paperback Release

[Laurie Mylroie]

For Immediate Release

Contact: Lila Haber

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BUSH VS THE BELTWAY:

The Inside Battle Over War In Iraq

By Laurie Mylroie

 

"In face of the glibly-repeated slogan that America is 'in search of enemies,'

Laurie Mylroie shows that many in our intelligence establishment are

fatally unable to recognize an enemy even when they meet one.

A caustic and spirited statement of the original case for regime change."

--Christopher Hitchens

 

"This revealing and important book underscores the gravity of the threat that faced the country on 9/11 and the truly heroic nature of President Bush's decision to confront it, as well as the unbelievable (for many Americans) obstructionism of the bureaucracies.

The phony furor over Iraq's weapons is merely the latest phase in

the Washington bureaucratic war.

Mylroie wants answers to hard questions--and so will you."

--Richard Perle, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy

 

“A key document in the ongoing policy debate...marshals a lot of persuasive evidence.”
   — —Booklist

 

Laurie Mylroie’s previous books on Iraq, The War Against America, and the #1 New York Times bestseller, Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf (co-authored with Judith Miller) made the persuasive case that Saddam Hussein’s regime had a long history of brutality and state sponsorship of terror.  Now in her latest book, BUSH VS THE BELTWAY: The Inside Battle Over War in Iraq (ReganBooks; on-sale August 2004; Trade Paperback; $14.95) she takes on the story behind the buildup to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Combining groundbreaking new research with an insider’s understanding of the workings of Washington, Mylroie describes how forces WITHIN the CIA and the State Department have conspired to falsely discredit crucial intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s regime, from his links to al Qaeda to his development of chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry.  She charges the bureaucrats of these agencies with cynical, self-serving behavior, designed to help them save face even at the expense of our national security.

 

Mylroie describes how major elements of the case against Iraq—from new information about the al-Qaeda terrorists’ links to Iraq, to potential Iraq involvement in the fall 2001 anthrax attacks—were suppressed or prematurely dismissed by the CIA and the State Department.  She reveals how the very idea of state-sponsored terrorism had been pronounced dead after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing—thereby giving states like Iraq the perfect cover to carry out well-orchestrated terrorist acts without ever being detected. 

 

In what will surely be seen as the controversial book of the decade, Mylroie asserts that:

 

• the “peace and prosperity” created by the Clinton administration was in essence an “illusion” during which our government failed to recognize and handle the growing threat of Iraq’s arms build-up in the wake of the Gulf War, particularly its biological program.
• the “concept” of Islamic fanatical terrorist factions that are independent of any state backing is inaccurate and altogether false.
• all evidence points to a strong relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda operatives at a senior level, indicating that terrorist factions may, in fact, be a ruse to cover up Iraq’s agenda.
• on the afternoon of September 11^th, Donald Rumsfeld gave the order to start looking at Iraq, as well as al Qaeda, and that plans for war with Iraq were already in the making as we attacked Afghanistan.
• the CIA has time and time again used methods to divert the government from pursuing the al Qaeda-Iraq connection.
• the proposed centralization of intelligence may, in fact, be the worst scenario for keeping America alert to the deceptions of our enemies.

 

BUSH VS THE BELTWAY presents astonishing facts that will lead readers to re-examine their own perceptions of the war and wonder what else we don’t know.  In the chapter “Deception and Self-Deception,” Mylroie recounts the military tactics of deception and denial used by the U.S.  and Britain during World War II to illustrate how similar tactics may be in place to convince us that al Qaeda operatives are not linked to Iraq. This chapter alone will make readers want to brush up on historical military maneuvers in order to understand current politics.  Together with Professor Robert Turner of the University of Virginia School of Law, who contributes an essay on the legality of the war—she demonstrates how only the unwavering vision of senior administration officials (President Bush first among them) broke through the roadblocks that stood in the way of liberating Iraq and defending America.

 

In what may be called the most up-to-date book on America’s past history with Iraq and terrorism, Mylroie succeeds in connecting each seemingly unrelated event in a way the media, and perhaps even the government, has failed to do. Drawing on her own contacts with the Bush administration, as well as citing renowned journalists from publications such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post as well as speeches made by Saddam Hussein and our country’s leaders, Mylroie puts forth a comprehensive and encompassing investigation of the facts surrounding our entanglement with Iraq that will make it impossible for readers to put BUSH VS THE BELTWAY down. This is the kind of book that will spark intergenerational discussions and debates about U.S. politics, historical events and future predictions for years to come.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laurie Mylroie is the author of The War Against America and the co-author with Judith Miller of Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf, a #1 New York Times bestseller. An adviser on Iraq to the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, she is an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and has taught at Harvard University and the U. S. Naval War College. Mylorie’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Newsweek, and many other national periodicals.

 

BUSH VS THE BELTWAY

The Inside Battle Over War in Iraq

By Laurie Mylroie

ReganBooks

August 2004

Trade Paperback; $14.95

ISBN:  0060597267