A Pretext For War by James Bamford (2004, Hardcover)

In The Puzzle Palace, James Bamford revealed the inner workings of the NSA, the largest, most secretive, and best-financed intelligence organization in the world. In Body of Secrets, he took readers inside the ultrasecret agency, charting its deeds and misdeeds from its founding in 1952 to the end of the twentieth century. Now Bamford applies his relentless investigative drive and unparalleled access to intelligence sources to produce another history-making volume. A bold, incisive response to the Bush administration’s version of recent events, A PRETEXT FOR WAR explains why American intelligence agencies failed to predict and prevent the disaster of 9/11 and lays bare the Bush administration's role in formulating specious justifications for the pre-emptive war on Iraq.

Bamford homes in on the systematic weaknesses that led the intelligence community to ignore or misinterpret evidence of the impending terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Using impeccable sources in the intelligence communities, he shows that the Bush administration was, from its inception, more interested in pursuing a dubious agenda in Iraq than hunting terrorists like Osama bin Laden. From the mishandling of 9/11 to the still-unproven claims about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, to recent allegations about the threat Iran poses to the world, Bamford argues that the Bush administration has co-opted the intelligence community for its own political ends.

A PRETEXT FOR WAR is the full, unvarnished story of a national scandal packed with detailed proof of incompetence, deception, and misinformation on the part of the government officials charged with safeguarding our security. An unprecedented, utterly convincing exposé of the most secretive administration in history, it is bound to make headlines throughout the world.