The New Crusade: America’s War on Terrorism

The attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and the U.S. government response, especially after the bombing of Afghanistan, transformed U.S. and global politics.

The New Crusade examines the myths that have arisen around the war on terrorism and the ways they are used to benefit a small elite. Mahajan demonstrates how accepted accounts of the causes of the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan, the conduct of the war, and its consequences have been systematically distorted. He shows how global power is being redefined in the process and explores the new directions the war is likely to take.

Reflecting both deep knowledge of the region and the commitment and hands-on experience of a seasoned activist, Mahajan provides a powerful interpretation of events that will be decisive in the making of our time.

Will the US-led war on terrorism rid the world of this scourge, or fuel the hatred and suffering on which it feeds?

Will the Middle East and central Asia be stabilized once Afghanistan is reduced to rubble and starvation, or become a zone of enduring war?

Within the United States, will it bring about new forms of patriotism and solidarity, or provide a platform for intensified racism, new assaults on civil liberties, and on the living standards of ordinary Americans?

Contents

Introduction

Part One: The War on Terrorism – Myth and Reality

1. Another Pearl Harbor
2. They Hate Us for Our Freedom
3. You’re with Us or You’re with the Terrorists
4. Self-Defense
5. Multilateralism, Diplomacy, Restraint
6. Power, not Revenge
7. A Humanitarian War
8. Surgical Strikes
9. A War for Civilization
10. A War on Terrorism
11. Fighting for Our Security
12. United We Stand
13. Restricting Freedom in Defense of Freedom
14. Racism: We’ve Come a Long Way
15. Defending Dissent
16. The Free Press Reports for Duty
17. Censorship in Defense of Civilization
18. The People Want War
19. We Have to Do Something

Part Two: The New White Man’s Burden

20. The White Man’s Burden
21. The United States as Imperial Power
22. Assessing Humanitarian Intent: Biological Warfare?
23. Assessing Humanitarian Intent: Making Africa Safe for AIDS
24. Humanitarian Interventions in Context: Afghanistan, Somalia, Kosovo, Rwanda
25. Who Cares about Iraq?
26. Beyond the White Man’s Burden

Part Three: New Directions in the War on Terrorism

27. Afghanistan and Central Asia
28. Somalia, the Philippines, and Other Targets
29. Israel and Palestine
30. Iraq
31. Weapons of Mass Destruction as Casus Belli
32. Reexamining National Security
33. Biological Weapons Again
34. Containing the Rogue State

Notes

Index

Rahul Mahajan-is a member of the Nowar Collective, the National Board of Peace Action, and the National Committee of the National Network to End the War against Iraq. He is a frequent contributor to www.commondreams.org and is currently completing a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Texas at Austin.