Crusade: Chronicles of an Unjust War - Hardcover

Carroll, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805077030 ISBN 13: 9780805077032

Publisher: Metropolitan Books, 2004

Synopsis

A devastating indictment of the Bush administration's war policies from the bestselling author and respected moral authority

With the words "this Crusade, this war on terror," George W. Bush defined the purpose of his presidency. And just as promptly, James Carroll-Boston Globe columnist, son of a general, former antiwar chaplain and activist, and recognized voice of ethical authority-began a week-by-week argument with the administration over its actions. In powerful, passionate bulletins, Carroll dissected the President's exploitation of the nation's fears, invocations of a Christian mission, and efforts to overturn America's traditional relations-with other nations and its own citizens.

Crusade, the collection of Carroll's searing columns, offers a comprehensive and tough-minded critique of the war on terror. From Carroll's first rejection of "war" as the proper response to Osama bin Laden, to his prescient verdict of failure in Iraq, to his never-before-published analysis of the faith-based roots of current U.S. policies, this volume displays his rare insight and scope. Combining clear moral consciousness, an acute sense of history, and a real-world grasp of the unforgiving demands of politics, Crusade is a compelling call for the rescue of America's noblest traditions.

A cry from the heart, a record of protest, and a permanently relevant analysis, Carroll's work confronts the Bush era and measures it against what America was meant to be.

About this title

About the Author

James Carroll is the bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning memoir An American Requiem; Constantine's Sword, a history of Christian anti-Semitism; and ten novels. He lectures widely on war and peace, and on Jewish-Christian-Muslim reconciliation. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Crusade:

In the Gothic splendor of the National Cathedral, three days after the events of September 11, George W. Bush made the most stirring-and ominous-declaration of his presidency. "Americans do not yet have the distance of history," he said, "but our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil."

Most Americans, perhaps, heard the statement as mere rhetoric of the high pulpit, but as the "distance of history" lengthens, we can see that with that declaration the President redefined his raison d'etre and that of the nation-nothing less than to "rid the world of evil." The initiatives taken by Washington in the last two years are incomprehensible except in the context of this objective. Clearly President Bush meant exactly what he said. Something entirely new, for America at least, is animating its government. The greatest power the earth has ever known is now expressly mobilized against the world's most ancient mystery. What human beings have never before been able to do, George W. Bush has taken on as his personal mission, and he aims to accomplish it in one election cycle, two at most.

About this edition

• Publisher: Metropolitan Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0805077030
• ISBN 13: 9780805077032
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304