Parables of permanent war : chronicles of force and folly since 9/11 / Kurt Jacobsen and Sayeed Hasan Khan.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1: America: Inside and Out 1. Prologue to a Parable 2. The Blessings-of-Civilization Trust Vs. Bin-Laden 3. A Fairy Tale of the Clash of Civilizations 4. The Vietnam Syndrome as Myth 5. A Parable about Realpolitik 6. A Parable about Anti-Americanism 7. Realist Tall Tales 8. Electoral Democracy as Electronic Fable 9. Loaded Dice: A Fairy Tale of New Orleans 10. Dubya{u2019}s Fellow Travelers 11. Green Zone Follies 12. Misunderestimating George W. Bush 13. Cleaning Up After the Great Bush Bash 14. What{u2019}s the Matter with America? Part 2: Britain: Inside and Out 15. A Parable from the British Streets 16. The Hutton Report versus Planet Earth 17. Walter Mitty meets Realpolitik 18. The London Bombs 19. Experiencing Islam, British Style 20. What Happened to Gordon Brown? 21. An IRA Fantasy Part 3: South Asia in The Middle of a Muddle 22. Backgrounders: Pakistan and India since Partition 23. A Mohajir{u2019}s Tale 24. The Myth of Shining India 25. No Fairy Tales for Pakistan 26. Housing the Poor without a Magic Wand 27. Supreme Court Tales: Rough Justice in Pakistan 28. Replaying the Partition Game 29. Swat is Burning 30. Pakistan{u2019}s Pathetic Political Culture 31. On Pakistan Bashing 32. Who{u2019}s Afraid of the ISI? Part 4: The Middle East Inside Out 33. Sifting Fairy Tales in Iraq 34. A Tale of The {u2018}Israel Lobby{u2019} 35. Gullibility Fatigue? 36. The Israeli Fairy Tale Factory 37. A New Fairy Tale of Afghanistan 38. A Yellowcake Parable 39. A Meditation on Haditha 40. Clueless in Gaza 41. Saddam{u2019}s Revenge 42. America{u2019}s Iranian Mirage Part 5: Spell-Breakers 43. Fairy Tales of Terror and Liberalism 44. Greene{u2019}s Parable of The Quiet American 45. At the Heretics Ball 46. Spooks, Hacks and Scholars 47. Hearts and Minds Fantasies 48. Zinn Breaks the Spell 49. Pacification Woes 50. Why the West should Withdraw from Afghanistan 51. Anthropology Meets Counterinsurgency 52. Paintballing Politics 53. Obama{u2019}s Bubble 54. Wikileaks and Elites 55. Osama Down So Why is The US not Out? Conclusion: Milgram{u2019}s Moral

Parables of Permanent War is a political, and, inescapably, moral chronicle of U.S. responses to the 9/11 attacks and the grave consequences at home and abroad. There is, or ought to be, no such thing as a {u2018}permanent war,{u2019} but U.S. elites are determined to pursue one. Bush{u2019}s administration transformed a heinous criminal act of mass murder into a self-serving undeclared 2war3 against stateless foes. The authors reveal how a {u2018}permanent war{u2019} suited the neoconservative advisors and the core of corporate and private donors that helped George W. Bush into office and shine a new light on the Bush administration{u2019}s actions. Parables of Permanent War arranges essays around a number of parables, indicating the deeper dysfunctions and delusions that drive this ongoing "permanent war."