Mark Curtis

In this book the author of "Blackwater," takes us inside America's new covert wars. As he reveals, the foot soldiers in these battles operate daily across the globe and inside the United States with orders from the White House to do whatever is necessary to hunt down, capture, or kill individuals designated by the president as enemies of America. Funded through "black budgets", Special Operations Forces conduct missions in denied areas, engage in targeted killings, snatch and grab individuals and direct drone, AC-130 cruise missile strikes. While the Bush administration deployed these ghost militias, President Obama has expanded their operations and given them new scope and legitimacy. This book follows the consequences of the declaraion that "the world is a battlefield", as the author uncovers this important foreign policy story. From Afghanistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond the author reports from the frontlines in this high-stakes investigation and explores the depths of America's global killing machine. He goes beneath the surface of these covert wars, conducted in the shadows, outside the range of the press, without effective congressional oversight or public debate. He unmasks the shadow warriors who execute these secret wars and puts a human face on the casualties of violence that is now official policy as he tells the story of an American citizen marked for assassination by his own government. -- From book jacket.

Using formerly secret government documents and independent sources, this fascinating historical study argues for a radically revised understanding of post-war British foreign policy. Mark Curtis shows that, contrary to the impression usually conveyed by both academic writing and press coverage, British policy, in both intention and effect, has been far removed from the principles it has conventionally been assumed to be based on: the pursuit of peace, the promotion of democracy and human rights, and the relief of poverty worldwide. This book covers the whole of the post-war period. It examines British foreign policy planners' aims and interventions in a host of Third World countries, as well as looking at the special relationship with the United States. The author also analyses the role of both press and academia in providing support for British policy.

A timely and controversial critical expose of the reality of British foreign policy.In his explosive and revealing new book, Mark Curtis reasons that Britain is a 'rogue state', often a violator of international law and a systematic condoner of human rights abuses, as well as a key ally of many repressive regimes. Curtis argues that under the Blair government, Britain has become a champion of a form of globalisation that is increasing the takeover of the global economy by big business, and far from changing course post-September 11th, British policies are partly responsible for the continuation - and often deepening - of global poverty and inequality, while its arms exports and nuclear policies are making the world a more dangerous place. The Web of Deceit describes the staggering gulf that has arisen between New Labour's professed commitment to upholding ethical values and the reality of current policies, including British participation in the 'war on terrorism' as a new pretext for global intervention; the immorality of British policy in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq and Indonesia; effective support for repressive state policies of Israel, Russia, Turkey and the Gulf states; acquiescence in the Rwanda genocide; and the deepening of poverty-increasing economic policies through the World Trade Organisation. Drawing on the declassified government files, the book also reveals British complicity in the slaughter of a million people in Indonesia; the depopulation of the island of Diego Garcia; the overthrow of governments in Iran and British Guiana; repressive colonial policies in Kenya and Malaya; and much more. The Web of Deceit reveals a new picture of the reality of Britain's role in the world. It is both a comprehensive critique of the foreign policies of the Blair government as well as an analysis of British foreign policy since 1945.