Dirty Wars

The World Is a Battlefield

By: Jeremy Scahill

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

In this groundbreaking book of new reportage, sure to stir a global debate, journalist Jeremy Scahill - author of the acclaimed international best seller Blackwater - takes us into the heart of the War on Terror’s most dangerous battlefields as he chases down the most important foreign-policy story of our time.

From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia, and beyond, Scahill speaks to the CIA agents, mercenaries, and elite Special Operations Forces operators who populate the dark side of American war-fighting. He goes deep into al Qaeda-held territory in Yemen and walks the streets of Mogadishu with CIA-backed warlords. We also meet the survivors of US night raids and drone strikes - including families of US citizens targeted for assassination by their own government - who reveal the human consequences of the dirty wars the United States struggles to keep hidden.

Written in a gripping, action-packed narrative nonfiction style, Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield reveals that, despite his pledge to bring accountability to US wars and to end Bush-era abuses, President Barack Obama has kept in place many of the most dangerous and secret programs that thrived under his predecessor. In stunning detail, Scahill exposes how Obama has escalated these secret US wars and has built up an elite secret US military unit that answers to no one but the president himself. Scahill reveals the existence of previously unreported secret prisons, kidnappings, assassinations, and cover-ups of covert operations gone terribly wrong.

In this remarkable story from the frontlines of the undeclared battlefields of the War on Terror, journalist Jeremy Scahill documents the new paradigm of American war: fought far from any declared battlefield, by units that do not officially exist, in thousands of operations a month that are never publicly acknowledged.

The devastating picture that emerges in Dirty Wars is of a secret US killing machine that has grown more powerful than whatever president happens to reside in the White House. Scahill argues that far from keeping the United States - and the world - safe from terrorism, these covert American wars ensure that the terror will grow and spread.

©2013 Jeremy Scahill (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Dirty Wars is the most thorough and authoritative history I’ve read yet of the causes and consequences of America’s post-9/11 conflation of war and national security. I know of no other journalist who could have written it: for over a decade, Scahill has visited the war zones, overt and covert; interviewed the soldiers, spooks, jihadists, and victims; and seen with his own eyes the fruits of America’s bipartisan war fever. He risked his life many times over to write this book, and the result is a masterpiece of insight, journalism, and true patriotism.”—Barry Eisler, New York Times bestselling author

“There is no journalist in America who has exposed the truth about US government militarism more bravely, more relentlessly, and more valuably than Jeremy Scahill. Dirty Wars is highly gripping and dramatic, and of unparalleled importance in understanding the destruction being sown in our name.”—Glenn Greenwald, New York Times bestselling author and Guardian columnist

“A surefire hit for fans of Blackwater and studded with intriguing, occasionally damning material.”—Kirkus Reviews

must read

great account of the progression of the US illegal drone assassination program and regression of liberty

Don't miss this one

Find out what's been going on in our back yard in our name.
And then find out what is bending now .
If you liked the movie you'll love the book

Overtly biased.

Informative chronology of America's war against Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately overtly biased in defense of Obama.

A must-read

Every conspiracy theory is true. We now have the never-ending war of 1984. This is a must-read book.

A cautionary tale for US citizens and freedom.

Would you listen to Dirty Wars again? Why?

Yes

What did you like best about this story?

The facts about JSOC

What does Tom Weiner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Don't know

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Apparently. I did.

Any additional comments?

This gives context to the sound bites on the news. It might make you very angry, no matter your politics. War is hell and sometimes extreme definitive action solves a problem. Sometimes hubris can lead to shocking behavior. Americans following our foreign policy and the status of the war on terror and its costs to our freedoms and souls would likely find this useful, shocking, stirring.

Good Exhaustive Info, Better Macro Understanding Now

Performance/reader was fine, way above Avg for fact books. Have heard other Weiner read books, did equally good job. No complaints. Have never heard Scahill speak.

Book itself is a fact based journalistic time line story w/ threads beginning pre2001 thru 2012-13. Shows how procedure, chain of command, policy, & warfare changed. It is exhaustive in detail making the 3rd qtr hard to focus but what seem initially as random facts & interviews all tie together in the final qtr of the book. I’m sure Scahill cut lots of interviews, stories, &/or points but the ones layed out are informative and I feel we’re worth hearing. Scahill is critical & supportive of all sides & administrations, Parties. If you’re not hearing “what you want to hear”, just keep listening. There are enough wins & mistakes to go around. When you finish you’ll have a better macro understanding of what has happened.

Thank you Scahill & Weiner.

If this is your type of book, Try “Beirut Rules” which begins with 1983 Beirut bombings/ kidnappings & how warfare, CIA rules began to change thru post 2001.

Are We Terrorist?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes I would. This book is very well researched and presented. I do not agree with the author on all of his conclusions, but I do appreciate why he reached these conclusions

What other book might you compare Dirty Wars to and why?

The Ugly American and also books about the frustrations of the Viet Nam war

Which scene was your favorite?

Really does not apply This was a book to make us think about the actions of our country

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

How wide spread the special op force is. I did not realize the role in Africa and the thought the war on terror was considered a world wide war. I thought it would be more about the rise if ISIS

Any additional comments?

Made me think, but still do not have answer on what we are to do. I appreciate the errors we are making but we have had a conservative president then a liberal president and still we are doing the same. It is not working, but what will. The author did not suggest we ignore the rest of extremist and he does not condone the war

Essential Reading for Americans!

We have a social responsibility to know what our government is doing. This book exposes the US government. Informative, thorough, captivating, with horrifying & heartbreaking revelations.

PAINTS THE UNITED STATES AS ORDINARY ASSASSINS

while i am certain a lot of this book is factual, it portrays us as heartless assassins out to destroy all whom are a perceived threat. i use the word perceived as the author paints a picture basically of whomever we dont like, we send drones or special ops out to kill them. in fact, more often than not, we are told that children are killed as a result of drone strikes directed at high target values regardless of the circumstances.
for once i would like to read an unbiased slant in either direction as to what is going on. it is clear to me that the author is not an Obama fan. i believe him to be anti war under any circumstances.
if you have ever served in the military, please do not listen to or read this boook.

Heavy and Unnerving

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Listening to this book feels a bit like being in a military briefing. It is so jam packed with information and the reader delivers every piece with the same level importance. I found it tough to listen to for long periods of time.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book makes me angry. I don't know that I've ever heard in this much detail the specifics of the US military actions around the world. It's disheartening to hear all of it... albeit important to be made aware of.

Any additional comments?

Jeremy Scahill is one of the few reporters in the world that I trust at this point.