Terrorism and War

Obviously published prompted by and in reaction to the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, ‘Terrorism and War’ is the first full-length work of Howard Zinn in a number of years. Acutely observant, this sagely historian presents the facets of America’s War on Terrorism not covered on CNN or in White House press meetings. The book is in the format of a lengthy interview chunked out in chapters. This approach directs the discussions directly to the mechanics and motivations of America’s situation and response. However, this also interrupts the fluid narrative and detailed contextualization found in Zinn’s other works, like ‘A People’s History of the United States’. It is fairly widely known that irony that the U.S. directly supported Taliban et al against Russia as part of the Cold War, but Zinn goes further to reveal more. Zinn disconnects the WTC even from Pearl Harbor comparison. (This is not a military attack between nations.) Zinn also unveils the duplicity in America’s previous war initiatives. Not only does Zinn recall such recent engagements as Grenada, but the able historian summons up such remote affairs as the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor (vis-à-vis the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen) and the Mayaguez affair which nearly led to out-and-out war with Cambodia. Among the appendices are relevant extractions from the Geneva Protocol on civilian safety during engagements.