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Summary Of Jane Mayer's The Dark Side

1627 Words7 Pages

Inherently the inner workings of defense for a nation state exist in the public eye as well as in the shadows of society. Most of what normal citizens observe, discuss and live freely under is the end-state to any defense policy. However, the operational environment and politics behind a defense enterprise are seldom portrayed by the mainstream. The Dark Side, by Jane Mayer, sheds light into the depths of U.S. government’s response to the attacks on September 11, 2001, in a manner I did not know existed. The novel highlights the many opportunities the U.S. defense network had in stopping the worst terrorist attacks in human history. Mayer pulls skeletons out from deep within the political halls of the U.S. government that depict the convoluted …show more content…

Political fights over bureaucratic turf largely stagnated the early efforts of the young DHS because politicians wanted their piece of the greatest restructuring of government within U.S. history. “Although much of the discussion centered on the mission, the most important decisions flowed more from political than from mission-based motives” (Kettl, 2007). Yet, when the moment mattered most, POTUS understood the necessity for unity of effort and the strength of that unity. Director Tenet explained to POTUS that his agency (CIA) did everything in its power to advert the OBL threat and that he would defend his agents even if it meant sacrificing himself in the effort to do so. GWB understood this, and when the time arose to unify the government, he did so. “After a Republican congressman attacked Tenet’s performance, President Bush rose to his rescue saying, ‘We cannot be second-guessing our team, and I’m not going to. The nation is at war. We need to encourage Congress to frankly leave the man alone. Tenet’s doing a good job and if he’s not, blame me, not him” (as reported by Mayer, 2009). Politics will always have its influence within government regardless of the administration in charge. The Bush administration confronted the terrorist threat as a boxer to a sucker punch, with an all-out offensive reaction and to the best of their capabilities. We see today the result of massive wartime overspending and the chaos created in a less-than-comprehensive war effort. The U.S. today is still maneuvering to combat the ever-evolving threat of

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