Terrorism And The Bush Doctrine by John Maszka

A reviewer
A reviewer, Times book review, 07/07/2008

Terrorism and the Bush Doctrine proves to be the most insightful approach to dealing with terrorism to date. 'While some minimal definition is necessary to identify terrorism in a uniform manner, knowing what causes terrorism and collecting data on individual acts of terrorism is not as important as knowing how to stop it. When putting out a fire, while it is important to know what type of fire it is before attempting to put it out -applying water to an oil fire will have the same effect as using a flame thrower- firefighters understand that the key to putting out any fire is to remove its source of oxygen. This knowledge affords them a standard plan of action that varies only in detail -what kind of fire is it, and what is needed to remove the source of oxygen- Likewise, terrorism depends on popular support to sustain itself. Without popular support, the majority of funding, recruits and overall acceptance will disappear. Therefore, similar to putting out a fire, the primary goal for eliminating terrorism is to eliminate the sources of popular support.' Terrorism and the Bush Doctrine is a must read for anyone concerned about international terrorism.