By Robert Parry
September 14, 2007
Let it be noted that the morning after George W. Bush announced an open-ended – possibly permanent – military occupation of Iraq the premier U.S. newspapers ran headlines about the President ordering “troop cuts,” itself a troubling reminder of how the American people got into this mess.
The New York Times’ lead headline read: “Bush Says Success Allows Gradual Troop Cuts.” The Washington Post went with: “Bush Tells Nation He Will Begin to Roll Back ‘Surge.’”
Read on.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
More reader reviews from Amazon.com
Thanks to all who have taken the time to review Neck Deep at Amazon.com.
Below are a few more reviews from our readers:
Honest, in-depth investigative reporting, September 9, 2007
By Avidreader "Pam" (New Zealand)
For anyone who wants to know what has really been happening politically in the US for the past 50 years or more, this book will add considerably to your knowledge. If you want to know how and why the House of Bush seized power and subverted the American electoral process - read this book. Robert Parry and team at Consortiumnews.com are bright stars in the list of American journalists and investigative reporters who can still wear those names with pride. All their books and articles are well worth your time.
Connects the Dots, September 8, 2007
By Ronald G. Defenbaugh "Ron" (Stanberry, MO USA)
The Parrys do their usual fine investigative reporting in this book Neck Deep. They connect the dots from early in GWB's career to the current fiasco we find ourselves in. This book should be bought even if reading time is precious. Save it for history if you have to, for that is what it is - history without the mainline media spin. The authors use some of their previously written articles to point out the previously mis-leading big media accounts of "facts" and their timely accounts of history. I plan to read it ever so often to remember how we really got into this mess. Buy it - then compare it to the spin of other "historians" and to what you see as truly happening.
Top Notch, September 8, 2007
By Charles F. Kaiser Jr. "ckaiserjr" (Minnesota)
As with everything Robert Parry attaches his name to, this is a Top Notch and thoroughly researched piece of investigative journalism. Since I agree with the other reviews posted before mine, I'll keep it short and advise you to read all of his other books, as well as direct you to visit his website at http://www.consortiumnews.com.
To order Neck Deep, please visit the publisher's web site at www.neckdeepbook.com.
To review Neck Deep, please visit Amazon.com.
Below are a few more reviews from our readers:
Honest, in-depth investigative reporting, September 9, 2007
By Avidreader "Pam" (New Zealand)
For anyone who wants to know what has really been happening politically in the US for the past 50 years or more, this book will add considerably to your knowledge. If you want to know how and why the House of Bush seized power and subverted the American electoral process - read this book. Robert Parry and team at Consortiumnews.com are bright stars in the list of American journalists and investigative reporters who can still wear those names with pride. All their books and articles are well worth your time.
Connects the Dots, September 8, 2007
By Ronald G. Defenbaugh "Ron" (Stanberry, MO USA)
The Parrys do their usual fine investigative reporting in this book Neck Deep. They connect the dots from early in GWB's career to the current fiasco we find ourselves in. This book should be bought even if reading time is precious. Save it for history if you have to, for that is what it is - history without the mainline media spin. The authors use some of their previously written articles to point out the previously mis-leading big media accounts of "facts" and their timely accounts of history. I plan to read it ever so often to remember how we really got into this mess. Buy it - then compare it to the spin of other "historians" and to what you see as truly happening.
Top Notch, September 8, 2007
By Charles F. Kaiser Jr. "ckaiserjr" (Minnesota)
As with everything Robert Parry attaches his name to, this is a Top Notch and thoroughly researched piece of investigative journalism. Since I agree with the other reviews posted before mine, I'll keep it short and advise you to read all of his other books, as well as direct you to visit his website at http://www.consortiumnews.com.
To order Neck Deep, please visit the publisher's web site at www.neckdeepbook.com.
To review Neck Deep, please visit Amazon.com.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Petraeus & the 'Central Front' Myth
By Robert Parry
September 12, 2007
As Gen. David Petraeus outlined plans for a long-term U.S. military occupation of Iraq, he relied heavily on two arguments favored by his civilian superiors in the Bush administration but not supported by the facts – that al-Qaeda views Iraq as the “central front” in the war on terror and is eager to drive American forces out.
Iraq “has been regarded by al-Qaeda senior leadership – AQSL – as the central front,” Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 11. “They’re trying to give us a bloody nose which would be an enormous shot of adrenaline in the arm of the international jihadists.”
Read on.
September 12, 2007
As Gen. David Petraeus outlined plans for a long-term U.S. military occupation of Iraq, he relied heavily on two arguments favored by his civilian superiors in the Bush administration but not supported by the facts – that al-Qaeda views Iraq as the “central front” in the war on terror and is eager to drive American forces out.
Iraq “has been regarded by al-Qaeda senior leadership – AQSL – as the central front,” Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 11. “They’re trying to give us a bloody nose which would be an enormous shot of adrenaline in the arm of the international jihadists.”
Read on.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Neck Deep: The Real 9/11 Scandal
By Robert, Sam and Nat Parry
September 11, 2007
During the lazy summer of 2001, relatively few Americans had even heard of al-Qaeda, which in Arabic means “the base.” This organization of Islamic extremists had taken shape during the CIA-supported war against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
In the years of the late Cold War, CIA Director William J. Casey and other anti-Soviet hard-liners viewed Islamic fundamentalism as a tool to pry historically Muslim territories in the southern Soviet Union away from Moscow and its atheistic communist government.
Read on.
September 11, 2007
During the lazy summer of 2001, relatively few Americans had even heard of al-Qaeda, which in Arabic means “the base.” This organization of Islamic extremists had taken shape during the CIA-supported war against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
In the years of the late Cold War, CIA Director William J. Casey and other anti-Soviet hard-liners viewed Islamic fundamentalism as a tool to pry historically Muslim territories in the southern Soviet Union away from Moscow and its atheistic communist government.
Read on.
Monday, September 10, 2007
'Swear Him In' Provokes Expulsion
By Raymond McGovern
September 10, 2007
“Swear him in.” That’s all I said in the unusual silence this afternoon as first aid was being administered to Gen. David Petraeus’s microphone at the hearing before the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.
It had dawned on me that when House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, invited Gen. Petraeus to make his presentation, Skelton forgot to ask him to take the customary oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I had no idea that would be enough to get me thrown out of the hearing.
Read on.
September 10, 2007
“Swear him in.” That’s all I said in the unusual silence this afternoon as first aid was being administered to Gen. David Petraeus’s microphone at the hearing before the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.
It had dawned on me that when House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, invited Gen. Petraeus to make his presentation, Skelton forgot to ask him to take the customary oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I had no idea that would be enough to get me thrown out of the hearing.
Read on.
Bush 'Kicking Ass' in Congress
By Robert Parry
September 10, 2007
George W. Bush reportedly told Australia’s deputy prime minister that “we’re kicking ass” in Iraq, but the pithy tough talk may fit better with what the President is doing to the Democrats in Congress.
To cover their political beating, some Democratic operatives are advising the party’s leadership to claim a measure of victory when Bush and Gen. David Petraeus agree to make a symbolic troop cut – perhaps 5,000 – from the current levels of about 172,000.
Read on.
September 10, 2007
George W. Bush reportedly told Australia’s deputy prime minister that “we’re kicking ass” in Iraq, but the pithy tough talk may fit better with what the President is doing to the Democrats in Congress.
To cover their political beating, some Democratic operatives are advising the party’s leadership to claim a measure of victory when Bush and Gen. David Petraeus agree to make a symbolic troop cut – perhaps 5,000 – from the current levels of about 172,000.
Read on.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Bush-Bin Laden Symbiosis Reborn
By Robert Parry
September 8, 2007
Just as Sylvester and Tweety Bird achieved lasting Hollywood fame from their comical cartoon chases, the less amusing duo of George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden continue to benefit each other by reviving their long-distance rivalry, one posturing against the other in a way that helps them both.
In a new video, al-Qaeda leader bin Laden again taunts Bush, the United States – and then the Democrats for not forcing an American withdrawal from Iraq, which should help guarantee that the Democrats won’t dare press for a withdrawal from Iraq.
Read on.
September 8, 2007
Just as Sylvester and Tweety Bird achieved lasting Hollywood fame from their comical cartoon chases, the less amusing duo of George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden continue to benefit each other by reviving their long-distance rivalry, one posturing against the other in a way that helps them both.
In a new video, al-Qaeda leader bin Laden again taunts Bush, the United States – and then the Democrats for not forcing an American withdrawal from Iraq, which should help guarantee that the Democrats won’t dare press for a withdrawal from Iraq.
Read on.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Is Petraeus Today's Westmoreland?
By Ray McGovern
September 7, 2007
The killing in Hawijah, Iraq, of 18-year old Corporal Jeremy Shank of Jackson, Missouri (population 12,000) merited an article in his local newspaper, the Southeast Missourian.
Cpl. Shank was killed just over a year ago, on Sept. 6, 2006, and I was in that part of Missouri when his body came home for burial. According to the Pentagon, Shank was on a “dismounted security patrol when he encountered enemy forces using small arms.”
Read on.
September 7, 2007
The killing in Hawijah, Iraq, of 18-year old Corporal Jeremy Shank of Jackson, Missouri (population 12,000) merited an article in his local newspaper, the Southeast Missourian.
Cpl. Shank was killed just over a year ago, on Sept. 6, 2006, and I was in that part of Missouri when his body came home for burial. According to the Pentagon, Shank was on a “dismounted security patrol when he encountered enemy forces using small arms.”
Read on.
Neck Deep reader reviews at Amazon.com
So far, there are two glowing reviews at Amazon.com for our new book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. If you've read the book (or even if you're just familiar with our work at Consortiumnews.com), please feel free to put your two cents in at Amazon as well. Reader reviews really do have a big impact on whether an Amazon customer decides to buy the book, so if you want to kindly help us out with a review, we'd really appreciate it. Or, if you don't have the time, take a second to give the book five stars! (Of course, only if you think we deserve it... ;)
Anyway, in case you're interested, here are the two reviews that have already been posted:
raymond compton "racom" (kennewick, wa) - See all my reviews
If you are also tired of the DC spin then this is the book for you. Written by a team, family team, of honest to goodness investigative reporters who have documented the unbelievably long list of failed decisions, policies, executive orders, etc of this administration. The failures have come so fast, so sudden, so numerous we can hardly keep abreast. I plan to read this book at least once every year to never forget the many issues that the American public has been failed on. From even before 9/11 the problems were being planned. Today the mistakes are still coming at us, now the disaster in Iraq is being pushed aside to make room for the coming disaster in Iran. I recommend this book to all who question why we are where we are. The Parrys,father and sons team, have produced an excellent work in this book. Tired of the mind numbing politics and DC spin, then you'll want this book. Also if you really want to know the reason for Iranian distrust of US check out 'All the Shah's Men'. We have some bloody history!
D. Webster - See all my reviews
D. Webster - See all my reviews
Robert Parry's book accurately and, for those who count themselves as lovers of liberty, excruciatingly delineates the deceitful, arrogant, and ironic rise of George W. Bush from military coward and failed businessman to President of the United States, via manipulation and coercion of the highest court in the land. Parry's book goes on to reveal that Bush and his political cronies may well have been able to thwart the horrific events of 9/11 had they not been more concerned with personal power and blinded by their hatred of their political opposition. Once again, irony comes to the forefront, in that Bush is looked upon by the American people as a strong and forceful leader in the wake of 9/11, when Parry shows that his bravado was nothing more than a flimsy facade created by a nervous and fearful media. And then, of course, comes the Iraq war, a war actually being fought for oil, but asking for the sacrifice of thousands of brave American soldiers being told they are fighting terrorism. But perhaps the most unforgivable and egregious act committed by George W. Bush during his reign, and revealed by Parry at great length and in minute detail, is Bush's flagrant and criminal disregard for the Constitution of the United States--in essence, making up his own rules as he sees fit, and interpreting the Constitution to suit his own purposes. Reading this book, I found myself asking the question time and time again, "why are we standing still for this, and not demanding reform?" I've since come to the conclusion that we, the American people, no longer deserve our country, and that we must accept whatever fate our lackadaisical attitude and behavior brings us. I commend and admire Robert Parry for having the courage to bring these sad and disastrous facts to light. At least there's still one real American among us.
NYT's Friedman's Addiction to War
By Norman Solomon
September 7, 2007
Nowadays you'll read the NYT's Thomas Friedman decrying the "madness that is Iraq," but the real Friedman is the man who called invading Iraq "one of the noblest things this country has ever attempted abroad."
Reading his "Letter From Baghdad" column in the New York Times this week, you'd never know that Thomas Friedman has a history of enthusiasm for war.
Read on.
September 7, 2007
Nowadays you'll read the NYT's Thomas Friedman decrying the "madness that is Iraq," but the real Friedman is the man who called invading Iraq "one of the noblest things this country has ever attempted abroad."
Reading his "Letter From Baghdad" column in the New York Times this week, you'd never know that Thomas Friedman has a history of enthusiasm for war.
Read on.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Neck Deep: The Real Colin Powell
By Robert Parry
September 6, 2007
Though Colin Powell is still lying low about his role in palming off the Iraq War on a gullible American public, the retired Army general and former Secretary of State is back on the motivational speaking circuit, again raking in big bucks.
For a day-long “Get Motivated” seminar at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 6, Powell got star billing for a show also boasting names like Zig Ziglar, Steve Forbes, Robert Schuller and Sugar Ray Leonard. Admission price at the door was $225.
Read on.
September 6, 2007
Though Colin Powell is still lying low about his role in palming off the Iraq War on a gullible American public, the retired Army general and former Secretary of State is back on the motivational speaking circuit, again raking in big bucks.
For a day-long “Get Motivated” seminar at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 6, Powell got star billing for a show also boasting names like Zig Ziglar, Steve Forbes, Robert Schuller and Sugar Ray Leonard. Admission price at the door was $225.
Read on.
Questions for General Petraeus
By Brent Budowsky
September 6, 2007
It is fashionable though wrong to state “the surge is working,” but this debate misses the point about the devastation to the United States Army, the destabilization of our global force structures, the near-total destruction of our conventional deterrent capability, the extreme damage to the war in Afghanistan and the collapse of recruitment standards imposed by the status quo policy in Iraq.
When Army Gen. David Petraeus testifies next week, here are the hard questions that the nation deserves to have asked and answered, clearly and unequivocally:
Read on.
September 6, 2007
It is fashionable though wrong to state “the surge is working,” but this debate misses the point about the devastation to the United States Army, the destabilization of our global force structures, the near-total destruction of our conventional deterrent capability, the extreme damage to the war in Afghanistan and the collapse of recruitment standards imposed by the status quo policy in Iraq.
When Army Gen. David Petraeus testifies next week, here are the hard questions that the nation deserves to have asked and answered, clearly and unequivocally:
Read on.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Bowing Before an American Tyranny
By Robert Parry
September 6, 2007
The 9/11 tragedy did become a demarcation point for the United States, although not in the way many Americans understand. Before that date six years ago, there existed an American Republic – albeit one in decline – but afterwards a New Age authoritarian state quickly took shape.
Though some defenders of the old Republic rose up, nobody was strong enough to protect it.
Read on.
September 6, 2007
The 9/11 tragedy did become a demarcation point for the United States, although not in the way many Americans understand. Before that date six years ago, there existed an American Republic – albeit one in decline – but afterwards a New Age authoritarian state quickly took shape.
Though some defenders of the old Republic rose up, nobody was strong enough to protect it.
Read on.
Buzzflash Interviews Robert Parry
Robert Parry Reporting on the Disastrous Bush Presidency, and the News Media's Helping Hand
You don't have liberty if the leader of the country can lock you up without a trial. You don't have liberty if the leader of the country can ignore the ban in the Bill of Rights against cruel and unusual punishment. These are classic definitions of tyranny.
-- Robert Parry, investigative reporter and author of Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush
* * *
Robert Parry is a former AP and Newsweek investigative reporter who now runs the website, Consortiumnews.com. Parry made his reputation reporting on corruption and governmental misdeeds in Central America and Iran-Contra. Now his Consortiumnews is a respected and invaluable online resource exposing the right-wing betrayal of the Constitution and democracy.
Parry's newest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, places the troubling events of the George W. Bush era into the fullest historical context. The book's title references Pete Seeger's anti- Viet Nam war lyric: "We were neck deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fool said to push on." Says Parry of the Bush debacle, "It was a perfect storm that has been building for a quarter of a century. Aggressive Republicans, accommodating Democrats, and a press corps driven more by careerism than a search for truth have caused our country to become what the Founders fought against."
Read the full interview here.Tuesday, September 04, 2007
How VIPs Get 'Brainwashed' on Iraq
By Robert Parry
September 4, 2007
When members of Congress – or pundits and journalists, for that matter – are taken on tightly controlled visits to a war zone like Iraq, they undergo what the late Michigan Gov. George Romney famously referred to as “brainwashing.”
Romney said he had undergone a propaganda blitz when he visited Vietnam in 1965, persuading him that military progress was being achieved. Similarly, recent visitors to Iraq have flown home from August-recess trips with first-hand accounts about signs of success for President George W. Bush’s troop “surge.”
Read on.
September 4, 2007
When members of Congress – or pundits and journalists, for that matter – are taken on tightly controlled visits to a war zone like Iraq, they undergo what the late Michigan Gov. George Romney famously referred to as “brainwashing.”
Romney said he had undergone a propaganda blitz when he visited Vietnam in 1965, persuading him that military progress was being achieved. Similarly, recent visitors to Iraq have flown home from August-recess trips with first-hand accounts about signs of success for President George W. Bush’s troop “surge.”
Read on.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Warner for 'Caretaker' President?
By Robert Parry
September 2, 2007
A political system that was right-side up – rather than upside down – would be debating the need for a “caretaker” U.S. president, not the identity of the likely “caretaker” senator from Idaho.
While few tears will be shed over the resignation of Larry Craig – for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover policeman in an airport men’s room – there’s a far stronger case for sequenced resignations from Dick Cheney and George W. Bush over a host of misjudgments and misdeeds.
Read on.
September 2, 2007
A political system that was right-side up – rather than upside down – would be debating the need for a “caretaker” U.S. president, not the identity of the likely “caretaker” senator from Idaho.
While few tears will be shed over the resignation of Larry Craig – for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover policeman in an airport men’s room – there’s a far stronger case for sequenced resignations from Dick Cheney and George W. Bush over a host of misjudgments and misdeeds.
Read on.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Iraq's Endless 'False Hopes'
By Robert Parry
September 1, 2007
Two-and-a-half years ago at another “turning point” in the Iraq War, columnists at the Washington Post and other leading American newspapers were ecstatic over how the Iraqi national election was finally fulfilling the neoconservative dream of remaking the Muslim world.
Now, however, some of the same columnists who praised the Jan. 30, 2005, election are denouncing it as a failure that must be undone so George W. Bush’s newest “turning point” – the American troop “surge” – can achieve its fullest potential.
Read on.
September 1, 2007
Two-and-a-half years ago at another “turning point” in the Iraq War, columnists at the Washington Post and other leading American newspapers were ecstatic over how the Iraqi national election was finally fulfilling the neoconservative dream of remaking the Muslim world.
Now, however, some of the same columnists who praised the Jan. 30, 2005, election are denouncing it as a failure that must be undone so George W. Bush’s newest “turning point” – the American troop “surge” – can achieve its fullest potential.
Read on.
Last Call: Battle for Empire or Republic
By Robert Parry
August 31, 2007
This fall could be a make-or-break moment for the American Republic: Will the powerful forces that favor an empire abroad and an authoritarian state at home prevail?
Or will the country turn away from George W. Bush’s dark vision and insist instead on a revival of the constitutional Republic that the Founders built for “posterity,” for ours and future generations?
Read on.
August 31, 2007
This fall could be a make-or-break moment for the American Republic: Will the powerful forces that favor an empire abroad and an authoritarian state at home prevail?
Or will the country turn away from George W. Bush’s dark vision and insist instead on a revival of the constitutional Republic that the Founders built for “posterity,” for ours and future generations?
Read on.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Bush Puts Iran in Crosshairs
By Ray McGovern
August 30, 2007
Not another warning about war with Iran! Well, suck it up. President George W. Bush’s speech Tuesday makes clear his plan to attack Iran, and how the intelligence, as was the case before the attack on Iraq, is being “fixed around the policy.”
It’s not about putative Iranian “weapons of mass destruction” — not even ostensibly. It is about the requirement for a scapegoat for U.S. reverses in Iraq, and the felt need to create a casus belli by provoking Iran in such a way as to “justify” armed retaliation — perhaps extending to an attempt to destroy its nuclear-related facilities.
Read on.
August 30, 2007
Not another warning about war with Iran! Well, suck it up. President George W. Bush’s speech Tuesday makes clear his plan to attack Iran, and how the intelligence, as was the case before the attack on Iraq, is being “fixed around the policy.”
It’s not about putative Iranian “weapons of mass destruction” — not even ostensibly. It is about the requirement for a scapegoat for U.S. reverses in Iraq, and the felt need to create a casus belli by provoking Iran in such a way as to “justify” armed retaliation — perhaps extending to an attempt to destroy its nuclear-related facilities.
Read on.
Bush and the Carnage in Iraq
By Robert Higgs
August 30, 2007
The headline of an Aug. 22, 2007, article in the New York Times reads, “Citing Vietnam, Bush Warns of Carnage if U.S. Leaves Iraq.” Readers with live brain cells must be stunned by such a warning.
What, exactly, does President Bush imagine is happening every day in Iraq now? Does he envision scenes of social tranquility and cooperative harmony amid the peaceful palms of Mesopotamia?
Read on.
August 30, 2007
The headline of an Aug. 22, 2007, article in the New York Times reads, “Citing Vietnam, Bush Warns of Carnage if U.S. Leaves Iraq.” Readers with live brain cells must be stunned by such a warning.
What, exactly, does President Bush imagine is happening every day in Iraq now? Does he envision scenes of social tranquility and cooperative harmony amid the peaceful palms of Mesopotamia?
Read on.
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