Reviews/Endorsements:
"A brilliant and incisive demolition of the misguided strategy that the Bush administration concocted in the wake of 9/11. Charles Peña rightly reminds us that the danger to which we must respond is al Qaeda, not generic ‘terrorists’ or some contrived ‘axis of evil.’ In Winning the Un-War, he not only shows how we stumbled into our present fix, but also offers a hard-headed and persuasive prescription for getting out."
-- Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War
"Chuck Peña has always been one of the most clear-headed and persuasive analysts on al Qaeda and the war on terrorism. In Winning the Un-War, Peña brings his formidable analytic skills to bear in assessing where we stand in the fight against al Qaeda, why the threat of terrorism has actually grown, and how our country remains vulnerable even five years after 9/11. If you want to understand the mistakes that have been made in the war on terror and what to do to fix them, this book is required reading."
-- Roger Cressey, former White House counterterrorism official and NBC News terrorism analyst
"Charles Peña’s Winning the Un-War makes a clearly written and cogently argued case for how best to counter the threat from al Qaeda that will be of great interest to both the specialist and the general reader. Peña has synthesized a great deal of research about the war against al Qaeda into an accessible and interesting book."
-- Peter Bergen, CNN terrorism analyst, fellow of the New America Foundation, and author of The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda's Leader
"The subject is of primordial importance, the writing lucid and compelling, the analysis thoughtful and informed, the recommendations logical and rational. Mr. Peña’s book deserves to be widely read and carefully considered."
-- Amb. Edward Peck, former chief of mission in Iraq and deputy director of the Reagan cabinet’s task force on terrorism
"Not only does Charles Peña understand the nature of modern Islamic terrorism--and the threat that it poses--but he understands how to tackle it. His argument is lucid, intelligent, and necessary."
-- Jason Burke, chief reporter for the London Observer and author of Al Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror and Al Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam
"A vitally important book for anyone who believes that safeguarding America requires more than ritualistic incantations about freedom's inevitable triumph. . . . Winning the Un-War is the most important book yet on the threat of terrorism and how to beat it."
-- Doug Bandow at ANTIWAR.COM
"If President George W. Bush had hired Charles Peña to formulate U.S. policy against terrorism, the country would be much safer and the president would not be experiencing popularity akin to that of O.J. Simpson. . . . Pena convincingly, clearly, and concisely argues that an alternative program--intelligence, law enforcement, and limited military action to dismantle al-Qaeda; improvements in homeland security; and most important, a more restrained U.S. foreign policy to reduce the motivation for future anti-U.S. attacks--could reduce or eliminate the bull's eye that the Bush administration has painted on the backs of the American people."
-- The American Conservative
"Peña goes well beyond criticizing the war; his purpose is to outline a new strategy appropriate to the real threat or threats most currently abroad in the world. . . . This is a work of clear-headed analysis characterized by temperate and well-considered language and thorough documentation rather than a polemic. . . . Highly recommended."
-- Alan Bock at ANTIWAR.COM
"Peña seriously advances the discussion . . . by outlining a strategy for confronting the real threat of al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups that still pose a serious danger to the United States. . . . Highly recommended."
-- Orange County Register
"Peña has an eye for detail [and] a flair for language. His thesis is both simple and powerfully valid [and] its essence can't be said too often. Simply put, it comes down to this: it is America's actions in the world, not its ideology, that creates enemies."
-- David Isenberg, Asia Times
"Peña presents a provocative but well-documented indictment of current U.S. foreign policy, as well as the policymakers responsible for shaping it. Unlike other critiques of the administration's stewardship of American interests abroad . . . Peña's work is characterized by neither a militant anti-Americanism nor a reflexive pacifism. . . . The realist critique of Charles Peña raises questions that highlight the stakes in U.S. commitments overseas. . . . As American froeign policy navigates through the shoals of the coming years, it might well be that much-maligned realism alone offers the clarity of vision necessary to safely steer the ship of state."
-- J. Peter Pham in The National Interest
"Peña's study represents an important scholarly critique from inside the ranks of the right wing of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. . . . Peña has brought together such a choice compilaiton of unimpeachable official sources, and cited them so pointedly, that the effect will be particularly persuasive to anyone who still needs to be convinced that the world might be different today if the Bush administration had not mismanaged U.S. foreign policy as badly as it has."
-- The Bloomsbury Review
" [A] detailed and persuasive explanation of what has gone wrong in America's counterterror policy, why it went wrong, and how it may be put right."
-- New York Review of Books
". . . .thorough and well documented. . . . a level-headed and persuasive analysis of al Qaeda issues and the realities of the war on terrorism. If a reader desires insight into U.S. mistakes on fighting the war on terrorism since 9/11 and ways to fix them, this book comes highly recommended."
-- Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
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