War by Other Means

An Insider's Account of the War on Terror

John Yoo (View Bio)
Hardcover: Grove Atlantic, 2006.

We are confronting a threat unprecedented in American experience, but much of what we hear about the law and policy of our war against the al-Qaeda terrorist network is misinformation driven by partisan politics. John Yoo's WAR BY OTHER MEANS will help every reader to know the issues at stake and to grasp the crucial consequences of what stands we take.

"Important and convincing…. That a lawyer of Yoo’s ability was exactly where he could do the most good, at the precise moment of what may prove to be our nation’s time of greatest peril, is something for which all Americans should be grateful…. He has given us unarguable cogent proof of the nature of that war…. Repeatedly delivers on its subtitle…. Many more examples can be cited, but Yoo makes his point emphatically with just these—and asks a question all Americans must answer." — Henry Mark Holzer, Front Page

"Combative…timely if often disturbing reading." — Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"At its core, WAR BY OTHER MEANS offers spirited, detailed and often enlightening accounts of the decision-making process behind the key 2001-03 legal decisions." — Geoffrey R. Stone, The Washington Post

"As a former assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Yoo was in the center of the debate over where President Bush’s administration draws the line on the torture of detained terrorism suspects. He revisits that and other controversies in the war on terror, from NSA wiretapping to the legal status of ‘enemy combatants.’... The cornerstone of Yoo’s argument is his belief that as commander-in-chief, the president has broad powers ‘to act forcefully and independently to repel serious threats to the nation.’... Yoo argues that America is at war whenever the president decides the military can ‘do what must be done.’... Unambiguous and combative, Yoo’s philosophy is sure to spark further debate." — Publishers Weekly