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E-book
Author Gardner, Lloyd C., 1934- author.

Title Killing machine : the American presidency in the age of drone warfare / Lloyd C. Gardner
Published New York : The New Press, 2013

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 289 pages)
Contents The dream candidate -- Afghanistan shortchanged -- A tale of two speeches -- On to Maja! -- The War of the Drones -- The meaning of two deaths -- A better war? -- American hubris -- The new normal?
Summary "With Obama's election to the presidency in 2008, many believed the United States had entered a new era: Obama came into office with high expectations that he would end the war in Iraq and initiate a new foreign policy that would reestablish American values and the United States' leadership role in the world. In this shattering new assessment, historian Lloyd C. Gardner argues that, despite cosmetic changes, Obama has simply built on the expanding power base of presidential power that reaches back across decades and through multiple administrations. The new president ended the "enhanced interrogation" policy of the Bush administration but did not abandon the concept of preemption. Obama withdrew from Iraq but has institutionalized drone warfare--including the White House's central role in selecting targets. What has come into view, Gardner argues, is the new face of American presidential power: high-tech, secretive, global, and lethal. Killing Machine skillfully narrates the draw-down in Iraq, the counterinsurgency warfare in Afghanistan, the rise of the use of drones, and targeted assassinations from al-Awlaki to Bin Laden--drawing from the words of key players in these actions as well as their major public critics. With unparalleled historical perspective, Gardner's book is the new touchstone for understanding not only the Obama administration but the American presidency itself"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-272) and index
Notes Online resource; title from e-book title screen (EBL platform, viewed October 28, 2014)
Subject Obama, Barack.
SUBJECT Obama, Barack fast
Subject Executive power -- United States.
War and emergency powers -- United States.
Drone aircraft -- Government policy -- United States
Targeted killing -- Government policy -- United States
Afghan War, 2001-2021 -- Aerial operations
Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Aerial operations
HISTORY -- United States -- 21st Century.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- Executive Branch.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Leadership.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Affairs & Administration.
Executive power
Military operations, Aerial
Military policy -- Moral and ethical aspects
Politics and government
War and emergency powers
SUBJECT United States -- Military policy -- Moral and ethical aspects
United States -- Politics and government -- 2009-2017
Subject Iraq
United States
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781595589439
1595589430
130643811X
9781306438117