Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Author: John Perkins
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. And Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructure projects and to see to it that most of this money ended up at Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. This book, which many people warned Perkins not to write, is a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences on both the victimized countries and the U.S.
Sting
Perkin's books have helped me better understand something that has been puzzling me for a long time: Why have so many resource-rich countries in the developing world remained steadfastly poor? The answers he gives are both complex and uncomfortable, and none of us in the first world can abrogate responsibility easily.
Howard Zinn
A sweeping, bold assault on the tyranny of corporate globalization, full of drama and adventure, with devastating stories of greed run wild. (Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States)
Riane Eisler
This devastating indictment of current economic policies also offers hope by showing the power of the growing movement toward a caring economics worldwide. (Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations)
Rocky Mountain News
Perkins is both alarming and entertaining, writing with the cutting precision and wit of a hard-boiled novelist.
Library Journal
According to Perkins, a former Economic Hit Man and founding president of Dream Change Coalition, "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign aid' organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources." Perkins began this book in the early 1980s but claims to have put it aside owing to threats and bribes. Perkins's daughter Jessica finally inspired him to finish it by declaring, "Don't worry dad. If they get you, I'll take over where you left off. We need to do this for the grandchildren I hope to give you someday." This riveting look at a world of intrigue reads like a spy novel. Perkins vividly recounts his work throughout the world, from Saudi Arabia to Panama to Ecuador, and introduces such characters as Panamanian president Omar Torrijos, who became a personal friend. Highly recommended for both academic and public libraries.-Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America
Author: James Bamford
“There have been glimpses inside the NSA before, but until now no one has published a comprehensive and detailed report on the agency . . . Mr. Bamford has emerged with everything except the combination to the director’s safe.” –New York Times Book Review
Today’s National Security Agency is the largest, most costly, and most technologically advanced spy organization the world has ever known. It is also the most intrusive, secretly filtering millions of phone calls and e-mails an hour in the United States and around the world. Half a million people live on its watch list, and the number grows by the thousands every month. Has America become a surveillance state?
In The Shadow Factory, James Bamford, the foremost expert on the National Security Agency, charts its transformation since 9/11, as the legendary code breakers turned their ears away from outside enemies, such as the Soviet Union, and inward to enemies whose communications increasingly crisscross America.
Fast-paced and riveting, The Shadow Factory is about a world unseen by Americans without the highest security clearances. But it is a world in which even their most intimate whispers may no longer be private.
The Washington Post - Bob Kerrey
…important and disturbing …By detailing the failures of the NSA and CIA, Bamford goes where the 9/11 Commission did not fully go. He convincingly makes the case that our intelligence problems had little to do with the limitations imposed on the NSA or other agencies…this revealing and provocative book is necessary reading, perhaps especially for members of Congress who annually reauthorize the work of the NSA. They should look again at the 9/11 Commission's recommendations to reform the congressional committees that watch over the executive branch agencies responsible for protecting us. Unless that oversight is strengthened, the fears expressed in The Shadow Factory will only grow.
Table of Contents:
Introduction 1
Bk. 1 Attack
Sanaa 7
Intercept 12
San Diego 22
Deaf 27
Mesa 39
Thinthread 44
Totowa 48
Chatter 55
Cambrils 58
Warning 63
Fort Lee 70
Discovery 74
Laurel 76
Surprise 82
Pentagon 89
Bk. 2 Targets
Opportunity 99
Hunters 105
FISA 112
Mission 119
Highlander 124
Assassination 135
War 143
Bk. 3 Cooperation
Shamrock 161
Qwest 169
Cables 175
Splitter 188
Industry 197
Transit 207
Partners 212
Wiretappers 234
Technotyranny 254
Miners 262
Bk. 4 Discovery
Fractures 271
Emergency 278
Exposure 287
Extremis 293
Immunity 301
Bk. 5 Future
Exabytes 311
Trailblazer 325
Turbulence 331
Abyss 341
Notes 347
Index 379
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