Customer Reviews

Enemy Aliens

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

David Cole has authored a masterful and compelling book about the discriminatory and abusive treatment of non-citizens in the wake of 9/11, the Patriot Act, and the Bush Administration's resort to the modern-day version of W.W.I Palmer Raids. A distinguished Georgetown University Law Center Professor, David Cole writes with a lucidity and command of facts that makes this major work on civil liberties in time of crisis such a powerful indictment of the federal government's Unamerican-like disrespect for the Constitution and laws. The author's use of historical antecedents shows that we have not really learned many valuable lessons from our checkered history of shortchaning individual rights in time of war and national emergency. That so few of the thousands of immigrants rounded up by the Justice Department's indiscriminate dragnet were in fact guilty of any criminal conduct(much less terrorist activities)exposes Attorney General John Ashcroft's craven pandering to public fear and hysteria. Co-author of the outstanding book "Terrorism and The Constitution," Professor Cole warns that American citizens should care deeply about what happens to non-citizen residents who are our neighbors and co-workers. Why? Because it is only a short step for the government to rationalize the abuse of the rights of citizens in the same ways that it has oppressed non-citzens--all in the name of national security. For proof, all you need to note is President Bush's illegal detention without charges, counsel or trial of two American citizens suspected of terrorist associations (Hamdi and Padilla)for almost two years. Everyone who cares about striking a proper balance between civil liberties and national security should read "Enemy Aliens."

Professor Cole writes an excellent book, hitting many points that are usually left out. He examines the way Arabs and Muslims are being treated today post-9/11 and parallels it with our nation's past abuses of foreigners, bringing in examples of the Japanese internment during WWII and many others. Professor Cole is dead on when he writes about the loss of legitimacy faced by law enforcement in the Muslim community, stepping into a mosque shows it to be quite evident. Cole's analysis of what the United States should be doing to make our country safer rather than an indiscriminate dragnet of immigrants shows the professor's wisdom. This book was recommended to me by Wayne Cornelius, Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego, an expert in his field...a recommendation that I would like to pass on.

A previous reviewer stridently denounces Cole's supposed reliance on "fabricated instances of government abuses." I wonder if he or she has even read the book, which is based on a law review article with several hundred footnotes. Perhaps he thinks all of the citations are to the liberal mainstream media and so cannot be trusted? The "Constitution is very clear about citizen/non-citizens," the previous reviewer also writes. I agree. The Fifth Amendment says, in relevant part, "no person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Person, not citizen.

The Supreme Court has resoundingly rejected the position that a state of war is a blank check for the President. The rule of law and the due process requires, at a minimum, that unlawful combatants be given a fair opportunity to rebut the basis for their classification as such before a neutral and independent decisionmaker, not a sham status review tribunal.

As citizens in a representative democracy, it is our obligation to be informed of what is being committed in our names. Cole's book offers a terrifying and timely glimpse into how the Administration is pursuing the global war on terrorism.

Whatever your feelings about Cuba's revolution and government, this book provides an uncommon and fascinating portrait of Havana and its place in the country's history.

The authors are steeped in the many facets of Cuban cultural and political lore surrounding life in the city but still manage to cover wide swaths of national history. Their treatment of the years since 1959 seem fair and balanced. It is not all about Castro but he is well represented. It is, rather, a story about the people of Havana, past and present. You will meet some unforgettable characters and have your assumptions about Cuba challenged and your sights broadened.

Highly recommended.

Jack Malinowski

I just finished this and its excellent. Its not political, the authors just tell you about how things have evolved over the years since the first settlers arrived. Their writing is clear and interesting. They don't dwell on the negatives nor do they sugar coat things. If you have a political bone to pick either with or against Castro, you won't find it here. This era is treated just as another chapter in the development of this country pointing out the limitations and improvements made during this time which is likely about to end anyway. If you have interest in learning about this country and what makes it tick, this is a good place to get an overview.

This is a for-real serious history with all the facts laid out clearly. But what makes it great is partly the many vivid visual descriptions of scenes past and present, and most of all the stories about Havana's strange, wonderful--and ordinary--residents through the centuries. The authors so obviously enjoy the incredible variety of people who gave and give the city its unique character and incredible energy--Spanish, African, and American, artists, hustlers, politicians, workers, dancers, revolutionaries, intellectuals, street vendors, and just plain people trying to get by. I also really liked the description of the love-hate relationship with U.S. culture. This is not a weighty political analysis of the Cuban revolution, but a description of what it felt like to be a Cuban living through it, with what seems to me to be a very honest look at the great achievements and serious problems. I don't know if I'll ever get to Cuba, but reading this book made me feel almost like I had been there, sitting around talking with Cubans about their past, their present, and their stories.

I was reading this before, during, and after a trip to Havana and was very glad I did. Trying to cover the entire history of the city in one volume (and of course the history of the country as well) means that some topics and events weren't treated as thoroughly as one might like, but overall it was an excellent introduction to the place, its history, and its people.

It especially helped me to understand what I was seeing and the people I was meeting. I found myself often referring to the book in talking with my companions about our experiences in Havana. For example, I understood better the parts of Cuban culture (such as the music and the santeria religion) that reflect the population's African roots, and why this is stronger in Cuba than some other places.

It also helped me place Cuba's complex relationship with the US in a larger historical perspective, from long before Castro. And it helped me understand (or at least speculate on) Cuba's current economic situation, seeing how dependent it had been on the US, on tourism, and on the sugar industry in the past.

An extra added attraction: since Havana has not succumbed to redevelopment (both fortunately and unfortunately), many of the buildings discussed in this book still stand, and not just those from the 20th century. Bullet holes and all!

I really enjoyed the book. My parents were Cubans yet I have never had the opportunity to visit the island. I heard many, many stories growing up about Cuba and particularly Havana and I was able to relate to much in the book. I laughed a many things I read in the book because it reminded me of stories I had heard and there were many references that I hadn't heard in years. I am also a history teacher and there were some surprises I learned from the book that I was not familiar with.

Professor Cole, whom I read frequently in the Nation, makes a strong case that our government is violating people's civil liberties in the name of national security. He goes through American history and mentions such incidents as the Palmer Raids and the Japanese internment to show how the U.S. government has been abusing its power for many years.

Cole savages the Bush administration for its policy of mass arrests of Arabs on flimsy grounds. Page 30 is the most damning, I'll briefly quote:

In June 2003, the inspector general of the Justice Department issued a scathing report. It revealed that over 700 foreign nationals were arrested on immigration charges from Sept 2001 to August 2002. Of these, not one was charged with any terrorist crime, and FBI officials cleared virtually all of connection to terrorism.

Cole makes the salient point tha detaining people based solely on ethnicity is not only unfair and unconstitutional, it is counterproductive. Muslim communities often regard the government as an enemy when it arrests scores of people on mere suspicion. The book makes a strong case and I would recommend it highly to any citizen concerned with maintaining freedom in America post 9-11.

I have two major problems with the book, however. One, the author is too quick to dismiss racial profiling as an effective anti-terror tool. The fact remains that the vast majority of terrorists are Arab males. To ignore that fact seems absurd and dangerous. While Cole is right that we should not overrely on racial profiling, he goes too far in completely opposing it.

My other objection is that Cole takes a politically correct view on terrorism. He does what so many liberals do- excusing terrorism as a symptom of poverty and Western repression. This is the weakest argument of the book. Cole doesn't see that Islamic fundamentalism is the real cause of terrorism, not poverty. Most of the 9-11 hijackers and other Al-Qaeda members- not to mention bin Laden himself- are in fact financially well off. As Samuel Huntington and other scholars have shown, religious fundamentalism in the developing world is not primarily a movement of the poor and uneducated. For more on the causes of terrorism, see Sam Harris' excellent book The End of Faith.

Notwithstanding these flaws, I still recommend reading this book.

Be aware that this book is only half the story, the half that only includes the despair of the 47 years of "socialist" mismanagment in a once thriving city. I have to be skeptical of the contents when Mr. Belafonte and Mr. Glover, long term apologists for the disastrous Castro regime, offer glowing reviews of the book. La Habana of the first half of the 20th Century may have been less than perfect, but never the city in ruins that it is today. A reader, Mr. Malinowski, talks about the book being "fair and balanced". Sorry, if you did not know Havana before the Castro years, fairness and balance are pure fantasy/fiction. Today's Havana and its inhabitants are in a state of deep despair, and only those who close their eyes to this sad reality will find these musings amusing.