Boomerang!: : How Our Covert Wars Have Created Enemies Across the Middle East and Brought Terror to America (Paperback)

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Product Description

From the author of The CIA’s Greatest Hits comes a gripping read exposing U.S. terror that has finally come home to roost. From Afghanistan to Turkey, from the Caspian Sea to the Sudan, the U.S. has ripped through one country after another in the Middle East and elsewhere, manipulating and marauding for its own benefit. Zepezauer takes his title from Herbert Hoover's comment made right after Pearl Harbor: "You can't keep sticking needles in a rattlesnake and expect not to get bitten."

From the Publisher

Mark Zepezauer is an author and cartoonist based in Tucson, Arizona. He is the author of Take the Rich Off Welfare and The CIA's Greatest Hits as well as the cartoon panel US History Backwards. On his shoulder he carries a Siamese cat.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Common Courage Press (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567512224
• ISBN-13: 978-1567512229
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #907,498 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is why the world hates America, April 2, 2004

By	Paul Lappen (Manchester, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a country-by-country chronicle of how American covert wars throughout the Middle East have come back to haunt us, creating plenty of enemies.

Saddam Hussein's rise to power in the 1970s was helped by a CIA decision to assassinate one of his predecessors, General Abdel Karim Qassim. In Syria, the CIA sponsored a 1949 military takeover, the first of over a dozen coups in the next 20 years. American oil companies felt that an independent Syria was not in their interests. Sudan has been involved, off and on, in a bloody civil war for almost 50 years. Oil just happens to be a factor in this ongoing slaughter.

In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak has ruled with an iron fist ever since the 1982 assassination of Anwar Sadat, his predecessor. Mubarak uses billions of dollars in US military aid to beat and torture opposition politicians and journalists, many of whom have died in custody. Press restrictions are widespread. Egypt is viewed as a well-bribed client state of the US. The military in Turkey, a US ally and fellow member of NATO, has been one of the biggest human rights abusers of the last decade.

America has always looked for a surrogate policeman in the Persian Gulf, to keep an eye on the huge oil reserves. First, we armed the Shah of Iran, ignoring his repression, until he was overthrown. Then we armed Iraq, ignoring Saddam Hussein's repression, until he became too powerful, and a major war was needed to destroy his arsenal. Now, America is arming Saudi Arabia, ignoring their repression, creating a generation of militants determined to overthrow the puppet regime propped up with American money.

Part of the blame for all this can be laid at the feet of Great Britain. They were the colonial power for much of the first half of the 20th century, and had a tendency to draw national boundaries while ignoring an area's ethnic makeup.

Arab hatred of America has less to do with our freedoms and diversity than with our illegal involvement in another country's internal affairs. This book easily reaches the level of Must Read. It's very interesting, it's easy to read and it is full of information that won't be mentioned in the mainstream media.

5.0 out of 5 stars a good starting point, March 6, 2008

By	J. Weber (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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The book is clearly written, organized by region, brief yet to the point. I chose it as a starting point in beginning to understand US involvement in the Middle East. I found the information conscise and heavily footnoted. I appreciated the footnotes as I looked up additional information on the internet. The information was easy to grasp for a broad understanding. This book was quite helpful to me in going on to read other books which discuss matters at a deeper level. I would recommend it to another person not well versed in the politics of the middle east -US relationship.