CONTENTS
Preface: The Evolution of an Inquiry
PART I
“PEARL HARBOR” AS CODE
Wars of Choice and Failures of Intelligence
1 Infamy and the Cracked Mirror of History
THE BOOMERANG OF “PEARL HARBOR”
“LITTLE YELLOW SONS-OF-BITCHES”
RATIONALITY, DESPERATION, AND RISK
“THIS LITTLE TERRORIST IN AFGHANISTAN”
4 Innocence, Evil, and Amnesia
CATASTROPHE AND THE TRANSFER OF INNOCENCE
AMNESIA AND FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER
EVIL WHERE THE PRICE IS WORTH IT
5 Wars of Choice and Strategic Imbecilities
PEARL HARBOR AND “OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM”
THE EMPEROR SYSTEM AND IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY
VICTORY DISEASE AND THE GATES OF HELL
PART II
GROUND ZERO 1945 AND GROUND ZERO 2001
Terror and Mass Destruction
8 Air War and Terror Bombing in World War II
“INCREASING THE TERROR” IN GERMANY
“BURN JOBS” AND “SECONDARY TARGETS”
MORALE, SHOCK, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
9 “The Most Terrible Bomb in the History of the World”
ENDING THE WAR AND SAVING AMERICAN LIVES
10 The Irresistible Logic of Mass Destruction
AUGUST 1945 AND THE REJECTED ALTERNATIVES
POWER POLITICS AND THE COLD WAR
11 Sweetness, Beauty, and Idealistic Annihilation
SCIENTIFIC SWEETNESS AND TECHNOLOGICAL IMPERATIVES
TECHNOCRATIC MOMENTUM AND THE WAR MACHINE
THE AESTHETICS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
12 New Evils in the World: 1945/2001
HOLY WAR AGAINST THE WEST: SEISEN AND JIHAD
GROUND ZEROES: STATE AND NONSTATE TERROR
PART III
WARS AND OCCUPATIONS
Winning the Peace, Losing the Peace
13 Occupied Japan and Occupied Iraq
WINNING THE WAR, LOSING THE PEACE
OCCUPIED JAPAN AND THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
EYES WIDE SHUT: OCCUPYING IRAQ
14 Convergence of a Sort: Law, Justice, and Transgression
WAR CRIMES AND THE RICOCHET OF VICTOR’S JUSTICE
SPHERES OF INFLUENCE AND THE LIMBO OF DEFEATED ARMIES
15 Nation Building and Market Fundamentalism
SUCCESSFUL AND DISASTROUS DEMILITARIZATION
“GENERALISTS” VERSUS “AREA EXPERTS”
RENDERING IRAQ “OPEN FOR BUSINESS”
COMBATING CARPETBAGGING IN AN EARLIER TIME
MIXED LEGACIES IN AN AGE OF FORGETTING
EPILOGUE: Fools’ Errands and Fools’ Gold