Lords of Secrecy: The National Security Elite and America's Stealth Warfare

by Scott Horton

Forty years ago, a majority of Americans were highly engaged in issues of war and peace. Whether to go to war or keep out of conflicts was a vital question at the heart of the country's vibrant, if fractious, democracy. But American political consciousness has drifted. In the last decade, America has gone to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, while pursuing a new kind of warfare in Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Pakistan. National security issues have increasingly faded from the political agenda, due in part to the growth of government secrecy.

In lucid and chilling detail, journalist and lawyer Scott Horton shows how secrecy has changed the way America functions. Executive decisions about war and peace are increasingly made by autonomous, self-directing, and unaccountable national security elites. Secrecy is justified as part of a bargain under which the state promises to keep the people safe from its enemies, but in fact allows excesses, mistakes, and crimes to go unchecked. Bureaucracies use secrets to conceal their mistakes and advance their power in government, invariable at the expense of the rights of the people. Never before have the American people had so little information concerning the wars waged in their name, nor has Congress exercised so little oversight over the war effort. American democracy is in deep trouble.

Lords of Secrecy explores the most important national security debates of our time, including the legal and moral issues surrounding the turn to private security contractors, the sweeping surveillance methods of intelligence agencies, and the use of robotic weapons such as drones. Horton looks at the legal edifice upon which these decisions are based and discusses approaches to rolling back the flood of secrets that is engulfing America today.Whistleblowers, but also Congress, the public, and the media, play a vital role in this process.

As the ancient Greeks recognized, too much secrecy changes the nature of the state itself, transforming a democracy into something else. Horton reminds us that dealing with the country's national security concerns is both a right and a responsibility of a free citizenry, something that has always sat at the heart of any democracy that earns the name.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, War, Military Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 6, 2015

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting how the book joins theoretical approaches with history and contemporary examples. Good book.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally good book about the growth (cancerous metastasis, really) of the security state and secrecy, specifically how it affects democracy. Essentially, so much information is hidden primarily to protect institutional agendas that America is no longer a meaningful democracy in the most important area of government function, national security. Having been a (small) part of that system, there's nothing wrong with his argument.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought provoking entry to the realm of current events related books, I found the book to be well balanced and very readable. The author makes the argument that the national security elite use the cloak of secrecy to enrich their own grasp of power. This would be a good book to read if current events are your thing, but also would be good for the general public to read in order to further educate themselves and also to encourage a dialogue about the role secrecy should play in a democratic society.

[Keith Bates · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Poorly written, just as poorly cited, badly sourced and makes incorrect assumptions about the nature of American government as its foundation. Flawed from its presuppositions as a result.

And I am of the type of worldview in which I am predisposed to distrusting government so I should’ve been the target audience.

[Jerry Peace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a five not for how it is written, though written well; my rating is for the horror story Horton presents. The American government, primarily the security agencies since 9/11, and in particular the CIA (with "intelligence" in this case a blatant oxymoron) comes in for the much deserved criticism of the trinity of corruption, incompetence, and criminality. But these misadventures are just the appetizers to the entree of secrecy. Horton contends that ubiquitous secrecy claims promote, protect and even reward governmental greed and greed for power, flagrant and continued incompetence, nearly unbelievable malfeasance and naked criminality and the cover-up of same. As this iron curtain of secrecy expands and bloats, publicity and individual privacy shrink to nothingness. There are no negative consequences for these, at best, misadventures and at worse, torture and murder; instead, the worse these government criminals act, the higher and faster they rise in the bureaucracy. This book mainly encompasses the Bush and Obama years. Published in 2015, it does not include the ground zero morass of Trump and his minions. But it's getting worse, with the fear worshiping collusion of Congress and elementary rubber stamping of the judiciary and, worst of all, the cowardly abdication of the fourth estate. So the media sucks up the security elite's pablum and lies, Congress pleasures itself with nonstop fundraising and reelection, the judiciary is just the media in nice robes and big, useless words, and the rest of us get either lies or nothing, of course for our own good, at the same time spied on and wiretapped and photoed all over the place. And I can't even imagine if Horton added a chapter including the last two years.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book about how national security state can transform the society and state itself.

By drawing parallels with the ancient Greek history, notably Athens, author gives a rather terrifying picture of how democratic society can transform into society controlled from the shadows under the single rule - that of secrecy and need to know.

And this is where I see an issue with author's arguments. While he is correct that overwhelming and unnecessary secrecy, that under spotlight turns into constant denials and lying, brings with it the corruption, the cure he sees is not applicable in our time and age.

Reason is very simple - we live in the world in which West denies any national state (this is seen as anathema). Of course US and EU integrity and interests are never in question (otherwise UN would be consulted more frequently) but everyone else need to justify themselves and are deemed as backwards if they are not organized along the Western requirements, and for some reason sword is the only way to bring them to light.

Above being said, while US and EU keep very strongly to their integrity and interests (which seems very much like national interests ..... in case of EU almost.....) local population is treated as international. Basically any means of national pride and interest into ones national politicking is seen as radical, in a very, very negative light, almost to the level of caricature. As soon as governing body says it does not matter where you live - you are nomad, you are not citizen of anything.

In modern West local population is [from political point of view] unnecessary because it was thought that national states are over, therefore every enemy is terrorist or "rogue state" which can be easily isolated and then hammered for decades, far away from any prying eyes of the public (again under the cloak of this secrecy). Therefore there is no need to connect with the masses like before when one needed support to advance as politician or if state needed their population in cases of emergency.
Everything came down to just to repeating (almost like religious prayer or mantra) that democracy is good and alive - why worry - and let them roam around and worry their earthly worries. And people accepted it.

So why would politicians give any saying to their local population - it is easier to portray all those interested into actual changes as radical freaks and let them settle outside their countries of birth (moment this happens people in question will automatically be treated as aliens, outsiders - because if you want to do anything live in your country, right?), while rest of people, burdened by their own life problems (as Romans would say give them bread and games), and made attuned to not meddle into anything outside their scope - town, city, state - will live in ignorance and only be aware of issues when security comes to mobilize them or ask them for everything they have when needed.

Having population living as sheep in isolation while their state does whatever it wants in world arena - this is not basis for having a democracy, especially not in make of Athens. Why you may ask? If one gives his liberty to small group of people for them to make choices without any feedback - that small group of people will just use population to get elected and then continue on with their agenda.

All of this was tested and fine tuned through various means when Cold War ended, in all the countries that sold themselves because politicians were not statesmen but just mere leeches. Also precedence is ugly thing. When you perform a coup or two and replace whomever you dont like without consequences - you are going suddenly stop when encountering same situation in the future? If you believe this, I am sorry to say nature does not work that way (and I mean nature, not only human nature).

West has become more and more oligarchic, and this is something that cannot be stopped. Problems that author brings about US are also present in EU (just look at decisions for Libya and Syria - everyone is happy to pull a gun without thinking about any alternative). And it got to a point where it even does not matter who (or what party) is in power - they all listen to same think tanks and NGO and in general advisers to get their view of the situation. All the time! No change of perspective no breath of fresh air - always same views over and over ...... and they succumb to it almost as the rule.
To make things worse, politics and industry have become too much intertwined. For anything they do not like, barriers are raised and secrecy plays the role (just remember the last few years under the medical emergency), especially the one for national interests, that looks very Kafkafian and something West ridiculed during the Cold War as something East is determined by. Stories about CIA agents, whose names are made secret (although everyone knows them) and who made a career of a disastrous policies - this is utter and complete dystopia. These people are now in places where they have even more power and authority.

Is this just the phase - it is. All social interactions are cyclical. Point is to learn but thing is if people would learn from history we would be walking amongst stars right now - again not the way nature works.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, democracy (again, in way of Athens and how modern philosophers and political scientists saw it) is no longer present on this planet. Is it good or bad thing? Who knows, ideals are ideals but also it is good to have allergic reaction to all loudmouths that are pushing whatever agenda - usually they dont mean what they talk about. Skepticism is a cure for lots of things.
People will survive no matter the government, and this is hope. But people need to get involved, not only on local level. It is not black/white view - if one is to become a citizen in my opinion it is required to take more active role in entire political life of its own state. Only this will curb the bad influence of professional orators and demagogues that tend to be in power (or very close to it) almost as a rule, and live for becoming untouchable and (especially poisonous) always right, without a doubt! Does it take much effort? Definitely but prize is enormous.

Interesting book, highly recommended to anyone interested in politics infused with too many security power, to the level of almost uncontrolled militarism.

[Smiley III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew! Quite a tour through a creeping, creeping "mission creep"-evolving security apparatus that forms the backbone — although spiderweb is more like it — of today's Official, Face-Front U.S. Government.

Chilling and unsparing, it's a good head's up.

[Ajay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tremendously intriguing topic, this is a book that dives into the National Security Elite, their entrenched interests and manipulations of the system and why their activities have been profoundly anti-democratic and malicious to the people of the United States.

The author is a tremendous champion of democracy and truth to a point that is almost annoying in overzealous idealism. I found the writing style to be poorly comprehensible and too simplistic and despite the intriguing topic, was utterly bored by the book itself. It also misses some of the key topics that should have been covered to give this topic justice.

[Book Grocer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase Lords of Secrecy here for just $10!

A well-researched and thought-provoking book that looks at how issues of war have been keep more and more in secret from the American public. As an Australian, it will make you reflect on our government, national security and war and peace.

Elisa, Book Grocer

[Joshua Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Critical information for Americans to be aware of. A “prophetic” rebuke and warning.

[Greg Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting analysis of the role of secrecy in our society and how it effects the democratic process.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scott Horton argues that America faces a crisis of democracy in which national security elites have become ascendant and use secrecy to make decisions -- specifically, about war and conflict -- that properly belong to the people and their representatives in Congress. Horton roots the ascendancy of national security elites in their reaction to the challenges of the 1970s. By eliminating the draft, developing low-casualty means of waging war, and relying on contractors, national security policy makers reduced the number of people in the United States directly affected by conflict. These are interesting points that Horton asserts and doesn't really support or defend. He presents them as fact and moves on, which is a shame because they warrant discussion.  Throughout, Horton provides a veneer of learned rigor -- citing political theorists like Hannah Arendt and sociologists like Max Weber and Georg Simmel -- while taking shot after shot at the national security establishment, and the CIA in particular.  Were it cogently argued and better organized, Horton's book might have helped jumpstart a more vibrant debate on these issues. The book, in the end, is a disappointing polemic.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some very interesting facts in this book. But like so many, he doesn't trace the fraud to the top where it originates. There are people who pay senators & oversight entities to look the other way. Mr. Horton would have us believe it its simply the product of bad policy. It goes much deeper than that.

[Greynomad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new here with everyone in the DC area always ready to cover their ass………..

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very eye-opening book about the American national security system and how it has evolved.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

shit made my brain hurt