The advent of the War on Terror has seen intelligence agencies emerge out of the shadows to become major political players. 'Rendition', untrammelled surveillance, torture and detention without trial are now fast becoming the norm. Spies, Lies and the War on Terror traces the transformation of intelligence from a tool for law enforcement to a means of avoiding the law - both national and international. The new culture of victimhood in the US and among partners in the 'coalition of the willing' has crushed domestic liberties and formed a global network of extra-legal licence. State and corporate interests are increasingly fused in the new business of privatising fear. Todd & Bloch argue that the bureaucracy and narrow political goals surrounding intelligence actually have the potential to increase the terrorist threat. This lively and shocking account is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the new power of intelligence.

Author Biography

Paul Todd read philosophy at the University of East Anglia and has a doctorate from the University of Middlesex. A historian of the Cold War specialising in Middle East issues, he has done research at the US National Security Archives and was editor of The Gulf Report monthly at the Gulf Centre for Strategic Studies in London. He is the author of World Power and Global Reach: US Security Policy in Southwest Asia.Jonathan Bloch was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied law at the University of Cape Town and the London School of Economics. He was politically active in South Africa and remains involved in Southern African causes. He is now a London-based businessman and is a Liberal Democrat councillor in the London Borough of Haringey. He co-authored British Intelligence and Covert Action and KGB/CIA, and was also a co-author of three chapters in the collection Dirty Work 2: The CIA in Africa.