I’ve recently finished a book I’ve been anxious to read since hearing of it’s release.  This book is The Watchdogs Didn’t Bark, by John Duffy and Ray Nowosielski.

I don’t remember where or how I first heard of Duffy and Nowosielski’s work.  It may have been through the excellent documentary 9/11:  Press for Truth.  This film tells some of the story behind the push for answers about the September 11, 2001 attacks through the perspectives of family members of victims.  It’s incredibly powerful.

It may also have been their interview with former counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke, or their podcast, Who Is Rich Blee.  Around the same time I discovered those, I was also following the site Boiling Frogs Post* which published several reports and interviews about Duffy and Nowosielski’s work.   Their story is an important one that should be getting much more attention than it has.

When I found out they were releasing a book detailing their years of investigation that led to the above-mentioned productions, I knew it would be a must read.  And it is.

Duffy and Nowosielski describe in detail malfeasance, cover-ups, and outright criminal behavior, primarily within the Central Intelligence Agency, both before and after 9/11.  They discuss how the people responsible have been promoted into positions of power, in spite of, or perhaps even because of, their actions, rather than being held accountable.  They point out that these people are still influential and in power within the intelligence community today, a fact that should concern us all.

The Watchdogs Didn’t Bark calls into question the extent to which the government of the United States has used the September 11, 2001 attacks to justify and legalize activities I think most Americans would consider unconstitutional and appalling.  Nearly two decades on, this book should serve as a much-needed wake up call for us all.  It should have us asking if we are still willing to allow our government to continue along it’s increasingly authoritarian and destructive path.

I highly recommend The Watchdogs Didn’t Bark:  The CIA, NSA and the Crimes of the War on Terror.  It’s a courageous example of the incredible importance, the necessity, of good investigative journalism.  It should be required reading for all Americans.

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*Boiling Frogs Post is now Newsbud, a site I no longer follow or endorse.  More on that here.