A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies is a 2004 book by journalist James Bamford that takes a highly critical view of the events around 9/11 and the subsequent Iraq War. The book is divided into three parts: "Destruction", "Detection", and "Deception". The first part describes in detail the hours before, during, and after the crashing of the two airplanes in to the World Trade Center in New York. More importantly, it outlines Bamford's criticism of the performance of America's intelligence agencies in a crisis. The author puts forward the view that... the intelligence agencies were not ready because of the lack of smooth technological transition from the Cold War era into modern earth. The second part describes and explains what the terrorists were doing prior to, and after the events of 9/11, and how the Intelligence Agencies in America were reacting, and moving about. Bamford argues that the main motive of Al-Qaeda for the destruction of the World Trade Center appears to be in retaliation to the immense support that Israel receives from America, and for America turning its back on the Palestinians.
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