Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone Paperback – September 13, 2016 by Scott Shane (Tim Duggan Books)

A fascinating read that I would recommend to everyone. Shane explores the dilemma of the U. S. government killing an American without charge or trial. Are there situations where our constitution can be disregarded? Are there extenuating circumstances to the constitution? Should political expediency prevail over citizen's rights? What should the president's priorities be? Do they outweigh our rights - or our children's? When do extra-judicial killings become proper for a government? There are no easy answers, but Shane does a good job of exploring the dilemmas behind Obama's decisions. This is a good read that gives food for thought for all these - and many other - questions. Well researched and written. I am glad I read this book.

Objective Troy tells the gripping and unsettling story of Anwar al-Awlaki, the once-celebrated American imam who called for moderation after 9/11, a man who ultimately directed his outsized talents to the mass murder of his fellow citizens. It follows Barack Obama’s campaign against the excesses of the Bush counterterrorism programs and his eventual embrace of the targeted killing of suspected militants. And it recounts how the president directed the mammoth machinery of spy agencies to hunt Awlaki down in a frantic, multi-million-dollar pursuit that would end with the death of Awlaki by a bizarre, robotic technology that is changing warfare—the drone. 

Scott Shane, who has covered terrorism for The New York Times over the last decade, weaves the clash between president and terrorist into both a riveting narrative and a deeply human account of the defining conflict of our era. Awlaki, who directed a plot that almost derailed Obama’s presidency, and then taunted him from his desert hideouts, will go down in history as the first United States citizen deliberately hunted and assassinated by his own government without trial. But his eloquent calls to jihad, amplified by YouTube, continue to lure young Westerners into terrorism—resulting in tragedies from the Boston marathon bombing to the murder of cartoonists at a Paris weekly. Awlaki’s life and death show how profoundly America has been changed by the threat of terrorism and by our own fears. 


Illuminating and provocative, and based on years of in depth reporting, Objective Troy is a brilliant reckoning with the moral challenge of terrorism and a masterful chronicle of our times.