Eyes on the Horizon: Serving on the Front Lines of National Security Hardcover - 2009

From the publisher

General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the critical four years following September 11, 2001, looks back over his career and provides a candid, revealing insider's view of the war on terror and proposing a bold new plan that will prepare America for the diverse national security challenges of the twenty-first century.

Growing up in Kansas as the son of hardworking, nononsense parents, General Richard Myers, a distinguished Air Force officer for more than forty years, learned early the value of steadfast integrity and selfless service. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2001 to 2005, he bore witness to the critical events that shaped America's defense policy in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, he worked around the clock, helping to devise innovative, unprecedented strategies for the Bush administration's war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq and advising the president on tough, historic national security decisions.

In this captivating memoir, General Myers talks candidly about his career in the military, the unforgettable events of September 11, and the global war on terror. With an insider's perspective, he outlines the mistakes made by the White House, Pentagon leadership, and the intelligence community.

Myers believes that America has misidentified its adversary, focusing too narrowly on tactical battles, instead of on a long-range strategy that will overcome a global insurgency fueled by a struggle for control within Islam. The United States must rely not just on the military, but also on intelligence and other instruments of national power and work through extant governments to reverse the depiction of an American-led crusade against Muslims. Rather than identify what Islam should become, we must work with an international community that includes responsible non-Western states to protect against the behaviors we consider universally unacceptable -- especially those that promote violence against the U.S. and its allies or any other country or society affected by the struggle within Islam. Finally, Myers maintains we must integrate our own government agencies so that we can focus a sustained approach to this strategy.

Told with unfailing honesty, "Eyes on the Horizon" is an unforgettable memoir of one of our nation's highestranking officers and a courageous call for change that will strengthen American national security and defend a democratic way of life.