Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power

Author	Rachel Maddow
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Declaration of war by the United States
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	Crown Publishing Group
Publication date	March 27, 2012
Media type	Hardcover
Pages	288
ISBN	(hardcover) (paperback)
OCLC	765967335

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power is a 2012 book by Rachel Maddow. Her first book, Drift explores the premise that the manner in which the United States goes to war has gradually become more secretive and less democratic. In Drift, Maddow examines how American declarations of war have incrementally shifted from being Congressionally approved to being centralized in the hands of the American president. The book's scope spans from the Vietnam War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Maddow has said that she wrote Drift because the topic deserved a long-form format that could not be adequately addressed in her television program. The book is dedicated to former Vice President Dick Cheney because he was on her "wish list" for her to interview.

Drift opens with an analysis of the politics surrounding the Vietnam War, focusing on the Abrams Doctrine, which stressed public support for military operations. Maddow writes that Lyndon B. Johnson's reluctance to utilize the National Guard and the Army Reserve began the trend of separating the military and its use from the purview of the American population. She discusses the 1973 War Powers Resolution and the evolving role of the American President in military conflicts. After elaborating on the Reagan administration's role in the Invasion of Grenada and the Iran–Contra affair, Drift gives credit to George H. W. Bush for seeking Congressional approval for Operation Desert Storm. Maddow is critical of the use of private contractors and intelligence agencies in warfare. She writes about the American incursion into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden and makes the point that land set aside for houbara bustard hunting gave reason for both Pakistan and the United States to excuse the existence of a secret base that originated drone attacks.