Dreyfuss, Robert
Dreyfuss, Robert
PERSONAL: Male. Education: Columbia University, graduate.
ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Henry Holt and Co., 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].
CAREER: Freelance investigative journalist. Guest on television and radio programs.
MEMBER: American Society of Journalists and Authors, Investigative Reporters and Editors.
AWARDS, HONORS: Two awards from the Washington Monthly; Project Censored prize, 2003, for a story on the role of oil in U.S. policy toward Iraq.
WRITINGS:
(With Thierry LeMarc) Hostage to Khomeini, New Benjamin Franklin House (New York, NY), 1980.
Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam, Metropolitan Books (New York, NY), 2005.
Senior correspondent for the American Prospect; contributor to TomPaine.com, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, New Republic, Newsday, Worth, California Lawyer, Texas Observer, E, In These Times, Detroit Metro Times, Public Citizen, Extra!, Esquire, Foresight, and Nikkei Business.
SIDELIGHTS: Robert Dreyfuss is an investigative reporter who, since September 11, 2001, has focused on the American war on terrorism and United States policy with regard to Iraq. Before that time, he concentrated on intelligence issues, including the relationships between the military and defense and intelligence contractors. He has written profiles of political leaders, including President George W. Bush, Howard Dean, Trent Lott, Tom DeLay, and John McCain, and on such issues as the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam, gun rights, social security and Medicare. Dreyfuss maintains a Web site and blog and frequently appears on public affairs programs on television and radio.
Dreyfuss is the author of Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam, in which he contends that the United States organized and funded Islamic groups to prevent the spread of communism, a Cold War policy that began in the 1950s with the support of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Other groups that have been supported include Hamas, Hezbollah, Afghan jihads, and Osama bin Laden. Booklist reviewer Vanessa Bush commented that Dreyfuss notes similarities "between the cultural forces that have promoted the religious Right in the U.S. and the Middle East." The goal was to oppose nationalist groups that might be tempted by communism, but U.S. actions and considerable funding eventually created the conditions that led to the formation of al Qaeda. Dreyfuss draws on published works and interviews in reaching his conclusions about the consequences of U.S. shortsightedness. A Kirkus Reviews critic described Devil's Game as "a devastating account that policymakers—not to mention American citizens—ignore at their peril."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 15, 2005, Vanessa Bush, review of Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam, p. 8.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2005, review of Devil's Game, p. 953.
Library Journal, November 15, 2005, Marcia L. Sprules, review of Devil's Game, p. 80.
Publishers Weekly, September 12, 2005, review of Devil's Game, p. 54; September 26, 2005, Raffi Khatchadourian, "Making Enemies: PW Talks with Robert Dreyfuss" (interview), p. 72.
ONLINE
Robert Dreyfuss Home Page, http://www.robertdreyfuss.com (March 6, 2006).