Former House Intel Committee Chair in New Book Exposes Disastrous Foreign Policy that Unraveled N. Africa, Mid-East

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new book by former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra offers an unparalleled analysis of how a disastrous foreign policy led to Libya becoming a nexus of radical Islamist terrorist training, ideology and weapons transfers; sowed the seeds of ISIS in Syria and Iraq; and led to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

"The foreign policy of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton in which they engaged Islamist terrorists and their enablers over the past seven years has been grounded in wishful thinking and self-delusion," said Hoekstra, who met with Gaddafi on three separate occasions. "Despite all that has happened during that time – especially in Libya – the administration remains committed to deluding itself that these zealots cannot only be managed, but trusted."

Published by The Calamo Press ($14.95) – with a foreword by renowned Islamist terror expert Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism – "Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya" details the story of America's tragic mishandling of the North African country from beginning to end.

Drawing upon insider sources and a depth of experience, "Architects of Disaster" is a profoundly honest and penetrating look at a foreign policy gone disastrously wrong. It tells stories, names names and pins responsibility exactly where it belongs.

Hoekstra, who now serves as the Shillman Senior Fellow with the Investigative Project on Terrorism, exposes how an inexperienced president and politicized State Department turned Libya from an ally in the war against radical Islamists into a lawless state located in the soft underbelly of southern Europe.

"Architects of Disaster" shows how the U.S. emboldened terrorists such as Libyan Islamic Fighting Group commander Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, who was responsible for multiple atrocities in the 2011 uprising; emir Abdel-Hakim Belhadj, linked to the horrific March 2004 train bombing in Madrid; and Faraj al-Chalabi, identified as a suspect in the planning of the 2012 attack on the Benghazi facility.

"No other administration in recent memory – Republican or Democratic – would have pursued so reckless a policy that turned relative stability in North Africa into chaos that has spread out into the broader Middle East and bred a full-fledged humanitarian crisis," Hoekstra said. "The Obama administration and Secretary of State Clinton effectively snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in Libya, and the world is now living with the resulting catastrophe."

SOURCE Investigative Project on Terrorism