History

Now a military expert for Human Rights Watch, Marc Garlasco was a Pentagon analyst for seven years — and he was there when terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. He tells Fresh Air about his experiences that morning.

After American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, it took firefighters three days to stop the blaze. Firefighter Patrick Creed and journalist Rick Newman discuss the Pentagon blaze and the book they wrote about it, Firefight.

In her book Unveiled, Deborah Kanafani recounts her marriage and divorce to a high-ranking Palestinian diplomat — and the cultural rift between her "American" upbringing and her married life.

Veteran peace negotiator Padraig O'Malley worked on the conflicts in Northern Ireland and South Africa. Mac Maharaj played a role in the latter nation's anti-apartheid movement. Both took part in recent closed-door negotiations in Finland, aimed at bringing reconciliation among rival factions in Iraq.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez commanded ground troops in Iraq from 2003 to 2004; it was on his watch that the Abu Ghraib prison scandal took place. Subsequently, Sanchez has vocally criticized the conduct of the Iraq war — especially the Bush administration's "catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan." His new book is Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story.

Fresh Air film critic David Edelstein reviews Standard Operating Procedure, a documentary from Errol Morris about the treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib detention center in Iraq in 2003.

As chief of high-value targeting for the Pentagon, Marc Garlasco helped plan the targets of laser-guided bombs during the invasion of Iraq. Now a senior analyst with Human Rights Watch, Garlasco visits war zones where he assesses the damage being done to civilians by bombs and lobbies for greater deliberation in the use of air power.

Perplexed by the U.S. economy? You're not alone. Law professor Michael Greenberger joins Fresh Air to explain the sub-prime mortgage crisis, credit defaults, the shaky future of other types of loans and what we can expect from the U.S. financial markets.

Author Steve Coll details the complicated family history of Osama bin Laden, one of 54 children born to Mohamed bin Laden. The elder bin Laden transformed himself from an illiterate bricklayer into an immensely wealthy and powerful businessman.

Theologian Dwight Hopkins provides a historical perspective on black liberation theology. Hopkins is an ordained Baptist minister and a professor of theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Fresh Air film critic David Edelstein reviews Stop Loss, a film about a decorated Army sergeant (Ryan Phillippe) who resists an order to serve another tour of duty in Iraq on the grounds that he has already fulfiled his contract with the military.

Director Arthur Penn changed the face of cinema with his film, Bonnie and Clyde. The graphic realism of the last scenes have influenced television and movies since the film's release in 1967.

"Bush's War," a two-part special from the PBS series Frontline, investigates the lead-up to — and the justification for — the U.S. war in Iraq. Journalist and Frontline producer Michael Kirk joins Fresh Air to discuss the program.

Foreign correspondent Charles Sennot recently returned from Iraq, where he witnessed the U.S. military's "troop surge" first-hand as an embedded reporter with the Army's 28th Infantry Regiment.

Secularist Shiite politican Ahmad Chalabi was for years part of an opposition group dedicated to overthrowing former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. He's also the subject of the new book The Man Who Pushed America to War.

Fresh Air TV critic David Bianculli reviews HBO's new series John Adams, produced by Tom Hanks.

Was America meant to be a Christian nation? Steven Waldman, founder of Beliefnet.com, debunks myths about religion in the lives the Founding Fathers, and in the early history of America in his new book, Founding Faith.

Bassam Aramin and Zohar Shapira, the co-founders of Combatants for Peace, are on a mission to end the cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine by bringing together individuals who previously fought against each other. So far, around 450 former enemies have joined the group.

The Library of America has published World War II Writings, a new collection of stories by A.J. Liebling. The volume, edited by Pete Hamill, includes three books, two dozen New Yorker pieces, maps and a chronology.

Director Brett Morgen joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to discuss his new film, Chicago 10. The film mixes trial footage and animation to tell the story of the "Chicago 8" — protesters held accountable for violence that erupted with police outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968.