We became a nation of people who got used to the idea that we should be afraid all the time, and that nothing was out of bounds if it meant protecting us from danger. Well, we have a word for people who say 'do anything as long as I'm safe.' We call people like that cowards. The reality is we have been taught to be afraid.

Author Rebecca Gordon surveys the crimes of the Bush administration after 9/11 - from the lies and political manipulations of American politicians eager for war in Iraq and beyond, to the global kidnapping and torture campaigns of the CIA - and explains why, without a public war crimes trial holding elected officials accountable for their actions, Americans are becoming more comfortable accepting crimes committed by their leaders.

Rebecca is author of American Nuremberg: The U.S. Officials Who Should Stand Trial for Post-9/11 War Crimes from Hot Books.