Sorrows of Empire is Better,
Chalmers Johnson
I found this book to be disappointing. Sorrows of Empire, by the same author, is better than both this book, and his first book in the same theme, “Blowback.”
This is as good a current review as any, with respect to America's unilateral militarism and the corruption associated with the military-industrial complex. It ends appropriately with a focus on the lunacy of trying to “dominate” space, something the Chinese just demonstrated is impossible with their successful destruction of a satellite in space, from the ground.
The book, as some other reviewers suggest, very uneven. There are many other books I have read that go well beyond this one, such as Chomsky's books, “War is a Racket,” “The Cheating Culture,” “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,” “The Soul of Capitalism,” and so on (see all my lists).
The final chapter highlights the recurring themes across the three books:
a) The use of Executive secrecy to avoid Congressional and public oversight
b) The illegal Executive “signing statements” and other renunciations of explicit legislative mandates
c) The degree to which special interests, and especially special interests from within the military-industrial complex
d) The vulnerability of the US economy, which now focuses largely on military production while out-sourcing most other manufacturing
e) The Enron-style accounting that characterizes the Pentagon, which in my personal view is a sophisticated means of stealing money from the indidividual taxpayer, and transferring it to the major corporations and the banks behind them
The book ends with a mix of resignation and hope. Americans can choose, in 2008, between Empire and Democracy. It is doubtful that Bush and Cheney will be impeached. The degree to which the public has ignored all the evidence commonly understood by the 9-11 Truth Movement, and all of the evidence about White House manipulation and fabrication of intelligence with respect to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, is quite troubling.
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