OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, DECEMBER 7, 2022
USA: WAR
NATION, WAR PARTY, WORLD DOMINATION, CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY
Walter Hixson, [US] Imperialism
and War.
Andrew Bacevich. After the Apocalypse and the folly of
endless war, with Chris Hedges.
George
Paulson on The US War Party.
John Nichols. Trump, Republicans, Democrats and a Constitutional Republic.
Walter
Hixson, Imperialism and War: The History
Americans Need to Own. Institute for
Research, 2021.
Publisher's
Synopsis
Transcending the mythology of "American
exceptionalism," the acclaimed historian Walter Hixson unveils a long
history of war and imperialism, one that is deeply embedded in the American
national DNA. From Columbus to the
"forever wars" of the modern Middle East, Americans have sought
imperial domination over other peoples, invariably deemed inferior, and have
regularly chosen to go to war with them.
The consequences of the nation's
violent aggression have been severe yet not fully analyzed owing to the
powerful boundaries erected by patriotic nationalism. Americans have viewed
themselves as a "chosen people" and the United States as a "beacon
and liberty," the champion of the "free world," but this
self-serving discourse has served to enable continental and overseas
imperialism and war.
Americans typically professed to go
to war because they "had to" or to make the world "safe for
democracy," but only rarely were these scenarios in play. Rather,
Americans usually chose to go to war, and US foreign policy
rarely produced or even sought to produce democratic outcomes. Instead, the
United States often engaged in violent repression of other peoples and bolstered
dictatorial regimes, including those engaged in mass murder.
US war and imperialism frequently
proved ineffectual, as they were often grounded in dramatic misperceptions.
Foreign aggression also often sowed the seeds for "blowback" attacks
and the continuation or renewal of conflict and warfare. Moreover--and rarely
analyzed--continental and overseas aggression also undermined democracy, civil
liberties, and progressive reform on the home front.
Rooted in decades of study and
delivered in crystal clear and direct language, this book is must-reading for
anyone wishing to go beyond the clichés that typically structure discussions of
the history and contemporary prospects of American foreign relations. In a bold
conclusion Hixson outlines the desperate need for adoption of a new paradigm of
"cooperative internationalism" to transcend the nation's penchant for
war and imperialism fueled by national self-worship.
Andrew Bacevich. After the Apocalypse and the folly of
endless war.
|
Chris Hedges. The Chris Hedges Report Show with
Andrew Bacevich on his book After the Apocalypse and the folly of endless war, featuring bonus content. 11-12-22 Bacevich is … censorious of the political
and military class that has led the United States into one debacle after the
next since Vietnam, a war he served in as a young officer. He argues they are
woefully out of touch with reality, crippled by self-delusion, and unable to
adapt to a changing world. Unless they are wrenched from power, he argues,
the twilight of the American empire will be one filled, especially given our
refusal to seriously address the climate crisis, with catastrophe after
catastrophe. |
THE WAR PARTY
One often hears claims
that America needs greater unity.
That sounded good during WWII, but when it became the central principle
of Richard Nixon’s “Law and Order” campaign for President, I began to
wonder. Gradually as I understood the
reality of bipartisan agreement regarding a US empire, and public acquiescence,
I realized the US was already unified in foreign policy, much to the detriment
of the US and to the world. The
Democratic and Republic Parties constitute the US War Party of catastrophic
proportions. --Dick
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I trust everyone is up
to date on the weasel-worded letter submitted by 30 members of the House
Progressives Caucus to the Biden White House last week. The signatories
of this letter asked that the commander in chief—the guy with his less than
steady finger on the proverbial nuclear trigger—consider diplomacy with
nuclear-armed Russia in dealing with the war in Ukraine. Not that these
house “Progressives” were calling for a halt to the seemingly unlimited and
deliberately unmonitored flow of weapons and dollars into Kiev. No, nothing of
the sort. They were just sort of kind of saying that maybe it would be a
good idea to maybe talk to nuclear-armed Russia while at the same time
continuing to fuel our proxy war against them. That’s all. No talk of
pulling the plug on the Kiev regime. But, as you all no doubt know, the
letter was withdrawn and disowned by these same house “Progressives” in record time.
Even though the Doomsday Clock now stands at 15 seconds to midnight, and even
though there has been a lot of loose talk lately about the possible use of
tactical nuclear weapons, the idea of diplomacy is, apparently, a bad
thing. Let that sink in. The idea of talking to a nuclear-armed
adversary—something we did routinely during the darkest days of the Cold War—is
now a bad idea. At least it’s a bad idea for Democrats. Let that
sink in, as well. The transformation of the Democratic Party into a
full-blown war party—clearly with hopes of positioning itself as THE war
party--is now all but complete. It is now abundantly clear that there is
no room in the Big Blue Tent for anti-war voices.
But it gets
better. Our proxy war against Russia in Ukraine—ostensibly waged to make
the world (once again) safe for democracy--has expanded, if one takes at face
value the words of Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, into a social justice
jihad, a crusade, as it were, to make the world safe for …. Here is the
congressman himself, throwing down the gauntlet:
"Thousands
of Ukrainian women are fighting on the front, and a woman serves as deputy
minister of defense. Sexual minorities are represented within the Ukrainian
armed forces. [Moscow] is a world center of antifeminist, antigay,
anti-trans hatred, as well as the homeland of replacement theory for export. In
supporting Ukraine, we are opposing these fascist views, and supporting the
urgent principles of democratic pluralism.”
Welcome to the
new “New Democrats.” Woke and war-like at the same time! At
last, a war all good people—because Democrats ARE good people---at last a war
we can all get behind and feel good about! As for all those nukes ….
Peace,
George
John Nichols. “Editorial: It’s Still About Trump.” The
Nation (9.5-12.2022).
The “fundamental issue of the 2022 midterm elections is whether the
United States will continue as a constitutional republic or warp into an
authoritarian state.” The Democrats must
defeat Donald Trump’s and the GOP’s efforts to dismantle democratic norms.
Democrats must speak with “absolute clarity about the threat posed” by them. (To sharpen that context from Nazi history, read The
Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar
Republic by Benjamin Hett.)
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