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 Afterthe Apocalypseand 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.)