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Lays Out Many of the Fascist Dots--But Fails to Connect Them 2010-08-18

Reviewer: Sam Damon Jr.

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Bacevich should get a medal for serving our country for writing this book to warn us that we have become a Fascist, Militarist [Nazi] nation-state. He has personally paid for American militarism with the life of his own son, Andrew Jr.; a young Army 1LT who died needlessly in the occupation of Iraq for BIG BUSINESS and BIG GOVERNMENT power and profits. Bacevich does a masterful job pointing out the social groups within America that have created over time our current AmeroNazi nation-state; the Religious Right, the Neocons, the Media etc. but he doesn't start from the beginning and he presents these actors as having straight-forward motivations and thinking. When you take everything he presents, it doesn't add up. It doesn't add up because it's too simplistic and flat out false to ASS U ME every actor in America is singular in purpose. What Bacevich fails to account for is TREACHERY--duplicity--the FACT that the ruling elites have deliberately pitted left vs. right and played both sides in wars for their secret society profits and goals. Bacevich desperately needs to read the works of Antony Sutton and the book, "Nazi Hydra in America" (available online) to get a clue about what's really happening here; which is a march towards an America run by a king where the sheeple worship the nation-state exactly like their earlier experiment, Nazi Germany. Everything Bacevich is describing as happening in America; the adulation of Soldiers, the compliant press, the national mythology are all STEPS and warning signs of fascism.

Where Bacevich next goes astray is in his shallow understanding of the religious right; he jumps right into war--whether the Puritans were "doves or hawks" when he should have first asked WHAT WAS THEIR REASON FOR LIVING? This is what drives everything long before wars pop up. That answer is found in James Hepburn's second chapter of "Farewell America" where he reveals that America's primary sin is MATERIALISM from the very beginning as a Prudish knee-jerk reaction against sex with a not so surprising result of VIOLENCE to get that wealth. Right-wing Americans obsessed with sex-as-evil, love violence. Americans are violent people because they see it as moral and sex as "Sodom & Gomorrah". People are basically bad and evil, so why not put a bullet to their head if they misbehave, they deserve it, right? No Jesus Christ forgiveness or repentance or redemption in this Dirty Harry outlook. Just a smug, self-righteous, holier-than-thou snobbishness that I have-a-right-to-blow-you-away which we see daily in Iraq/Afghanistan. Those that are rich must have worked harder than those "live & let live slackers" so they have the right to rule etc. America's adoration of the rich and famous belies this corrupt outlook which should instead admire those that are moral and unselfish who haven't gotten rich or famous. Factor in the second generation of American immigrants coming to America for selfish, economic reasons and not for religious freedom and you now have a majority growing over time opposed to the Founding Father's ideal that freedom's primary purpose is to be able to live a life according to your conscience--life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Today's AmeroNazis will have none of this; your duty is to conform to the American militaristic borg of BIG BUSINESS AND BIG GOVERNMENT, your conscience be damned.

Bacevich is right that getting rid of one bad Presidential administration like W. Bush and his Nazis will not fix America from being a militarist nation that cannot just say no! to wars. However, he is wrong by placing the blame on societal groups with "urges" when there are SPECIFIC traitors instigating the culture war to divide and conquer us into an AmeroNazi clone of Hitler's Germany. The violence-loving Rockefeller Illuminati that created fascism in the first place and put Hitler into power as a counter to the sex-loving Rothschild communism is the place to start. Americans must wake up that they are being conned and played by the Illuminati's left vs. right Hegelian conflict--and not be patriotically corrected into going along with ANY immoral action just because it's labeled "American". The place to start there is with the lie that 9/11 was done by terrorist ragheads when it was actually an inside job by traitors within our own U.S. Government. Before going to ANY war we must demand we find out who actually attacked us--something Bacevich only hints at because he doesn't want to be seen as too radical. The same secret elites that lied about Pearl Harbor, the Bay of Pigs, JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations, Gulf of Tonkin, Watergate, Iran-Contra, the 2000 stolen election etc. are MORE THAN CAPABLE OF STAGING 9/11 AND LYING ABOUT IT; they are in fact the most likely suspects. For example, the well-qualified, NTSB did not investigate the alleged aircraft crashes on 9/11--go to their web site. The FBI unqualified to do aircraft crash investigations was supposed to do it--but said they didn't need to do it "because they saw it all on TV". Yeah right. "Fade to Black" just as the alleged second plane came into view but out of composite WTC alignment. The FBI at least had enough integrity to admit they didn't have anything to indict Bin Laden and his al CIAduh group for 9/11.

These are the dirty realities of American militarism that Bacevich skirts around with his sociological urge theory for American collective behavior.

If the American people will not demand that there will be no war until it's proven without a doubt that war is necessary--just because a hate-raghead False Flag terrorist incident was staged for them that feeds into their prejudices and urges for violence, then our problems are not mere groupthink--but individuals being GUTLESS and IMMORAL stemming from their lemming psychological make-up. Being a REAL American means studying EVERY ISSUE on a case-by-case objective, factual basis and acting according to one's conscience regardless of what the crowd is clamoring for. If you cannot do what is right, you are not free. What America is doing now at home and abroad is not right; how long we will be free is the big question. Bacevich is asking these kinds of questions and we should all salute him in thanks.

Not what you may expect 2009-10-16

Reviewer: Maestro

This book does agood job at dissecting the reason why we Americans are so easily seduced by war and the use of force but if you expect quick, Bush bashing rhetoric.....forget it. This a thoughtful, complex look at our foreign policy and even the author admits that his account is biased toward his career in the military but have patience . Be prepared to work to familiarize yourself with complexities in strategic thinking, foreign policy, domestic policy and the coordination of those three areas .I have gotten about half way through but already am pleasantly surprised in being challenged in ways I did not expect. Enjoy

Maestro

Compelling and unique ideas about the American psyche 2009-09-07

Reviewer: 1000Books

Bacevich's work is a compelling argument American Militarism. It does a good job of showing how the "Militarism" which is taken for granted as "the way it is" is actually an oddity given the history of this nation and its founding forefathers.

Some notes:
1) Weinburger Doctrine - Specified tests as preconditions for putting American troops in harms way. He would have this test be put toward all military action post-cold war in the middle east
2) The thematic of War as ugly or as a last resort vs pre-emptive war. In chapter three he speaks about one of the latter's larger advocates Norman Podhoretz's 6 neo-conservatives truths
- Evil is real
- For evil to prevail, those confronted by it must be flinching from duty. (Suggests that Hilter's legacy is a permanent standing army in the US).
- America must alone be the global leader.
- There is a relationship between stability at home and abroad (i.e. in this regard, he was reacting against the civil rights movement during his time).
- Felt a crisis existed post-Vietnam for which the US must take action (i.e. the loss showed a failure in leadership and the US needed to re-establish it's military might).
- The antidote to crisis is leadership. (i.e. Reagan, etc...)
3) In Chapter 3: California Dreaming, he discusses how popular press has changed since WW2 from being anti-war to pro-military making claims that the film industry played a major role through movies which romanticized war.
4) Discusses oil issues which have served to justify and frustrate those who would lobby to take more conservative action. Hints at the close relationship between oil, economy, and US prosperity. Suggests that Carter may have missed it by thinking that the US would be ok, with belt tightening.

In the context of a new president who portends a divergence from the Bush adminstration, this book begs a number of questions. How do we think about President Obama's recent activity in the middle east? Does it look like his policies will fall in line with the past? While the author feels that no president since Reagan has been particularly good at reducing oil dependence, are there potentially seeds of change that have been planted?

Why so little has changed 2009-05-30

Reviewer: bjcefola

This is a great book and I heartily recommend it. Bacevich describes himself as a conservative critic of the Iraq invasion, which he sees as resulting from the institutionalization of militarism within American society. The book pointedly avoids blaming Bush or administration officials, instead looking at a series of broad cultural dynamics, both civilian and military. These include briefly,

* Conservative christians, who adopted a siege mentality in the wake of the cultural changes in the 60's.
* The idolization of the military in the 80's and 90's, in a generational reaction against perceived injustices in the 70's.
* The development of smart weapons and the broader separation of military and civilian society, which made "clean" war seem like a possibility.

This resolves a problem I had with an earlier work, American Empire. There he argued for a fundamental continuity between the Clinton and Bush administrations, which I didn't buy. The discussion here implies a continuity of circumstance more then in the actions and initiatives of the presidents, and Bacevich states in the preface that presidents should be understood as being shaped by history rather then the other way around. This doesn't exonerate Bush and it isn't offered as such, but it does situate Bush's actions within a broader cultural context and explains why his decisions were so popular at the time.

Bacevich at the end offers a surprising reinterpretation of the last 30 years, where he adopts the neocon lingo of World War IV with a twist: instead of radical Islam waging war against a sleepy Western world he sees America fighting for political dominance of the broader Middle East, in a continuation of the western tradition going back to Alexander the Great. This idea is offered as a sketch, and I'd like to see him use another book to flesh it out.

This is good stuff with continuing relevance, particularly for those confused by why so little has changed under Obama.

Makes many valid points about America's desire for war 2009-03-13

Reviewer: Michael D. Chlanda

This book, although written by a Conservative, gives plenty to think about, by Liberals, Moderates, and Conservatives. Mr. Bacevich lays out the uses and abuses of military power, by the civilian leadership, over the last 20+ years, and does so with skill. He makes many valid points, including, how Congress has abdicated its responsibility, to declare war; based on the notion of supporting the "commander in chief" (i.e., The President). He also lays out a course of action that should involve using war as a last resort. He does not say that America shouldn't defend itself, but use war more effectively. While one might not agree with all of his ideas, he provides more thought out strategy (something the previous administration especially did not do, when going to war, and which has partly [partially] led to our current problems.) Worth a look.