Rogue Nation: The America the Rest of the World Knows

by Peter Scowen

A friendly observer’s shocking discoveries

On September 11, 2001, Peter Scowen’s sister escaped the 54th floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower barely moments before it collapsed. The shock left Scowen wondering why the twin towers were the terrorists’ target. What had innocent Americans done to warrant being blown to pieces? Or was the real question what had their government done in their name? To his horror, Scowen discovered that the answer to the second question plenty.

Far from being a beacon of democracy, Scowen found that the USA has for fifty years or more connived to overthrow, even assassinate, popularly elected leaders, to launch wars and insurrections against democratic governments, and to police the world, not to promote democracy, but in its own short-term political and commercial interests.

From its unnecessary annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945 to its not-so-secret war against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and its dramatic flipflop from being Iraq’s staunch supporter to its worst enemy, the USA has time and again left innocent civilians around the world in fear of its might and filled with loathing for its brutish ways. Even at home, the USA is no paragon of democracy and human rights, as Scowen’s look at the 2000 presidential election and at its incarceration records show.

Scowen’s meticulously documented account of America’s covert and overt operations over the last fifty years will shred its readers’ illusions about the last remaining superpower’s benevolent role in world affairs.

Genres: History

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A CANDADIAN JOURNALIST COMMENTS ON POST-9/11 AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

Peter Scowen is a Canadian journalist. He wrote in the Introduction to this 2002 book, "This book is my investigation into the country where my sister was almost killed [she worked in the World Trade Center, but was safely evacuated]. I wrote it to answer nagging questions---notably, whether the United States government, through its foreign policies and past deeds, put its citizens in the line of fire, and whether it can truly claim the moral high ground in its new war on terrorism... This book, then, is a belated examination of recent American history in light of its post-September 11 pretensions to moral clarity and innocent intentions. It is an attempt to arm readers with information to challenge the United States government's received wisdom about what happened." (Pg. 5-6)

He suggests that Americans "prefer to take it on faith that every covert and overt military operation undertaken by their armed forces and intelligence services overseas since the Second World War has been, and will be, carried out to further America's highest ideals and spread democracy across the globe, this making them immune from criticism or justifiable counterattack. If only that were true." (Pg. 28) He later adds, "Using the cover of serving the greater good, such as fighting communism or terrorism, is America's greatest source of hypocrisy. To see where it can lead the world, one only has to look back at Vietnam. And for a more immediate reminder, there is Nicaragua." (Pg. 84)

He argues, "The plain fact is that the very nation that demands of the rest of the world a high level of democratic activity, in exchange for entrance into the kingdom of everlasting financial aid, is one of the least healthy democracies on the planet. America has handed over its political system to special interest groups, lawyers, judges, and fundraisers, and it is now governed by a ruling class of politicians who are elected for life." (Pg. 193)

He observes, "globalization means Americanization. The people in developing countries in Southeast Asia are not being exposed to a French diet or Italian diet. What they are getting is the American diet---oversized fast-food meals and processed foods high in trans fats; meals of low nutritional value that offer convenience in exchange for health, a loss of touch with the rhythm of the seasons and local produce, and the destruction of whatever relationship exists between their culture and their food." (Pg. 247-248)

He concludes, "But how do you get a nation to show maturity when an event as massive as September 11 provokes a reinforcement of its misguided and abstract idealism, rather than a reexamination of its misguided and concrete behaviour? What can be done with a country that thinks it was attacked by terrorists because Muslim countries have not been adequately informed of how great the United States really is, and all that is required to rectify this is to pump more Britney Spears over Middle East airwaves... This is why I have no answers, and why I feel at a loss." (Pg. 259)

For all progressives who are critical of the U.S. foreign policy since 9/11, this book will be a welcome affirmation from a sympathetic "outsider."

[Filip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading this book (in Croatian it is translated as Black Book of America) as we are seeing massive chaos in Afganistan as American troops whidrew from that country and Taliban began to reqonquer it. I found it fascinating how American foreing policy is capable of starting a war, winning it, but always fails to finish it. When Americans withdraw from any coutry you can assume chaos will rise and American politicians NEVER learn from their mistakes. This is the theme of this book. How agressive American foreing policy is hurting rest of the world and Americans themselfs and gives vivid accounts of multiple faliures accros the world, from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to Nicaruagva and Chile, to Iraq and rest (book is now somehow outdated but still holds ground and need some updates). Now Im not anti-american. I respect Americans for their massive inflience accros the world but with great power comes great responsibility and American politicians very often fail to be responsible.

[Jim Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Scowen was a journalist in Montreal. On 9-11 his sister was on a high floor in the second tower. For several days the family did not know she had survived. Later, without identifying her, Scowen did an interview of her. They looked out the window and saw the other tower in flames. Scowen's sister decided to evacuate the 20-plus team, 'an interesting decision.' They went downstairs, partly by elevator and partly on foot. At about the 20th floor the building shook - the second plane, only a few floors above them. They went through various undergrounds and came 'out doors' some distance away. Commnications were flooded.
After the celebration of the family reunion, Scowen decided to investigate: Why would anybody do this? So, he dug up the previous fifty years' history of US activities abroad.
Rogue Nation is the result of this quest for truth.
Noam Chomsky's 'Power and Terror' covers some of the same ground, so I do not doubt Scowen's account.
9-11 was not an accident. It did not happen to an innocent nation. It did happen to innocent citizens.

[Henrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that no Americans want to read but should read. In fact we should all be so lucky as to read and learn how others perceive us.