ناگفته های سازمان امنیت ملی آمريکا

by Paul Jay, پرستو قربانی (Translator)

In 'Gore Vidal: History of the National Security State & Vidal on America', TRNN Senior Editor Paul Jay and the acclaimed essayist, screenwriter and novelist Gore Vidal discuss the historical events that led to the establishment of the massive military-industrial-security complex and the political culture that gave us the “Imperial Presidency.”

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, The United States Of America

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2014

Reviews

[Randall Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Assange was pulled from the embassy, this was the book he held in his hands. Let’s look at what’s inside: In the 30’s, China was breaking up, and Japan was trying to take over China. FDR says to Japan (before Pearl Harbor), “Get out of China or we will cut off your oil supply”. That ultimatum leads to Japan fighting back which FDR thought would mean Manila, not Pearl Harbor. FDR wanted to get in the war but still needed a strong reason. After the attack, FDR was worried he would be impeached. Truman was surprisingly told do NOT drop the atomic bomb by all his military men including even LeMay, they all pleaded with Truman, “Don’t do it. We’ll be hated by the world. Japan is defeated and everyone knows this.” The lie encouraging the bombs use, was that it would take a million lives to take Japan. Maybe, if every Japanese soldier was back home and not scattered remotely all over Asia. And they didn’t even have any boats to hurry home with. Roosevelt never told Harry about the bomb. Even my own grandpa (HAW) knew about the bomb well before Harry. Truman was a dim bulb and Dean Acheson is the one who gets Truman to fall or pretend to fall for the “Communism and Stalin are 100% evil” mantra. Truman had to ignore that the Russians had just lost 20 million people, and didn’t have the gas to bring home their artillery and so horses must drag it back. Not to mention, we were even supplying the Russian Army with their boots. So, we start the Cold War and give Russia the crappiest part of Berlin. We take the richest part of Germany including the Ruhr and then to insult Russia further, we rearm Germany (after what evil Germany has done to Russia).

Vandenberg tells Truman, he will have the scare the hell out of the American people if he wants his Cold War to succeed. The only person in his path opposing him was my grandpa Henry Wallace, “the true heir of Franklin Roosevelt” according to Gore. Gore then explains the campaign to remove Henry Wallace so that there is no voice to speak out against Truman and Acheson. At this time, the US sends nuclear armed B-29s to England - this is the first time England has been occupied since the Norman Invasion. The Pentagon response to forcing our crap onto British soil was “Well, they’ve got to get used to our presence everywhere.” Charming. Truman then launches the Loyalty oath and Wallace goes to war against Truman. Gore quotes my grandpa as saying, “We have a government that is now pledging itself and us to fight on the side of any government, no matter how terrible, if it says is anti-communist, or anti-Russian.” Truman & Co. make sure no liberal or leftist government comes to power around the world. The 1948 threat in Italy wasn’t the communists winning. It was merely the threat of a coalition government (50/50) there.

FDR had been a positive force: we must face our fears – nothing to fear but fear itself. Truman wanted the opposite: Be afraid, be very afraid. That led to McCarthy. Lindberg was neither a traitor or loved Hitler. He was the aviator who told FDR the Germans were more advanced than the British or French and he had to get cracking building the B17 as the only way to get US air supremacy. Eisenhower is the guy who brings us illegal regime change in Guatemala and Iran, in his updated CV can be written: “Destroyed the hopes and dreams of millions of people in Iran and Guatemala (SAVAK anyone?).” In Guatemala, the government merely needed to finally tax United Fruit on behalf of the people who were getting nothing nothing – but was enough to get the US to overthrow the government, while calling it communist for caring about its people. The senator who sounded the alarm about needing to invade was Henry Cabot Lodge, who as Gore notes was on the board of United Fruit at the time. Wow. To Gore, the Golden Age of America was 1945-1950 before the manufactured Cold War fears set in (Leonard Bernstein, Streetcar of Desire, Death of a Salesman). By 1960, Khrushchev is denouncing Stalin and it was getting hard to keep up the Cold War pretext with a straight face. But that didn’t stop the constant onslaught like, “the Russians want us to live under a red flag, waking up at 5am to commit abortions”. Gore talks in detail about how sick JFK was while in office. I had no idea. Addison’s disease - no adrenal function. JFK agreed with Gore that the Russians weren’t going to do any invading. JFK was anti-colonial historically, but after the Bay of Pigs, he felt he had to win something; that led to Vietnam. Gore is no fan of Bobby Kennedy, he thought he was actually right wing, he was on McCarthy’s committee with Roy Cohn and friends with McCarthy himself and then suddenly wraps himself in the mantle of FDR? Gore was skeptical of his intentions.

“We were always at war, expansionist, and not a war of the people’s seeking.” “There is no doubt we stand tall in the eyes of the world, because we have the power to kill everyone on earth. Everybody knows it.” Gore notes our first move after declaring independence was to counterintuitively not go after the British in Boston or New York, but to invade Canada in 1775. Gore notes that after WWII, the Department of War’s name is changed to the Department of Defense, “Which is wildly funny because it’s been nothing but offense ever since.” Re Media: “Informing the public is the last thing corporate America is interested in doing”. Kerry’s chance of being elected President was killed by the Republican concept of demonizing one’s opponent’s virtues.

All these constant wars and dictators to be removed happen Gore tells us because: “Well you can’t justify all this money being thrown away. Well nothing is going for education, nothing to health care. You can’t justify it unless you find an enemy. So, the big propaganda machine begins.” For Gore the only American art form has been the TV Commercial. “That is our art form, and that’s how we control people.” A Bush official was asked why the invasion of Panama, because to the world it looked bad. The official said “Well, we did it because we could.” In the end Gore tells us: we are either the United States of Amnesia, or as Studs Terkel said, the United States of Alzheimer’s. Great book.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good shot digestible book (interviews really) with Gore Vidal old timer insider and critic of the US political system. Sure the book is short and repetitive in parts (all speech is reparative, you repeat the important bits) Julian Assange knew what he was doing when he was dragged into daylight for the first time in 7 years for shedding daylight on the dark shadow.
For a fuller deep dive i would recommend The Untold History of The United States

[Roseanne Ullman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want some truth? Read this short book.

Gore Vidal was a brilliant insider. This little gem is filled with insight that is hard to find today, be it on television or in print. Read it and have a little epiphany.

[TigerLily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really gave me a lot to think about & look into, it's well written & some very good questions were asked to & answered by Gore Vidal, definitely worth reading

[Andrish Saint-Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old song for the initiated,but fresh for the naive

The editing of the interviews exposes too much repetition and the lines of questions not rigorous enough. Gore Vidal's statements provide easily digestible points of view for those younger folk, who wish to understand alternative visions of history and what is and has been going on from a humanist point of view.

[Matin Pyron · Rating 4 out of 5]

سیاست چقدر کثیفه خدااااای من
هزاران هزار انسان بخاطر سیاست های کثیف فراماسونری امریکا چشم از این جهان گشودند . افسوس

This book was absolutely eye-opening tbh!!!
I think every American must read this book at least for once.

[Zach Darr-Rodriguez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rabbling interviews. Mostly of Vidal complaining about Bush and Iraq. Very little statistical or historical information of note.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I damned near highlighted the entire book. Everyone wants to believe something and I want to believe Gore Vidal spoke truth to power. So, taken as a given that he was telling the truth, this is one eye opening, scary book and depressed the hell out of me, as well as patting my gut in triumph as things I had thought in passing turn out to be confirmed in his words. This was not published till after his death and was years before Obama while Bush Jr. and Cheney were still robbing the nation blind and murdering innocent Iraqis for fun and profit. I am not sure if reading this book makes me feel better or worse about Trump except to note that he is not a new phenomenon...he is merely letting it all hang out where the world can see it, instead of hiding in behind closed doors. What is most illuminating and frightening is what I had been observing on certain media and the book confirmed as truth for all media...that it is not on the side of the people.

[jjmann3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is in times like 2019, with the chaos caused by leaders crowned by social media celebrity, the soullessness begotten by the algorithmization of our work and play, and the pains of empire fostered on us by the incessant commercialization of our military, when one really misses the frank witticisms and insights of Mr. Vidal.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, Insightful, & Succinct

An excellent, insightful, & succinct account of the history of the U.S. & what it has become.
A very good read.
Read this book under a Kindle Unlimited subscription.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating overview of America’s fascist and imperialist descent post-WWII, through the first two decades of the twenty-first century.

[Bennett Reiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great wisdom in this book about the way the world ticks. I highly recommend anyone interested in geopolitics give this book a read.

[Galena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing, insightful and grounded.

[Nico Bruin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: Gore Vidal rambles about his alternate take on recent history without anything to back it up.
Decently enjoyable to read, but of little informational value.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a casual conversation that's highly repetitive. It only has value because of Vidal's credibility as an insider.

[Nicholas Rose]

Essential reading for the literate citizen.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me Gore Vidal towers over every other intellectual of the last 50-100 years. Even while dead he still towers over the rest. I wish I could read what he'd write about the current state of things. I suspect even he might be shocked. But then he seems to have seen things coming. This book is not as witty (in his uniquely depressing way causing me to laugh and feel sad simultaneously) as some of his other stuff but it spells out what the title says and what is now obvious. He's always worth reading even in these compiled, pulled together piece meal efforts likely done just to make some dough