[audiobook] State Terrorism and the United States: From Counterinsurgency to the War on Terrorism by Frederick H. Gareau in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy R. TheriaultGreat book! Very informative20 of 22 people found the following review helpful. US Style TerrorismBy Tracy McLellanHere is truth dripping blood and gore. Given the stakes this is the kind of book we ought to have again and again until it is finally impressed on the American people what its government is doing in its name. while hypocritically proclaiming loudly the virtues of freedom and democracyThe body of the book is formed by six case studies of US perpetration of and complicity in repression and terrorism in El Salvado. Guatemala. Chile. Argentina. South Africa. and Indonesia. Sadly. this repression almost unexceptionally has come to pass when the poor and repressed majority has organized to redress the privileged economic elite. often under cover of the Cold War against communism; today more commonly under the cloak of the war on terrorism. Gareau also takes brief but sweeping inventories of similar terror in Cambodia. Iraq. Colombia. Nicaragua. the Congo. Iran and elsewhere. Orwell would fully understand a US State Department list of state sponsors of terror conspicuously missing the United States itself.Gareau gives lie to the "romantic notion" that the attacks of September 11 were prompted by a pathogical hatred of the United States and its freedoms. It is more accurate. he says. to see them as a response to widespread and similar activity in which the US has been much more intimately involved. It is critical to understand this history as the first step in contrition and thusly to preventing future repeats.In each of the six case studies. Gareau asks and answers three main questions: did the government being studied commit state terrorism? how much of the terror was perpetrated by the state. and how much by private guerrillas? And. was the country that committed terror upon its own citizens supported by the United States?Under US diplomatic cover. 95% of the 75.000 killed in El Salvador between 1980 and 1991 were killed by government forces at the same time the US provided El Salvador $6 billion in aid.In the 1950s successive governments in Guatemala instituted the beginnings of successful reform measures aimed at aiding the poor and disenfranchised. Intolerable to US business interests. in response the CIA trained and supplied an invasion force that deposed President Arbenz in 1954 in a watershed in the history of the country which engendered the bloody repression that followed. An estimated 200.000 were killed between 1962 and 1996. about 93% of them by government forces. The United States provided massive aid to Guatemala during this reign of terror.At the direct behest of Nixon and Kissinger in 1973. on September 11 no less. the duly elected and popular Marxist President Salvador Allende of Chile was assassinated. Installed in his stead was General Pinochet who "disappeared" 3-4.000 and ruled with an iron fist of terror for three decades. with wide support from the United States.These are typical of US foreign policy as documented herein. and continue in the Bush adminstrations war on terror which Gareau says is illegal. immoral. overly belligerent and counterproductive.Gareaus closes the book with suggested remedies that include calling it a defense rather than a war against terrorism; treating terrorism as a criminal rather a military matter and responding to it as such; more active US participation in international agencies such as the International Criminal Court and the International Atomic Energy Commission; quitting US support of terror in all its guises; adopting a negotiable rather than a unilateral posture vis-a-vis terrorism; making US amends as far as possible to victims of terror it has supported in the past; and establishing a truth commission for the United States so its citizens can know what has been done in their names.This is an important book. I cant think of a topic more important especially in this day and age and especially to Americans. That they are largely unaware of this history is inexplicable. Would they want to remedy this character defect. this book would help.14 of 16 people found the following review helpful. Our terror against ThemBy N. P. StathoulopoulosThis is a concise book that covers one of todays biggest topics: terrorism. In the millions of hours of TV coverage. and the millions of words in countless newspaper articles. we seldom get a clear picture of state terrorism in the world. and what role the United States really plays in combatting. supporting. and instituting it. Gareau uses a number of case studies to determine the extent of US involvement in countries like El Salvador. Chile. Argentina. and he briefly covers other hot spots like Cambodia. Nicaragua. and of course. Iraq. The information is not secret. Certainly. the media has covered these areas over the years. usually supporting a very familiar line. However. the reality on the ground is something quite different than the various US administrations have described in all of their lofty rhetoric about combatting terror. about why do they hate us?. and about eliminating imminent threats. The book also looks to current events in an evaluation on the Bush II administrations War on Terror. Gareaus summation is anything but laudatory for the counterterror being carried out by the US and its allies and proxies. The behavior of the worlds dominant superpower is often arrogant and bullying. and its nothing new to Bush II. The case studies stretch back to at least the 1950s. with US involvement in the hemisphere stretching back a century in some cases. Theres been a very close link between US support and aid and state terrorism in a number of the cases. and some of the shorter bits on other countries and regions echoes this as well. (See Holly Sklars Washingtons War on Nicaragua for an overview on that successful job of spreading democracy.) The purpose is to illustrate what the United States has done. is doing. and is capable of doing when its interests are at stake and when a lofty goal is announced. Communism. Drugs. and Terrorism are excellent pretexts for widening Americas sphere of influence and ensuring that clients and potential clients do not step out of line. Counterterror becomes a code word for state terror. and when weve achieved our goals. we like to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. sometimes leaving a trail of misery behind (Central America). Highly recommended for anyone interested in current affairs. A stark look at the War on Terror will reveal something about ourselves. and much about a media. intellectual community. and government that is dedicated to hypocrisy and to state terror when it achieves the right goals.