Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick
The reality exposed in this essential book
by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, a companion to their documentary series on Showtime,
is that the United States of America is
a typical rapacious and predatory imperialist power: typical in its racism and
arrogance—expressed in the term “American exceptionalism”—while its
technological killing capacity dramatically exceeds that of prior imperialist
powers. One of the book’s great values lies in cataloguing chronologically the
litany of crimes committed by the USA, although, in my view, it would have been
more accurate to start the narrative with the colonization of North America
rather than with the Spanish-American war.
No matter; the revelations in the book more
than suffice. From a purely historical
perspective, I suppose the most heinous crime must be the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Everyone “remembers” these
events, but their meaning has been obscured by the associated atrocities of
that war. The book reveals what is generally recognized by historians but remains
unspoken in the mass media: that these bombings were totally unnecessary to
effect the surrender of the Japanese government, which repeatedly sought a cessation
to fighting while balking at the US demand for “unconditional surrender,” fearing
it implied the elimination of the Emperor.
Of course, as history has subsequently
revealed, the restoration of a stable capitalist economy required an ongoing
Japanese emperor. However, the USA needed an excuse to explode the newly
developed atom bomb, warning the world and especially its new rival, the Soviet
Union, of its extraordinary and unique (if only for a limited time) capability.
If anyone doesn’t believe this version of events, I suggest they read the book
as well as the referenced literature. Actually, I recommend this book for
everyone interested in current affairs.
The manufacture of consent, that
Machiavellian art so perfected by the Nazis through use of the Big Lie (a falsehood so massive and bold that the public believes it must be true), is
an essential ingredient of US foreign policy. The anti-communist preoccupations
of the entire US post-war political machine are expressed in the recorded racist
and chauvinist epithets of its various presidents, who draw on the image of the
Western gunslinger even while perpetuating the myth that USA does not seek an
empire. Cold War crises were repeatedly provoked by the US state and military
community, policemen for global capitalism, in belligerent contention with the
Soviet Union for world domination.
The actions of the Kennedy administration
in triggering the Cuban missile crisis are particularly instructive here. The
installation by the US of medium range ballistic missiles in Turkey in 1961 was
the direct antecedent to Khrushchev’s placement of similar weapons in Cuba, which
was reckless but legal under international law—unlike Kennedy’s subsequent naval
blockade. The real but totally unknown (at least to me) reciprocal
disengagement by both sides as a resolution of the Cuban missile crisis speaks
to the truth of this interpretation. If you don’t believe me, read The Untold History! That the US power
elite, both individual actors as well the media, should contrive to keep these historical
facts hidden from the American people for decades speaks to the Big Lie
technique.
The current jingoist and pusillanimous
nature of the American people testifies to the success of this disinformation
program as much as to the selective amnesia of its citizens. The working
class’s identification with the objectives of the ruling elite is a sure road
to fascism and war. Anyone who doubts the military-industrial complex’s overarching
control on US foreign policy need only look to Barack Obama’s expansion of
Bush’s “war on terror” through targeted assassinations by drones and his articulation
of the USA as the “one indispensable nation.”
With Oliver Stone involved, I suspect the Untold History will be as compelling on
TV as it is in print. And for a left analysis of global capitalism, see also Leo
Panitch and Sam Gindin’s recent book The Making of Global Capitalism. Panitch
and Ginden recently spoke at the Bookshelf. While their book assiduously avoids
mention of US postwar military adventures, it details how the US state
apparatus has transformed global economic and social relations to serve the
needs of international Capital, creating a “world after its own image.” It is
not a pretty picture.
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