Book Review: “The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela” by Dan Kovalik

In one concise statement, Dan Kovalik sums up the criminal — if self-serving and for now effective — foreign policy of the U.S. across the planet:

“The US appears to be intentionally spreading chaos throughout strategic portions of the world, leaving virtually no independent state standing to protect their resources, especially oil, from Western exploitation.  And, this goal is being achieved with resounding success, while also achieving the subsidiary goal of enriching the behemoth military-industrial complex.”

A divided Korea, a decimated Vietnam, endless war in Afghanistan, a barely functional Iraq, a destroyed Libya, ongoing destruction of Syria and Venezuela, relentless attacks and incipient war on Iran, give us more than a glimpse into the awesome power of America’s military might, its malice and ruthlessness in projecting that power, its no-holds-barred no-moral-qualms no-body-count no-questions-asked ends-justify-the-means tactical use of genocide, its jaw-dropping hypocrisy in portraying itself as a force of good, its psychopathic exceptionalist world view which judges all other nations and their populations as dispensable, and its ultimate loyalty to a tiny autocratic ruling elite who use “democracy” as just another tool in their bag of tricks to promote absolute corporate tyranny — the framework of fascism Sheldon Wolin calls inverted totalitarianism — and global hegemony.  It’s for good reason that the U.S. is now often referred to as the Empire of Chaos.

The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil, as the title suggests, more specifically focuses on the horrors inflicted by the U.S. government on Venezuela.  This thorough, extremely well-researched, and fully supported exposé covers the current crises in and about Venezuela, intentionally and purposefully instigated by the U.S. to overthrow its current government and plunder the country’s rich oil reserves.  Just as importantly it offers rich and revealing historical accounts of America’s past dealings with Venezuela and almost identical scenarios with other Latin American nations, detailing the darkness and corruption that lies at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, and how that has cast a pall of oppression over the entirety of South and Central America, the nations of which have the geographical misfortune of being in America’s self-declared hemisphere of influence — read that as hemisphere of total domination and ruthless exploitation.  From Chile to Haiti to Panama to Honduras to Nicaragua to El Salvador to Colombia, we see the brutal deployment of U.S. political and military assets leaving whole countries impoverished, the poor without hope — often deprived of even food and water — and piles of nameless corpses in escalating numbers, dismissed by the U.S. government and its lapdog media as collateral damage of the Great Imperial Project. 

By the end of Kovalik’s chilling indictment of U.S. malfeasance in its war on the people of Venezuela, what is astonishing and shocking is that the U.S. is again getting away with such overt and illegal aggression, by not only using the same play book, but by using the same players.  With Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, John Bolton as National Security Advisor, and Elliot Abrams as Special Envoy to Venezuela, at the helm of the project to take Venezuela’s government apart and replace it with the puppet regime of the unelected Juan Guaido, we have three of the most notorious of the notorious — murderous, lying thugs — doing the dirty work.  All three have sordid histories of inciting war and orchestrating regime changes.  Abrams was indicted and convicted for lying to Congress about the Iran-Contra affair.

The thought-provoking Plot to Overthrow Venezuela is very well-written, with a clarity, accessibility, and erudition which puts it in a class with the best works of Noam Chomsky.  The Foreword by Oliver Stone is a worthy and deserving way to get things started.  I give it the highest possible recommendation, truly one of the most engaging and informative books I’ve read in ages.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]




Book Review: “The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela” by Dan Kovalik

Book Review: “The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert” by Ron Ridenour

Ron Ridenour’s masterfully-written indictment of U.S. militarism and its take-all-prisoners imperial project is of such breathtaking scope and astonishing depth, it would be hard to exaggerate its value and timeliness, as the foreign policy of the Empire of Chaos now as never before in recorded history, steers the world toward apocalyptic confrontation and puts the survival of the entire human race at risk.

Those readers still in the embrace of the most toxic pile of propaganda ever assembled by a world power, that America is a force of good, spreading democracy, defending human rights, standing with the oppressed and marginalized, should have medics in the room with them to apply emergency procedures as the truth pours off the pages of this book.  Ridenour pulls no punches and with meticulous research and documentation, leaves little doubt that his narrative offers nothing less than the explicit and savage truth of over a century of exploits and exploitation.  We see brutal, barbaric, merciless application of military and economic power, with the clear and unambiguous goal of world domination — the U.S. as the ultimate empire blessed by God and history and the Fates, exempt from the rules of international law and judgment by anyone who would challenge it.  While the focus is Russia, this book covers a lot more ground, offering glimpses into many theaters of confrontation and conflict: China, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, of course the Middle East, as well as many countries in its more immediate sphere of influence, Central and South America.  With its 800+ bases currently sprawling across the planet, we’re hard-pressed to find anywhere where the heavy foot of American power does not exercise its self-serving prerogative.

Those readers who already are familiar with the scope of U.S. hypocrisy, who understand that behind the smiley face of official beneficence and goodness lies an agenda that serves a ruling elite at the expense of the vast number of everyday citizens, both inside the U.S. and out, will still benefit enormously from this book.  Much of it might constitute a refresher course, but I suspect many, myself included, will be pleasantly — or unpleasantly — rewarded with both disturbing factual knowledge and Ridenour’s fresh insights and analysis.  It may be for such readers “preaching to the choir” but I’ve never heard a choir that didn’t need to be tuned up from time to time.

Ridenour quotes “The Naked Human”, a poem written by Gustav Munch-Petersen.

I am only a human
but I shall one day
raise earth’s mountains
and let them shake
in the ears of those who sleep

I am only a human
but I shall one day
take the sun down from heaven
and light up all the dark holes
with merciless white light

I am only a human
but I shall one day
steal the gods lightning
and sweep the earth clean of dust

If I may do some metaphorical borrowing, I’d say that with The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert Ron Ridenour has raised some mountains, taken the sun down from heaven, and stolen lightning from the gods.  Let’s hope his exceptional scholarship and writing wakes up some people, lights up the dark holes, and sweeps away the dust.
Our survival as a species depends on it.


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



Book Review: “The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert” by Ron Ridenour

Russia: Scary Bear or Barely Scary?

 

The U.S. needs to get its story straight.

We have been fed over the past few years entirely contradictory views of Russia.

Lately, of course, we've seen a preponderance of "scare bear" propaganda and commentary.

Could this have something to do with it being appropriations time, the annual fight over who gets what in next years federal budget?  Considering the U.S. can't pile up debt fast enough to suit its enlightened leaders, this also means lubricating the public mind for increasing the already humongous pile of money which goes into military spending, that being the major component of discretionary spending.

Of course, military spending, besides being intrinsically good regardless of how much it distorts our national values and bankrupts our economy, is about making American safe from the entire panoply of threats.  It seems everyone is at our throats, ready to chop off our benevolent heads.  Besides terrorists, rogue nations explicitly dedicated to destroying us like Venezuela and Cuba, and major nations like China -- which lent us over a trillion dollars to buy military hardware to prevent them from attacking us -- there is always the little discussed potential for an invasion from outer space.

Having said that, it's Russia that seems to get all the headlines.  We have former VP Joe Biden concurring with current FBI Director James Comey that, without a doubt, even without any corroborating evidence, Russia is out to get us!

Yet, it wasn't that long ago that Russia was being dismissed as a second-rate power.  Obama mockingly announced it's economy was in tatters.  Sure, it might have some leverage regionally but certainly wasn't a player on the big stage of world geopolitics.

So what is the truth?  Is Russia a wild and woolly beast?  Or an affable and tame dancing bear?

Maybe we need some veterinarian advice to sort all of this out.  Can bears get rabies?

Because while over the past several years Russia has consistently been getting folks from all across the globe to the peace tables, trying to resolve diplomatically the crises created by the West in Ukraine, Syria, the Middle East in general, we are now told that under the spell of their crazed leader Vladimir Putin, the country is foaming at the mouth, haunted and possessed with diabolical visions of world conquest.  Did Russia get bitten by a rabid ground squirrel?

To add to the confusion is this recently announcement, a highly thought-provoking one at that, which should -- but won't -- result in some serious soul-searching in the U.S.:  Russia has just recently announced it is dramatically cutting its defense budget for 2017!  As this excellent piece of analysis points out, you are very hard pressed to find mention of it any where in the Western media.

Try to make sense of it.

Russia is 24/7 vilified as a rogue nation, an out-of-control empire-hungry aggressor, with a madman at the helm who longs for the glory days of the Soviet Union's dominion over vast stretches of the Euro-Asian continent, but in fact only has 15 military bases in 9 foreign countries, AND is cutting its military budget by 25% next year.

The U.S. breathlessly peddles itself as the purveyor of peace, the spreader of democracy, the guardian of justice and a harmonious world, yet it has about 800 bases in at least 63 countries in the world -- depending on your definition of 'base', some put this figure at over 160 -- AND is increasing its military expenditures by almost 10% in 2018.

What are we to think?

Is Russia a scary bear . . . or barely scary?

And what about America?

Much of the world seems to think we're the truly frightening ones!



[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]




Russia: Scary Bear or Barely Scary?