I've referred you to the New York Review of Books several times. Well, here's another reference. It's to a review by Jonathan Freedland, a columnist for the Guardian, of books by Dennis Ross, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Chalmers Johnson.
The books by Ross and Brzezinski espouse what are by now common themes - GW is a very poor president who has done much to weaken this country. Johnson is not a fan of George's either, but he does not blame our problems solely on George nor does he believe that our behavior in the 21st century is really that much different.
Johnson's book spends a fair amount of time on the 'empire' theme as he compares the U.S. to Rome. There are a couple of tidbits mentioned in the review that made me pause.
For example, do you know how many military bases we have overseas? The Pentagon says 737 in 132 countries (190 countries comprise the UN). But the official Pentagon report does not mention Kosovo, Qatar or Israel. Nor does it mention facilities in Britain that Johnson claims we run although they are nominally under the control of England. Also, many of these countries pay us an annual fee for our support; Japan paid $2.2 billion in 2002.
The Romans maintained 37 major garrisons around their world. England had 36. We have 38. Coincidence or some sort of law?
With regard to the GWOT and the claims to power of the president, Johnson quotes Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
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