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4.0 out of 5 stars
Cold War revelations are stunning in breadth, and significance, December 29, 2007
This review is from: The Best Enemy Money Can Buy (Paperback)
"The Best Enemy Money Can Buy", authored by Antony C. Sutton is a
fact-based work, published in 1986, but based on research undertaken
by the same author in throughout his career, particularly in the
late 60's and early 1970's.
Many an academic is pigeonholed in a specific area of expertise, in
which they push the envelope further, in matters of investigation,
research, theories, formulae, theses in a framework of university
level graduate work (Master's, PhD's, professorship, etc.)
In the case of Sutton, the area was the Cold War between Russia and
the USA mainly, or the Western Countries with NATO generally. Also,
this work and worth as an investigator was measuring the performance
of both world rival super-powers, in that Cold War competition, and
analysing how well Russia was doing, and by which methods, focusing
on technology in particular.
In this treatise, Sutton expounds over the above subject over more
than 210 pages, using his advance language skills in reading German
and Russian publications, and retaining the relevant military and
industrial developments, achievements and facts contained therein,
to explain them to readers, in a concise, legible, understandable
manner.
Although at times over-simplified, Sutton exhaustively documents
(going over every nook and cranny, at times) how the USA almost
every single time, was ready, willing and more than able to create
the best enemy that Russians could afford to become, monetarily. And
if they didn't have the cash to buy the technology and know-how, the
USA was more than happy to raise funds from taxpayers and the
Federal Reserve to finance the production and export of machinery and
finished industrial parts to Russia, so the former Soviet Union
could become a lethal, respectable, modern military competitor to
itself.
How this could happen, in a Cold War scenario, during which 20
million perished in WW2, after which perhaps 142,000 US Military
perished in the Korean War, and 58,000 US Military perished in the
Vietnamese War has many hypotheses.
The first, that micromanaging the USA's industries, factories,
scientists, exported goods, research labs is impossible from the
government level. Secondly, that army casualties are a minor aspect
or cost in the overall goal of increasing the USA's balance sheet,
as measured by the GDP, scientific and economic progress,
manufacturing and exporting increasingly, no matter which is the
other country doing the importing. Thirdly, that politicans to get
elected make backroom deals to break export controls to powerful
industrialists, in exchange for political party contributions. In
turn, the elected officials maneuver their hand-chosen candidates
into the board of directors of major multinational corporations to
get the deals done internationally, and name them to the proper
executive branch positions. This way, they eliminate those public
servants and board directors that had been opposing the exports of
sensitive machinery and machinery, under the notion of a National
Interests, in avoiding lethal technologies from falling into the
hands of Cold War enemies that down the line, could be used again
the USA and Free World.
As stated, the author is exhaustive in his research. For example,
the ships delivering supplies to Korea and to the Vietnamese from
Russia, were powered by diesel engines designed, built and exported
to the USSR. The trucks moving ammunition, supplies and enemy
combatants were built by Ford Motor in Moscow. The assembly lines,
metalurgical processes and machines all American made, and exported.
The Russian bomber aircraft from the 1930's powered by clone engines
of American planes, whose designed were sold and exported to the
USSR. Entire watch factories, steel foundries, automobile assembly
lines (such as Ford, Fiat, 20 ton trucks) were disassembled,
exported, and reassembled back in the USSR. The Soviet munitions for
machine guns, rifles, artillery, all powered by sulfuric acid and
other substances built in giant American designed, engineered, and built
plants in Moscow and surroundings, exported by Du Pont and similar
corporations maximizing shareholder profits, as had done earlier
US corporations, albeit at strengthening a military rival to the
USA.
Interesting historical facts are narrated, such as the slave labor
of some 15,000 captured German rocket scientists, aircraft and
engine engineer specialists, POW's, that were forced to disassemble,
export and reassemble back in the USSR, WW2 era rocket assembly
lines, factories of aircraft, ship and submarine engines, over a
period of 10 years or longer, for bringing their military -grade
performance upto par with NATO countries, and with the US.
The revelations are stunning in their breadth, and significance, to
the point that ICBM's would not have been possible without the
agreement of the State Department of the USA in the export of
world-class, unique, military-grade ball-bearing precision machining
equipment to RUSSIA, for example.
In sum, while the young men and women in uniform were put in harm's way,
at the highest levels, even before WW2, powerful political,
industrial and scientific interests were joining together, to turn
into reality, enormous industrial projects all inspired, designed,
built and overseen ( and often, financed ) by Americans for use
outside America, and in the final analysis, potentially against America.
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