Customer Reviews

Terrorism and War (Open Media Series)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Terrorism and War" is based on a series of interviews given by Howard Zinn in late 2001 and early 2002, regarding current events such as the bombing of Afghanistan, the "war on terrorism" in general, and the terrorist attacks of September 11th. As should come as no surprise to readers familiar with Dr. Zinn's writing and opinions, he denounces all three events, arguing that while the events of September 11th were horrible atrocities, killing people around the world in a potentially endless war (whose targets currently include residents of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and many other countries) is no solution - and quite possibly could simply exacerbate the problem. Altogether convinced that "we must do something" to respond to 9/11, he is just as certain that we must not respond with bombs and war.

What I appreciated more than the arguments made for this case (which can be found in the literature of any self-respecting progressive or anti-war organization) are the chances that the questioner gives Dr. Zinn to explain his personal views on various aspects of war, pacifism, patriotism, civil liberties and politics, both in the present day and throughout history. As a veteran of the "Good War" who has come to believe that there is no such thing as a 'good war,' Zinn explains the reasoning that lead him to this conclusion, demonstrating warfare's inability to improve the world and discussing viable alternatives to mass killing.

In this well-organized publication, Zinn is also able to fire back at attackers who have accused him (and others) of "blaming America first" (a reference to the 1940s pseudofascist pro-Nazi organization 'America First'). Comparing this to the tactics used by McCarthyists in the 1950s, he illustrates how it is just a part of a largely successful effort to intimidate, marginalize and silence any who may be opposed to war or simply want to examine the roots of terrorism and "why they hate us". Neither Dr. Zinn nor this book are anti-American in any way; no one should be frightened away by any such baseless accusations.

All in all, this slim volume contains far more worthwhile discussion than I can summarize here. From optimism and alternatives for the future to America's historical support for global terrorism and anti-democratic forces, Dr. Zinn's considerable historical knowledge and capacity for critical analysis emanates from every page. Dozens of reference notes have been added by the editor to the text of the interviews, and the book includes a useful index, bibliography, and contact information for a variety of anti-war and alternative information sources. Excerpts from the Geneva Protocols are also included in an appendix. This short volume is an easy and informative read which I enthusiastically recommend to anyone who has a couple of hours to spare.

A few months ago I read Howard Zinn's pre-september 11th book "Zinn on War." I found it extremely touching and thought provoking. Zinn once again captures that feeling with the newest book from the Open Media publishing movement.

"Terrorism and War" is a collection of interviews (both Zinn and Chomsky are at their best when speaking, as their writing is too scholarly.) Throughout, Zinn speaks about our need and Constitutionally protected right to dissent, or more specifically, our right to oppose war.

Packed with news accounts and historical facts (10% of the book is notes and index), Zinn systematically proves that the war on terrorism, as currently being waged, is not a just response and will only make things worse in the future. He is not opposed to a response, even a violent one, but he feels that the bombing of Afghanistan and the targeting of Iraq are unjust and incredibly harmful to us.

Read this book, then debate the war with someone you know who either supports it or is unsure. There is a very large group of people who, if given a dose of truth, will start seeing both sides of the story. Save yourself the time and ignore the ones who actively support the war, they will just call you un-American and nothing you say will change their closed hawkish minds.

Highly recommended - Discuss this book!!

In this collection of interviews, Zinn does what he does best: telling it like it is in thirty words or less. Framed by the incisive questions of interviewer and editor Anthony Arnove, Zinn's commentary ranges from the so-called "war on terrorism" to the recession to the assault on civil liberties, providing a compact yet comprehensive overview of the current political moment.

Zinn puts the tragic events of September 11th in perspective by sewing a "Made in U.S.A." label on terrorism: "In its foreign policy, the United States has consigned several million people to their deaths and supported terrorist governments in various parts of the world ...You might say that there is a reservoir of possible terrorists among all those people in the world who have suffered as a result of U.S. foreign policy."

He goes on to expose the hypocrisy of the "war on terrorism," noting that, "There is a precise division between who we bomb and who we do not bomb. The division has nothing to do with which countries are harboring terrorists. The division has only to do with which countries we don't control yet. The countries that we control, like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, can harbor as many terrorists as they want. We will look elsewhere."

While Zinn's treatment of the Bush administration is never less than scathing, he sees no alternative in the Democratic party, "which has played such a pitifully obsequious role in this whole affair."

Instead, Terrorism and War is remarkable for its faith in the power of ordinary people. Zinn and Arnove, who between them seem to have read everything ever written, quote activists and revolutionaries from Frederick Douglass to Eugene Debs to Emma Goldman to illustrate the fact that the US government has always used war and repression to achieve its ends-and that it has always been resisted. By rooting today's anti-war movement in a tradition of struggle, they open a window to hope and practical advice from the past.

Though in one of the earlier essays, Zinn presents some rather unconvincing solutions to the problems of war and terrorism-calling on the US to be "a more modest nation," that no longer "[needs] to be a superpower," by the end of the book, he acknowledges that there will be no end to war without an end to capitalism: "[T]he left is in a position of continually opposing war after war after war, without getting at the root of the problem-which is the economic system under which we live, which needs war and makes war inevitable."

Howard Zinn puts forth two most important points in this book. Firstly, governments lie. Secondly, war is another form of terrorism. In these days of mass hysteria about terrorism and cries for war, these points should be drilled in the minds of people who blindly believe in what the government is telling them to achieve their war objectives for financial gains. He puts to rest the argument that "We are a peaceful nation" as stated by George W. Bush, by bringing forth various example showing that our government has been the aggressor in several conflicts in this century. History should not be forgotten as we are once again repeating the terrible mistakes we have made in the past.
He questions the need for the US to become a military superpower with over $300 billion annual military budget when for a small fraction of this money, millions of people dying of diseases throughout the world could be saved.
Indeed, in these days of misplaced patriotism, people like Zinn are called traitors when in fact, it should be people like Zinn who have defined democracy by questioning the government and questioning the true motives of those in power. Governments lie, and lie a lot for personal gains.

This book makes some good points. It talks about the downside of US military operations and how the media are failing to report it. In this collection of interviews, Zinn carries on about how military approaches to problems are costly in terms of human suffering and resources and about how they are not usually effective.

I believe all educated people ought to know that war is to be avoided at all costs. I wish Zinn had gone deeper into the reasons for the current US military operations. Zinn suggests that the government and management of large corporations are conspiring to sell the public on military operations which serve no purpose beyond helping commercial interests. I don't think this is the case. I suspect that educated supporters of the so-called "war on terror" believe that using the military to install governments friendly to the US will help catch international criminals, improve international human rights over the long-run, and as Zinn says help commercials interests. I would like to see some of *these* counter arguments addressed. It's easy for Zinn to tell us how silly are the facile explanations given by politicians and television news. Unfortunately, I don't think people who think politicians and Fox News are reliable sources of information will be reading this book. And if they do read this book, they may conclude that the anti-war movement is wrong when they discover that Zinn has addressed the weakest, staw-man justifications for war.

The socialist tenor of the book gets in the way for me, but it's certainly no worse than the pro-war bias that characterizes the mainstream media.

I give it four stars, however, because I agree with most of what Zinn says. It is imperative that people question and oppose the "war on terror".

Dr. Zinn says in this book--probably more correctly than he could ever know at the time he said it-- that it is foolish to advocate indiscriminatley dropping bombs on Afghanistan or anywhere else to end the terrorism of groups like Al Qaida.

He says that it might make alot of difference if people could see close up the suffering of the victims of our bombing as we have seen constantly in the media about the victims of 9-11. He quotes from several backpage stories in the media from reporters on the scene describing kids blinded with amputated legs, people who are lone survivors from villages destroyed, parents who have lost their children and their spouses and children who have lost their parents. Or the refugee who have been fleeing their villages and cities by the hundred of thousands who have been bombed. Or the red cross warehouse twice bombed by the U.S. which was supposed to be bombed a third time but hit a residential neighborhood instead. Or the camp at Maslakh camp near Herat where dozens of people are dying every day from starvation and exposure. It is such an idea which made him circulate a letter to him by an Iraqi exile doctor in London about the time of the bombing of Iraq which started in December 1998. His brother and father had been killed by Saddam Hussein but in this bombing an American cruise missle struck his mother's home on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing his mother and his brother's widow and there three children. Saddam Hussein started the killing of his family and Bill Clinton finished them off. This adds the human face to bombing defenseless people rather than seeing it through statistics and explosions from thirty thousand feet.

He has some interesting things to say about "why they hate us." And he says that there is a very simple test. Why did Bin Laden like us before 1990 when we were helping him and his bandits destroy Afghanistan and dislike us after that time. Well, after that time, U.S. troops occupied Saudi Arabia and we just about completely destroyed Iraqi civillian infrastructure and our murderous sanctions have increased that destruction. Zinn, remarks that though Bin Laden invokes "religous symbolism and Islam" he expresses great rage about these things and U.S. providing arms to Israel to slaughter Palestinians. He notes that while medieval religous fanatacism played an influence in the Sept 11 attacks, there is obviously something deeper there. You don't just commit terrorism like that because you're just a lunatic. He notes that there are millions of people out there in the world who are enraged about U.S. policy but are not yet willing to commit terrorist acts. Though this could change if we keep perpetrating death and destruction against their countries.

He responds to our president's pieties about how we are a "peaceful nation" with god on our side and all that. Of course, he notes we have been an extremely warlike nation, particluarly since World War II. There was Korea, where we killed about two million civillians, then Vietnam where we killed a couple million more, then a couple thousand in Pannama, and invading the Dominican Republic and Grenada, destroying Iraq, bombing civillians in Yugoslavia, bombing medicine factories in the Sudan, providing crucial support to killers like General Suharto of Indonesia get into power by slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people then a couple hundred thousand more in East Timor after 1975. We actively train terrorists at places like the School of Americas.

As to how Zinn would have responded to Sept 11, he mentions the International criminal court but he notes, the U.S. dosen't want that because people like Henry Kissinger might possibly be at risk for the massive war crimes they committed. He talks a great deal about his theory of what a "just war" might be.

He notes the planned drastic cuts in health care and housing programs in the midst of Bush's 1.3 trillion dollar tax cut and demands for another 50 or 70 billion dollars to be added to our 300 billion dollar annual military budget. This is not to increase our security but to enrich the military industrial complex which the Bush administration and the rest of our politicians serve. And there is of Course the Patriot Act and the military tribunals. He quotes economist Edward Alexander as saying that the richest one percent in this country own 38 percent of the household wealth and 47 percent of the financial wealth. Real unemployment is rising and the number of homeless on the streets is quietly rising. He speculates that this might come back to haunt Bush Jr's administration once the "War on Terrorism" loses its Public relations momentum, as economic malaise came to trouble Papa Bush after the Gulf war.

Obviously published prompted by and in reaction to the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Terrorism and War is the first full-length work in a number of years. Acutely observant, this sagely historian presents the facets of America's War on Terrorism not covered on CNN or in White House press meetings. The book is in the format of a lengthy interview chunked out in chapters. This approach directs the discussions directly to the mechanics and motivations of America's situation and response. However, this also interrupts the fluid narrative and detailed contextualization found in Zinn's other works, like A People's History of the United States. It is fairly widely known that irony that the U.S. directly supported Taliban et al against Russia as part of the Cold War, but Zinn goes further to reveal more. Zinn disconnects the WTC even from Pear Harbor comparison. (This is not a military attack between nations.) Zinn also unveils the duplicity in America's previous war initiatives. Not only does Zinn recall such recent engagements as Grenada, but the able historian summons up such remote affairs as the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor (vis-à-vis the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen) and the Mayaguez affair which nearly led to out-and-out war with Cambodia. Among the appendices are relevant extractions from the Geneva Protocol on civilian safety during engagements. The 160-page has a thorough index.

The emergence of a raft of readable, easily-accessible, yet incisive books on progressive issues is a notable and very positive development in the march of the Left in the U.S. The Seven Stories Press's Open Media series (pamphlets and books) is a shining example of this turn towards accessibility and Howard Zinn's Terrorism and War -one of this series-is a great resource for those looking for sophisticated analysis of the US-led "war on terrorism" dressed in simple garb. Zinn has had an enormously productive intellectual life based primarily on his uncanny ability to cut through the mythology that props us a society that should be shuddering under the burden of the terrible deeds done in its name; Terrorism and War is the latest in a long line of his books and articles that make a clear case for understanding history in order to craft present and future dispensations built on the bedrock of social justice.

The emergence of a raft of readable, easily-accessible, yet incisive books on progressive issues is a notable and very positive development in the march of the Left in the U.S. The Seven Stories Press's Open Media series (pamphlets and books) is a shining example of this turn towards accessibility and Howard Zinn's Terrorism and War -one of this series-is a great resource for those looking for sophisticated analysis of the US-led "war on terrorism" dressed in simple garb. Zinn has had an enormously productive intellectual life based primarily on his uncanny ability to cut through the mythology that props us a society that should be shuddering under the burden of the terrible deeds done in its name; Terrorism and War is the latest in a long line of his books and articles that make a clear case for understanding history in order to craft present and future dispensations built on the bedrock of social justice.

The emergence of a raft of readable, easily-accessible, yet incisive books on progressive issues is a notable and very positive development in the march of the Left in the U.S. The Seven Stories Press's Open Media series (pamphlets and books) is a shining example of this turn towards accessibility and Howard Zinn's Terrorism and War -one of this series-is a great resource for those looking for sophisticated analysis of the US-led "war on terrorism" dressed in simple garb. Zinn has had an enormously productive intellectual life based primarily on his uncanny ability to cut through the mythology that props us a society that should be shuddering under the burden of the terrible deeds done in its name; Terrorism and War is the latest in a long line of his books and articles that make a clear case for understanding history in order to craft present and future dispensations built on the bedrock of social justice.