House of War provides a thorough and detailed account of American foreign policy since the creation of the Pentagon during WWII. James Carroll’s account is riveting and multi-layered, with an appealing peppering of anecdotes, many from his personal history with the institution, as his father had been the first director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Due to the latter condition, he was able to obtain candid interviews with persons who played roles of central importance to the Department of Defense and presidential administrations, such as, Robert McNamara. The writing is clear and straightforward and the analysis is cogent. He shows that although there were hawk-dove conflicts in the Pentagon and in the Departments of Defense and State throughout multiple administrations, the hawks succeeded in creating and fomenting the paranoid style that has dominated Pentagon culture since WWII and continues today. Carroll succinctly parses the foreign policy objectives and decisions of every administration from FDR to Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and the post 911 situation. There were times where it looked like the Pentagon beast might be subdued, but the invasion of southern part of the Korean peninsula by communist forces from what is now North Korea in 1950 gave it continuing reason to thrive.
Carroll documents the role and influence that a number of key figures have played in multiple administrations over the course of this historical period. (I will refrain from issuing spoilers, but many readers will wonder why we are all still alive at this point.) His analysis and anecdotes will leave the reader alternatively amused, horrified, and sometimes deeply grieved. There are bright spots in history that provide glimpses of hope. For example, he gives credit to JFK for changing his vector after the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban missile crisis, but this change of strategy was undermined by the expansion of military involvement in Southeast Asia. Carroll also provides an insightful analysis of Gorbachev and Reagan coming close to achieving significant levels of arms reductions, only to be thwarted by Pentagon hawks. The fall of the Soviet Union and the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989 provided a similar opportunity to end cold war paranoia, but the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam furnished fresh grounds to justify the continuing hegemony exerted by the Pentagon on American foreign policy.
I think everyone should read this book. I didn’t say that every American should read this book (although indeed they should) -- I said everyone should read this book, since we on planet Earth are all affected by the Pentagon and the polices that it helps to shape and perpetuate. I would love to see James Carroll update this book with some additional analysis devoted to the current state of affairs in the Middle East, as per late Bush II and Obama administration attempts, accomplishments, and failures.
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