Total Insecurity: The Myth of American Omnipotence

"Now that both the defense and energy industries, having thrown off nearly all vestiges of regulation, regard the US government as their best customer, they have implanted themselves at the helm of the ship of state," Brightman writes toward the end (page 177) of TOTAL INSECURITY, setting the table for the following remarkable observation: "There is no longer much government left to defend the interests of lesser institutions, including other businesses, or the welfare of mere citizens, or the actual security of the nation." Brightman points out that Rumsfeld's 'reorganization' of the military is emblematic of the colonization of government by corporate interests. In the same way that the shills in Congress and the White House have been intent on destroying Social Security in order to benefit their stockjobbing cronies, Rumsfeld is in the process of selling off pieces of the military to private contractors like Halliburton and Kellogg, Brown and Root, doing so under the shop-worn rationalization of "modernization" and "transformation" (or is it "freedom" and "democracy" -- the rhetoric of business and government has become so commingled it's hard to keep it straight). As Brightman points out: "In budgetary terms, this is another massive diversion of taxpayer dollars from the public to the private sector..." It also serves as a "work around" for an administration hell bent on circumventing the rights of prisoners and citizens -- a real "win-win" for the lovers of cabalistic secrecy. Expanding on the ramifications of this capture of the US government, Brightman, a few pages later, says: "'Industry and government function as two branches of the same operation -- a military-industrial-congressional complex, if you will -- which in this instance sells off military stock to private cartels..." The instance she is referring to in this case are the close links between key corporate nodes and the Bush administration such as Halliburton and Dick Cheney, Lockheed-Grumman and Bruce Jackson (Bush's former campaign fund-raiser who now represents the company), Lynne Cheney (who served on Lockheed's board), and Air Force Secretary James Roche, who was for seventeen years a top executive for Northrup Grumman. Brightman argues that the need for new markets and new raw materials has always driven American foreign policy: the Spanish American War was fought for coaling stations in the Philippines to extend the reach of the American merchant fleet, the interference of the U.S. in Nicaraguan and Panamanian politics was prelude to building the Panama Canal deemed a necessary means to the end of taking over the Panama Canal project and to provide for the controlled circulation of US goods and military might across both hemispheres. More recently the extraordinary economic advantage the US enjoyed post--WWII, a "good war," emphatically demonstrated the profits that could be reaped by the American industrial complex when linked with the needs and desires of the A

While others have gone to Iraq and written about their experiences or talked to Washington insiders and turned out "my informants told me" books, Carol Brightman, it would seem, has been up in Maine reading extensively, both print materials and on the internet, and asking, How? Why? She has also been analyzing her own experience over several decades as a dissenting observer of American foreign policy beginning with her college years and continuing through the Vietnam era and beyond. From this somewhat removed, uncompromised position she has constructed a cool and original account of our present situation. Brightman shows that this situation did not originate with 9/11 but has roots in American beliefs and attitudes and actions over many years. The evidence she presents is relentless and largely convincing. This is an engrossing, in-your-face, and challenging meditation on where America is today that provides no easy solutions. It sharpens the mind much as a large dose of wasabi clears the head.

I think this is a superb analysis of an indescribably tragic situation. But also a book that can make a difference; it's so well grounded in documented fact. And it's a good read.