Land of the morning calm Book

The only reason I don't give this book 5 stars is the author gets a little carried away in his commentary. Not that he is inaccurate, only that the book would be more powerful with less sarcasm, deserved though that sarcasm may be.

Killing Hope proves beyond a doubt that the United States of America is the unchallenged leader of hypocrisy in the world. And that title is well earned to the present time.

Presidents, Secretaries of State and Defense, department spokespersons, and all manner of government officials at home and abroad lie without qualm, they also condone acts of terror and sabotage, killings, assassinations, coups, warlords and death squads. John Yoo is nothing new.

Is the Central Intelligence Agency responsible to the American people? Try asking your congressperson what CIA current missions might be. Try to get a figure on what the CIA spends. Have you ever seen the CIA in the federal budget appropriations? Think what Blackwater did (does now under a different name) was bad? It's just business as usual.

George W. Bush said "We do not torture". A lie but nothing new. Pick a president - they had their hands in the dirt. Where GWB really topped the pack was in his declaration of a "war on terror" when terror has been a much used tool of American foreign policy since WW2.

Blum builds an irresistible case that the United States has been empire building. The USSR and communism were never close to being the threat that they were portrayed to be. Latin American countries shed blood for decades as behind the scenes the CIA and the military, with Presidential approval, raised counter-revolutionary hell through bribery, training and equipping armies and thugs, and outright intervention across the Central and South American landscape. To this day the pointless embargo on Cuba continues.

I don't believe I have ever read such a depressing book, because all of the horror visited on foreign lands has been done in my name, without my knowledge and while my elected leaders have lied to me about it all.

Killing Hope is not a pleasurable read, but it should be read by all of us to understand why so many countries are less than enthusiastic about the policy (not declared but the REAL policy) of our nation. It is also an excellent example of why every effort for openness in government should be supported fully and all claims of national security examined carefully.