Book Review

Book review:  "How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon" by Rosa Brooks

This book is pure idiocy.

Rosa Brooks suggests a modified judicial or quasi-judicial enquiry before done strikes, saying:

"...greater due process could offer needed legitimacy. The individualization of warfare thus has the potential to bring war more in line with core human rights norms."

As if outright murder has anything to do with human rights.

And at another point in her book, she says this:

"The United States isn't all idealism, all the time: we're capable of plenty of cynicism, and occasional acts of plain old evil. But even our most cynical moments are accompanied by idealism. We want to help, and we want to set things right. We want everyone to share in peace, justice and the benefits of the American way- even if it hurts. And hurt it does. The United States and those we try to "help" are often the victims of our own idealistic commitments to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law."

The only democracy we seem to bring people is the democracy of death. And our government does not give a shit about laws or human rights.

She further argues in her book that "it has often our best instincts, not our worst, that have led us to do harm in the world." She offers up the war of aggression on Iraq as an example - admitting that some "not-so-great" instincts brought us there - but that "we took the Pottery Barn Rule seriously enough to stick around for the next eight years."

What brought us to the war of aggression on Iraq was a pack of lies, and a corporate media interested more in advancing their careers than getting at the truth, which was very easy to uncover. And we did not stay there for any altruistic reasons, any more than the attackers on 9/11 wanted to improve the New York skyline. 

She really does drink the kool-aid.

Later in the book, she talks about the murder by car bomb of Orlando Letelier, which happened in 1976 in DC. She called Letelier "brave, but foolish" because he spoke out for what he believed was morally right. She sees this murder as murder. She does not see the US murders as murders at all. Profound hypocrisy, which is why she can advocate for more "judicial review" of potential drone strike victims and falsely believe that the US was trying to help in Iraq during the brutal occupation. She does go on to hint that our drone strikes may be "murder" unless we have met a bunch of conditions - which we clearly have not met. Which Brooks excuses, because she thinks the people in the US intelligence community and US military are good people, acting in good faith. She clearly learned nothing from the pack of lies fostered on us about the WMDs in Iraq back in 2002. 

I think Brooks is a world class fool.

I could not finish the book. It made me sick.