The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic – Chalmers Johnson
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic – Chalmers Johnson, Owl Books/Henry Holt and Co., LLC (2004) 389pp. (S) ****
Chalmers Johnson, best noted for his book published in 2000, Blowback: The Cost and Consequences of American Empire, a book that predates 9/11 itself, perhaps the greatest example of “blowback” (i.e. the unintended negative consequences of U.S. foreign policy). Johnson’s latest effort, The Sorrows of Empire, picks up where Blowback left off, focusing mostly on the first two years following the 9/11 attacks. The reader will find that recent events, however unfortunately, segue nicely into Johnson’s blowback thesis, as exemplified by the vast increase in terrorist attacks, escalating every year by seeming multiples as the Bush Jr. administration affects its wars of aggression and hostile foreign policy.
Some of the statistics cited by Johnson are astounding. For instance, there are 725 foreign military bases belonging to the U.S.(p.154) compared to 969 bases domestically in fifty states.(p.188) Additionally, the U.S. has 44% of the global arms export market.(p.214) At other times, Johnson’s analysis is dead on. “Many [U.S.] garrisons are in foreign countries to defend oil leases from competitors or to provide police protection to oil pipelines, although they [the U.S. military] invariably claim to be doing something completely unrelated – fighting the ‘war on terrorism’ or the ‘war on drugs,’ or training foreign soldiers, or engaging in some form of ‘humanitarian’ intervention.”(p.167) Johnson has cut to the quick in this highly astute observation, that underlying U.S. foreign policy, one interest usually reigns supreme; that of access to and control of oil supplies.
One area that Johnson could’ve expanded upon, is with regards to the 9/11 attacks. He writes “ . . . the terrorist attacks of 9/11 came as manna from heaven to an administration determined to ramp up military budgets.”(p.64) Given such a convenient coincidence, the highly peculiar and anomalous events of 9/11 themselves warrant closer observation and analysis. In due fairness to Johnson, the reader can’t fault him for not getting into an issue that could easily consume an entire book in itself, as David Ray Griffin has discovered.
Johnson concludes with what he cites as the “four sorrows.” In brief, they are as follow: 1) the propagation of perpetual war and military escalation, 2) the loss of democracy and constitutional rights on the domestic front, 3) the growth of propaganda and disinformation dissemination by the state in its pursuit of deceiving the republic into backing unending war, and 4) the bankruptcy of the republic’s treasury in having to finance an imperialist agenda that overstretches the government’s financial resources. Once again, Johnson is dead on. These “sorrows” are observable today, and barring a radical retaking and reshaping of the U.S. Congress, Johnson only sees these trends as continuing unimpeded. Given how far and how quickly the Bush Jr. administration has moved the republic into a fascist direction, Johnson is fully justified in his pessimism. We can only hope that enough Americans wake-up and realize what is being taken from then in their name, and take action. Bush’s low poll ratings seem like fertile ground from which to begin such an endeavor.
Chalmers Johnson, best noted for his book published in 2000, Blowback: The Cost and Consequences of American Empire, a book that predates 9/11 itself, perhaps the greatest example of “blowback” (i.e. the unintended negative consequences of U.S. foreign policy). Johnson’s latest effort, The Sorrows of Empire, picks up where Blowback left off, focusing mostly on the first two years following the 9/11 attacks. The reader will find that recent events, however unfortunately, segue nicely into Johnson’s blowback thesis, as exemplified by the vast increase in terrorist attacks, escalating every year by seeming multiples as the Bush Jr. administration affects its wars of aggression and hostile foreign policy.
Some of the statistics cited by Johnson are astounding. For instance, there are 725 foreign military bases belonging to the U.S.(p.154) compared to 969 bases domestically in fifty states.(p.188) Additionally, the U.S. has 44% of the global arms export market.(p.214) At other times, Johnson’s analysis is dead on. “Many [U.S.] garrisons are in foreign countries to defend oil leases from competitors or to provide police protection to oil pipelines, although they [the U.S. military] invariably claim to be doing something completely unrelated – fighting the ‘war on terrorism’ or the ‘war on drugs,’ or training foreign soldiers, or engaging in some form of ‘humanitarian’ intervention.”(p.167) Johnson has cut to the quick in this highly astute observation, that underlying U.S. foreign policy, one interest usually reigns supreme; that of access to and control of oil supplies.
One area that Johnson could’ve expanded upon, is with regards to the 9/11 attacks. He writes “ . . . the terrorist attacks of 9/11 came as manna from heaven to an administration determined to ramp up military budgets.”(p.64) Given such a convenient coincidence, the highly peculiar and anomalous events of 9/11 themselves warrant closer observation and analysis. In due fairness to Johnson, the reader can’t fault him for not getting into an issue that could easily consume an entire book in itself, as David Ray Griffin has discovered.
Johnson concludes with what he cites as the “four sorrows.” In brief, they are as follow: 1) the propagation of perpetual war and military escalation, 2) the loss of democracy and constitutional rights on the domestic front, 3) the growth of propaganda and disinformation dissemination by the state in its pursuit of deceiving the republic into backing unending war, and 4) the bankruptcy of the republic’s treasury in having to finance an imperialist agenda that overstretches the government’s financial resources. Once again, Johnson is dead on. These “sorrows” are observable today, and barring a radical retaking and reshaping of the U.S. Congress, Johnson only sees these trends as continuing unimpeded. Given how far and how quickly the Bush Jr. administration has moved the republic into a fascist direction, Johnson is fully justified in his pessimism. We can only hope that enough Americans wake-up and realize what is being taken from then in their name, and take action. Bush’s low poll ratings seem like fertile ground from which to begin such an endeavor.
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