Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated

by Gore Vidal

Book Overview

The United States has been engaged in what the great historian Charles A. Beard called "perpetual war for perpetual peace." The Federation of American Scientists has cataloged nearly 200 military incursions since 1945 in which the United States has been the aggressor. In a series of penetrating and alarming essays, whose centerpiece is a commentary on the events of September 11, 2001 (deemed too controversial to publish in this country until now)...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 156025405X
• ISBN13: 9781560254058
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Bold Type Books
• Length: 174 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Vanishing Liberties.

What has made America a great nation in the eyes of the world over the last two hundred years, is not its major technological advances, it competent military or its advances in all the arts, but its original pure ideals on what constitutes a free society, and the inalienable rights of the individual living in that society. The founding fathers of the United States knew all too well the corruptive nature of power. The creation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would ensure that those within its government seeking absolute power could be kept in check. In this ideal society, the state has limited power over its citizens, but just enough power to maintain peace within its borders. What is shocking about this short collection of essays by Gore Vidal, is he soberly illustrates with hard fact examples, particularly since the Oklahoma bombing and the events of 9/11, that the Bill of Rights and the important principles it states, protecting the rights of all citizens, is being manipulated to serve a small elite. The people are slowly, over time, losing their rights, because it is said, for their own protection.As a child growing up in the United States, there were three things I was taught, and that was always to respect the rights of others, always say please and thank you, and Governments always lie. "Never believe a politician, son. Because no matter what they say, there is always a hidden agenda." Time and again, this simple statement has turned out to be true. Sometimes their lies are found out. As a people, however, we have a tendency to forgetfulness, a kind of in-built amnesia, to then blindly vote our dubious leaders back into office. Facing the awful truth, in most cases, is much too hard, because it is easier to accept sugarcoated reasons, media-generated propaganda, and not take responsibility and face the fact that at least part of the problem is with us.Vidal points out that there has been nearly two hundred `incursions' since 1945..."in which the United States has been the aggressor." As he states in the introduction, "It is the law of physics (still on the books when last I looked) that in nature there is no action without reaction. The same appears in human nature - that is, history." (ix) Might the two terrible events of Oklahoma and 9/11 be the result of past military `incursions' by the U.S. and her allies in other countries?I found this collection of essays to be both incredibly disturbing and enlightening at the same time. In fact, after finishing the book, sleep became difficult. I don't know whether the United States knows it or not, because it is the most powerful nation in the world, and therefore an example to us all, what they do or not do, affects the entire planet. Australia has always looked to America as an example, (whether we care to admit it or not) and I don't like where our big brother is leading us at the moment.The basic premise of Vidal's book is the ultimate damage from terrorism is not a physical one, bu

Vidal Certainly Gives Something to Think About

In Vidal's Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, we see a vision of America as a place where cover-ups prevail and America brings about it's own destruction--from the inside out. Vidal pushes the evelope with his characteristically smooth language and wry comments. Vidal explores the idea that the people who commit acts of terror are bred out of government's interaction with American society and that they are not the derranged psychopaths the media portrays them to be. Focusing on Timothy McVeigh, Vidal shows how human one such "evil" man is. Vidal ocassionally rants of conspiracy theories, but generally offers good insight into McVeigh's intentions. Vidal also focuses on the loss of civil liberties, something which he contends has been going on with great force since the 1960's. Although Vidal's arguments have a few holes (and he does try to keep them to a minimum with hard facts backing up most of his arguments), he offers a unique and clear perspective on American government. It is easy to lose ones self in his sleek writing style, but at the end of the book one finds that more than anything else Mr. Vidal has exposed some real food-for-thought. Political views aside, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I believe that if nothing else, one walks away after reading this book with a genuine desire to question and reason with one's own political beliefs. All things considered, it was a pleasure to read.

A vital Vidal read....

I saw Gore Vidal talking about this book a while back and realized a good deal of what he is saying mirrored my own thoughts about our country and its government, in particular. I'd wager a lot of Americans feel the same way but we seem to have lost our voice and our willingness to question our government. A recent interview I saw with Studs Terkel on Phil Donhue's show commented directly on that very subject. He said he felt that until a major voice comes out and addresses an issue, we are prone to sit quietly. Vidal's voice needs to be heard and wouldn't have been if American publishers had any thing to say about it. After this collection of essays became a best seller in Italy, he was then approached about an American publication and voila!---we can read what some might call an unpatriotic and ungrateful voice about America. A fundamental right we have as Americans is the privilege to question our government's decisions yet we seem to sit around quietly and compliantly while our presidents act aggressively toward other nations, deeming our country the international policeman for the world community. These opinions are called unpatriotic especially after the events of 9-11 but there is nothing unpatriotic about what Mr. Vidal is saying. The people who have blinders on and think that we, these United States of America, are never wrong should read this book. We, like any other nation, have flaws. It is time to look at those flaws, address the issues and hold our government responsible for its actions. This government represents the people and we should have our say. Unfortunately, with good ole Dubya and his cowboy mentality, we have four years that should inspire us to speak out against injustice. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about the direction our nation is taking.

Vidal gives Flesh and Blood to cartoons

Everything by Gore Vidal should be read. He is our last great literary man. After September 11th, I looked in vain in the usual places- The Nation, New York Times, Slate- for Vidal's response to the attacks of the 11th, but found nothing. Now I know why. His essays were rejected for publication. His opinions weren't the correct ones. They were too controversial during the flag waving and drum pounding that was going on. But here it is at last! Vidal looks at Bin Laden and Timothy McVeigh in his book. Some of the McViegh essays were previously published in his last essay collection, The Last Empire. If you are tired of reading that the attacks on America only took place because the United States is good and they are evil, read this book. Our happy land attacked by the Devil's minions should not be the accepted explanation. Vidal looks honestly at Bin Laden and McVeigh and erases the cartoon images and reasons we have been given of both the men and their attacks. Some readers/reviewers have been offended by Vidal's willingness to look at the motives and philosophies of these evil ones (and other reviewers seem to be rabidly writing with the foam from their mouths). But how else are we supposed to know the facts and reach an adult understanding of their actions? Without understanding- or at least listening- we can not do anything to stop future Bin Ladens and McVeighs. Indeed, our current actions, as Vidal points out, only ensure that we are manufacturing more true believers. Vidal's book won't change policy or give us back real journalists, but knowing that it's out there and will be read is something.

Agree with it or not, a message we need to hear

Gore Vidal has been a pain in the establishment's keester for fifty-odd years, and his gadflying has gotten sharper, pithier, and more valuable with the passing of each year. In this latest collection of essays, he dares to say something that many Americans are uneasily beginning to suspect but haven't yet dared to utter out loud: the reason "they"--the terrorists--hate us "so much" is at least partly because we're sometimes...well...hateable.Vidal's *Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace* collects a handful of his recent essays ranging on topics from the presidential election of 2000, to homegrown terrorism a la Timothy McVeigh, to the moralizing conservatism of mainstream America, to an open letter to the FBI on whether McVeigh was acting alone. All of these pieces have been published previously, and indeed, some of them appeared in Vidal's last collection of essays, *The Last Empire* (2001). What's truly new and exciting about this book is its lead essay, hauntingly entitled "September 11, 2001 (A Tuesday)". Vidal tells us in his Introduction that the piece was originally commissioned by "Vanity Fair," but was refused publication because the editors thought it too inflammatory.Inflammatory it unquestionably is, because in it Vidal argues for a thesis that is unpopular at the moment but just may make more sense as time goes on: that horrible as the terrorist attacks on the Trade Towers was, the Bush administration's high-handed wrestling to the ground of civil liberties in the attack's wake is worse. Vidal argues that the waging of war by the "Pentagon junta" is but another example of the U.S.'s misguided tendency to "wage war to perpetuate peace"--a misbegotten policy that has earned the violent dislike of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and Timothy McVeigh as well as the diplomatic disdain of much of the world. (At the end of the essay, Vidal provides an instructive 20-page account of U.S. military operations since 1949.) Vidal agrees that bin Laden needs to be brought to justice, but he argues that a police action, not all-out war, is the answer. The cowboy-style military campaign is only bound to make a bad situation worse. It may snuff out bin Laden (although even this isn't guaranteed), but as is the way with military actions, will inevitably generate more anger and resentment.This book is bound to infuriate many American readers, even though I understand it's been a best-seller in Europe. I'm not sure I agree with everything Vidal has to say. Occasionally he's long on accusation and short on evidence. But the book deserves reading if for no other reason than it has the courage to ask us not to take for granted the virtue of our foreign policy in general and our reaction to terrorism in particular.