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A review by its_kievan
Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations by Evo Morales Ayma, Vijay Prashad
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
2.5
I would have eaten this up when I was 19 and angry, but while I'm still angry I am no longer 19 and so I have some qualms.
First off, a lot of this book is very, very good. Prashad channels his righteous anger at US imperialism, violence, and hypocrisy into a series of compelling case studies. You can't help but share his hatred and horror when you read about the baldfacedly vile actions of US diplomats and politicians who are willing to sanction mass murders if it lines their pockets or scores a point against an imagined all-powerful enemy. This shit really happened, and it's still happening, and we need authors like Prashad to show people exactly how the world works.
That said, Washington Bullets is a polemic, not a history book, and it has some issues. The most minor is the editing. The book is often unfocused and meandering, making it feel a lot longer than it actually is. There's a lot of assumed knowledge, and a fair few sentences that don't really make sense. There is also a lack of supporting evidence. Prashad quotes from documents, but does not cite them; from people, but often does not name them. In his "Sources" section, he basically says that he spoke to a lot of anonymous people and he's been in the anti-imperialist movement for a while, so just trust him. And I don't think he's deliberately making stuff up, but that does make me hesitate.
The big problem is that Prashad is writing a book about the evils of Western, capitalist, American-led imperialism. The book contains an afterword that warns about the danger of Manichaean (black-and-white) thinking, but ironically this is exactly the trap that Prashad falls into. Every overthrown or assassinated leader is a saint, dedicated only to the welfare of their people. Any complaint about their rule is the product of fascists, oligarchs, and US propaganda. Any socialist government is wholly good, and no socialist nation (or successor to a socialist nation) has ever engaged in imperialism. When Russia annexed Crimea and the Donbas, they were simply acting defensively against NATO encroachment - and yes, this is an actual example from the book. US imperialism is bad and awful and wrong, but so is any kind of imperialism. And imperialism is not wrong because all leftist leaders are perfect paragons of virtue, but because it is morally wrong for a foreign country to depose a democratically-elected leader of any political affiliation.
Anyway, good book with some serious flaws. I'd happily give this to any first-year uni student, then talk them off the ledge with something like The Jakarta Method.
First off, a lot of this book is very, very good. Prashad channels his righteous anger at US imperialism, violence, and hypocrisy into a series of compelling case studies. You can't help but share his hatred and horror when you read about the baldfacedly vile actions of US diplomats and politicians who are willing to sanction mass murders if it lines their pockets or scores a point against an imagined all-powerful enemy. This shit really happened, and it's still happening, and we need authors like Prashad to show people exactly how the world works.
That said, Washington Bullets is a polemic, not a history book, and it has some issues. The most minor is the editing. The book is often unfocused and meandering, making it feel a lot longer than it actually is. There's a lot of assumed knowledge, and a fair few sentences that don't really make sense. There is also a lack of supporting evidence. Prashad quotes from documents, but does not cite them; from people, but often does not name them. In his "Sources" section, he basically says that he spoke to a lot of anonymous people and he's been in the anti-imperialist movement for a while, so just trust him. And I don't think he's deliberately making stuff up, but that does make me hesitate.
The big problem is that Prashad is writing a book about the evils of Western, capitalist, American-led imperialism. The book contains an afterword that warns about the danger of Manichaean (black-and-white) thinking, but ironically this is exactly the trap that Prashad falls into. Every overthrown or assassinated leader is a saint, dedicated only to the welfare of their people. Any complaint about their rule is the product of fascists, oligarchs, and US propaganda. Any socialist government is wholly good, and no socialist nation (or successor to a socialist nation) has ever engaged in imperialism. When Russia annexed Crimea and the Donbas, they were simply acting defensively against NATO encroachment - and yes, this is an actual example from the book. US imperialism is bad and awful and wrong, but so is any kind of imperialism. And imperialism is not wrong because all leftist leaders are perfect paragons of virtue, but because it is morally wrong for a foreign country to depose a democratically-elected leader of any political affiliation.
Anyway, good book with some serious flaws. I'd happily give this to any first-year uni student, then talk them off the ledge with something like The Jakarta Method.