The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of US Power

This small, 208-page, book is a dialogue between an old hand who has seen it all, and a man who seems to be taking over the torch. The contrast between the aged wisdom from a life of observation, and the sharp, attentive gaze of an energetic younger man makes this a delightful book that opens vistas of ideas we find floating loosely in our minds. Chomsky and Prasad blend their thoughts and express them so that we too can begin to formulate ours with greater clarity.The subject of this book is the endless, fruitless military ventures of the nation that believes itself exceptional. Only that it isn’t, as Chomsky points out. The authors have a way of seeing things in a different light from that the public is accustomed to. “What makes the power of the United States so fragile now is not merely its own weaknesses, but that it is weakened in the context of the emergence of China and China’s alliance with Russia” (p.15)Chomsky and Prasad takes us on a talking tour of Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya through the arrival and eventual departure of the American military machine. They analyse how the stated objectives were never achieved, and the calamities that were created. In some, the country concerned found their own redemption. Others are still struggling. They explain in the clearest terms how America finds itself in the present state, with a string of unfulfilled ambition. What can and should be done? Unfortunately, the authors have no recommendations except the implicit exhortation not to embark on yet another venture.

- A surprisingly effective little book, 208 pages, quickly and easily read.There is little new here that Chomsky has not said many times before.But these interviews pull together decades of research and writing into a great intro for those new to Chomsky and a great review and update for those who have been reading him since the 1960’s.Contains a particularly concise and illuminating description of China’s Shanghai Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative (chapter 5, ‘Fragilities of US Power’).A useful volume for the Chomsky novice and veteran alike.

Nothing groundbreaking here, they discuss a variety of topics. Good read, insightful as always, but we need to develop a conversation on what to do, instead of pointing out what's perpetually wrong. Dig?

This book is essential to understand power and hegemony, possibilities of multipolarity and see the various wars from the point of view of those bombed and maimed. Everybody should tead it!

Usually his books are good; your bias shows.

True accounts of American adventurism in foreign policy around the globe. Eye-opening.

The U.S. entered Afghanistan in October 2001 with the objective of ejecting the Taliban from the country, now the Taliban is back. In 2003 the U.S. opened an illegal war against Iraq, followed by the start of an unconditional withdrawal in 2011 after the Iraqi parliament refused to allow American troops extralegal protections. While withdrawing from Iraq it opened a war against Libya in 2011 - with France in the lead, followed by France and eventually taken over by the U.S.The Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction wrote in 2016 'Corruption significantly undermined the U.S. mission in Afghanistan by damaging the legitimacy of the Afghan government, strengthening popular support for the insurgency and channeling material resources to insurgent groups.' The U.S. pinned its hopes on training 300,000 Afghan National Army, spending $88 billion. In 2019, a purge of 'ghost soldiers' led to the loss of 42,000 troops. Kabul fell to the Taliban almost without a fight.In each of these wars, the possibility of a negotiated settlement lingered at the beginning. The evidence, however, is clear that the U.S. did not want to seek any peace agreement. Coups and military interventions define the Cold War era, from the U.S.-led coup in Iran (1953) to the U.S. military intervention in Iraq (1991).The regime of the 1973 U.S.-led coup in in Chile is being undone by the drafting of a new constitution and by the 2021 election of a post-coup political coalition. The 2021 election in Bolivia of the leftist forces is a reversal of the 2019 coup against the government of Evo Morales. There were others - not included in the book. The credit crisis (2007-08) and the increasing polarization of society in the U.S. have weakened its ability to act as it did after 1991.The most dangerous escalation of our time is the pressure campaign the U.S. is leading against China and Russia.European imperialism, especially from the British, destroyed China's economic strength and depleted its power with a generation starting in 1820 --> the first Opium War of 1839 to the end of its civil war in 1949 - over 100 years of violence. China now leads the West in telecommunications, robotics, high-speed rail, and non-carbon energy and cannot be intimidated like others. Dangerous escalation is taking place around Eurasia to prevent China's influence from spreading out of its borders and to threaten Russia if it insists on operating out of its borders. Almost 200 (193) countries signed on to the U.S. charter, a binding treaty - but the U.S. willfully often ignores it.Previously the U.S. had withdrawn from Vietnam (3/29/1973). Then there was the 1961 U.S.-planed invasion of Cuba by right-wing exiles (Bay of Pigs). The January 1968 Tet Offensive took the U.S. military by surprise - despite the presence of about 600K U.S. troops and another 750K of the Saigon army. (Discussion took place at that time about sending more U.S. troops - the Joint Chiefs were not eager, saying if that was done they'd instead be needed to control riots in the U.S.)The U.S. conducted a 'secret' bombing campaign against Laos from 1964 to 1973 to support the Royal Lao regime against the Pathet Lao and to prevent the alleged use of Laos by the Vietnamese to resupply lines in the south of Vietnam - 380,000 bombing missions. Chomsky states he'd visit refugee camps about 18 miles from Vientiane. The CIA mercenary army had shortly before cleared out tens of thousands from northern Laos (Plain of Jars) where many had been living in caves for years while subjected to the most intensive bombing in history, soon to be surpassed in Cambodia. At the time the U.S. claimed North Vietnamese had 50K troops in Laos --> reason the U.S. had to bomb. He went to the American embassy and asked to see background material on that 50K claim. (Was told he'd been the first person to ask.) Chomsky read through the material and found evidence there were about 2.5K Vietnamese troops in northern Laos. That information was corroborated by reports of interviews with captured prisoners etc. Chomsky also reviewed, along with some other articles. The U.S. then shifted focus to Central America and the Contras. (U.S. support of Mujahideen in Afghanistan-Pakistan vs. Russia under Carter?)The U.S. organized the Mujahideen - collected radical Islamists from around the world and tried to forge them into a military force in Afghanistan. This probably prolonged the war - it looks like from the Russian archives they were ready to pull out in the early 1980s, and this prolonged the war. However, the point was to harm the Russians, not defend the Afghans. The Russians were trying to do what they say - protect Muslim lands from the infidels. Islamists brought to Afghanistan were armed, trained, directed by Pakistani intelligence under CIA supervision and control, with the support of Britain and others. These infidels morphed into what became al-Qaeda. 'Holy war' and 'jihad' had been dormant for centuries in the Islamic world.The Taliban made tentative offers of extradition of bin Laden to Islamic states where the U.S. could have picked them up. 'We do not negotiate surrenders' - Donald Rumsfeld. General Wesley Clark said he'd seen detailed proposals how the U.S. planned to expand the Afghanistan War into Iran, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria (television interview, 2007). A couple of weeks after 9/11 the U.S. cut off aid from Pakistan while millions were facing potential starvation. U.S. backed warlords murdered thousands of rural literacy instructors.The U.S. is now holding $9.5 billion in Afghanistan funding because it contends the monies are owed 9/11 families of victims - even though neither Afghanistan nor its people had anything to do with 9/11.The Contras attacked Nicaragua from foreign bases, were entirely dependent on its masters for directions and support, never put forth a political program, created no base of political support within the country, and were led by Somozist officers left after the overthrow of Somoza in the Nicaraguan Revolution. U.S. officials now concede that their main function was to retard/reverse the rate of social reform in Nicaragua and try to terminate the openness of that society. The Contras weakened the possibility for states in Central America to build functioning societies --> emergence of narco-traffickers, terrorists, mafias, etc.'Death Squads' arose in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Central America.Why has the U.S. insisted for 60 years on trying to destroy Cuba, even after the USSR collapsed? Recent U.N. votes were 184 to 2 that the U.S. should end the blockade, with the U.S. and Israel being the two.China also refuses to follow U.S. orders.Saddam in Iraq offered to withdraw from Kuwait, but the U.S. wanted a great victory and the offer was ignored. The post 9/11 invasion was supposedly to capture WMD, but that was forgotten when none were found and the war was repurposed to bring Democracy to Iraq.

Gives you another perspective on war and US involvement in overseas conflicts. However, it only is giving you one side- a biased side. Anti-war and anti-American. Basically all you need to know about this book.

We are so going in the wrong direction. from Vietnam to present day Ukraine, Chomsky and Prashad explain how the US is failing upward. Its amazing how opposed this pov is to all mainstream journalism, and how they systematically prove that the mainstream is propaganda

Alas … why weren’t errors like these not avoided:- Hubert Vendrine was not French Prime Minister, but minister of foreign affairs- Westpoint speech quote about the Peloponnes war by Thukydides, not TacitusWhat else? Which other details are wrong?

The Second World War and it’s causes created a process of development in the West that has never stopped. Hitler’s ideas of National Socialism have been continued by US Liberalism based on the idea that what matters is big business and keeping total control of the ordinary people. North America and Europe have continued to follow Hitler’s method - if you don’t obey us we kill you either by destroying your country or in the case of a recalcitrant individual by using special forces or remote killing machines. This book clearly tells the story of the modern Western Democracies.