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One Star: A disservice to the nation., November 13, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Idaho
Many would argue against the validity of Mr. Blum's facts. I do not. If you closely examine his sources, they hold up well under rigorous
scrutiny. What I dislike about this book, and the likes of Mr. Blum, is the agenda of anti-Americanism. Mr. Blum is quite correct in
implicating the US government and American corporations in a spectrum of mass murders, assassinations, tortures, rapes and terror in
general. This is all correct but this is the manner in which all empires have comported themselves. There is no reason to expect us to
behave differently. These are the necessary means of maintaining an empire as well as the costs required to sustain the American lifestyle.
Insisting on anything different is not only unrealistic, but asks us to betray of our way of life. George Bush Sr. put it clearly, "the American
way of life is not up for negotiation." The price of our cherished lifestyle is high. Whether its 5,000,000 dead Southeast Asians or
500,000 dead Iraqi children, the price is worth it. Even Secretary of State Madeline Albright, a Democrat, said so on CBS' 60 minutes.
Blum and his anti-American agenda refuses to accept this fact.
What Mr. Blum refers to our "killing hope" in the world is nothing less than what pumps money and oil into our economy. It is the tribute
due to the nation that dominates the world. Mr. Blum fails to mention a single word about our civilizing effect on what he calls the
"victims" of our actions. It is as absurd as claiming that the "victims" of slavery gained nothing from their association with the civilizing force
of a morally advanced society. His unwillingness to refer to this exposes his bias. Likewise, Blum lacks a balanced perspective. He could
learn a lot about fair and balanced reporting by simply watching some television. He ignores the positive effects of our interventions and
monotonously pleads a case for the millions of dead that the process of keeping the world in line requires, or anyone that might foolishly
resist our efforts in incorporating their natural resources into our corporate and national interests.
What Mr. Blum says is true only to a degree. His greatest inaccuracy is that he has divorced his account of American foreign policy from
the context of our unique virtue and divinely ordained mandate. Consequently, books like this threaten our national security by exposing
dangerous half-truths that might sway public opinion against our behavior abroad. For such reasons it might be a good idea to ban or
censor this book.
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