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Book
On OVERTHROW
America's
Century of Regime Change
From Hawaii to Iraq
by Stephen KINZER
PREFACE
For
the INTERVIEW
- Interview, page I
- Interview,
page II
-
Profile of Stephen Kinzer
by Bircan ÜNVER
In Overthrow: America's Century
of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq, Stephen Kinzer explains
how America, in over 100 years, decided
to overthrow 14 foreign country leaders,
and led people of those countries and
the countries themselves in destruction,
painful struggles, covert operations,
mass killings, and continuous suppressions
for several decades, in some cases a half
or a century, and it has played a major
role in leaving those countries undeveloped
in the past and in the present as well.
I am still under the influence of Overthrow since I read it in
the last week of April. From time to time,
we come across articles here and there
about the American Foreign Policy and
its powerful, decisive role of changing
or overthrowing foreign governments and
operating overt or covert coups and invasions.
Until I read the Overthrow, it has never occurred fully to me
that America, with its great military,
economic and politic power and role, formed
not only the structure of a few countries
but that of the entire world in the 20th
Century. Its politic and business power
is an ever increasing one and still continues
invasions in the 21st Century
too...
I cried while reading about the leaders such as Queen Lilliuokalani
of Hawaii; Luis Murhoz Rivera of Puerto
Rico; Emilio Aguinoldo of Philippines;
President Jose Santos Zelaya of Nicaragua;
Mossadegh of Iran; President Jacobo Arbenz
of Guatemala; Salvodor Allende of Chili
who were overthrown because of their love
for their people and hope to help flourishing
of their countries. Just for that very
reason, they had to pay with their life
and thousands and hundred thousands of
their peoples' lives. In Overthrow, Kinzer makes it crystal-clear
and helps his readers understand about
many past and current manipulations are
wrapped in America's preemptive war concept
which mostly had begun with the "communist
threat" regardless of its reality.
The US used this concept as a reason to
overthrow many leaders and destroy many
countries for its own interest in terms
of diplomatic and economic power which
completely ignored and blocked the leaders
and those countries' people to have an
access to their own natural resources.
It is clear in Overthrow that this caused destruction of those countries' growth and development.
As Kinzer perfectly underlines, this pattern
continues with other concepts such as
"terrorism," "weapons of
mass-destruction," and so on. Kinzer
also refers to current Iran nuclear conflict
emphasizing that if America, with England,
hadn't overthrown Mossadegh, Iran wouldn't
have to face these horrible results and
today is an aftereffect of the US covert
operations for overthrowing Iran's first
and last democratic leader, Mossadegh
in 1953.
I think that every American citizen, every citizen of these countries
mentioned in the book, as well as every
citizen of the World should read Overthrow. As first, to understand how this world has been structured, and
also to understand today's existing global
conflicts. Also with that knowledge, perhaps,
each American and citizen of the world
will be much more aware about the future
similar attempts; then that awareness
perhaps can be a starting point in order
to prevent those outcomes from their home
country as well as for the global safety.
Kinzer has moved from being a foreign journalist, and later national
correspondent at New York Times to teaching
at Northwestern University and to focusing
in writing of his new books. Overthrow is also Kinzer's transition
from journalism to teaching and writing
his new books.
We greatly appreciate and are thankful to Stephen Kinzer for his
time for the
interview and for sharing his great
knowledge, observations and experiences
via Overthrow with the Light Millennium.
-- May 22, 2006, New York
-
Interview, page I>
- Interview,
page II>
-
Profile of Stephen Kinzer>
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