Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond

by Rahul Mahajan

Book Overview

In this compelling big-picture assessment of the U.S. war on Iraq, Mahajan combines his experience as an anti-Iraq sanctions activist with a keen analysis of U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era to provide the analysis that has been overlooked in the mainstream debate. Situating Iraq within the larger context of post-9/11 foreign policy, he analyzes the Bush National Security Strategy and the new neoconservative vision of achieving increasing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583225781
• ISBN13: 9781583225783
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Rigorous Political Science

Why would I want to pay to read what a "non-expert" with absolutely no credentials in military affairs or international relations has to say about the U.S. in Iraq? Because I prefer the rational, empirical analysis built from the facts up rather than an analysis put forward by an "expert" indoctrinated by higher education (1) to accept simplistic and downright childish establishment principles (e.g., the U.S. government always acts with benevolent intentions) and (2) to explain facts only in terms of those naive principles (e.g., if the U.S. invades Iraq, it must be to liberate Iraqis and spread democracy because the U.S. government always acts with benevolent intentions). To say the very least, a Ph.D. in political science from a state university is not a requirement to understand the world.Mahajan is an expert, in the proper use of the term. He has a command of the facts, both current and historical, and his explanation of the U.S. government's behavior is properly inferred from them (as opposed to explaining facts in terms of unwarranted and naive assumptions borne of indoctrination with no basis in observational fact, as self-described "experts" tend to do).This book is not a book about strategy. Rather, it is an empirical and scientific work that collects facts (data), draws conclusions, and posits a theory based upon them, familiar ground for a physicist.

Common sense and decency in these diabolical times

Mahajan notes that the U.S. from Bush Sr. through Clinton and George the dumber gave Saddam every reason not to fully comply with the disarmament provisions of UN resolution 687 by stating that contrary to that resolution, it would keep sanctions on Iraq and seek to overthrow Saddam even if Iraq was certified to be completely disarmed. The U.S. engaged in heavy spying of Iraqi government institutions about matters nothing to do with WMD, as noted by former Inspections head Rolf Eakus in his Financial Times interview. In Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, he notes, only 11 of 97 targets were WMD related. The rest were Republican guard and secret police facilities, command and control centers. He notes that the U.S. likely decided to invade Iraq in August 2002 when Rumsfeld started bombing command and control centers and non-active air defenses in the illegal "no-fly zones" whose bombings were causing hundreds of civilian casualties according to former UN humanitarian coordinator Hans Von Sponek. The U.S. got the security council to pass UN resolution 706, in September 1991, the original "Oil for Food ," which after "reparations" to go in large part to oil companies harmed by Iraq's occupation of Kuwait, left Iraq a maximum of only 930,000 dollars of oil to sell over a trial period of several months. This was well below the proposal of UN undersecretary Aga Khan that called for Iraq to be able to sell enough oil to be able to partially repair its vital civilian infrastructure destroyed by the U.S. in 1991. When the program started about $15 per capita got in, only about 26 out of the 41 billion directed for Iraq, and the Iraqi economy remained collapsed, unable to generate income. He quotes UN under secretary general Martti Ahtissaari from 1991, left Iraq in a "near-apocalyptic state." Through 2002 the U.S. placed holds on billions of dollars worth of material needed to repair vitally needed civilian infrastructure as well as hospital equipment and vaccines, claiming absurdly that basic vaccines could be transmuted into biological weapons. He notes how the head of U.S. AID claimed in April 2003 that the vile Saddam had not repaired Basra's water/sanitation facilities. He said this after the British had gallantly knocked out Basra's electricity thus once again shutting down what remained of Basra's water treatment facilities. This of course is a vile lie, the U.S. had been blocking the importation of parts for their repair on the sanctions committee. Iraq's oil for food revenue was placed in a Bank in New York and directly dispersed to companies whose contracts with Iraq were approved. Saddam couldn't get at it so he could build palaces.After the first Gulf war, the U.S. did all it could to impede the Iraqi rebellion. Brent Scowcroft who allowed that at that point he would have preferred the Iraqi military to retain in control rather than the rebels. The U.S. feared the rebels would not follow orders from the U.S. so they preferred to keep Sadda

A smart, brief guide to the new Cold War

The high point of "Full Spectrum Dominance" is chapter 2, in which Rahul Mahajan examines the Bush administration's National Security Strategy. This public document outlines the basic contours of a new Cold War, a perpetual war fought against terrorists instead of communists. Mahajan reviews the important points of the NSS, then spends the rest of the book backing up his analysis with a brief history of US imperialism, attacks on Iraqi civilians during the 1990s, US disregard for international law, the drive to war in Iraq, and the oil cartels.That's a lot of information for a 200-page, heavily-footnoted book. But Mahajan makes it work. This book packs a lot of important facts and insights into a small package. I recommend it to anyone who wants background on US foreign policy and the current war in Iraq, especially for those people who don't read a lot about politics and need a good place to start.

A handy prism for a full spectrum

A short, clearly organized, and cogently argued primer of the "real" motivations behind the neoconservative agenda, this book leans ideologically to the left, but is not overly preachy or rabid in its rhetoric. Mahajan connects the dots behind US foreign policy of the Bush era, centering US motivation in a desire to expand US military presence, topple potentially threatening regimes, maintain and increase armed hegemony and technology, and expand control over diminishing resources. The book is logical and there is evidence to support its positions. However, not having been present at PNAC meetings or National Security Council deliberations, Mahajan's conjectures about Bush-administration motives remain just that-- conjectures (albeit compelling ones). Like many authors of this sort, also, Mahajan is long on criticism and short on proffered alternatives. But perhaps it's not necessary to propose "solutions" here... the book sticks to its mission of presenting a possible reason why things are they way they are, and succeeds at this limited but important task. Worth picking up, provocative without being annoying, it is sure to make people of all ideological stripes think.

Excellent analysis, a must read

Mahajan's account cuts through the distortions of the media's coverage of the U.N. sanctions, weapons inspections and the Gulf War. I learned more about Iraq in the few hours it took to finish this small book than I did following the war for months. His style is very clear and his argument straightforward. Anyone skeptical about Bush's rationale for war will enjoy this book. And anyone in the peace movement (and there are millions of us!) should read this book and pass it on to a friend.