The killing zone: military tactics and operational theory

Killing Zone

Critical Discussion of the Killing Zone

When it comes to Latin American Cold-War policy, the results have been far worse than Roosevelt ever imagined. From a policy of being a good neighbor through trade and peaceful monitoring, to a policy of political overthrow, imperial control, and manipulation, the federal government took a noble action of defending the free world against communism and went too far, resulting in the destruction of many Latin American countries constitutional governments. It is this historical discussion that is at the heart of Stephen Rabe's book, the Killing Zone. In his account Rabe goes into great detail to explore what happened in Latin America. The part where Rabe's discussion ends and the next beings, however, is the "Why."

Under president Truman American transformed from a defensive nation, whose goal was to simply protect its own borders to an interventionist government with the single goal and purpose of preventing the spread of communism. As can be discerned from Stephen Rabe's book, the Killing Zone, the interventionism of the United States was rooted in fear, desire for control, and imperialism.

The first motive behind the post WWII Latin American policy of the United States was fear. The primary motive of President Truman when the "Containment Policy" emerged was to stop communism swiftly and protect American's beloved freedom. American leaders were very afraid of the damage communism could cause to the many free nations of the world. Even worse, America feared the equivalent of another World War, as the iron curtain quickly expanded forming new alliances. It is this fear that led to the promise of the United States to come to aid of any free country who was fighting off communism (Cottom 76). The unfortunate result of such an intervention, according to Rabe, was a violent uprising in once peaceful countries where labor groups and the government constantly fought each other leaving unstable societies behind.

The second motive behind the internationalist actions was a desire for control. This is especially seen in Kennedy's reaction to Guatemala. By the mid-1960's, Guatemala had finally begun creating an independent government. What's more, the people even wanted to have an open election. However, Kennedy caught wind of a threat by the former dictator Arevalo, who planned to re-enter the country and run in the election. Instead of trusting the people to elect the right leader, Kennedy reacted in fear and used American military and intelligence to rig the election in favor of a civilian leader (Rabe 56) and a military independent of that government.