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Kinzer and Overthrow
Objectiveness of Kinzer
Kinzer is a journalist and reported on several instances where America has been considered the instigator of regime changes in foreign countries. As a reporter he writes about events that he has witnessed or researched over the past century. There has been at least fourteen instances where heads of state and nations were influenced by American covert activity.
Argument: Understanding the Kinzer Perspective
The perspective is convincing as an argument about how American Diplomats, Statesmen, and even corporate powers use their influence politically and economically to forge alliances or dispose uncooperative leaders. A classic example is the entrance of American forces into Afghanistan to remove Saddam Hussein from power. The catalog of conquests span from 1893 to 2003 including Hawaii 1893(pp.21), Cuba 1898 (pp. 39, 48), Puerto Rico 1898 (pp. 48), Philippines 1902 (pp. 48), Nicaragua 1910 (pp. 56), Honduras 1911 (pp. 75), Iran 1953,
Guatemala 1954, Vietnam 1963, Chile 1973, Grenada 1983, Panama 1989 (pp. 5), Afghanistan 2001 (pp. 298), and lastly Iraq 2003, (pp. 125).
Biases and Credibility
Though many continue to disagree over the exact...
Kinzer makes it obvious that America is not an innocent and can not claim to be removed from the initiation if not outright responsibility for the resulting government dictatorships (pp. 84, 99, 174). The willingness of such leaders to act on personal advancement and interest rather than rebuilding or strengthening their domestic stability oftentimes plays into the hands of American plans. In fact many major corporations expected total cooperation from these leaders due to preconditions that were given as they rose to power (pp. 95-106). Promises to share technology, weapons, trade secrets, even give millions to billions in grants and loans. All in return for favorable partnerships to use foreign resources, lands, establish refineries and manufacturing plants, even labor to boost American production and revenues.
For the covert section of the book the sources appear credible and the resulting problems have unfortunately been exposed by other journalists, citizens and media coverage. For example it is obvious that after finding no weapons of mass destruction in Afghanistan, the reason Sadaam Hussein was pursued…
Works Cited
Kinzer, Stephen. "Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. " New York: Times Books. 2006.
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