Rogue State (Book)

Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower is a book published in 2000 (second edition published in 2005) by William Blum examining US imperialism during and following the Cold War, discussing terrorism, assassinations, coups, election interference, torture, chemical weapons, drug trafficking and UN declarations.

Summary

A Rogue State versus the World

17. A Concise History of United States Global Interventions, 1945 to the Present

The most comprehensive list of US interventions (ie direct support for regime change, dictatorships or a direct invasion) ever compiled as of 2005:

• China, 1945 - 1951: US supports Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War and continues to aid them in exile from northern Myanmar, where the CIA uses Air America to fund and supply the army in exile and their attacks into China.
• France, 1947: US supports the Corsican Mafia and allows them to set up heroin labs and trade routes (which would go on to have disastrous consequences) in exchange for their help in cracking down on communist-linked trade unions in Marseilles through murder, arson and blackmail. In exchange for Marshall Plan aid, the French government was forced to dismiss communist members of government.
• Marshall Islands, 1946 - 1958: US conducts dozens of nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands, heavily irradiating several islands and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes and culture.
• Italy, 1947 - 1972: US interferes in Italian government by exchanging Marshall Plan aid for the dismissal of communist ministers (and threatening to withhold food aid) ensuring that the next 6 Italian elections were won by pro-american candidates.
• Greece, 1947 - 1949: US interferes in the Greek Civil War and assists the neo-fascists against the communist partisan fights who were heroes for fighting the Nazis in World War II. The neo-fascists won and the CIA helped them create their secret police.
• Philippines, 1945 - 1953: US begins fighting off leftist Huk forces during World War II (despite the Huk aiding in expelling the Japanese Empire) and rigged several elections, ensuring pro-american candidates would win, and eventually sponsoring the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
• Korea, 1945 - 1953: US destroys popular leftist organisations (which had formed a resistance network against Japan) and put conservative elites (who had collaborated with Japan) in power and helped destroy efforts to unify Korea. During the Korean War, the US committed a number of brutal war crimes and massacres (which were all for nothing) and sponsored authoritarian regimes in South Korea for the next 30 years.
• Albania, 1949 - 1953: US sponsors numerous fascist exiles to try and overthrow the leftist government of Albania and install a conservative monarchist regimes.
• Eastern Europe, 1948 - 1956: US installs double agents into security agencies of the Warsaw Pact, leading to massive amount of paranoia and purges which kill hundreds of people and puts hundreds of thousands of people in jail.
• Germany, 1950s: US engages in terrorism and sabotage against East Germany and in West Germany develops a list of 200 social democrats and 15 communists to be killed in the event of a Soviet Invasion. The development of Operation Gladio also allows the CIA to covertly support bombings and discredit leftists across Western Europe to drum up fear of communism.
• Iran, 1953: US-British intelligence agencies overthrow the government of Iran, which planned to nationalise British oil interests to pay for social programs. The new government privatised the oil, and unleashed a brutal wave of repression and torture by secret police until the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
• Guatemala, 1953 - 1990s: US sponsors a military coup to overthrow a democratically elected progressive government that focused on land reform and public education. The next 40 years of Guatemala's history see a horrible civil war filled with mass killings and torture of the indigenous population, killing 200,000 people. Despite official peace in 1996, death squads still roam the country, trained by the US.
• Costa Rica, 1950s - 1971: US sponsors multiple assassination attempts on the centrist president of Costa Rica for not being too tough on the left. These efforts fail.
• Middle East, 1956 - 1958: US attempts to overthrow the government of Syria twice, overthrow the government of Egypt once, invades Lebanon and supports the dictatorship in Jordan. All to prevent the rise of Arab Nationalism, a leftist nationalist movement aiming to build an independent and united Arab community.
• Indonesia, 1957 - 1958: US attempts to topple the nationalist government of Indonesia through bombing runs, military coups, assassination attempts and election interference.
• Haiti, 1959: US helps repress a popular, leftist uprising against the brutal dictatorship in Haiti.
• Western Europe, 1950s - 1960s: US uses billions to sponsor pro-american and anti-socialist media, trade unions, political parties and student groups across Western Europe.
• British Guiana/Guyana, 1953 - 1964: US forces the independent president of Guyana, Cheddi Jagan, to resign using a number of pressures for his successful social democracy.

External Links

• Rogue State at archive.org