Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to be So Hated, Causes of Conflict in the Last Empire

Given the heinous reality of the crime committed by McVeigh, it is tempting to believe that Gore Vidal is excusing the murder of innocent Oklahoma citizens. But that is not the case. Vidal readily agrees that the killing of innocent people is wrong, and then proceeds to explain how the United States government - which he refers to as the greatest terrorist organization in the world - has set the precedent by killing many innocent people abroad (chapter one concludes with a 20 page list of the wars the United States has been engaged in - some still ongoing - over the past 50 years, noting that in most cases we struck the first blow), and many innocent people within its own borders, examples being Waco, Ruby Ridge, and even in Washington state (in each situation those killed had committed no crime).

Gore claims that the important piece to the McVeigh story is that the attack was a *retaliation* against the US government for its constant harassment - and in some cases murder of - its own citizens. The author states that the mainstream media portrayed McVeigh as having evolved in a vacuum, that he was irrational evil incarnate who killed only for the fun of it. To the contrary, the author argues that McVeigh, as well as the 9/11 terrorists, were provoked. Vidal, who opposes the death penalty, strongly agrees that two wrongs do not make a right, but nor does a third: McVeigh was put to death for his crime. The author claims that yet another piece of the story that we have not been given is that McVeigh may not have even committed the bombing. There is evidence that he may've taken the fall for friends, or that he may have opted for death rather than endure what the author refers to as the most barbaric prison system of all developed nations. (Vidal asserts that prison rape is so pervasive, and so ignored by authorities, that it could reasonably be considered a type of punishment endorsed by the US government.)

PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE is one of the best books I have ever read. I highly recommend it in addition to Vidal's DREAMING WAR: BLOOD FOR OIL AND THE CHENEY-BUSH JUNTA.

Andrew Parodi


A breathtaking perspective on now   December 3, 2002
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

Vidal is one of the last independent thinkers, and this book is pure gold for anyone trying to see through the propoganda and simplistic presentations of modern media. What's more, he is a witty and stylish writer; in other words he educates you while offering a pleasurable read. Vidal's analysis of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber, is quite simply breathtaking. We are presented with a multi-layered perspective of wise insight. The message is clear: let's get beyond the 'good'/'evil' black and white 'thinking' of our dumbed-down mass-culture. Miss this one at your peril!


Vidal truly afflicts the comfortable   July 10, 2006
Theodore A. Rushton (PHOENIX, Arizona United States)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful

Anyone who wants to understand the basic value of free speech in America needs to read this long litany of the abuses of government authority by the police, politicians and press.

All criticism of power obviously infuriates conservatives, and Vidal constantly skewers the rich, complacent, corrupt and conniving. It is definitely not meant to be read by rich fat conservatives of the Greedy Old Party, or even the Dumb Enough for Me set. Instead, it's a wonderful expose of the abuses of power by people who hold power; it's not meant to be fair, any more than 'Common Sense' by Thomas Paine was meant to be even handed. Like the Founding Fathers, Vidal believes American can be better if some of its inherited bad habits are discarded.

From Paine to Thomas Jefferson to Michael Moore, America has thrived in part because of its critics. And who reins in the critics? They must wage a constant rearguard action against everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Ann Colter. The very best are often betrayed by even their friends; but, this is often the price of being right instead of popular. Public debate in America is waged in a playpen of paranoid wolves; there is no mercy for anyone who bleeds in the arena of public comment. It is no place for the weak-minded.

Vidal is one of the best. Of course he's unfair; he's quick to cite government slaughter at Waco, but ignores the slaughter by religious cults from Jonestown to Heaven's Gate, and the appalling sexual child abuse by polygamist Mormons in Arizona. His talent is defending individual freedom against government conformity. This is the heart of a free society. In some countries conformity is an art form, such as Cuba, Iran and North Korea, but it is not the fate chosen by free people.

Government in America is truly as bad as Vidal states; but, every fault Vidal cites was brought to his attention by news reports and government studies and not by his own original effort. In other words, a free press exists and is effective. A century ago, critics such as Upton Sinclair were the first to tell all Americans about appalling conditions in industry. The result was major reform. Today, critics thrive throughout society from village newspapers to national publishers, plus millions of bloggers, book critics and letter writers. The result is a constant process of incremental reform.

Amazon.com book reviews are one such utterly new bastion of free expression; they offer another means to praise or cauterize the cogent or corrupt arguments of everyone from Vidal to myself. It is this freedom that makes Vidal possible and precious, and gives America an almost unassailable strength. This is one society where error of opinion or fact is pounced upon with vigor and glee, instead of being covered over in the genteel ivy of sacred tradition, pride and heritage.

Vidal is one of the best. You can learn a lot by reading a book, and this book is one of the most provocative. You (and America) will be better for it.






As Yoda speaks...   February 2, 2003
Earl Hazell (New York)
36 out of 43 found this review helpful

...Gore Vidal would not be Gore Vidal if he left the topic of this book at merely proving the more than 200 instances of United States "pre-emptive strike" military incursions that have taken place since the end of World War Two, proving the existence of the philosophy in the Pentagon that is sarcastically referred to by the title of the book. Vidal traces the dangerous link between Timothy Mcveigh and Osama bin Laden to moral anamolies in American foreign and domestic policy in much the same way one could trace the otherwise unrelated illnesses of heart disease and lung cancer to cigarette smoking. In so doing he demands us, whether or not we come to the same conclusions, to look at our own cultural selves and our country's leaders with new eyes: the eyes of much of the rest of the world.

Vidal is often too postmodern for his own good. As he approaches his late seventies (he is the author of twenty-two novels, tons of essays, plays and screenplays and was one of President Kennedy's best friends) his all too self-conscious "ascerbic wit" has begun to have a harder than necessary edge to it. You can almost see how the conversations he is writing for us have really become conversations he is having with himself, in the way a wise old man, slowly but inexplicably driving to Curmudgeonville after giving up on his audience or would-be students ever getting a clue would do. Yet the pearls of wisdom that thread through both this work and his infinitely insightful mind makes the book immeasurably important, and go a lot further in explainnig the souce of both his cynicism and the repressed, near uncontrollable passion he has for his country.

Something is missing in America today, something deeply important for the American soul. When that thing is concentrated or exaggerated to the point of absurdity in an individual (in inverse proportion to its absence in the culture) it produces the actions of the men who form the subject of several of his essays. But the value of this unnamed thing--and the fact that it is missing from our culture in areas where it is needed: our relationship with the non-rich world in and outside of our boundaries--comes clear with every page. That is the magic of great writers: making something invisible felt between every written word.

Vidal is a master whose talent nor reputation have ever been overstated. This book, which shockingly though unfortunately understandably could not be published in America when it was first written, is another of his gifts to the country he loves so much.


Slightly unsatisfying, but a timely book   January 9, 2003
21 out of 25 found this review helpful

Gore Vidal is an important critic of modern American politics and foreign policy. As corporate America (and Britain) increasingly attempt to stifle democracy and as the military-industrial complex pursues war in furtherance of its own interests rather than those of the people, Vidal is one of the few writers providing a point of resistance. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace is a timely and necessary contribution.

The book is a collection of various pieces: some articles that were published in Vanity Fair, a summary of American military operations, a few letters and some new material which attempts to link it all together. Without fail each piece is interesting, though combined they fall some way short of fulfilling the book's subtitle: How We Got To Be So Hated - Causes Of Conflict In The Last Empire. Overall the volume is quite brief and, while the argument is consistently engaging and stimulating, those hoping for a rigorous analysis and critique of American policy will be disappointed. Even if the several essays are little more than polemical starting points, it is nevertheless useful to have them brought together in a single accessible volume.

Vidal focuses predominantly on three things in the book: September 11, the Oklahoma City bombing, and American military operations. Of these, the weakest area is that concerning September 11: one short essay that attempts to cover too much ground and which appears to have been tacked on to the book to update its relevance. (Incidentally, the essay is substantially different from Vidal's subsequent 'conspiracy theory' piece on September 11.) The material on American military operations is meatier, backed up as it is with several pages outlining all post-WW2 American military ventures. Vidal makes a convincing case demanding a drastic reduction in military spending and operations; the consequences of failure to do this, he persuasively maintains, are dire.

The main focus of the book, however, is on the Oklahoma City bombing. This is made all the more fascinating by the fact that Vidal entered into a correspondence with Timothy McVeigh, some of which is reprinted here. To his credit, Vidal endeavours to understand McVeigh and his grievances - a move which has caused considerable controversy in the U.S. Rejecting the simplistic demonization of McVeigh by the American media, Vidal explores McVeigh's opposition to the U.S. government, in the process highlighting how American policy is indeed increasingly stripping away the rights and freedoms that were for long central to the republican ideal. Vidal expresses justifiable concern for the direction his country is taking, and, while at no point defending McVeigh, he offers a coherent explanation of McVeigh's actions in light of the various abuses perpetrated by the federal government. At times Vidal hints at some very dark, possibly governmental, forces at work - especially when he alludes to a number of conspiracy theories concerning the Oklahoma City bomb. It is clear that Vidal is highly sceptical that McVeigh acted alone, and he even hints that McVeigh may not have been involved at all. No doubt wisely, however, Vidal does not commit himself to any particular theory.

Although Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace rather unsatisfyingly does not live up to its jacket billing, it is nevertheless a thought-provoking book and one that is of some importance in current times.