Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

410 Pages·2007·14.91 MB·English

by  Stephen Kinzer

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"A detailed, I)assionateandconvincingbook ...
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STEPHEN KINZER
AUTHOR OF ALL THE SHAH'S MEN
OVERTHROW
___________4 _ ___4_ _ _11 1_11 __iii _ 2_~ __11 _ __ _
AMERICA'S CENTURY OF REGIME CHANGE
FROM HAWAII TO IRAQ
STEPHEN KINZER
TIM E S BOO K S Henry Holt and Company New York
Times Books
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010
www.henryholt.com
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of
Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 2006 by Stephen Kinzer
All rights reserved.
Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn and Company Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kinzer, Stephen.
Overthrow: America's century of regime change from Hawaii
to Iraq I Stephen Kinzer. -1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8240-1
ISBN-1O: 0-8050-8240-9
1. United States-Foreign relations-20th century. 2. Hawaii-History
Overthrow of the Monarchy, 1893.3. Iraq War, 2003-
4. Intervention (Internationallaw)-History-20th century.
5. Legitimacy of governments-History-20th century. I. Title.
E744.K49 2006
327. 73009-dc22 2005054856
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Originally published in hardcover in 2006 by Times Books
First Paperback Edition 2007
Designed by Kelly S. Too
Printed in the United States of America
791086
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
-T. S. ELIOT

DNTE S
Introduction 1
PART ONE: THE IMPERIAL ERA
1. A Hell of a Time Up at the Palace 9
2. Bound for Goo-Goo Land 31
3. From a Whorehouse to a White House S6
4. A Break in the History of the World 78
PART TWO: COVERT ACTION
S. Despotism and Godless Terrorism 111
6. Get Rid of This Stinker 129
7. Not the Preferred Way to Commit Suicide 148
8. We're Going to Smash Him 170
9. A Graveyard Smell 19S
PART THREE: INVASIONS
10. Our Days of Weakness Are Over 219
11. You're No Good 239
12. They Will Have Flies Walking Across Their Eyeballs 260
13. Thunder Run 281
14. Catastrophic Success 300
Notes 323
Bibliography 345
Acknowledgments 365
Index 367
OVERTHROW

Introduction
Why does a strong nation strike against a weaker one? Usually because
it seeks to impose its ideology, increase its power, or gain control of
valuable resources. Shifting combinations of these three factors moti
vated the United States as it extended its global reach over the past cen
tury and more. This book examines the most direct form of American
intervention, the overthrow of foreign governments.
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not an isolated episode. It was the
culmination of a nO-year period during which Americans overthrew
fourteen governments that displeased them for various ideological,
political, and economic reasons. Like each of these operations, the
"regime change" in Iraq seemed for a time-a very short time-to have
worked. It is now clear, however, that this operation has had terrible
unintended consequences. So have most of the other coups, revolu
tions, and invasions that the United States has mounted to depose gov
ernments it feared or mistrusted.
The United States uses a variety of means to persuade other countries
to do its bidding. In many cases it relies on time-honored tactics of
diplomacy, offering rewards to governments that support American
interests and threatening retaliation against those that refuse. Some
times it defends friendly regimes against popular anger or uprisings. In
more than a few places, it has quietly supported coups or revolutions
organized by others. Twice, in the context of world wars, it helped to
wipe away old ruling orders and impose new ones.
This book is not about any of those ways Americans have shaped the
modern world. It focuses only on the most extreme set of cases: those in
which the United States arranged to depose foreign leaders. No nation