Chalmers Johnson Dies at 79; Criticized U.S. Role in World

[joeybee12]

Chalmers Johnson, an Asian studies scholar who stirred controversy with books contending that the United States was trying to create a global empire and was paying a stiff price for it, died Saturday at his home in Cardiff-by-the Sea, Calif. He was 79.

The cause was complications of rheumatoid arthritis, his wife, Sheila, said.

Dr. Johnson, who considered himself a longtime cold warrior, was a consultant to the Central Intelligence Agency for many years. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union he became concerned that the United States was increasingly using its military presence to gain power over the global economy.

In “Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire” (Metropolitan Books, 2000), Dr. Johnson wondered why America’s military spending continued to rise after the cold war had ended. He concluded that through a network of more than 700 strategic bases around the world, the United States was committed to creating global hegemony. And he worried about the consequences for American democracy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/24johnson.html?_r=1&hpw

I've never read his books...but reading about them in his obituary makes me want to.

[Kennah]

1. He appeared in "Why We Fight" ...

... and he was brilliant. Frightening, but brilliant.

[EFerrari]

2. You're in for a treat. He wrote "Blowback" before 9/11.

Way ahead of the curve.

[joeybee12]

3. Yeah..I noticed that...scary sort of, I guess...nt

[EFerrari]

5. Well, it may be less scary to think that this country, like all countries,

has the same power blocks jockeying for position, no matter what we were taught in school about democracy and the government "serving" us. Then 9/11 starts to look more like a logical consequence of our foreign policy and so on.

[jwirr]

4. His books are the opening to the real problems of this world. I wish

I could get my children and grand children to read them.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. His books are a wealth of information.