Book Review: Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War by Andrew J. Bacevich
After reading a few chapters of "Washington Rules," it might seem mystifying why its author is not more of a rising star in Washington politics. Andrew Bacevich is so know-ledgeable about his topic -- history and political science -- so analytically solid in his reasoning and so articulate, it seems a wonder that he has not been tapped by some administration or other to serve as a foreign policy advisor or even an assistant cabinet official. After finishing the book, however, the mystery resolves itself. The reason Bacevich remains a lowly college professor is because he persists in exposing troublesome, inconvenient facts that few in Washington even want to acknowledge, much less discuss seriously.
For example, in commenting on President Barack Obama's choice of advisors, the author writes: "By retaining Robert Gates as defense secretary and by appointing retired four-star officers as his national security adviser and intelligence director, Obama had already offered Washington assurances that he was not contemplating a radical departure from the existing pattern of national security policy." Furthermore, "Obama wanted it known that by sending tens of thousands of additional troops to fight in Afghanistan his own administration was carrying on the work his predecessors had begun. Their policies were his policies."
The crux of the book is the author's cogent observation that since the end of World War II, United States foreign policy has adhered to a rigid and orthodox set of principles -- what he calls the "Washington Rules." When it comes to international politics, Bacevich asserts, the American government has largely held firm to a credo that "summons the United States -- and the United States alone -- to lead, save, liberate, and ultimately transform the world." Most importantly, adherence to this credo has remained inviolate regardless of which party has been in power.
According to Bacevich, this belief has resulted in a "sacred trinity" of strategy initiatives that "require the United States to maintain a global military presence, to configure its forces for global power projection, and to counter existing or anticipated threats by relying on a policy of global interventionism." In other words, not only do those in power feel it is America's job to be the world's police force, it is our manifest destiny to have the world's biggest S.W.A.T. team.
Bacevich supports his thesis with copious examples from recent history. From covert C.I.A. operations such as the 1953 coup d'