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adam_mcphee's Reviews (2.87k)
Memoirs of a British diplomat turned spy/soldier. He spent his prewar years sneaking around Soviet Russia, particularly in Central Asia. During the war he snuck into German occupied Benghazi and fought with Tito’s Partisans in Yugoslavia.
We lost the war in southern Afghanistan and it broke my heart.
Everyone pretended to care but nothing ever happened. They passed captured troops over to ruthless jailers and pretended torture didn't happen. They burned poppy crops but never bothered looking into the actual drug trade, which seems to be responsible for the flow of weapons into the country. They insisted troop surges and airstrikes would cripple the enemy when it only riled them.
Smith cared. He spent years in Afghanistan alongside soldiers, warlords, governors, insurgents and everyday people. His belief that international intervention could improve the country makes his conclusions all the more damning.
The thing that bothers me is that no one ever learns: Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. This time it'll be different. But it never is.
The bleakest, but probably best book I've read on Afghanistan.
Everyone pretended to care but nothing ever happened. They passed captured troops over to ruthless jailers and pretended torture didn't happen. They burned poppy crops but never bothered looking into the actual drug trade, which seems to be responsible for the flow of weapons into the country. They insisted troop surges and airstrikes would cripple the enemy when it only riled them.
Smith cared. He spent years in Afghanistan alongside soldiers, warlords, governors, insurgents and everyday people. His belief that international intervention could improve the country makes his conclusions all the more damning.
The thing that bothers me is that no one ever learns: Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. This time it'll be different. But it never is.
The bleakest, but probably best book I've read on Afghanistan.
The Ling sisters like to mock North Koreans for their worship of then leader Kim Jong-il, which makes their adulation of American celebrities like Oprah and Democrats like Al Gore bitterly ironic. At least with the Koreans you get the sense they're doing it out of fear. The Ling sisters, however, don't have that excuse to fall back on.
Picked this up after hearing an interview with the author on CBC's The Current. Want to read his book on Rwanda now.
Brilliant. Does a great job of capturing life in the Congo. He finds the exciting side, as opposed to the dreary norm you get from so much reporting out of Africa.
Favourite bits:
– The pygmies who sold their forest for soap. They used to be able to make it themselves, but they've forgotten how. And their chief doesn't think the mining companies could possibly destroy their whole forest. Sad.
– Realization that ad buys skyrocket when fighting breaks out in Kinshasa.
– When the author spends a night hanging out with street children.
– The trip into the country by going up the river, if only because it avoided all those Heart of Darkness clichés.
Brilliant. Does a great job of capturing life in the Congo. He finds the exciting side, as opposed to the dreary norm you get from so much reporting out of Africa.
Favourite bits:
– The pygmies who sold their forest for soap. They used to be able to make it themselves, but they've forgotten how. And their chief doesn't think the mining companies could possibly destroy their whole forest. Sad.
– Realization that ad buys skyrocket when fighting breaks out in Kinshasa.
– When the author spends a night hanging out with street children.
– The trip into the country by going up the river, if only because it avoided all those Heart of Darkness clichés.
In a society based upon exploitation, the highest moral is that of the social revolution. All methods are good which raise the class consciousness of the workers, their trust in their own forces, their readiness for self-sacrifice in the struggle. The impermissible methods are those which implant fear and submissiveness in the oppressed before their oppressors, which crush the spirit of protest and indignation or substitute for the will of the masses — the will of the leaders; for conviction — compulsion; for an analysis of reality — demagogy and frame-up. That is why Social Democracy, prostituting Marxism, and Stalinism — the antithesis of Bolshevism — are both mortal enemies of the proletarian revolution and its morals.
To face reality squarely; not to seek the line of least resistance; to call things by their right names; to speak the truth to the masses, no matter how bitter it may be; not to fear obstacles; to be true in little things as in big ones; to base one’s program on the logic of the class struggle; to be bold when the hour for action arrives these are the rules of the Fourth International. It has shown that it could swim against the stream. The approaching historical wave will raise it on its crest.
The writing's as stiff and boring as it gets, but the transitional program sounds okay. In particular:
- Form factory committees to create a dual power structure in the workplace.
- Form soviets to create dual power in the country. (Maybe don't call them Soviets. I'm picturing them as like the Venezuelan communes in the recent Ciccaiarello book?).
- Expropriation of the Private Banks and Nationalization of the Credit System.
However, the nationalization of the banks will produce these favorable results only if the state power itself passes completely from the hands of the exploiters into the hands of the toilers.
- Sliding wage scales and sliding scale of hours.
- Build alliances between workers and farmers. Because farmers aren't traditional workers, sort of unique in their national circumstances.
- Arm the picket lines and arm the unions. So that capitalists will start to take workers seriously.
- Smash fascism.
- Fight against imperialism by demanding an end to secret treaties. "The complete diplomatic correspondence of the Kremlin to be published. Down with secret diplomacy!"
- Open the road to the woman worker! Open the road to youth!
To face reality squarely; not to seek the line of least resistance; to call things by their right names; to speak the truth to the masses, no matter how bitter it may be; not to fear obstacles; to be true in little things as in big ones; to base one’s program on the logic of the class struggle; to be bold when the hour for action arrives these are the rules of the Fourth International. It has shown that it could swim against the stream. The approaching historical wave will raise it on its crest.
The writing's as stiff and boring as it gets, but the transitional program sounds okay. In particular:
- Form factory committees to create a dual power structure in the workplace.
- Form soviets to create dual power in the country. (Maybe don't call them Soviets. I'm picturing them as like the Venezuelan communes in the recent Ciccaiarello book?).
- Expropriation of the Private Banks and Nationalization of the Credit System.
Spoiler
The expropriation of the banks in no case implies the expropriation of bank de- posits. On the contrary, the single state bank will be able to create much more favorable conditions for the small depositors than could the private banks. In the same way, only the state bank can establish for farmers, tradesmen and small merchants conditions of favorable, that is, cheap credit. Even more important, however, is the circumstance that the entire economy — first and foremost large-scale industry and transport directed by a single financial staff, will serve the vital interests of the workers and all other toilers.However, the nationalization of the banks will produce these favorable results only if the state power itself passes completely from the hands of the exploiters into the hands of the toilers.
- Sliding wage scales and sliding scale of hours.
- Build alliances between workers and farmers. Because farmers aren't traditional workers, sort of unique in their national circumstances.
- Arm the picket lines and arm the unions. So that capitalists will start to take workers seriously.
- Smash fascism.
- Fight against imperialism by demanding an end to secret treaties. "The complete diplomatic correspondence of the Kremlin to be published. Down with secret diplomacy!"
- Open the road to the woman worker! Open the road to youth!
