Peter Dale Scott at Mrs. Dalloway's bookstore in Berkeley

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Peter Dale Scott
Mrs. Dalloway's bookstore, Berkeley
Thursday, January 13, 7:30 p.m.

Peter Dale Scott reads from _American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan_. (Rowman & Littlefield, $34.95) This provocative, thoroughly researched book explores the covert aspects of U.S. foreign policy. Prominent political analyst Scott marshals compelling evidence to expose the extensive growth of sanctioned but illicit violence in politics and state affairs, especially when related to America's long-standing involvement with the global drug traffic.

Beginning with Thailand in the 1950s, Americans have become inured to the CIA's alliances with drug traffickers (and their bankers) to install and sustain right-wing governments. The pattern has repeated itself in Laos, Vietnam, Italy, Mexico, Thailand, Nigeria, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Panama, Honduras, Turkey, Pakistan, and now Afghanistan--to name only those countries dealt with in this book.

Scott shows that the relationship of U.S. intelligence operators and agencies to the global drug traffic, and to other international criminal networks, deserves greater attention in the debate over the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. To date, America's government and policies have done more to foster than to curtail the drug trade. The so-called "war on terror", and in particular the war in Afghanistan, constitutes only the latest chapter in this disturbing story.

"With exhaustive research and extremely persuasive arguments, Scott seeks to prove that the funding and motivation behind America's assertion of global supremacy can be traced to drugs. By looking at covert activity and recorded history through the lens of American global dominance, Scott makes a terrifyingly compelling case; he asks readers to consider what actions taken in the last 50 years have not benefited America's military-industrial complex, such an integral part of the global economy. . . . His carefully structured arguments never fail to interest or disturb." -- Kirkus (starred review)

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Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, is a leading political analyst and poet. His most recent book is are The Road to 9/11. A recipient of a Lannan Poetry Award, he can be found at http://www.peterdalescott.net.


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posted by JA