The Spoils of War

Power, Profit and the American War Machine

By: Andrew Cockburn

Narrated by: Qarie Marshall

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

In the last decades, America has gone to war as supposed defenders of democracy. The War on Terror was waged to protect the West from the dangers of Islamists. US soldiers are stationed in more than 800 locations across the world to act as the righteous arbiters of the rule of law. In this book, Andrew Cockburn brilliantly dissects the intentions behind Washington's martial appetites.

The American war machine can only be understood in terms of the private passions and interests of those who control it - principally a passionate interest in money. Thus, as Cockburn witheringly reports, Washington expanded NATO to satisfy an arms manufacturer's urgent financial requirements; the US Navy's Pacific fleet deployments were for years dictated by a corrupt contractor who bribed high-ranking officers with cash and prostitutes; senior marine commanders agreed to a troop surge in Afghanistan in 2017 because it will do us good at budget time. After years of wide-ranging research, Cockburn lays bare the ugly reality of the largest military machine in history: squalid and, at the same time, terrifyingly dangerous.

©2021 Andrew Cockburn (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Mind numbing truths!

This exposee leaves you searching for hope on the whole putrid/hopeless business of war and the war of global financial greed and corruption which robs all of humanity of any semblamce of dignity or kidness.

Sad... I mean, I knew there was corruption....

it's hard to believe the amount of corruption that is both on the Democratic and Republican side of the United States. If every American read this book it would be a revolution next week

MUST READ

Excellent researched book with ample evidence that 'Merikkka is the most corrupt regime in the world and in all history. Thanks to its rapacious capitalistic nature and under the leadership of psychopaths and sociopaths in has been a menace to peace loving peoples since its foundation. An evil empire that sees ills in the world when they are simply projections of themselves.

This is fantastic!

The author has some great data and the narrator has a very clear and pleasant voice. There was so much relevant information, especially with respect to what's happening now with NATO and the Ukraine and Russia that this is literally a must read! I have one complaint and that is the last chapter. Its about financial institutions and derivatives with a very tenuous tie to the theme of the book -- almost like it was an afterthought. The information wasn't bad nor uninteresting -- I just kept wondering how this was tied to the military industrial complex the whole time and I never saw the connection other than some brief mentions of Malaysia and no longer supporting North Korea.

Truth

This book answered the questions Americans are asking, what happened to our country. And why it has happened so pervasively.

the title is incorrect

so, there are a lot of statements as a matter of fact but not much by way of reference matter to verify fact. some strange things too like making the A-10 reference about how it will be decommissioned in 2015 but then no mention immediately of current day bases still employing the A-10 such as the 25th in osan. but there was reference to how it stuck around later but.... did the audi le narrators mis some lines? maybe I skipped forward so smoothly I couldn't tell I missed content? there were some good points that I have seen personally from being in the military for ten years but lots of this book is expanded emotional hyperbole.... less backed up fact. also the title is wrong. it's, sure, the spoils of war but it's missing "and what I think about the economic mechanisms in government" not tied to war or the military outside of the fact that there are dollars in the military and dollars in the banks. lots of talk bout the mid 00's but just no military connections. housing bubble and Saudi money ...... with no connection to how they are the spoils of war, military or otherwise.

Strange

I’m generally a big Cockburn fan and agree with most of what he says here, but this feels like a very disjointed book. The sudden pivot to high finance in the last few chapters after a near-exclusive focus on military industrial malfeasance for the first 75% of the book is jarring. It feels like it lacks any kind of coherent thesis and is kind of just Cockburn “playing the hits”. Overall a worthwhile read, but if you’ve been following Cockburn’s career there won’t be much new here.