Excellent must read interviews with author, scholar and CIA veteran Chalmers Johnson published by Tomdispatch. His decades of intelligence and political experience, knowledge of history and academic discipline make Johnson one of the most insightful and effective analysts and critics of the current administration and the potentially devastating course America is set on, and the likely disastrous ramifications to the continued future of the republic. Of particular note are his points about the fiscal insolvency of the nation and the impact that will have on the nation’s future.

Something personally interesting with the history and biography of Johnson are his credentials as a veteran cold warrior, and his unwavering belief in the resistance to the USSR. He was even a supporter of the war in Vietnam at the time, as well as an advocate of the projection of American power in opposition to international communism. I, too, shared certain elements of support for those positions during that period, and like Johnson, saw the fall of the USSR as a crowning achievement and opportunity to scale back the enormous expenditure in armaments and militarization of our national security state.

But as he points out, that was not in the agenda of the ruling corporate classes which run our empire, and new enemies had to be created to justify the ever-expanding domination of global corporatism and the military-industrial complex.

It truly is a shameful sickness afflicting what is left of our republic.

Read the complete Tomdispatch interviews…
Part 1 - Cold Warrior In a Strange Land
Part 2 - Our Fading Republic