The Ruses for War: American Interventionism Since World War II

Quigley's simplistic purpose here is to determine whether postwar U.S. administrations have been ``truthful'' regarding military interventions abroad or whether they gave a ``distorted picture.'' He concludes that although they have been successful in convincing Congress and the public not to block (if not support) interventions, our presidents have not always ``divulged the truth, at least not the whole truth.'' Case in point: the 1983 invasion of Grenada was ostensibly lauched to rescue American students, but they were not in danger (nor were those Cuban construction workers a military unit). Quigley argues that fighting communism was the rationale for Washington's expeditionary efforts in Korea and Vietnam, but that the goverment was less interested in keeping the Chinese and Russians at bay than in drawing Korea and Vietnam ``into the market-economy sphere.'' He predicts, predictably, that U.S. administrations will continue ``not to be forthright'' regarding the reasons for dispatching American troops overseas. Quigley is a law professor at Ohio State University. (Sept.)