Lectures in History: CIA & Regime Change in the Cold War

[MH1]

This is a one-hour history lecture that was broadcast on C-Span3 yesterday.

I caught this at about the 8 minute mark while channel surfing. I'll admit that I can't often sit through an hour of C-Span. But this time I couldn't change the channel. This is a really interesting look at some more details behind some history that many of us here kind of know about but probably didn't get in our high school or college history classes. Ok, not very detailed, because he covers several events during the hour, but certainly more than I knew before.

http://www.c-span.org/History/Events/Lectures-in-History-CIA-Regime-Change-in-the-Cold-War/10737432851-1/

Colorado School of Mines professor Kenneth Osgood looks at the CIA and regime change in the Cold War. Professor Osgood discusses several examples of the CIA’s involvement in covert regime change operations, including coups in Guatemala in 1954 and in Chile in 1973.

And actually, part of me is wondering how long this will be available on the C-Span website. Ya know?

[dipsydoodle]

1. Possibly the most odious

was intervention in Guatemala as a result of Jacobo Arbenz ,their democraticly elected President, declared intention to nationalise United Fruit's unused banana plantations. The Dulles Bros who encouraged Eisenhower to go ahead were both directly associated with United Fruit itself.

Chile was slightly different. Nationalising the copper would have has an extremely adverse effect on ITT who at the time were major contributors to the Republican Party. The number of deaths as a result of US intervention 9/11/73 was c. twice the latter day event.

[Kindly Refrain]

2. Great writer

I recommend "Total Cold War" by Osgood. It explains how after WWII all aspects of American society were geared toward war and I mean all aspects, it was inescapable. And we still are.

[MH1]

5. thanks for the info

I feel kind of out of it. I thought this guy Osgood sounded too good to be teaching at some small school somewhere. But it turns out this is a fairly prestigious institution in its niche. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_School_of_Mines

In this lecture he does mention the concept of "Total War" and how it drove the thinking behind these actions.

It also occurs to me that this kind of history is particularly relevant in a school that trains engineers for the petroleum industry.

[leveymg]

3. Back at it in the Arab World today. Same regime change tactics as used in Iran '53

and Guatemala '54. Street fights, psyops, and a western press only to eager to print it all as gospel truth.

[davidpdx]

4. Naomi Klein discussed that quite a bit in The Shock Doctrine