Origins of the National Security State and the Legacy of Harry S. Truman

This book is a collection of essays on the origins of the US concept of national security, particularly in terms of Truman’s presidency. Beginning with the first chapter, by Douglas Stewart, we see how WWII brought about the need for a government agency devoted to being the “eyes and ears” for what was going on overseas. We had the FBI for internal security, and J. Edgar Hoover concentrated on rooting out subversives, but until WWII, there was no overseas branch of US intelligence. It wasn’t until after Pearl Harbor that Congress saw the need for this, and what we started with was the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which would eventually become the CIA.

One of the problems that Stewart points out is that the military has always had the upper hand when it comes to foreign intelligence. This is a problem, as a lot of the threats today, from terrorism to drug cartels, require closer surveillance than the military is ready for. The US military can guard the borders, but how are they at spying? What about phone tapping, close observation, and undercover work? As far back as the 1980’s, Columbia’s drug cartels were experts at evading armies, navies, and coast guards, so how effective would the military be at fighting them? In the post 9/11 world, the threat isn’t from national armies like the Soviet Union, but fighters who answer to no government. What this country developed under Truman’s Cold War policy doesn’t work well now.

A later chapter by Benjamin O. Fordham tackles the changes in military spending. He notes that Woodrow Wilson wanted to increase the role of the USA in foreign affairs, but it didn’t happen. You can’t really blame the president for it; Congress had always been in favor of neutrality, and the wealthiest men in the country wanted it too. They didn’t want the USA to have a bigger military budget because then the government would have to raise taxes, which no American wants. He writes that the huge military expenditures began in the Truman administration and continues to this day. In some ways I wonder if maybe it began because he could get away with it? While the USA had huge war debts to pay, we also had a monopoly on shipping, air travel, manufacturing, and agriculture, with low gas prices and a much smaller prison system budget. Workers were paid less, insurance was low, and we weren’t paranoid about drug dealing and terrorism. Perhaps we spent more on the military because there was less debate on how to pay for it?

These scholars all give good insights on the involvement of the USA in foreign affairs after WWII ended. Compared to the War on Terror of today, it makes me wonder how much of this fear is based on paranoia.