3. ENEMIES: A HISTORY OF THE FBI - CHAPTERS NINE - TWELVE (73 - 108) ~ June 18th - June 24th; No Spoilers, Please

[David]

Great commentary on these chapters so far. After reading the last chapter, what sticks out to me was the lack of communication between the different intelligence factions which may have alerted the U.S. to the Pearl Harbor attack. One has to wonder how the course of history would have changed had this communication happened. And would this have been a good thing. It could have delayed our entry into WWII even further and possibly have given Germany the time to make even further conquests. The lack of communication is also strikingly similar to what we learned of post 911 intelligence as well.

[Bryan]

David wrote: "Great commentary on these chapters so far. After reading the last chapter, what sticks out to me was the lack of communication between the different intelligence factions which may have alerted th..."

So true, David. It seems the different intelligence players were working in silos. Hoover was supposed to coordinate all this, but I think some people were not sharing.

[Cynthia]

While it's true there were spying activities going on, this doesn't explain why Hoover insisted that this was connected to the class struggle going on between workers and bosses in the United States at the time. In doing so, he extended the boundaries of the "Red Scare" although not all workers fighting for their civil liberties and benefits were Communists then, nor are they today.

[Bryan]

Cynthia wrote: "While it's true there were spying activities going on, this doesn't explain why Hoover insisted that this was connected to the class struggle going on between workers and bosses in the United State..."

Yeah, it seems he really disliked all strikers, maybe it upset the "American way of life," thus they were on his watch list. Crazy.

[Phil]

Tim wrote: "Let me ask you Good Readers a rhetorical question: What parallels and similarities do you find in the story thus far, up to World War Two, with what went on in the US after the 9/11 attacks? Any be..."

Well, in addition to the civil liberties concerns others have mentioned here, with which I agree, it seems we still haven't learned much about the importance of learning foreign languages. Weren't the NSA and the CIA (and I'm sure the FBI and other government agencies too) having trouble finding enough Arabic speakers to work for them after 9/11?

[Bryan]

Yes indeed, Phil. You really stick out if you don't know the language.

[Virginia]

Bryan wrote, "Yeah, it seems he really disliked all strikers, maybe it upset the "American way of life," thus they were on his watch list. Crazy.

While I thought Hoover placed everyone from common citizen strikers to real spys and Communists in the 'threat to the U.S.' category, I wonder just what was his definition of the "American way of life." He paid no attention at all to the possibility that he might be attacking and ruining the lives of innocent, salt-of-the-earth true Americans in the process of going after and capturing enemies of democracy. He did use the war to 'blow off' all criticisms of his obsession with using wiretapping as the main method of evidence-gathering. Ironically, he almost got caught in his own enemies/undesirables/immoral behavior exposure trap, as the concept of collateral damage didn't appear to exist in his thought processes.

[Bryan]

Yes, indeed, Virginia, he has narrow vision. I'm going to ask Tim if he could elaborate on Hoover's "American way of life."

[Brian]

I had to come back to this section (pages 106 to 109) to comment on the map FDR referenced in his speech on July 11, 1941

FDR said: “This map makes clear the Nazi design not only against South America but against the United States itself.”

Weiner notes that "the map was a fake, manufactured by British intelligence. The ploy, calculated to help draw the United States into the war in Europe..."

Our Ally, forging documents and false intelligence to drag us into the war. Reprehensible - and apparently forgotten.

[Bryan]

So true, Brian. We forget that and we ate it up.