America's Strategic Blunders: Intelligence Analysis and National Security Policy, 1936-1991

University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2001. 367pp. The book begins with a look back at the role of U. S. intelligence during World War II, from Pearl Harbor through the plot against Hitler and the D-day invasion to the unconditional surrender of Japan, and reveals how better use of the intelligence available could have saved many lives and shortened the war. The following chapters dealing with the Cold War disclose what information and advice U. S. intelligence analysts passed on to policy makers, and also what sometimes bitter policy debates occurred within the Communist camp, concerning Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, the turmoil in Eastern Europe, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars in the Middle East, and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. In many ways, this is a story of missed opportunities the U. S. government had to conduct a more responsible foreign policy that could have avoided large losses of life and massive expenditures on arms buildups. Previous owner name crossed out on ffep. Text otherwise clean.. 1st Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Very Good+. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.