Probably. But what has that got to do with this book? Do people have to pass some litmus test in order to be credible? Should we apply that litmus test to yourself as well?
I, for one, suspect the world did benefit from forcing Saddam from Kuwait, stopping Milosevic's reign of terror, and overthrowing the Taliban. Are you really defending these regimes, or are you merely questioning the U.S.' right to use force for any reason, good or bad?
Yes, people do have to pass a personal litmus test, unless we want to really confuse ourselves.
How does an over the top "hawk" come to be writing a revelation of JFK vs hawks?
We drove Saddam back from Kuwait? We winked at Saddam's plans to invade Kuwait and we had supplied the chemical weapons he used. See: April Glaspie and the cables
Also, Talbot's original comments are either intended to deceive or they're naive.
"....destroy the terrorist occupation of Afghanistan...."?
Basically America/CIA set up the TALIBAN and invented Al Qaeda post 2001.
As Zbigniew Brzezinski began telling the story a few years ago, America went into Afghanistan 6 months BEFORE the Russians in order to bait them into Afghanistan . . . "in hopes of giving them a Vietnam type experience."
In other words, our CIA recognized that religous fanatics make excellent warriors and we organized them and armed them.
Our presence in Afghanistan has more to do with our control of drug production -- and seemingly the profits.
Our invasions and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq -- "to protect US interests" -- and that would be OIL which we are now privatizing -- has only increased terrorism in the area and worldwide.
We've killed 655,000 innocent Iraqi civilians to protect private oil interests . . .
See: Brig. General Smedley Darlington Butler's "War is a Racket"
and to enrich warprofiteers. But, nothing new in any of that!
Talbot's comments ...
"From the Gulf War on, the hawks have been on the right side in all the major debates about U.S. intervention in the world's troubles."
are startlingly arrogant and brutal when we recognize that our CIA has been creating coups all over the world and controlling elections of other nations to keep right-wing governments in place post-WWII.
And those tactics have been brought to bear against American citizens, as well.
There is much to be told of the Kennedy's and their battles against warmongers, especially as we are reliving this history today -- but with the warmongers totally in charge!