Review by Booklist Review
Highly regarded political analyst Solomon explains how America's perpetual war machine, with operations in dozens of countries and hundreds of military bases on foreign soil, remains largely hidden from the public eye and official scrutiny. Much of the fighting is done remotely today, by drones and special operations forces, and the victims are largely unknown. Despite the enormous amount of money spent on "defense" that squeezes out domestic spending on urgently needed social programs, the public is not apprised of the harm done by what is prioritized by the federal government. Furthermore, the author observes that racism informs both who is bombed and who is neglected by this imbalance. Solomon brings his well-honed and extensive experience in media criticism to bear on the silence. War Made Invisible is an engrossing story of governmental hubris and media compliance, contrasting the silence about war's impact when America is the aggressor versus the outpouring of compassion for victims when an adversary attacks. Solomon offers a necessary beam of light on an important subject shrouded in darkness.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Journalist Solomon (Made Love, Got War) offers a sharp critique of Republicans and Democrats who advocate for military action, U.S. media coverage that makes it easier to sell wars to the public, and the often-hidden cost of civilian casualties from errant U.S. attacks. He claims that when Russia targeted Ukrainian cities during the recent invasion, the U.S. media was "all-hands-on-deck with empathetic, poignant reporting.... But, when American missiles and bombs hit population centers over the previous two decades, the human tragedies rarely got anything more than short shrift." (He also notes that the architect of the U.S. military's "shock and awe" strategy in the 2003 Iraq has "judged the Russia effort to be of inferior quality, with mild impact compared to what he had pushed the Pentagon to inflict on Baghdad.") Elsewhere, Solomon critiques the Biden administration for providing weapons and logistical support to Saudi Arabia while the country wages war in Yemen, notes that the Pentagon's annual funding for special operations has increased by $10 billion since 2001, and calls out the "U.S. media establishment" for giving "full-throated support" to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, only to offer a much harsher judgment 20 years later. Though Solomon paints U.S. journalism and foreign policy in broad strokes, he builds a convincing case that too many secrets are being kept from the public. It's a troubling and worthwhile call for change. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Political analyst/journalist Solomon (War Made Easy) is the author of 12 books about the military and related media issues. In this book, he asserts that media outlets and the U.S. military sometimes closely coordinate the release of information. He contends that rosy press releases that journalists receive from the DOD are often accepted without much scrutiny and with little respect for the victims of the wars. The book describes notable bombing campaigns, and the author argues that dead civilians in faraway countries are barely noticed and that the American public largely ignores the cost in dollars and foreign blood. This work provides a much needed, if sometimes overwrought, cautionary approach to mainstream journalism. VERDICT Ideal for libraries with military or political collections. Valuable for libraries with journalism titles.--Edwin Burgess
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The role of government and media in concealing the consequences of war. With formidable clarity, Solomon, the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of War Made Easy, documents how the so-called war on terror has spawned an endless and secretive program of foreign interventions. The author is particularly eloquent in explaining how the media's exclusive focus on past and potential "American suffering" in framing such activities has meant that "there [isn't] much room to see or care about the suffering of others, even if--or especially if--it was caused by the United States." Solomon points out that this pattern of selective moral attention accompanies a widespread ignorance of the actual policies being carried out by the American military and its numerous contractors. Particularly persuasive are the author's illustrations of how media outlets have been coopted into producing what is essentially war propaganda and how journalists who seek to question the honesty of government officials are routinely silenced. Solomon makes a striking comparison between the American media's strong interest in the losses endured by Ukrainian civilians after the recent Russian invasion and its indifference to the fate of Iraqi civilians after America's invasion in 2003. As such, it should be no wonder how fantasies of an incorruptible national innocence--or what the author memorably dubs "the standard Manichean autopilot of American thought"--have been perpetuated. Solomon may have offered a somewhat deeper analysis of why American journalism fails to live up to its ideals in reporting on war and the reasons why political leaders might feel compelled to traffic in deception when addressing the public. Nonetheless, the author presents an incisive and provocative overview of the consequences of the media's appalling failures in making important truths known. A powerful, necessary indictment of efforts to disguise the human toll of American foreign policy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
