Peter Dale Scott
Encyclopedia
Peter Dale Scott is a Canadian
born, former English professor at the University of California, Berkeley
, a former diplomat and a poet.
A son of the Canadian poet and constitutional lawyer F. R. Scott
and painter Marian Dale Scott
, he has been critical of American foreign policy since the era of the Vietnam War
. Scott was a signatory in 1968 of the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, in which participants vowed to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. He spent four years (1957–1961) with the Canadian diplomatic service. He retired from the UC Berkeley faculty in 1994.
and the deaths of as many as half a million people, in which he believed the CIA to have played a role.
Scott is far from a stridently political poet, working always to connect the polemical to the personal. In Coming to Jakarta he writes:
In the context of this emotional and psychological side of conflict, Scott alternates between descriptions of his own life—"dressed up in polished / gaiters with a buttonhook"—and the massive violence of his principal subject. Somewhere between confessional and scholarly, his poems often contain citations in the margins.
Scott has described his poem Minding the Darkness as his most important, though he concedes that "Like other long poems by older men. . . it toys dangerously with abstract didactic principles." The poem is intended as the culmination of a major poetic project of which Coming to Jakarta was the inception.
" to describe his political concerns. His interest in contemporary history has spilled over into his works of poetry, some of which must contain marginal notes to explain to readers which documents or real-world news events are being referred to. His book, The Road to 9/11 (2007), deals with geopolitical context of events leading to 9/11, and describes "how U.S. foreign policy since the 1960s has led to partial or total cover-ups of past domestic criminal acts, including, perhaps, the catastrophe of 9/11." The Road to 9/11 is the only one of Peter Dale Scott's book available in French
under the title La Route vers le Nouveau Désordre Mondial. The latter was reviewed in March 2011 by Bernard Norlain, a retired French five-star
General of the Air Force.
Of Scott's book, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan (2010) Daniel Ellsberg
commented: "I said of Scott's last brilliant take on this subject, Drugs, Oil and War, that 'It makes most academic and journalistic explanations of our past and current interventions read like government propaganda written for children.' Now Scott has written an even better book [...]"
An aspect of Scott's work that combines both his investigating interests and his poetry is illustrated by The Global Drug Meta-Group: Drugs, Managed Violence, and the Russian 9/11.
Deep politics discussion forum and video channel:
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
born, former English professor at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, a former diplomat and a poet.
A son of the Canadian poet and constitutional lawyer F. R. Scott
F. R. Scott
Francis Reginald Scott, CC commonly known as Frank Scott or F.R. Scott, was a Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional expert. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and its successor, the New Democratic Party...
and painter Marian Dale Scott
Marian Dale Scott
Marian Dale Scott was a Canadian painter.She was born Marian Dale in Montreal. She showed talent at an early age, her first works being exhibited in 1918. After study in Paris and London she returned to her home city, where in 1928 she married the poet and law professor F. R. Scott...
, he has been critical of American foreign policy since the era of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Scott was a signatory in 1968 of the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, in which participants vowed to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. He spent four years (1957–1961) with the Canadian diplomatic service. He retired from the UC Berkeley faculty in 1994.
Literary works
In terms of poetry, he is best known for his book-length poem Coming to Jakarta (subtitled "a poem about terror"), which describes in measured, prosodically regular verse the 1965 crisis in Indonesia that resulted in the Indonesian Civil WarIndonesian Civil War
Indonesia's transition to the "New Order" in the mid-1960s, ousted the country's first president, Sukarno after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country's modern history, it was the commencement of Suharto's 32-year presidency.Described as the great dhalang ,...
and the deaths of as many as half a million people, in which he believed the CIA to have played a role.
Scott is far from a stridently political poet, working always to connect the polemical to the personal. In Coming to Jakarta he writes:
- To have learnt from terror
to see oneself
as part of the enemy - can be a reassurance
In the context of this emotional and psychological side of conflict, Scott alternates between descriptions of his own life—"dressed up in polished / gaiters with a buttonhook"—and the massive violence of his principal subject. Somewhere between confessional and scholarly, his poems often contain citations in the margins.
Scott has described his poem Minding the Darkness as his most important, though he concedes that "Like other long poems by older men. . . it toys dangerously with abstract didactic principles." The poem is intended as the culmination of a major poetic project of which Coming to Jakarta was the inception.
Contemporary politics
Scott has written about the role of the "deep state" (as opposed to the "public state"). Rejecting the label of "conspiracy theory", he has used the phrase "deep politicsDeep politics
Deep politics is a phrase coined by researcher and academic Peter Dale Scott, which he describes thus;Scott has extensively researched political processes that fly under the radar of conscious political activity, are omitted from discourse on the right and the left, and are many times intertwined...
" to describe his political concerns. His interest in contemporary history has spilled over into his works of poetry, some of which must contain marginal notes to explain to readers which documents or real-world news events are being referred to. His book, The Road to 9/11 (2007), deals with geopolitical context of events leading to 9/11, and describes "how U.S. foreign policy since the 1960s has led to partial or total cover-ups of past domestic criminal acts, including, perhaps, the catastrophe of 9/11." The Road to 9/11 is the only one of Peter Dale Scott's book available in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
under the title La Route vers le Nouveau Désordre Mondial. The latter was reviewed in March 2011 by Bernard Norlain, a retired French five-star
5 star rank
Five-star rank is a now widely-used term derived from the United States military description for a general or admiral whose badge of rank is designated by five stars...
General of the Air Force.
Of Scott's book, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan (2010) Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg, PhD, is a former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War,...
commented: "I said of Scott's last brilliant take on this subject, Drugs, Oil and War, that 'It makes most academic and journalistic explanations of our past and current interventions read like government propaganda written for children.' Now Scott has written an even better book [...]"
An aspect of Scott's work that combines both his investigating interests and his poetry is illustrated by The Global Drug Meta-Group: Drugs, Managed Violence, and the Russian 9/11.
Political
- The War Conspiracy (1972, out of print)
- The Assassinations: Dallas and Beyond (in collaboration, 1976, ISBN 0-394-40107-7)
- Crime and Cover-Up: The CIA, the Mafia, and the Dallas-Watergate Connection (1977, ISBN 0-87867-066-1)
- Introduction to Henrik Kruger's The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence, & International Fascism (1980, ISBN 0-89608-031-5)
- The Iran-Contra Connection (in collaboration, 1987, ISBN 0-89608-291-1)
- Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America (in collaboration, 1991, 1998, ISBN 0-520-21449-8)
- Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (1993, 1996, ISBN 0-520-20519-7)
- Deep Politics Two: Essays on Oswald, Mexico, and Cuba (1995, 2007, ISBN 0-9790-0994-4)
- Drugs Oil and War (2003, ISBN 0-7425-2522-8)
- The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire and the Future of America (September 2007, ISBN 0-5202-3773-0)
- The War Conspiracy: JFK, 911, and the Deep Politics of War (2008 reissue and expansion of 1972 edition) (July 2008, ISBN 978-0980121360)
- American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan (November 2010 - ISBN 978-0742555945)
Poetry
- Coming to Jakarta: A Poem About Terror (1989, ISBN 0-8112-1095-2)
- Listening to the Candle: A Poem on Impulse (1992, ISBN 0-8112-1214-9)
- Crossing Borders: Selected Shorter Poems (1994, ISBN 0-8112-1284-X)
- Minding the Darkness: A Poem for the Year 2000 (2000, ISBN 0-8112-1454-0)
- Mosaic Orpheus (2009, ISBN 978-0-7735-3506-0)
External links
Deep politics discussion forum and video channel:
- http://www.deeppoliticsforum.com - In his wide-ranging talk, Peter Dale Scott points out similarities that arise when you look at the assassination of JFK and the all events of 9/11. (COPA meeting in Dallas, Texas, November 18, 2006)
- Richard Cheney, Continuity of Government, and 9/11 - VIDEO: A talk by Scott given at the 9/11 Accountability Conference, Chandler, Arizona, February 25, 2007.
- Interview: University of Berkeley about his book: The Road to 911 Video
- Five poems at Jacket Magazine
- Interview from Words Without BordersWords Without BordersWords Without Borders is an international magazine opened to international exchange through translation, publication, and promotion of the world’s best writing and authors who are not easily accessible to English-speaking readers....
- Interview from Electric Politics.