𝐀 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭.

America tells one story about itself. The world sees another.

After serving across Asia and the Middle East, Michael T. Lester began noticing a gap between what he was told and what he saw. The locals didn't look liberated. The missions didn't match the slogans. So he spent twenty years using his training as a historian to find out why.

𝑾𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒅 𝑮𝒖𝒚𝒔 connects what's usually kept separate: the coups, the sanctions, the covert operations, and the media narratives that frame them all as defensive, humanitarian, or necessary. Drawing on declassified documents, leaked cables, and the work of respected historians, this book traces a century of U.S. intervention and asks a question most Americans have never been encouraged to consider: What if we're not the good guys?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫:

• How U.S. wars, coups, and covert ops have reshaped nations across Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia

• How "freedom," "democracy," and "security" are used to manufacture public support for intervention

• Why the rest of the world sees America so differently than Americans do—and what they know that we don't

• The financial and intelligence tools used to destabilize countries without deploying a single soldier

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭:

"A must-read for anyone willing to question the narratives they've been taught." ★★★★★

"Should be required reading for ALL Americans." ★★★★★

"Makes your blood boil while simultaneously making you rethink everything you believe." ★★★★★

This isn't anti-American. It's pro-truth. Written for general readers in clear, direct language—no jargon, no ideology, just documented history most of us were never taught.

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐙𝐢𝐧𝐧, 𝐍𝐨𝐚𝐦 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐬𝐤𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫Michael T. Lester is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps combat pilot who served across Asia and the Middle East. Now a cybersecurity executive, he spent two decades researching U.S. foreign policy, national security strategy, and the gap between America's stated values and its actual behavior abroad. He writes to help readers see past slogans and understand how power really works.