A letter to Andrew Bachevich: I decided to test my new Kindle out as I bought my first online book entitled "Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War." I am loving the book and decided to email the author, Professor Andrew Bachevich just that.

A little background on the author:

According to Wiki "Andrew Bachevich is the Director of Undergraduate Studies; Professor of International Relations and History. (BS, United States Military Academy; MA, PhD, Princeton) Specialization: American Diplomatic and Military History, U. S. Foreign Policy, Security Studies. He is a retired career officer in the United States Army. He is the author of Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (2010). His previous books include The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008); The Long War: A New History of US National Security Policy since World War II (2007) (editor); The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War (2005); and American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U. S. Diplomacy (2002). His essays and reviews have appeared in a variety of scholarly and general interest publications including The Wilson Quarterly, The National Interest, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Nation, and The New Republic. His op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Boston Globe, and Los Angeles Times, among other newspapers."

In addition to that his son was killed in 2007 in Iraq.

Dear Professor Bachevich. I was given a new Kindle for my birthday. I had to decide which book I would choose to break it in. Perhaps, you will be glad to know I chose one that you wrote "Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War."

I am about, according to the Kindle, 10% through it but I could not wait to dash off an email to you and tell you how much I am enjoying it. It is wonderful. It reminds me of my days at BU during the turbulent late 1960's when I met Howard Zinn, Murray Levin and Edgar Bottome, three men who made an indelible imprint on my mind and my politics. I remember, too, reading J. William Fulbright's "The Arrogance of Power." It was written in 1966 and I read it in 1968. It was the first book on American foreign policy I had ever read which questioned America's position and empire building in the world. I never forgot it and remember thinking at that time I wished I could pass the book out on the street corner. Your book is bringing back those old feelings except I read it now with much more maturity and understanding of global politics. Still, as I read it I am thinking similar thoughts that I remember having oh so many years ago. How could THIS America be so different from the one I knew as a child?

I suppose, even though I am Jewish, some thoughts in the New Testament ring true. "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways." 1 Corinthians 13:11 is applicable to me.

I now return to my bookmarked place on the Kindle and continue to be unable to put your book down!