We Are the Bad Guys

The Global Cost of American Power

A Marine combat pilot and 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 noticed 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 historian training to find out why.

We Are the Bad Guys connects what's usually kept separate: the coups, sanctions, covert operations, and media narratives that frame them. Drawing on declassified documents, leaked cables, and historians, this audiobook traces a century of U.S. intervention and asks: What if we're not the good guys?

What you'll discover:

• How U.S. wars, coups, and covert ops reshaped Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia
• How "freedom," "democracy," and "security" manufacture public support for intervention
• Why the world sees America so differently—and what they know that we don't
• Financial and intelligence tools used to destabilize countries without deploying soldiers

This isn't anti-American. It's pro-truth. Clear, direct language—no jargon, no ideology, just documented history most weren't taught.

Perfect for listeners who enjoyed Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and Andrew Bacevich.

About the Author:

Michael T. Lester is a Naval Academy graduate and former Marine combat pilot who served across Asia and the Middle East. Now a cybersecurity executive, he researched U.S. foreign policy for two decades, examining the gap between America's stated values and actual behavior abroad.

©2025 Michael T. Lester (P)2025 Michael T. Lester

He doesn’t just state the issues with our country but also provides a roadmap for how we can climb out of this.

This is a methodically written, well investigated and thorough exposé of out country’s bully history. It’s absolutely enlightening and fills in the truth gaps of our American historical education.

Exceptional

First heard of Michael Lester on the SRS Podcast. I stopped listening to it once he mentioned his book, immediately downloaded the audio version and just finished it. Amazing knowledge produced, so many things of our history that is just not talked about. I will now finish his podcast. Throughly enjoyed this audio book.

A hard truth that needs to be discussed

This book is a necessary contribution to our civic dialogue. If our country is to move forward in a productive way, citizens need to open their eyes to the real role we have play on the world’s stage. I wish we were the hero’s we have all been told we are but it just isn’t true. Michael does a great job, topic by topic, of holding a mirror up to the idea of “American Exceptionalism” and exposing it for the fallacy it is. The capacity for critical thought is an important trait to possess when reading this book.

Peeling Back the Curtain, But Missing the Whole Stage

Insightful, but heavily one-sided.

Good at exposing flaws, weak at explaining reality.

Engaging and, at times, genuinely informative. Lester does a strong job of highlighting aspects of U.S. foreign policy, media framing, and geopolitical influence that are often overlooked or selectively presented. There is real value in that, and it will challenge many readers to think more critically.

That said, the book is fundamentally one-sided.

Lester consistently focuses on the worst interpretations of U.S. actions and presents them as the defining reality, without giving equal weight to the structural, strategic, and historical context in which those decisions are made.

It’s like walking into a $30 million mansion and choosing to only look at the messiest rooms, then concluding the entire house is a dump.

There’s also a lack of real-world geopolitical depth.

Empires, states, and major powers have always operated with a mix of self-interest, security concerns, and influence, Israel included.

This is not unique to the United States, yet Lester largely treats it as if it is.

At times, the argument becomes internally inconsistent, advocating for autonomy and self-determination, but then attributing negative outcomes solely to external influence, or lack thereof, when those outcomes are unfavorable.

The result is a perspective that is thought-provoking but incomplete.

Lester raises valid criticisms, but does so through a very narrow lens that can mislead readers who don’t already have a broader understanding of how power and geopolitics actually function.

Worth reading for perspective, but should not be taken as a balanced or comprehensive view.

In short, grateful for his contribution and his service to the USA and welcome the examination he conducted of the American empire. With enthusiasm, I look forward to his next work.

It was fine until his hypocritical views

I first heard this gentleman on the Shawn Ryan show. I searched out his book and spent a precious credit, on the title. All was fine until he started ragging on law enforcement. No, all of law enforcement is not flawless . No group is flawless but, neither is all of law enforcement bad. I, for one, do not want to live in a society with no type of law enforcement. It would be total anarchy. In addition, Americans, unlike many Countries that have
Been living in wartime and lawlessness for decades, would completely crumble if they did not have anyone to call for help. We Americans, have had it too good for too long, to be able To live in such chaos.

I finally decided to return the book when Mr Lester started siting only the facts that support his views, which is exactly what he criticizes others of doing. I will not financially support such a raging hypocrite .

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY!