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The On-Going War: U.S. Conflicts with Muslims
The U.S. is already fighting a war with various Muslim countries. A war that has already claimed a million lives in Iraq alone.
UNRESOLVED CONFLICTS:
The coming military conflict between the Taliban and the United States WILL NOT END TERRORISM. Only resolving the ongoing conflicts between the Muslim world and the United States can resolve the situation. There are several factors which have gone into the creation of the conditions where terrorism breeds. The combined factors of abject poverty of which the majority of the world lives, the denial of basic democratic processes for which opposition can be rationally voiced from, the continuing death and destruction of occupation, civil war and invasion leads to a condition where the only perceived modus operandi for individuals is through violence or the threat of violence. We see this everyday in our communities through domestic violence to drug wars to our foreign policy. The unresolved conflicts that are in part or fully created through miscalculations and distrust among policy makers is the first place we must look to end the threat of global terrorism. From a strictly military viewpoint, no army can defeat the terrorist networks currently threatening western interests. There is no central command and control mechanism, no central chain-of-command and no central intelligence mechanism to dismantle. This is non-state sponsored terrorism which makes going to war with a nation an impossible situation. A war with the Afghani Taliban will also prove to be a failure in the end in ending the threat of terrorism. A) the terrain is impossible to fight a war in against an entrenched enemy; B) attacking the Taliban will create even more recruits for fanatical terrorism among disenfranchised peoples; C) we can not pinpoint the perceived head of the terrorists, `Usamah bin Ladin, it may turn out that `Usamah is just one spoke in an anti-western Saudi based and financed network. The failure of a military operation will only create a native American call for even more military action escalating into a situation that America found itself in during the Vietnam conflict, a war in unsuitable terrain against an entrenched, highly motivated indigenous enemy. Thus, I believe the true route to fighting terrorism involves equitably, not just justly since justice is not equal, the following open conflicts between the United States and the Muslim world.
CONFLICTS:
1. Iraq, for over ten years the United States has been in a state of war with Iraq. It is estimated that over 1 million Iraqis have been killed due to war policy conceived of by the Department of Defense to whither the Iraqi nation down during the military operations of the initial stage of the war, namely the Liberation of Kuwait. The DOD formulated a plan to disable the Iraqi sanitation and health system causing massive outbreaks of disease which would force the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, to surrender. Everything occurred according to military plans except the surrender of Saddam Hussein. To this day, American forces fly questionable military operations in Iraqi airspace while routinely engaging Iraqi air defenses resulting in heavy collateral damage to Iraqi civilians, for example the recent bombing of an Iraqi youth soccer game which killed 21 young men. The original mandate for the imposition of sanctions was the meeting of the conditions of disarmament. In 1995 U.N. weapons inspectors initially spoke of the succesful disarmament of Iraq. The U.S. since 1995 has succesfully blocked any effort at certifying Iraq as disarmed. Lt. Scott Ritter (USMC, Ret.) has been critical of the U.S. policy on Iraq as immoral. Mr. Ritter is an decorated war veteran and former head of the U.N. Weapons inspector. (see http://www.saveageneration.org )
2. Turkish Kurdistan-Greater Kurdistan, The Kurdish people are a majority Muslim people, there native lands was carved up by the British and distributed to Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The Turkish government, a NATO member, routinely invades Turkish Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan. They have been charged with massive human rights violations in Kurdish areas. The United States provides military aid and direction to the Turkish government. While at the same time trying to convince Iraqi Kurds to rebel against the government of Saddam Hussein. (see http://www.akin.org )
3. Iran, The United States helped overthrow the democratically elected government of the Prime Minister Mossadegh in the 1950\'s re-installing the monarchy of the Pahlavi dynasty to power. In 1979 the people of Iran rebelled against the Shah. The initial rebellion was diverse, inspired mainly by the writings of Islamic humanist Ali Shariati. Eventually the fundamentalist movement gained a hold of the revolution. Since then the United States has been engaged in a de facto war with Iran. Many remember the Hostage crisis, while forgetting that the U.S. engaged Iraq to defeat Iran during the Gulf War. Additionally, the U.S. shot down an unarmed Iranian passenger jet killing over 200 Iranian civilians. Additionally, the United States attacked Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf. During the ongoing war with Iraq, Iranian border towns have also been \"accidentally\" hit by stray American cruise missiles. The United States even previously backed the People\'s Mujahidin based in Iraq to attack Iran. The United States currenlty has unilateral sanctions on Iran. These sanctions are being lobbied against by American Oil companies. It is believed Iran now possesses the capability to manufacture nuclear weapons. (see http://www.shianews.com )
4. Afghanistan, the United States entered the Afghani conflict in the late \'70s through covert assistance to the Afghanistan Mujahidin fighting Soviet occupation. The United States armed many different groups including the eventual terrorist network inspired by `Usamah bin Ladin. The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan has been influx for nearly three decades. The Soviets were defeated by the Mujahidin then commenced a civil war largeley based on ethnic cleavages in Afghanistan. The main groups involved are the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. The Taliban are comprised mostly of ethnic Pushtuns and wholly Sunni Muslim. The Northern Alliance is comprised of Hazaras (Shi\'a Muslim), Uzbeks (Sunni Muslims), Tajiks (Isma\'ili Shi\'a and Sunni Muslims) and some Pushtuns. The Iranian government informally backs the Northern Alliance along with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Pakistani government is believed to be behind the Taliban. There are millions of Afghanis living as Refugees. 2 Million in Iran, 2 Million in Pakistan. The Pakistani refugee camps are supported by Saudi Wahhabi religious schools which teach a virulent anti-Western form of Islam. (see http://www.hazara.net )
5. Palestine, has been a festering problem since the break up of the Ottoman empire and the creation of the British Mandate. In 1947 Jews began migrating to Palestine in numbers and created the Jewish State of Israel. In the process, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were wrongfully removed from their land and now form one of the largest refugee communities in the world. The United States supplies military aid and weapons to the Israeli state, which continues to occupy Palestinian lands. The United States is seen by the Palestinians as being on the side of Israel. (see http://www.al-awda.net )
6. Lebanon/Syria, In 1980 Israel invaded Lebanon. Because Israel is scene as a U.S. ally and because the U.S. attacked Iraq when it invaded Kuwait and did not attack Israel when it invaded Lebanon Arabs and Muslims see this as a further double standard the U.S. has when it comes to Arabs and Muslims. Even after the Hizbullah war against Israel forced their final withdrawal from most of Lebanon Isreal continues to occupy some Lebanese and Syrian lands. (see http://almashriq.hiof.no/ )
7. Lybia, After the U.S. installed the Lybian monarchy it was overthrown by a brash young colonel named Muammar Qadafi. The United States has bombed Lybian several times, destroying Lybian infrastructure, even a pharmaceutical plant. The United States charged that two Lybian agents were behind the Lockerbie air disaster and succesfully prosecuted their case. Last year the U.S. charged the Lybian\'s were building a terrorist pipeline which turned out to be the world\'s largest irrigation project. The United States continues to claim Lybia is a rogue state while the rest of the world recognizes some change in Lybian attitudes regarding terrorism. The United States is scene by Arabs and Muslims as unfairly targeting Lybia instead of Israel.
8. Sudan, The U.S. is scene as aiding the Christians in a civil war that has pitted Christians, Pagans and Muslims against each other. The U.S. is scene as a agent of destabilzation. The Sudanese government was bombed in 1999, it\'s sole pharmaceutical plant was destroyed in the bombing raid conducted by the United States. The United States later admitted it was wrong in the bombing of the plant while continuing to charge the Sudanese government with supporting terrorism.
9. Saudi Arabia, is a country ruled by a monarchy. The monarchy is supported by Wahhabi Islamists, which are an ultra-orthodox sect that grew out of normative Sunni Islam. Saudi Arabia is America\'s partner in the Gulf, it is also where the Bush family has major business dealings. In Saudi Arabia there are no minority rights, women\'s rights or electoral rights. The Shi\'a religious minority is persecuted, and Christians are forbidden to practice their faith in the open. Saudi Arabia is the prime financer of the Taliban in Afghanistan and is believed to be supported by the C.I.A. by many Arabs and Muslims.
10. Bahrain, home of the American Fleet in the Persian Gulf. It is a Sunni monarchy that persecutes it\'s majority Shi\'a population. It\'s intelligence network is headed by British nationals. The United States is scene as a supporter of the apartheid regime in Bahrain through it\'s military base in the tiny island republic.
The coming military conflict between the Taliban and the United States WILL NOT END TERRORISM. Only resolving the ongoing conflicts between the Muslim world and the United States can resolve the situation. There are several factors which have gone into the creation of the conditions where terrorism breeds. The combined factors of abject poverty of which the majority of the world lives, the denial of basic democratic processes for which opposition can be rationally voiced from, the continuing death and destruction of occupation, civil war and invasion leads to a condition where the only perceived modus operandi for individuals is through violence or the threat of violence. We see this everyday in our communities through domestic violence to drug wars to our foreign policy. The unresolved conflicts that are in part or fully created through miscalculations and distrust among policy makers is the first place we must look to end the threat of global terrorism. From a strictly military viewpoint, no army can defeat the terrorist networks currently threatening western interests. There is no central command and control mechanism, no central chain-of-command and no central intelligence mechanism to dismantle. This is non-state sponsored terrorism which makes going to war with a nation an impossible situation. A war with the Afghani Taliban will also prove to be a failure in the end in ending the threat of terrorism. A) the terrain is impossible to fight a war in against an entrenched enemy; B) attacking the Taliban will create even more recruits for fanatical terrorism among disenfranchised peoples; C) we can not pinpoint the perceived head of the terrorists, `Usamah bin Ladin, it may turn out that `Usamah is just one spoke in an anti-western Saudi based and financed network. The failure of a military operation will only create a native American call for even more military action escalating into a situation that America found itself in during the Vietnam conflict, a war in unsuitable terrain against an entrenched, highly motivated indigenous enemy. Thus, I believe the true route to fighting terrorism involves equitably, not just justly since justice is not equal, the following open conflicts between the United States and the Muslim world.
CONFLICTS:
1. Iraq, for over ten years the United States has been in a state of war with Iraq. It is estimated that over 1 million Iraqis have been killed due to war policy conceived of by the Department of Defense to whither the Iraqi nation down during the military operations of the initial stage of the war, namely the Liberation of Kuwait. The DOD formulated a plan to disable the Iraqi sanitation and health system causing massive outbreaks of disease which would force the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, to surrender. Everything occurred according to military plans except the surrender of Saddam Hussein. To this day, American forces fly questionable military operations in Iraqi airspace while routinely engaging Iraqi air defenses resulting in heavy collateral damage to Iraqi civilians, for example the recent bombing of an Iraqi youth soccer game which killed 21 young men. The original mandate for the imposition of sanctions was the meeting of the conditions of disarmament. In 1995 U.N. weapons inspectors initially spoke of the succesful disarmament of Iraq. The U.S. since 1995 has succesfully blocked any effort at certifying Iraq as disarmed. Lt. Scott Ritter (USMC, Ret.) has been critical of the U.S. policy on Iraq as immoral. Mr. Ritter is an decorated war veteran and former head of the U.N. Weapons inspector. (see http://www.saveageneration.org )
2. Turkish Kurdistan-Greater Kurdistan, The Kurdish people are a majority Muslim people, there native lands was carved up by the British and distributed to Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The Turkish government, a NATO member, routinely invades Turkish Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan. They have been charged with massive human rights violations in Kurdish areas. The United States provides military aid and direction to the Turkish government. While at the same time trying to convince Iraqi Kurds to rebel against the government of Saddam Hussein. (see http://www.akin.org )
3. Iran, The United States helped overthrow the democratically elected government of the Prime Minister Mossadegh in the 1950\'s re-installing the monarchy of the Pahlavi dynasty to power. In 1979 the people of Iran rebelled against the Shah. The initial rebellion was diverse, inspired mainly by the writings of Islamic humanist Ali Shariati. Eventually the fundamentalist movement gained a hold of the revolution. Since then the United States has been engaged in a de facto war with Iran. Many remember the Hostage crisis, while forgetting that the U.S. engaged Iraq to defeat Iran during the Gulf War. Additionally, the U.S. shot down an unarmed Iranian passenger jet killing over 200 Iranian civilians. Additionally, the United States attacked Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf. During the ongoing war with Iraq, Iranian border towns have also been \"accidentally\" hit by stray American cruise missiles. The United States even previously backed the People\'s Mujahidin based in Iraq to attack Iran. The United States currenlty has unilateral sanctions on Iran. These sanctions are being lobbied against by American Oil companies. It is believed Iran now possesses the capability to manufacture nuclear weapons. (see http://www.shianews.com )
4. Afghanistan, the United States entered the Afghani conflict in the late \'70s through covert assistance to the Afghanistan Mujahidin fighting Soviet occupation. The United States armed many different groups including the eventual terrorist network inspired by `Usamah bin Ladin. The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan has been influx for nearly three decades. The Soviets were defeated by the Mujahidin then commenced a civil war largeley based on ethnic cleavages in Afghanistan. The main groups involved are the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. The Taliban are comprised mostly of ethnic Pushtuns and wholly Sunni Muslim. The Northern Alliance is comprised of Hazaras (Shi\'a Muslim), Uzbeks (Sunni Muslims), Tajiks (Isma\'ili Shi\'a and Sunni Muslims) and some Pushtuns. The Iranian government informally backs the Northern Alliance along with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Pakistani government is believed to be behind the Taliban. There are millions of Afghanis living as Refugees. 2 Million in Iran, 2 Million in Pakistan. The Pakistani refugee camps are supported by Saudi Wahhabi religious schools which teach a virulent anti-Western form of Islam. (see http://www.hazara.net )
5. Palestine, has been a festering problem since the break up of the Ottoman empire and the creation of the British Mandate. In 1947 Jews began migrating to Palestine in numbers and created the Jewish State of Israel. In the process, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were wrongfully removed from their land and now form one of the largest refugee communities in the world. The United States supplies military aid and weapons to the Israeli state, which continues to occupy Palestinian lands. The United States is seen by the Palestinians as being on the side of Israel. (see http://www.al-awda.net )
6. Lebanon/Syria, In 1980 Israel invaded Lebanon. Because Israel is scene as a U.S. ally and because the U.S. attacked Iraq when it invaded Kuwait and did not attack Israel when it invaded Lebanon Arabs and Muslims see this as a further double standard the U.S. has when it comes to Arabs and Muslims. Even after the Hizbullah war against Israel forced their final withdrawal from most of Lebanon Isreal continues to occupy some Lebanese and Syrian lands. (see http://almashriq.hiof.no/ )
7. Lybia, After the U.S. installed the Lybian monarchy it was overthrown by a brash young colonel named Muammar Qadafi. The United States has bombed Lybian several times, destroying Lybian infrastructure, even a pharmaceutical plant. The United States charged that two Lybian agents were behind the Lockerbie air disaster and succesfully prosecuted their case. Last year the U.S. charged the Lybian\'s were building a terrorist pipeline which turned out to be the world\'s largest irrigation project. The United States continues to claim Lybia is a rogue state while the rest of the world recognizes some change in Lybian attitudes regarding terrorism. The United States is scene by Arabs and Muslims as unfairly targeting Lybia instead of Israel.
8. Sudan, The U.S. is scene as aiding the Christians in a civil war that has pitted Christians, Pagans and Muslims against each other. The U.S. is scene as a agent of destabilzation. The Sudanese government was bombed in 1999, it\'s sole pharmaceutical plant was destroyed in the bombing raid conducted by the United States. The United States later admitted it was wrong in the bombing of the plant while continuing to charge the Sudanese government with supporting terrorism.
9. Saudi Arabia, is a country ruled by a monarchy. The monarchy is supported by Wahhabi Islamists, which are an ultra-orthodox sect that grew out of normative Sunni Islam. Saudi Arabia is America\'s partner in the Gulf, it is also where the Bush family has major business dealings. In Saudi Arabia there are no minority rights, women\'s rights or electoral rights. The Shi\'a religious minority is persecuted, and Christians are forbidden to practice their faith in the open. Saudi Arabia is the prime financer of the Taliban in Afghanistan and is believed to be supported by the C.I.A. by many Arabs and Muslims.
10. Bahrain, home of the American Fleet in the Persian Gulf. It is a Sunni monarchy that persecutes it\'s majority Shi\'a population. It\'s intelligence network is headed by British nationals. The United States is scene as a supporter of the apartheid regime in Bahrain through it\'s military base in the tiny island republic.
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This is a war against a government that supports terrorist and the terrorist themselves. Please save your pity for the people who died here. When you have the only thing to worry about is somebody calling you a nigger (is refering to the " a palastine never called me a nigger") If that is your only problem please don't expect us to feel sorry for you if thats your only problem. We neeed to stop calling our country the bad guy's. Why are you left wing wackos always feeling sorry for the bad guy? Have you any compassion for the victims? The people were not military units like in iraq or afganistan. These people were stockbrokers, bussinessmen, and just normal people. I will love to see where your pity is when the antrax pores are crawling into your babies lungs. Learn to respect the people who fought for the freedoms to allow you to have the freedoms that you express on your site no matter how shallow they are. Stop being ungrateful for what you have and say thank you for once. Lucky that we do not live in a communist or facist government, if we did then seeing how the majority of the government supports military action, you will probably be shot if the gorvenment was feeling threaten by your FREEDOM TO SPEECH. Have a good day
I feel very sorry for the people that died in the WTC. But you have to understand injustice before you can understand justice. These people who smashed into the WTC had a reason for doing it. You don't go attacking people just coz you have nothing better to do. America has been attacking the middle eastern countries since world war one. There is a reason for why America attacked of course.
If someone has continually attacked your government and country and you have suffered by losing a brother or mother or some other family member, you'd be angry too. Or if someone funded someone else, to do these things, you'd be angry right? If you refer to what i wrote in the "war on terrorism" page located somewhere on this website (I dont know the exact url) i explain in detail. But in short, Islam was a huge superpower throughout the years until 1924 when it was abolished. Not by war, but inside corruption. They were pretty much undefeatable in wars since the 15 century. So anyway, Islamic countries were separated because of wars between themselves e.g Iran - Iraq, BUT if they ever did unite again, America wouldn't really stand a chance as the head superpower. So really, America's goal is to keep these places apart.
America was actually the people that created and funded the Taliban in the 70's in the war against Russia. Osama bin Laden was a CIA agent. Imagine if you had lots of secrets and it would be damaging to your image if the world found out, and you told a very close bunch of friends, but you have a fight with one of them, and they leave. You'd be pretty scared that the friend would spread everything. But if you make them look like the bad guy no ones gonna believe them right? Anyways, what I'm saying is, dont be quick to judge, because there is history as CNN tells us, and there is history that CNN doesn't even know so can't tell us. Do you understand what I'm saying?I know what you mean, and i am no way saying innocent people deserved to die. No one deserves to die when they are going to work. And yes it was 7000 innocent victims that died. Do you know how many people America has bomb and more than 7000 people have died in one time? But two wrongs dont make a right. The people who smashed into the WTC should of known that. But they must of been sick of suffering and watching someone else dominate their lives. America has been a terriost for a long time, right now they are funding Israel, yet they arent terriosts, but anyone who funds Al Qaeda is a terriost? I dont understand. Weapons are weapons, and killing is killing no matter who does it right? Humans are Humans we are share the same air, water, land. We all have feelings, it's as simple as that. Are you saying that a person who died in the WTC working to feed his/her family, is more important than a person who dies in Afghanistan working to feed his/her family? Can you really put a price value on life because of where they live and their money? Constructive criticism is welcome. Thank You for reading.
Thanks.
>>"I feel very sorry for the people that died in the WTC. But you have to understand injustice before you can understand justice. These people who smashed into the WTC had a reason for doing it. You don't go attacking people just coz you have nothing better to do. "<<
Sadly, Mariam, while people may have a reason for doing something, its not always rational. Certainly, aggression is not always provoked. I really don't think Poland or Luxemburg provoked Hitler. I don't see much reasoning behind the Oklahoma City bombing. Why is it so tough to recoginize the WTC slaughter of thousands of civilians as evil and not feel compeled to always add "Yes But..." to discussions on the subject.
Anthony Lappé, March 13, 2002
One of the quickest ways to end a get dirty looks in America these days, I've found, is to point out certain historical truths. The other night, for instance, I made the mistake of pointing out to a group of fellow New Yorkers engulfed in a rehash of 9-11 experiences the irony that the number of WTC victims is almost exactly the same number of Panamanian civilians human rights experts estimate where killed by American forces in our 1989 "arrest" of Manual Noriega. "Huh?" The conversation screeched to a halt. People still don't like to hear that kind of relativism. Six months after the worst attack on American soil, we are still wearing blinders to our own legacy of death and destruction. As I look out on the two beams of light remembering America's innocents lost, I thought I'd republish a short list I wrote up for our friends at Vice magazine:
The Vice Guide to American Foreign Policy:
Philippines
The 1899 Filipino-American War is one of those nasty little conflicts that you won’t find a lot about in your high school history textbook. Call it the first Vietnam. During the 1898 Spanish-American War, the U.S. help the Filipinos gain independence from Spain. Then they declare the country an American colony. A brutal war follows. Many of the scorched-earth tactics used in Vietnam are first used here. More than 100,000 Filipinos die. A large anti-imperialism movement starts in the U.S. “We do not intend to free, but subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem,” wrote early celebrity activist Mark Twain. In 1945, the Americans come back to the Philippines. Even though they have a common enemy – Japan – America fights leftist forces known as Huks. The U.S. defeat the Huks, and install a series of puppet presidents, culminating in the absurdly corrupt Ferdinand Marcos. He and his high-heel-obsessed wife bilk the poverty-ridden country dry for three decades, until retiring comfortably in Hawaii.
Iran
1953 - The CIA’s first big takedown. The democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh had to go. He was talking crazy talk, like nationalizing Iran’s oil. A CIA-sponsored coup kills him and restores the Shah to absolute power that begins 25 years of repression and torture. Iran’s oil is returned to its rightful owners, the Americans and British. This, of course, sets the stage for a radical Islamic revolution in 1979, when the Ayatollah Khomeini takes over, holds Americans hostage, burns many American flags, and pisses off rednecks across America.
Guatemala
1953 - Jacobo Arbenz also had to go. The progressive democratically elected president is also talking that crazy talk - you know, land reform, civil liberties, nationalizing the Washington-connected United Fruit Company. The CIA organizes a massive disinformation campaign and coup. Next up: 40 years of bad, bad things you don’t even want to think about – American-trained death squads, torture, disappearances, mass executions. Victims: 100,000.
Middle East
In the 50s, the Eisenhower Doctrine stated the United States “is prepared to use armed forces to assist” any Middle East country “requesting assistance against armed aggression from any country controlled by international communism.” In other words, no one is allowed to fuck around in the Middle East or its oil fields except the United States. The U.S. tries to overthrow the Syrian government (twice), lands 14,000 troops in Lebanon, and conspires to overthrow and assassinate Arab nationalist Nasser in Egypt. U.S. supports Israel with billions of dollars of aid, despite its harsh treatment of Palestinians and massacres in Lebanon.
Indonesia
1957 - President Sukarno is another troublemaker. He takes back Indonesian companies from their former colonial master, the Dutch. He takes a trip to Moscow. He refuses to crack down on communists. The CIA launches a disinformation campaign, tries to blackmail him with a fake sex film, plots his assassination, and hooks up with dissident military officers to start a full-scale war against the government. Sukarno, unlike many on the Agency’s hit list, somehow survives. 1965 - Sukarno is finally overthrown by General Suharto. The U.S. helps him track down anyone suspected of being communist. The New York Times calls what follows “one of the most savage mass slayings of modern political history.” Up to one million die.
Vietnam
After watching the French get their asses kicked halfway to Montparnasse, the U.S. gets embroiled in a civil war pitting communist nationalist forces against a corrupt, pro-west government. In 1961, the first young American men start arriving home in body bags. Before it’s over, more than one million Vietnamese and 50,000 Americans will die, Jimi Hendrix will play Woodstock, the Beatles will form and break up, and the American psyche will be radically transformed. In 1975, the U.S. finally admits defeat, forever dooming it to need to overcome the “Vietnam Syndrome” (see Rambo).
Cambodia
1969 - Nixon and Kissinger begin their secret “carpet bombings” of Cambodia. They say it is to kill Viet Cong hiding out in the Cambodian jungle. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodian civilians die. 1970 - Washington finally helps overthrow troublesome Prince Sihanouk in a coup. The U.S. enlists the genocidal maniac Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge to help fight the Viet Cong. Five years later, Pol Pot takes over, declares “Year Zero,” kills anyone with an education, or even wearing glasses, and sends everyone to the countryside to work in agricultural labor camps. More than two million die in his “killing fields” (see The Killing Fields).
The Congo/Zaire
1960 - Patrice Lumumba becomes the Congo’s first prime minister after independence from Belgium. But the Belgians don’t quite leave. They keep their hands on the vast mineral wealth in the Katanga province, where the Americans also have a piece of the action. Lumumba is defiant, calling for the Congo’s economic and political liberation. In other words, he is doomed. In January 1961, he is assassinated with help from the CIA, under orders from Eisenhower himself. His body is chopped up into little pieces and burned in acid. Mobutu Sese Seko takes over, changes the name to Zaire, and begins one of the most corrupt and bloody dictatorships in modern times. Even his CIA handlers are amazed at his cruelty. Thirty years later, despite its rich natural resources, the people of the Congo are still dirt-poor, Mobutu is a multibillionaire, and the country is in chaos. In 1997, Mobutu is overthrown, and retires to the Cote d’Azur. The country slides into a civil war that has killed more than one million.
Cuba
1959 - When Fidel Castro rolls into Havana New Years Day he isn’t a commie – he is a nationalist and an opportunist. But he did take over Cuba’s national industries. And that, as we’ve learned, is something the U.S. doesn’t look kindly on. The Americans begin a comically disastrous campaign to oust Castro. They help launch a full-scale invasion at the Bay of Pigs and are crushed. They launch gunboat attacks, bombings, biological warfare. New evidence has just come out that the CIA even considered committing terrorist acts and then blaming them on Cuba as a pretext to invade again. They try to send Castro exploding cigars. Spray poison on his beard. The U.S. issues sanctions and a trade embargo that, more than anything, ensures Castro remains in power.
Chile
1973 - Salvador Allende was a “dangerous” man. He was popular, democratically elected, and a leftist. Against the objections of many inside the US State Department, the CIA, pushed by Kissinger, helps the military overthrow the government. Allende is killed. General Pinochet closes off the country to the outside world. Tanks roll in, soldiers round up students, stadiums turn into execution fields, the country is gripped by fear. For two decades, Pinochet rules with a brutal hand, and thousands of students, union organizers and other bad apples are “disappeared” (see the movie Missing).
East Timor
December 1975 - Indonesia invades the small island of East Timor, which had proclaimed its independence after Portugal left. The day before, U.S. President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger were in Indonesia meeting with Indonesian President Suharto. Amnesty International estimates that by 1989, Indonesian troops had killed 200,000 people out of a population of between 600,000 and 700,000. The U.S. supplies Indonesia with aid, guns, and training throughout.
Nicaragua
1978 - the leftist Sandinistas overthrow the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship. Reagan becomes obsessed with taking out the Cuba-and-Soviet-friendly government, enlisting an army of mercenaries, drug dealers and ex-Somoza National Guardsmen. The Contras attack schools and medical clinics, raping, torturing, mining harbors, and bombing. When Congress cuts off funds, Reagan’s “freedom fighters” are financed by CIA drug-dealing and secret arms sales to Iran in what comes to be known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
El Salvador
During El Salvador’s bloody civil war (1980-92), the U.S. funds, trains, and secretly fights alongside a military that operates less like a traditional army than a loose confederation of homicidal fraternities. By the end of the war, 75,000 Salvadorans are dead.
Panama
During the 80s, Manny Noriega was George Bush’s boy. On the CIA payroll, he helped the U.S. run drugs, launder money and ship arms to its operations in Nicaragua and El Salvador. But ol’ Pineapple Face became a problem. Turned out he was helping Castro, laundering money for Pablo Escobar, and talking smack about U.S. imperialism. Plus he knew way too much about the whole Iran-Contra scandal. Dude had to go. In December 1989, Bush sends in the Green Berets to arrest him for drug dealing. A whole Panama City barrio is leveled. The official body count is 500-something, others say 3,000. Noriega sits in a Florida jail feeling confused.
Iraq
In the 80s, Saddam Hussein is America’s ally. The U.S. sends him weapons and money as he fights a seemingly endless war against Iran, murders his political opponents, and gasses the Kurds. In 1991, Saddam is pissed off at neighboring Kuwait (a country invented by Britain) for undercutting the price of oil. He invades. The U.S. forms an international coalition to “liberate” Kuwait. Saddam sends an army of barefoot conscripts. For more than 40 days and nights, 177 million pounds of bombs fall on Iraq – the most concentrated aerial onslaught in the history of the world. The U.S. uses cancer-causing depleted uranium weapons; they bury soldiers alive; they bomb retreating troops and civilians. At the war’s end, the U.S. turns its back on the Kurds and other anti-Saddam forces (see Three Kings). While Saddam remains in power, U.S. sanctions and continued bombing keep food, medicine, and clean water from everyday Iraqis. According to the UN, over one million Iraqis have died, half of them children.
Afghanistan
Beginning in the 1970s, the U.S. pours billions of dollars into overthrowing a pro-Soviet government. The CIA funds, trains, and arms a guerrilla army of Islamic extremists known as the Mujahideen. The Soviets are driven out, in their version of Vietnam. More than a million Afghan are dead, three million disabled, and five million made refugees. The country slides into civil war in which an even more radical group of Pakistan-educated students and uneducated hillbillies known as the Taliban take over. The country becomes a hevan for anti-American terrorists groups and women-haters. Lies flourish. While outwardly criticizing the Taliban, behind the scenes the CIA and American oil companies jockey for leverage to build a pipeline across the country.
Yugoslavia
1999 - After the Serbs start “ethnic cleansing” Albanians in the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo, the U.S. and NATO launch 70 days of air strikes against Serbia. Thousands of Serbs are killed. The ethnic Albanian KLA guerrilla army, a drug-dealing group of thugs who were first accused of ethnic cleansing Serbs by The New York Times back in 1982, start an open season on Serbs living in Kosovo. The bombs stop, and Serb demagogue Slobodan Milosevic is driven from power by a popular movement.
Colombia
2001- Colombia’s three-decade-old civil war is still going strong, despite, or one might say, as a result of $1.4 billion of U.S. military aid. The country is a chaotic death trap. Marxist rebels hold large portions of the country; American mercenaries and defense department front companies like DynCorp are covertly helping the inept Colombian military; right-wing paramilitaries are massacring civilians; and everyone has their hands in the super-lucrative drug trade. Most people don’t know that American forces have been around for while. In the early 90s, a secret group code-named Centra Spike launch a covert operation to take out Pablo Escobar, a major cocaine lord who made the fatal mistake of giving money to the poor and talking shit about American imperialism. The Colombian government and the secret American unit go into business with Escobar’s rival the Cali Cartel. Escobar is finally killed. The Cali Cartel’s power is solidified and the flow of cocaine into the U.S. only increases.
Sources/ Suggested reading:
"The Trial of Henry Kissinger" - Christopher Hitchens, Verso, 2001. Panama Deception -documentary film. Winner 1992 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Director: Barbara Trent.
Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire -Chalmers Johnson, Henry Holt, 2000
Weakness and Deceit: U.S. policy and El Salvador -Raymond Bonner, Times Books, New York, 1984
The War Conspiracy: The Secret Road to the Second Indochina War -Peter Dale Scott, Bobbs Merrill, New York and Indianapolis, 1972.
Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies and the CIA in Central America -Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall. University of California Press, 1991.
Coming to Jakarta: A Poem About Terror -Peter Dale Scott, New Directions, New York, 1989.
East Timor: Genocide in Paradise -Matthew Jardine, Common Courage Press, 1999.
Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw -Mark Bowden, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001.
Between Despair and Hope: Windows on My Middle East Journey 1967-1992 Margarita Skinner, UNICEF Health Coordinator in Baghdad from 1991-1992, The Radcliffe Press, London and New York, 1998.
Just to correct a point.
The Taliban were not funded by the US to fight the Soviets. They grew on their own after the Communists were driven out. They were a fundimentalist Islamic response to the post-soviet government.
Hmm, just replace "Islam" for socialisim( or any -isim) and that almost describes Americas left doesn't it?
http://www.boycottisraeligoods.org./index.php
So why havent we invaded Saudi Arabia? In fact, the US supports dictatorships, fights against democracy (see venezuela), arms invading militaries, and fights proxy wars all over the globe.
And yet still people wonder why someone took a military response against us.
If you believe that a "new war" started on September 11th, you are woefully ignorant of recent history. In fact, the US Government has waged non-stop warfare against many innocent people/civilians. If you want the war to end, then you need to help us all take back control of this government.
If you believe that the US is "right no matter what," then you are one of the enemies of freedom.
After Sept 11th, it has become extremely obvious to me who is predisposed to fascist mentalities and who is genuinely concerned with improving the state of the world. Right-wingers, time to take your place in history alongside apartheid rulers and despotic conquerers.