What I’ve Learned

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“What I’ve Learned About American Foreign Policy”

Frank Dorrel:

“I’ve put together this 2-hour video called ‘What I’ve Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy’. The basic message being that the CIA, the military-industrial-complex, the Pentagon, the multinational corporations, the media and the government of the United States are responsible for the deaths of millions of people in the third world, not to mention the poverty and oppression of millions more. We support, arm, and train dictators and militaries that do these evil actions to their own people. All of this is to ensure that we control the natural resources of these countries and their market place, use the people for cheap labor and keep the business of war (which is our biggest business) ongoing.

The CIA has also done business with international drug dealers, allowing heroin and cocaine to enter the U.S., using the enormous profits to fund more covert operations. Since WWII the US has bombed Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and now currently Iraq, once again killing millions of innocent people! The [corporate media] will not tell these truths because it is owned by the very corporations who benefit from all of this.

When it comes to foreign policy, the [media] gets its stories straight from the Pentagon and the CIA. We have been taught all our lives that the US fights for freedom and democracy, that we are the good guys. And since so many people in America are doing well, do have freedom, opportunity and wealth, or are just trying to get by, there is very little motivation to look into the things being said on this tape. I believe that Americans are living in a state of mass denial, kind of a mass hypnosis. It is the BIG LIE! […] The people who are attempting to get this message out are labeled as crackpots, radicals, subversives, or worse, and are not given the opportunity to be heard in the mainstream media. […]The first step is to understand that this is really happening. We have been lied to! I believe the people on this video are telling the truth and it’s absolutely frightening.”

SEGMENT 1
1. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
(segment 2:55) read segment

He was not only a civil rights advocate, he also spoke out against the U.S. war in Vietnam. Some people feel he was assassinated after he criticized our involvement there and other regions of the world. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

SEGMENT 2
2. John Stockwell, former C.I.A. Station Chief
(segment 6:14) read segment

Former CIA Station Chief in Angola 1975, working for then Director of the CIA, George Bush. A 13 year veteran of the agency, Stockwell provides a short history of the CIA, estimating 6 million people have died as a direct consequence of the agency’s covert operations since its inception in 1947. This talk was given in the late 1980’s.

SEGMENT 3
3. Coverup: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair
(segment 19:34) read segment

This investigative documentary has been seen in theaters worldwide. Directed by Barbara Trent of the Empowerment Project. The Iran-Contra scandal is not an aberration of U.S. foreign policy. It has been estimated that between 20 to 30,000 Nicaraguan men, women and children were killed in U.S. sponsored terror conducted by the CIA backed right-wing Contra forces.

Elizabeth Montgomery narrates. Includes a short history of CIA covert operations by Peter Dale Scott

This segment comes from the full-length documentary ‘CoverUp: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair’ available from The Empowerment Project

SEGMENT 4
4. School of Assassins
(segment 13:25) read segment

The School of the Americas, located at Fort Benning, Georgia – our own terrorist training school right here in the United States. This documentary is narrated by Susan Sarandon and features Father Roy Bourgeois talking about this U.S. Army school where soldiers from Central and South America are trained in the art of torture, terrorism, and assassination. This school has since officially been renamed “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.”

This film was directed and produced by Robert Richter of Maryknoll World Productions.

This segment comes from the documentary “School of Assassins” available from the School of the Americas Watch web site.

SEGMENT 5
5. Genocide by Sanctions
(segment 12:58) read segment

Produced and directed by Gloria La Riva in 1998 (long before the current war in Iraq), this film features former Attorney General of the United States, Ramsey Clark, as he shows the terrible conditions the Iraqi’s were suffering from due to the first U.S. war on Iraq. UNICEF, the International Red Cross and other world organizations estimate around 5,000 children were dying every month in Iraq after that war and the imposition of sanctions placed on that country.

Over 1.5 million Iraqi’s died as a result of the sanctions alone. Ramsey Clark goes into the hospitals and talks with Iraqi doctors, who say many of these deaths could have been prevented if they had medicine to give to the children. The United States bombed out their way of life; their water treatment facilities, food delivery systems, sewage treatment facilities, electrical systems, their mass communication facilities and more. And American’s were lead to believe that this was a good thing.

This segment comes from the documentary ‘Genocide By Sanctions.’ Check out the Left Books web site for more info.

SEGMENT 6
6. Philip Agee, former C.I.A. Case Officer
(segment 22:08) read segment

Philip Agee spent 13 years in the C.I.A. before resigning in 1969. His book “Inside the Company: C.I.A. Diary” was first published in 1975 and has been translated in to 27 languages. It was a best seller world-wide. His autobiography, “On The Run” was published in 1987.

In this speech given in 1991 after the first Gulf War, Agee analyzes why the U.S. invaded Iraq. He also describes “the war against the third world” as being fought for the natural resources, the labor and the markets of these third world countries the United States invaded either overtly or covertly since the end of World War II.

SEGMENT 7
7. Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!
(segment 5:12) read segment

Journalist and host of Democracy Now!, a daily radio and TV news program on over 400 stations. Amy is the best at what she does! On this segment, Amy talks about two genocides Indonesia committed, first against its own people in 1965 and then against the people of East Timor in 1975. Both of these mass slaughters were sanctioned by the United States government and aided by the C.I.A. Includes scenes from “Bitter Paradise,” a video by Elaine Briere. Amy Goodman was filmed by Ralph Cole of Justice Vision.

SEGMENT 8
8. The Panama Deception
(segment 22:10) read segment

Won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Directed by Barbara Trent of the Empowerment Project. This film documents the untold story of the December 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama. The United States military deliberately attacked and destroyed primarily residential neighborhoods, killing an estimated 3 to 4 thousand people in the process. This segment exposes the role the U.S. government and the mainstream media play in suppressing information about U.S. foreign policy. Includes never before seen footage of this invasion. Narrated by (actress) Elizabeth Montgomery

This segment comes from the feature-length documentary ‘The Panama Deception’ available from The Empowerment Project

SEGMENT 9
9. Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
(segment 7:58) read segment

Former Attorney General of the United States speaking in 1998 in Los Angeles. I was there that night and it was a very memorable evening called “Save the Iraqi Children.” Ramsey’s talk is very powerful as he conveys the sorry truth about U.S. foreign policy. He quotes Martin Luther King Jr. saying, “The greatest purveyor of violence on the earth is my own government.” The entire evening’s event was filmed by Ralph Cole of Justice Vision.

 

SEGMENT 10
10. S. Brian Willson, Vietnam Veteran and Peace Activist
(segment 8:45) read segment

Brian is the Vietnam veteran who, in 1987, lost both his legs when run over by a munitions train at the Concord Naval Weapons Station, located in California. The bombs and munitions aboard this train were bound for Central America. Brian is one of the most spiritual, courageous and honest activists who Wages Peace against our violent foreign policies. He is a hero in Central America where the people understand that he has stood up for their rights as equal human beings. Brian says that he doesnât want mothers and fathers and children to be killed and maimed in our name with our tax money!

The Modern Mercenary

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“In World War II, contractors made up just 10 percent of the military workforce; by the Iraq war, that number had risen to 50 percent. And that number is climbing – not just in the U.S. but worldwide, as governments look to save money and keep casualty numbers down for their own militaries. But what does this trend toward private-run warfare mean for the future of international relations? One former contractor warns that armies-for-hire will soon be the norm, making it easier than ever to wage war. What an increased reliance on private armies could mean for modern warfare and global security.”

 

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Jacob David George, R.I.P.

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Beloved War Veteran Commits Suicide

This is so tragic. I just stumbled across this online. This 32-year-old veteran killed himself in September. There is really nothing I can think of to write, so I will just write the words that this man said of the VA:

“Do you hear what you’re saying? You’re telling me that you can’t offer me the actual healing rituals and ceremonies that I need, that an entire generation of people needs in order to heal their soul.”

He said that the only healing he experienced when he got back from war came from participating in antiwar and protest activities. The VA said they couldn’t promote that as a form of healing. Of course not. That might suggest that there is something actually wrong with these wars. We can’t have that. Let’s just keep praying for the troops and leave it at that. We wouldn’t want to offend anybody.

The above video is “The Human Cost of War: IVAW Testimony” by Jacob David George from First Unitarian Church on Vimeo.

Here is his original song, “Soldier’s Heart”:

The Christmas Truce and HOOTCH

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This is a great article by Camillo “Mac” Bica, PhD, a professor of philosophy at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is also a former Marine Corps officer, Vietnam veteran, and the coordinator of the Long Island Chapter of Veterans for Peace.

“When Soldiers Say ‘No’ To War“:

“Not long afterwards, Hank stopped me in the hallway to discuss his impressions of the interaction he had with his new comrade. Like Rifleman C.H. Brazier, during the Christmas Truce of World War I, Hank mentioned that he enjoyed the meeting and found the Soviet veterans to be very nice guys, no different from us. As you can imagine, this meeting between former enemies was truly an enlightening and therapeutic experience for all involved. My only regret was that we hadn’t recorded it on video.”

Christmas in the Trenches

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Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon

My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool.
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here
I fought for King and country I love dear.
‘Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung,
The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung
Our families back in England were toasting us that day
Their brave and glorious lads so far away.

I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound
Says I, “Now listen up, me boys!” each soldier strained to hear
As one young German voice sang out so clear.
“He’s singing bloody well, you know!” my partner says to me
Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony
The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more
As Christmas brought us respite from the war
As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent
“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” struck up some lads from Kent
The next they sang was “Stille Nacht.” “Tis ‘Silent Night’,” says I
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky
“There’s someone coming toward us!” the front line sentry cried
All sights were fixed on one long figure trudging from their side
His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shown on that plain so bright
As he, bravely, strode unarmed into the night
Soon one by one on either side walked into No Man’s Land
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well
And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave ’em hell
We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home
These sons and fathers far away from families of their own
Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men

Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more
With sad farewells we each prepared to settle back to war
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wonderous night
“Whose family have I fixed within my sights?”
‘Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost, so bitter hung
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung
For the walls they’d kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone forevermore

My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell
Each Christmas come since World War I, I’ve learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won’t be among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we’re the same

© 1984 John McCutcheon – All rights reserved

Make them think of Nuremberg

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nuremberg

Militarism leads inevitably to torture and war crimes and, as I have pointed out previously, war crimes are a serious matter for Catholics.

We need to break the back of U.S. militarism and one way to begin doing that is to target the worst war criminals and “put the Fear of God into them.”

Here is Catholic military veteran and foreign policy expert William Pfaff, writing about the Senate CIA Torture Report:

“In my view, those in the American government who ordered and conducted this program of torture by the CIA since the autumn of 2001 should be arrested, tried for self-evident common crimes, and if convicted, hanged.”

A Catholic friend, Tom Eddlem, writes for the New American and he is a passionate and well-informed enemy of the “torture lobby.” Here is a letter he wrote to the U.S. Attorney for D.C., calling for prosecutions:

Dear Atty. Ronald Machen Jr.:

The release of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Report documenting torture last week, combined with the public statements of former Vice President Dick Cheney and former CIA Directors George Tenet and Michael Hayden, have left on the public record evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that they have ordered torture and violated 18 USC 2340A, “Conspiracy to torture.”

As U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, this conspiracy to commit torture originated in your district and it is your responsibility to prosecute criminals who masterminded these heinous crimes. I am a high school U.S. history teacher in a Catholic school south of Boston. As I have taught my students the Bill of Rights in class this week, I noted that the logic of the torture lobby present on television news shows over the past week must destroy not only the “cruel and unusual punishments” clauses of the Eighth Amendment, but that it also threatens virtually the entire Bill of Rights. For example, the right to trial by jury (Sixth Amendment), right to an attorney (Sixth Amendment), due process (Fifth Amendment) and right against self-incrimination (Fifth Amendment) must be done away with by the logic of the torture lobby, who argue that detainees must be tortured before a trial sorts the guilty from the innocent in order to get timely “battlefield” intelligence.

This torture policy has resulted in the torture of not just actual terrorists, but also of innocent people, including innocent American citizens Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel.

This is not a partisan issue; it is a criminal issue. I am a life-long donor and supporter to Republican Party causes, and it matters nothing to me that all of the perpetrators happen to be of the Republican Party. I would note that Republican Senator John McCain and the Republican members of the House Liberty Caucus have also spoken out strongly against these crimes.

Please do not let politics be the undoing of the law you are charged with enforcing.

Sincerely,

Thomas R. Eddlem

Catholics need to face reality

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American Catholics need to deal with the following “facts on the ground.”

1. “Iraq no longer exists.”

see Malarkey on the Potomac by Andrew Bacevich.

2. Christians are leaving that area and won’t be going back.

see Isis in Iraq by Patrick Cockburn:

“But in the past six months Father Yako has changed his mind, and he now believes that, after 2,000 years of history, Christians must leave Iraq. Speaking at the entrance of a half-built mall in the Kurdish capital Irbil where 1,650 people from Qaraqosh have taken refuge, he said that ‘everything has changed since the coming of Daesh (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State). We should flee. There is nothing for us here.’”

 3. The United States government caused this catastophe.

see Hagel Didn’t Start the Fire by Pat Buchanan:

“But what were the ‘decisions’ that produced the ‘incredible debacle’?…

The first would be George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, a war for which Sens. John McCain, Joe Biden, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton all voted.”

Urban $hield, Homeland $ecurity

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Don’t miss this one by Mother Jones: The Making of the Warrior Cop.

“From inside the hall, cops watched warily as the demonstrators chanted slogans about Ferguson. “If I see someone with an upside-down flag, I’m going to punch him in the face,” one said to his team. Nearby, a vendor sold shirts with slogans of his own. One bore the image of a Spartan helmet and the phrase ‘Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.’ His most popular shirt read ‘This Is My Peace Sign’; it showed crosshairs centered on what I briefly took to be a person with his hands up, though it was actually an AR-15 sight.”

And the militarization of America continues in the name of the national $ecurity $tate. Business is booming.