posted July 27, 2006 08:14 PM              

The revelations that US troops have tortured and murdered Iraqi prisoners has shocked and concerned many people around the world. However, the revelations really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

American atrocities started when the nation was first formed with the genocide against Native Americans and torture has been an integral but mostly secret part of US policy since the second world war. After the war the US protected the worst Nazis so that it could learn from them and adopt their torture techniques.

After the CIA was officially formed it made torture part of its policy and exported its use around the world. In 1953 the CIA started Operation Phoenix, a program of torture and murder of civilians in Vietnam. Around the same time the US overthrew Iran's democratic government and put the Shah in power. The CIA created, trained and managed Iran's dreaded SAVAK secret police which tortured and murdered countless people. After the country of Chile dared to embrace democracy and elect a President not chosen by the US, the US was quick to install the brutal dictator Pinochet who tortured and murdered tens of thousands. CIA controlled death squads in Central America brutally tortured and murdered over 200,000 people during the 80's. Millions of others have been killed around the world as a direct result of US policy.

Torture was widely taught in the US School of the Americas to people who came to be known as some of the world's most monstrous violators of human rights. Amnesty International cites the United States as the largest international supplier of electro-shock weapons to governments that practice electro-shock torture. $3 million worth of electro-shock devices were sold to Saudi Arabia in 1990.

However, it is not only the CIA & military that has been guilty of conducting torture. The Chicago police department used brutal torture techniques against non-white prisoners up until the mid 80's. Throughout the US prison system, torture and rape are routine. In fact, the situation has been so bad that in 2000 the UN delivered a severe public rebuke to the United States for its record on preventing torture and degrading punishment. Amnesty International has repeatedly denounced U.S. police forces for "a
pattern of unchecked excessive force amounting to torture."

The so-called 'War on Terror' is being used to create a culture of brutality from the highest level. Mass media has suggested that torture is necessary to protect American lives. The January 2001 cover of The Atlantic Monthly asked in large print, "MUST WE TORTURE?" Terrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman from Rand Corporation suggested that torture is necessary to protect American interests. It has been suggested by many Americans that torture be legalized.

The reality is that torture is not a good method of extracting information. Information obtained under torture is not reliable and a person who is tortured will make up whatever information is wanted just to stop the torture. A skilled interrogator can get the information they need without torture. Even the CIA's own "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual--1983:" says:

"Intense pain is quite likely to produce false confessions, fabricated to avoid additional punishment. This results in a time-consuming delay while an investigation is conducted and the admissions are proven untrue. During this respite, the subject can pull himself together and may even use the time to devise a more complex confession that takes still longer to disprove."

The advanced intelligence gathering technique of remote viewing can obtain information from a distance. This technique was used extensively to identify bombing targets in the first attack of Iraq and to probe the plans and intentions of Saddam Hussein in a daily basis. Non-harmful mind control techniques can also be used to extract information. From a technical aspect, torture is simply not necessary.

The brutality against the Iraqis isn't even about extracting information, it is merely brutality for its own sake. The question is why does the US government allow and promote torture?

Making Enemies
Most people are peaceful and more concerned with their own well-being than with invading another country. Lacking any real enemies, American foreign policy has intentionally created enemies and conflict to support the defense industry and further the goals of the ruling elite for the last 50 years.

Vietnam - The Vietnamese war was a good example of how the US creates enemies to further its own agenda. During WWII , Ho Chi Minh lead the resistant on behalf of the Allied Powers against the Japanese under an agreement that Vietnam be given its freedom from French domination after the war ended. Ho Chi Minh kept his side of the bargain and on August 17, 1945 he broadcast:

"We were fighting Japs on the side of the United Nations. Now Japs Surrendered. We beg the United Nations to realize their solemn promise that all nationalities be given democracy and independence. If United Nations forget their solemn promise and don't give Indochina full independence, we will keep fighting until we get it."

On September 2, 1945 a band marched through Hanoi playing the Star Spangled Banner. Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese Independence and began his speech with "All men are created equal." Yet, the dream of Vietnamese democracy was not to be. The country was divided and South Vietnam was given back to the French. The US betrayed the Vietnamese and supported French oppression. The US even offered the French atomic weapons to use against the Vietnamese, which the French fortunately declined. It was only after the betrayal by the US that Ho Chi Minh turned to Russia for the help needed to defeat the French and truly became 'communist'. The US had effectively turned an ally into an enemy and destroyed democracy in 'Indo China'.

By 1954 the US was paying for 78% of the French war against the Vietnamese. After the French were defeated in May 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh ceded the North, and French puppet Bao Dai's regime granted the South. The accords also provided for elections to be held in all of Vietnam within two years to reunify the country. The US opposed the unifying elections, fearing a likely victory by Ho Chi Minh, and refused to sign the Geneva accords - further denying the Vietnamese the possibility of democracy.

As the French left, the US stepped in to control the South. The CIA's Phoenix Operation began almost immediately after the US takeover in 1954. Under US management the South Vietnamese secret police dished out live burnings, garroting, rape, torture, sabotage - much of which was blamed on the Vietcong. Over 50,000 civilians were tortured and murdered at the hands of the CIA & military intelligence. In all, over a million Vietnamese were killed by US forces. The land mines, unexploded ordinance and death from chemical contamination have killed and crippled countless more. Richard Nixon admitted in his final days that he had escalated the war against Vietnam merely for the defense industry to sell more weapons.

It was in the early days of the fighting in Vietnam that a Vietcong officer said to his American prisoner: "You were our heroes after the War. We read American books and saw American films, and a common phrase in those days was 'to be as rich and as wise as an American'. What happened?"

Iraq - US involvement in Iraq goes back several decades and parallels British domination of the country early in the century. In 1958 the CIA hired Saddam Hussein to assassinate the President of Iraq - Abdel Karim Qassim. It wasn't until 1963 that Hussein and the US were successful in overthrowing the Iraqi government. In the process 5,000 were killed. Immediately after the coup Saddam rounded up and murdered another 800 people on a list prepared by the CIA of potentianl opponents. However, the new Ba'athist regime had little popular support and was replaced by rival army officers 9 months later. With more CIA help Saddam regained control and was
kept in power until the US invaded Iraq in 2003.

In his book "October Surprise", Gary Sick details how Bush-Reagan used arms and cash to bribe the Iranians to keep the American hostages until after the election to prevent Jimmy Carter from being re-elected 1980. The Iranians kept their part of the deal and the hostage's release was announced the day Reagan was sworn into office. The US continued to clandestinely supply Iran with weapons to help pay for its illegal war against democracy in Nicaragua in what came to be known as Iran-Contra. At the same time it supplied Iraq with its chemical and biological weapons to use against Iran. In 1986 Reagan sent Saddam a secret message telling him that he should step us his bombing of Iran. Iran is suing the US & Germany for supplying Iraq with the illegal
chemical and bio weapons used against them in the CIA directed war of 1980-1988.

Up until Iraq's US approved invasion of Kuwait, the US Department of Defense training manuals sang the praises of Saddam Hussein, noting how he had vastly improved education, medical care, and the standard of living of his people. His regime was called one of the most enlightened, progressive governments in the region.

As Iraq massed it troops on the Kuwaiti border in preparation for invasion, the US watched on in complete silence. Ever loyal to US interests and his CIA handlers, Saddam invaded Kuwait to support the administration of George Bush and ensure support for long-term military bases in the Middle East. After killing 500,000 Iraqis, the US then setup Saddam's opponents so that Saddam could eliminate any active opposition to his brutal regime.

To further the suffering of the Iraqi people and set them up for future events, the brutal and meaningless sanctions were imposed. At the International Court On Crimes Against Humanity, US, British and UN officials were charged with 'causing the deaths of more than 1,500,000 people including 750,000 children under five, and injury to the entire population of Iraq by genocidal sanctions.' While the Iraqis were suffering and dying
for no good reason, Saddam lived in unimaginable luxury.

The hatred of the Iraqi people towards the US, who put Saddam in power and kept him in power for over 25 years is only being deepened by US actions. There was never any intention of "winning Iraqi hearts and minds". The 'revelations' about the US torturing Iraqis is merely a way to fan the flames of hatred against Americans.

"We have heard that a half million children have died," said "60 Minutes" reporter Lesley Stahl, speaking of US sanctions against Iraq. "I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And -- and you know, is the price worth it?" Her guest, in May 1996, U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright, responded: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price -- we think the price is worth it."

Other countries - Throughout the world the US has overthrown democracies, installed dictators, setup brutal secret police and death squads, and created conflict where none existed. Anywhere true democracy might rear its ugly head, the US is there to quickly chop it off and put one of its brutal puppets in place. Wherever brutality and corruption exists the US is usually somewhere behind the scenes manipulating events. In the process, the US has caused unimaginable suffering and deprived the world of hope.

The negative impact of US foreign policy is so great that the path of human evolution has been altered. The covert CIA coups and wars have deprived entire continents of the opportunity to climb out of poverty and eliminated generations of potential humane leaders. The environment is being destroyed with projects approved by US puppet governments with money loaned by the IMF and World Bank and then stolen by US Corporations, leaving the impoverished public to pay off the debt. Global warming is very real and causing billions in damage every year, yet the US continues to suppress alternative energy and worship the dark god of oil.

The Great Lie
I was raised to believe that America is the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave". I was seriously misinformed. America truly is "the great satan". American mass media continues to project an image of the US as the "bastion of democracy" and "leader of the free world" - yet, few people other than Americans believe it any more.

The Real Agenda
Just as past American atrocities have created wars and conflicts, the current atrocities will result in more conflict, loss of life and environmental destruction. The preparations for the war against 'terrorism' have been going on for at least 20 years. In partnership with the Saudi ruling family, the global ruling elite has radicalized Islam through mind
control facilities disguised as religious schools. In these schools they create the 'terrorists' needed for an enemy. Without the CIA, Saudi 'schools' and Israeli abuse of Palestinians there simply wouldn't be a threat from muslim 'terrorists'. If the US had not stolen democracy from so many countries in the first place, muslim fundamentalism wouldn't have grown to the level it is now.

This time there is no adversary capable of standing up the US. The continued war will be one against freedom, democracy and life as the American military empire and its minions expand control gradually over more of the globe in the name of 'fighting terrorism' and the creation of a global corporate police state.

Bill Phillips

posted July 27, 2006 08:17 PM              

As usual, the U.S. government tried to cover up the mass murder--it initially claimed that the victims were blown up by an insurgent IED. But, as Time reported in March, the "civilians who died in Haditha on Nov. 19 were killed not by a roadside bomb but by the Marines themselves, who went on a rampage in the village after the attack, killing 15 unarmed Iraqis in their homes, including seven women and three children." As at My Lai, the bloodlust was not easily sated. "The raids took five hours and left at least 23 people dead."

Jane and Joe Sixpack are shocked. Congressional Democrats are calling for an investigation and, for once, will probably get one. Political analysts worry that the Haditha massacre could hurt U.S. propaganda efforts even more than the infamous photos of torture at its Abu Ghraib concentration camp.

So far reaction to Haditha has been the reverse of what you might expect. Republicans and other pro-war types are running around like it's the end of the world. Meanwhile the streets of Arab capitals, recently ablaze over the Danish Mohammed cartoon controversy, are quiet.

The reason is simple: For Iraqis, American atrocities are old news, dating back to the invasion in March 2003 and a full decade earlier. (U.S. planes dropped so many bombs on Iraqi schools, hospitals and power plants during the 1990s that they ran out of targets.) So are the boulevards of New York, San Francisco and other cities where hundreds of thousands of American lefties once marched against the invasion of Iraq.

"As the war in Iraq rages on," CBS News' Dotty Lynch asks, "Where are the young people this time around? Where are the campuses? Where are the new Tom Haydens and Sam Browns and where are the Noam Chomskys, William Sloane Coffins and Daniel Berrigans?" Well, Chomsky's still around. Over a million young Americans, many of them college students, protested Iraq. They certainly had allies in the media. (Hi.)

But The System is even less responsive to protest now than it was during Vietnam. State-run media made fun of antiwar activists as tattooed neo-hippies, called them treasonous and refused airtime to Administration critics. When is the last time a hard-hitting opponent of the Iraq war showed his or her face on national TV? Those of us who raised our voices against this war from the start, having fruitlessly complained about stories of battlefield abuse reported by the European media, are suffering from marginalization fatigue.

Meanwhile, in the "new" Iraq, Abdel Salam al-Qubaisy of Iraq's Sunni Muslim Scholars Association says, U.S. massacres of civilians occur routinely. "The American soldier has become an expert in killing," he shrugs. Like many Iraqis, Baghdad shopkeeper Mohammed Jawdaat says that U.S. troops have never shown respect for the lives of Iraqi civilians. "Six months ago," remembers Jawdaat, "a car pulled out of a street towards an American convoy and a soldier just opened fire. The driver was shot in the head. There were no warning shots and the Americans didn't even stop."

Abd Mohammed Falah, a Ramadi attorney, says: "U.S. forces have committed more crimes against the Iraqi people than appears in the media. The U.S. defense secretary and his generals should be sent to court instead of two or three soldiers who will be scapegoats."

Newspapers don't bother to report when the sun rises in the east nor do they assign reporters to cover when dogs bite men. Likewise, says Baghdad newspaper boy Imad Mohammed, Iraqi newspapers haven't mentioned Haditha. Same-old, same-old massacres of Iraqis by American forces are no longer news: "The Americans see a Muslim go into a mosque and just assume he is a terrorist. They either arrest him or blow it up."

Rami Khouri, editor at The Daily Star in Lebanon tells NPR that Haditha is "not a huge story [in the Middle East]. It's getting a lot of coverage in the United States, obviously, but most people in the Arab world are against what the United States did in Iraq...They say look, this was a catastrophe from the beginning and they're not surprised that this is happening. They kind of take it in stride because everything the United States is doing in Iraq is seen as morally and politically unacceptable."

Most of the world's population--including virtually every Muslim and about a third Americans--always believed that the war against Iraq was a genocidal attempt to intimidate the Muslim world and extort its oil at gunpoint. They don't see a difference between Haditha and the thousands of other Iraqis killed by U.S. forces since 2003. Because the entire exercise was morally bankrupt from the outset, sold and perpetuated with countless lies, all of the 200,000-plus civilians and Iraqi soldiers who have died--whether by bomb or by bullet--were effectively murdered by the U.S. military.

Haditha, where two dozen were executed, was merely the 10,000th Haditha.

The morality-come-latelies still don't understand that nothing good will ever come out of the U.S. war against Iraq. Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that massacres of civilians by U.S. soldiers do "not happen very frequently, so there's no way to say historically why something like this might have happened." Actually, similar incidents have taken place in every war, including World War II. Pace's statement is either a dazzling display of ahistorical ignorance or a bald-faced lie--take your pick. Pace adds that if some of his men committed an atrocity at Haditha, they "have not performed their duty the way that 99.9 percent of their fellow Marines have."

posted July 27, 2006 08:19 PM              

tyr· an· ny, tir'a·ne, n. pl. tyr· an· nies. [O.Fr. tirannie (Fr. tyrannie), < M.L. tyrannia, < Gr. tyrannia, < tyrannos, E. tyrant.] The government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler, as in ancient Greece; a state ruled by a tyrant; oppressive or unjust government by any ruler; despotic abuse or authority; undue severity or harshness; a tyrannical act or proceeding.

This paper details some of the many human rights violations committed by some
of the governments here on North America, as well as our extensive history of ethnic,
racial and religious intolerance and violence. It details many forgotten facts of our
history, the bad things we didn't learn in school. The United States would be
a better place if the bad things hadn't happened.

* * *

Ideally, freedom would be the same everywhere here on Earth. It isn't.

posted July 27, 2006 08:22 PM            

Every time a homicide bomber blows up, every time a rocket is launched, every time a carbomb goes off in an crowded area and every time one of your famed buddies blows up a transit system...

posted July 27, 2006 08:27 PM              

By Steve Kangas

posted July 27, 2006 08:30 PM              

————————

" Behold the wicked abominations that they do '"—EZEKIEL, viii. 9.

"The righteous CONSIDERETH the cause of the poor
but the wicked regardeth not to know it."—PROV, 29.7.

"True humanity consists not In a SQUEAMISH EAR, but in listening to the story of human suffering
and endeavoring to relieve it."—CHARLES JAMES FOX.

posted July 27, 2006 08:46 PM            

Umm....America was one of the countries that turned against slavery before others. Muslims had slaves, Egyptians had slaves, Mexican's had slaves, American Indians had slaves...etc...

Every culture was a slave and enslaved others at one time.

You are getting frantic these days trying to post everything you can against America.