http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=STA20070101&articleId=4269 Democrats, Republicans, CEOs, Generals United by John Stanton Global Research, January 1, 2007 Just 32 years ago in 1975, former US President Gerald Ford (unelected to both the vice presidency and the presidency) served as master of ceremonies for the close of the Vietnam War. There are two images that remain seared in the minds of many around the world from that terrible 10 year debacle and defeat. One is a photograph taken by Hubert van Es during the fall of Saigon depicting Vietnamese civilians climbing to the top of an apartment building frantically attempting to board a US helicopter. The other is a photograph taken by Nic Ut of a young Vietnamese girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, her flesh seared by napalm in a US aerial assault. She is running down a road, naked and screaming. Thirty-two years later, as much of the world celebrated religious and cultural holidays, and prepared to greet the new year 2007, its newspapers and electronic media outlets depicted photographs and video of the hanging of former Iraq Dictator Saddam Hussein. The 21st Century and the freedom-loving US government approved a good old style 1800's hanging in Iraq. Hussein, guilty of mass murder, swinging from a rope in a stairwell somewhere in Baghdad. In 1975, Ford and Kissinger gave a green light to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor which left some 200,000 dead. As an aside, perhaps Americans should be reminded of its history with hangings and what's likely to come from 21st Century military tribunals. According to Wikipedia, "the largest single execution in United States history was the hanging of thirty-eight Dakota people convicted of murder and rape in the Sioux Uprising. They were executed simultaneously on December 26, 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota. A single blow from an axe cut the rope that held the large four-sided platform, and the prisoners (except for one whose rope had broken, and who consequently had to be restrung) fell to their deaths.[7] The second largest mass execution in United States history was also a hanging: the execution of 13 African American soldiers for their parts in the Houston Riot. Notably, both incidents involved ethnic minority defendants, and military tribunal judgments in time of war." Appetite for Destruction The two images from the Vietnam War and the photo's and video of the hanging of Hussein capture in vivid detail the end results of strategies and tactics designed and executed by incompetent American leaders. Failure is everywhere in the stills and video. Failure to manage risk, failure to anticipate, failure to understand, failure to have compassion for human life, failure to accept change, failure to realize that perception is often not reality. Title, rank or advanced degree have never been a barrier to poor decision making or the maniacal drive for power to ensure a lasting place in world history. On what basis can one make such an outrageous claim? What's the record of the US leaders since 1975? Some of the highlights include: Vietnam War; Cold War (post Cold War mis-management); Iranian Revolution/Hostage Crisis; Iran/Contra; HIV/AIDS (1980's); Grenada War; War on Drugs; Panama War; Iraq War I; Iraq War II; Afghanistan War I; Somalia I (think Blackhawk Down); Yugoslavia/Bosnia War; Ethiopia vs Somalia War (US now backing Ethiopia); War on Terror; Israel vs Lebanon/Hezbollah (US backing Israel); Lebanon Stability Operation (200 plus US Marines needlessly sacrificed); botched presidential election of 2000 decided by US Supreme Court; 911 attack on New York City, New York and Arlington, Virginia; military tribunals,; income disparity (US middle class disappearing); tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans; health care cost increases; record foreclosures and bankruptcies in 2006; 2007 recession looming; sanctioned domestic electronic surveillance, refusal to honor international treaties, nuclear proliferation (Egypt and Saudi Arabia will now build nuclear reactors); global warming; over 3,000 Americans dead and many more thousands maimed in Iraq II and Afghanistan I; military families on food stamps; unprecedented national debt, unreliable infrastructure (electrical grids, for example); 911 Commission and Iraq Study Group; and now trial balloons being floated for a return to military conscription. But the nail in the coffin, so to speak, is that "The Vote" does not matter one bit. The 2006 mid-term elections in the USA sent a clear signal to US leaders that the time had come to get out of Iraq. And yet as the new year enters, Democrats and Republicans, CEO's and Generals are united in their support for a troop "surge" in Iraq. Those in charge in America are creating the conditions which lead to open revolt. When votes do not matter, when draconian laws and regulations weigh on people, when employment is uncertain, and there is no longer any outlet for expression, frustration and anger set in. That leads to violence. Operation Roadrunner And what do the folks in charge offer as solutions? Catch phrases and information manipulation. Over at the Pentagon the thinking on Iraq II is something like this: go long, go short, maintain, get out, go left, go right, go, go down. Is this what $1 trillion a year buys. Meanwhile, the President, with his staff in tow, tells the American people. "...My heart breaks everyday for our dead soldiers and their families. Next question...Go shopping." Are you kidding? What;s next!? Cartoon character Wylie Coyote briefs the Joint Chiefs, President Bush and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Speaking on guarantee of anonymity, a source who was at the briefing said that, "Mr Coyote provided some keen insights that are applicable to the Global War on Terror, The War on Terror, The Long War, The Asymmetrical War, The Irregular War, The Calling of Our Time War. The President and Joint Chiefs were receptive. The Pentagon feels that if Mr. Coyote had the space, sea and land assets that we now have, he would have caught that Roadrunner whom we see as an example of your basic modern day Al Qaeda/Anti-American terrorist. Mr. Coyote was far ahead of his time in the use of technology from defense contractor ACME and his understanding and application of psychological operations techniques. We appreciate his timely advice." The world waits in horror for a congressionally mandated commission co-chaired by former President Bill Clinton and Former President George Bush II to study every commission created from 2001 to 2008. Why not Homer Simpson and Sponge-Bob Squarepants?
this is the thanks we get for having the balls to help the oppressed. it's a no win situation for the US. if we do we have people like sam slathering their BS. if we don't we have people like sam saying "where are the freedom loving people of the US"
Existing on rank criticism of current American foreign policy with certainty is just copralite-lite for the impatient. Competing with flies. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Which oppressed people are being "helped" by the war in Iraq? What is the function of the American Vote? PS. Didn't realize you were an American "leader". PPS. I didn't write the article.
Both: To avail the American Left of a real education. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Maximum shit attracts maximum flies. No point trying to pass it off as honey. The stink gives it away.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
LOL! So Gitmo has been closed has it?Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Don't you think you help the "oppressed" on a selective basis? After all, how many times has the US turned its back on the "oppressed" because it did not server the US interest?
Shhh.The new owners are still on the up-slope of the learning curve. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
SamCDKey: Point blank question: Did you support Saddam Hussein, including his internationally verified atrocities?
You mean like the US and most of the world did in the 80's?Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
things aren't going too well over there are they to guarentee a turn-over in the white house. to a lesser extent to let the people voice their opinions. okay. don't know, has it? you only know what the media wants you to know bells. possibly. i don't know, maybe you can fill me in.
No. I also deplore the fact that he was ABLE to kill a million people due to the weapons supplied to him. Do you support the people who supplied him with these weapons of mass destruction (real, not hypothetical)? Are the people who supplied him with these weapons and supported him in power during the period when these mass murders were committed equally culpable? Should they not be tried for their crimes? Plus: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/helms.html
if i gave you the motive and the means to rob banks it is not my fault when and if you do. you make that decision yourself.
SamCDKey: Sometimes one must ally with the Devil. Saddam Hussein was far better than Iran for that period and frankly, it was to our advantage to have them both fight eachother for some ten years. But the atrocities of Saddam Hussein in war are a bit different from the atrocities done to his own people. American's cannot be blamed for the rape rooms, the tens of thousands brutally tortured and killed, et cetera, et cetera.
In other words, the US supports despotic regimes and mass murderers for their personal profits. So why point fingers? Before asking questions like: to other people, first ask YOURSELF the question: Why does the US support criminals? Why does the US ignore/condone/support/enable/arm mass murderers? etc.
Listen here if he was given those weapons it would have been becuase he was an ally. If we gave them, they were to be used against a certain target and had every confidence they would be. What yopu are alleging is equivalnet to if I gave you a baseball bat for home defense, but you used it for spousal abuse, that I am directly responsible for said spousal abuse and I condoned it. First of all do you have proof that the weapons used for attrocities were actually the same ones given? Can you prove that we knew what he was going to do with these weapons? Who is more guilty the man who sells the gun or the man who pulls the trigger?
So if in the United States, the cops find out a man is selling guns to criminals, he is not arrested? Also, the certain target the weapons were to be used for: were they of human origin?
