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<a href="http://www.killinghope.org/bblum6/aer101.html">
http://www.killinghope.org/bblum6/aer101.html</a><br><br>
</font><h1><b>The Anti-Empire Report </b></h1><font size=3>January 3rd,
2012<br>
by William Blum<br>
<a href="http://www.killinghope.org">www.killinghope.org</a><br><br>
</font><h2><b>Iraq. Began with big lies. Ending with big lies. Never
forget.</b></h2><font size=3>"Most people don't understand what they
have been part of here," said Command Sgt. Major Ron Kelley as he
and other American troops prepared to leave Iraq in mid-December.
"We have done a great thing as a nation. We freed a people and gave
their country back to them."<br><br>
"It is pretty exciting," said another young American soldier in
Iraq. "We are going down in the history books, you might say."
(<i>Washington Post</i>, December 18, 2011)<br><br>
Ah yes, the history books, the multi-volume leather-bound set of
"The Greatest Destructions of One Country by Another." The
newest volume can relate, with numerous graphic photos, how the modern,
educated, advanced nation of Iraq was reduced to a quasi failed state;
how the Americans, beginning in 1991, bombed for 12 years, with one
dubious excuse or another; then invaded, then occupied, overthrew the
government, tortured without inhibition, killed wantonly, ... how the
people of that unhappy land lost everything their homes, their schools,
their electricity, their clean water, their environment, their
neighborhoods, their mosques, their archaeology, their jobs, their
careers, their professionals, their state-run enterprises, their physical
health, their mental health, their health care, their welfare state,
their women's rights, their religious tolerance, their safety, their
security, their children, their parents, their past, their present, their
future, their lives ... More than half the population either dead,
wounded, traumatized, in prison, internally displaced, or in foreign
exile ... The air, soil, water, blood, and genes drenched with depleted
uranium ... the most awful birth defects ... unexploded cluster bombs
lying anywhere in wait for children to pick them up ... a river of blood
running alongside the Euphrates and Tigris ... through a country that may
never be put back together again.<br><br>
"It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis that things were
better before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003," reported the
<i>Washington Post</i> on May 5, 2007.<br><br>
No matter ... drum roll, please ... Stand tall American GI hero! And
don't even <i>think</i> of ever apologizing or paying any reparations.
Iraq is forced by Washington to continue paying reparations to Kuwait for
Iraq's invasion in 1990 (an invasion instigated in no small measure by
the United States). And deep breath here! Vietnam has been
compensating the United States. Since 1997 Hanoi has been paying off
about $145 million in debts left by the defeated South Vietnamese
government for American food and infrastructure aid. Thus, Hanoi is
reimbursing the United States for part of the cost of the war waged
against it. (William Blum, <i>Rogue State</i>, p.304) How much will the
United States pay the people of Iraq?<br><br>
On December 14, at the Fort Bragg, North Carolina military base, Barack
Obama stood before an audience of soldiers to speak about the Iraq war.
It was a moment in which the president of the United States found it
within his heart and soul as well as within his oft-praised (supposed)
intellect to proclaim:<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the
making. And today, we remember everything that you did to make it
possible. ... Years from now, your legacy will endure. In the names of
your fallen comrades etched on headstones at Arlington, and the quiet
memorials across our country. In the whispered words of admiration as you
march in parades, and in the freedom of our children and grandchildren.
... So God bless you all, God bless your families, and God bless the
United States of America. ... You have earned your place in history
because you sacrificed so much for people you have never met.<br><br>
</dl>Does Mr. Obama, the Peace Laureate, believe the words that come out
of his mouth? <br><br>
Barack H. Obama believes only in being the President of the United
States. It is the only strong belief the man holds.<br><br>
<h2><b>Items of interest from a journal I've kept for 40 years, part
VI</b></h2>
<ul>
<li><font size=3>If the US really believed in 2002-3 that Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction why did they send in more than 100,000
troops, who were certain to be annihilated?
<li>In a letter released August 17, 2006, 21 former generals and high
ranking national security officials called on President George W. Bush to
reverse course and embrace a new area of negotiation with Iran, Iraq, and
North Korea. The group told reporters Bush's "hard line"
policies had undermined national security and made America less safe.
<li>Throughout most of the 20th century, the Catholic Church in Latin
America taught its flocks of the poor that there was no need to do battle
with the ruling elite because the poor would get their just rewards in
the afterlife.
<li>The US overthrew the Sandinistas in Nicaragua because the Sandinistas
"intended to create a country where there was only a colony
before." Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer
<li>"[George W.] Bush said last week that part of the purpose of the
Indonesia trip 'is to make sure that the people who are suspicious of our
country understand our motives are pure'." (Washington Post</i>,
October 22, 2003)
<li>"Wars may be aberrant experiences in the lives of most human
individuals, but some nations are serial aggressors. American society is
unique in having been formed almost wholly by processes of aggression
against external and internal Others." The Black Commentator</i>,
June 8, 2006
<li>President Obama should accompany the military people when they inform
parents that their child has died in the latest of America's never-ending
wars. And maybe ask George W. to come along as well.
<li>During the Vietnam War some University of Michigan students created a
brouhaha when they threatened to napalm a puppy dog on the steps of a
campus building. The uproar of indignation at their cruelty was heard
nationwide. Of course, when the time came they didn't do it, having
successfully made the point that people cared more about napalming a dog
than they did about napalming people.
<li>"It's a lie and an illusion that we have an inefficient
government. This government is only inefficient if you think its job is,
as stated in the Constitution, 'to form a more perfect Union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity.' These objectives are beyond our
government's talents only because they are beyond its intentions."
Michael Ventura
<li>"Get some new lawyers" - US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright to British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook when he told her he was
informed that the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 (which Albright
championed) was illegal under international law.
<li>The two countries of the world, along with the United States, which
have the greatest national obsession with baseball are two of the main
targets of US foreign policy: Venezuela and Cuba.
<li>The Cuban Five case: This is the first case in American history of
alleged spying and espionage without a single page from a secret
document. The government never presented any evidence of a stolen
official document or any attempt to steal an official document. This is
the first spy case without secrets from the government.
(<a href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/polpris.htm">Read more</a>)
<li>"If a bomb is deliberately dropped on a house or a vehicle on
the grounds that a 'suspected terrorist' is inside, the resulting deaths
of women and children may not be intentional. But neither are they
accidental. The proper description is 'inevitable'. So if an action will
inevitably kill innocent people, it is as immoral as a deliberate attack
on civilians." Howard Zinn
<li>"The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose
limited sanctions on North Korea for its recent missile tests, and
demanded that the reclusive communist nation suspend its ballistic
missile program." (Associated Press</i>, July 15, 2006) ... Internet
commentator: "Test some missiles that land harmlessly in the ocean?
Unanimous condemnation. Fire some missiles at targets on land, kill
hundreds of people, and destroy hundreds of civilian targets including
power plants, airports, roads, bridges, TV stations, etc., all in
violation of the Geneva Convention? Hey, no problem."
<li>For some nine years, American B-52 bombers relentlessly dropped tons
of ordnance on a southeast Asian country (Vietnam) that still cultivated
rice fields using draft animals.
<li>"The messianism of American foreign policy is a remarkable
thing. When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks it seems like
Khrushchev reporting to the party congress: 'The whole world is marching
triumphantly toward democracy but some rogue states prefer to stay aside
from that road, etc. etc'." Natalia Narochnitskaya, vice chairman
of the international affairs committee in the State Duma, the lower house
of Russia's parliament. (Washington Post</i>, April 3, 2006)
<li>Washington ... Propagandistan
<li>The bulldozer, driven by an Israeli army soldier on assignment to
demolish a home, rolled over Rachel Corrie, who was 23 years old. She had
taken a nonviolent position for human rights; she lost her life as a
result. But she was rarely praised in the same US media outlets that had
gone into raptures over the image of a solitary unarmed man standing in
front of Chinese tanks at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Norman Solomon
<li>American sovereignty hasn't faced a legitimate foreign threat to its
existence since the British in 1812.
<li>There are two major patterns in foreign policy: the rule of force or
the rule of law. On February 8, 1819 the US decided, after a very long
debate in the House, to reject the rule of law in foreign policy. The
vote was 100 to 70 against requiring the Congress to approve illegal
invasions of other countries or peoples. This pertained to the
"Seminole War", actually the invasion of Florida. Since then
every president has had the right to "defend America", code
words for the use of force against whomever he chooses. Kelly Gelgering
</ul><br>
</font><h2><b>Happy New Year. Here's what to look forward
to.</b></h2><font size=3>JANUARY 22:</b> Congress passes a law requiring
that all persons arrested in anti-war demonstrations be sterilized. House
Speaker John Boehner declares it is "God's will". House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says she supports the law but that she has
some reservation because there's no provision for a right of
appeal.<br><br>
FEBRUARY 15:</b> Ron Paul assassinated by man named Oswald
Harvey.<br><br>
FEBRUARY 18:</b> Oswald Harvey, while in solitary confinement and guarded
round the clock by 1200 policemen and the entire 3rd Army Brigade, is
killed by man named Ruby Jackson.<br><br>
FEBRUARY 26:</b> Ruby Jackson suddenly dies in prison of a rare Asian
disease heretofore unknown in the Western Hemisphere.<br><br>
MARCH 6:</b> US President Hopey Changey announces new draconian sanctions
against Iran, Syria, North Korea, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and
Cuba, declaring that they all possess weapons of mass destruction, are an
imminent threat to the United States, have close ties to al Qaeda and the
Taliban, are aiding Islamic terrorists in Somalia, were involved in 9-11,
played a role in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the attack on
Pearl Harbor, do not believe in God or American Exceptionalism, and are
all "really bad guys".<br><br>
APRIL 1:</b> Military forces overthrow Evo Morales in Bolivia. US State
Department decries the loss of democracy.<br><br>
APRIL 2:</b> US recognizes the new Bolivian military junta, sells it 100
jet fighters and 200 tanks.<br><br>
APRIL 3:</b> Revolution breaks out in Bolivia endangering the military
junta; 40,000 American marines are sent to La Paz to quell the
uprising.<br><br>
APRIL 8:</b> Dick Cheney announces from his hospital bed that the United
States has finally discovered caches of weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq "So all those doubters can now just go 'F' themselves."
The former vice-president, however, refuses to provide any details of the
find because, he says, to do so might reveal intelligence sources or
methods.<br><br>
APRIL 10:</b> ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, General Electric, General
Motors, AT&T, Ford, and IBM merge to form "Free Enterprise,
Inc."<br><br>
APRIL 16:</b> Free Enterprise, Inc. seeks to purchase Guatemala and
Haiti. Citigroup refuses to sell.<br><br>
APRIL 18:</b> Free Enterprise, Inc. purchases Citigroup.<br><br>
MAY 5:</b> The Democratic Party changes its name to the Republican Lite
Party, and announces the opening of a joint bank account with the
Republicans so that corporate lobbyists need make out only one check. In
celebration of the change the new party calls for eliminating the sales
tax on yachts. <br><br>
MAY 11</b>: China claims to have shot down an American spy plane over the
center of China. State Department categorically denies the
story.<br><br>
MAY 12:</b> State Department admits that an American plane may have
"inadvertently" strayed 2,000 miles into China, but denies that
it was a spy plane.<br><br>
MAY 13:</b> State Department admits that the plane may have been a spy
plane but denies that it was piloted by a US government
employee.<br><br>
MAY 14:</b> State Department admits that the pilot was a civilian
employee of a Defense Department contractor but denies that China
exists.<br><br>
JUNE 11:</b> Homeland Security announces plan to collect the DNA at birth
of every child born in the United States.<br><br>
JULY 1:</b> The air in Los Angeles reaches so bad a pollution level that
the rich begin to hire undocumented workers to breathe for them.<br><br>
AUGUST 6:</b> The Justice Department announces that six people have been
arrested in New York in connection with a plan to bomb the United
Nations, the Empire State Building, the Times Square subway station,
Madison Square Garden, and Lincoln Center. <br><br>
AUGUST 7:</b> Charges are dropped against four of "The New York
Six" when it is determined that they are FBI agents.<br><br>
AUGUST 16:</b> At a major demonstration in Washington, the Tea Party
demands an end to all government expenditures. They also warn Congress
not to touch Social Security or Medicare.<br><br>
AUGUST 26:</b> Texas executes a 16-year-old girl for having an abortion
and a 12-year-old boy for possession of marijuana.<br><br>
SEPTEMBER 3:</b> The Labor Department announces that Labor Day will
become a celebration of America's gratitude to its corporations, a day
dedicated to the memory of J.P. Morgan and Pinkerton strike breakers
killed in the line of duty.<br><br>
SEPTEMBER 12:</b> The draft is reinstated for males and females, ages 16
to 45. Those who are missing a limb or are blind can apply for non-combat
roles.<br><br>
SEPTEMBER 14:</b> Riots breaks out in 24 American cities in protest of
the new draft. 200,000 American troops are brought home from Afghanistan,
Iraq, and 25 other countries to put down the riots.<br><br>
SEPTEMBER 28:</b> The Tea Party calls for giving embryos the
vote.<br><br>
OCTOBER 19:</b> Cops the world over form a new association, Policemen's
International Governing Society. PIGS announces that its first goal will
be to mount a campaign against the notion that a person is innocent until
proven guilty, in those countries where the quaint notion still
dwells.<br><br>
NOVEMBER 8:</b> The turnout for the US presidential election is 9.6%. The
voting ballots are all imprinted: "From one person, one vote, to one
dollar, one vote." The winner is "None of the
above".<br><br>
NOVEMBER 11:</b> US prison population reaches 2.5 million. It is
determined that at least 70 percent of the prisoners would not have been
incarcerated a century ago, for the acts they committed were then not
criminal violations.<br><br>
DECEMBER 3:</b> Supreme Court rules that police may search anyone if they
have reasonable grounds for believing that the person has
pockets.<br><br>
DECEMBER 16:</b> The Occupy Movement sets up a tent on the White House
lawn. An hour later a missile fired from a drone leaves but a thin wisp
of smoke.<br><br>
–<br><br>
William Blum is the author of:
<ul>
<li>Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2</i>
<li>Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
<li>West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir
<li>Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire </i>
</ul><br>
Portions of the books can be read, and signed copies purchased, at
<a href="http://www.killinghope.org">www.killinghope.org</a> <br><br>
Previous Anti-Empire Reports can be read at this website. <br><br>
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