WOUNDED KNEE MEMORIAL
DEAD BURRIED IN MASS GRAVE AFTER MASSACRE AT WOUNDED KNEE 1890
CHIEF BIGFOOT LIES DEAD IN THE SNOW AFTER MASSACRE AT WOUNDED KNEE 1990
VICTIMS OF MY LAI ( MAI LAI ) MASSACRE , VIETNAM 1968
PICTURES POSTED BY PICASA
HERE's a quote to mark American THANKSGIVING DAY which reflects the American Mind-Set:
About a week prior to the slaughter at Wounded Knee (1890), L.Frank Baum, editor of South Dakota's Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer in an editorial wrote:
" The nobility of the Redskin is extinquished and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The whites by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians.(WHY NOT ANNIHILATION?)Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced, better they should die than live the miserable wretches that they are." .L. FRANK BAUM (author of THE WIZARD OF OZ )
borrowed from the following website:
www.wicocomico-indian-nation.com/pages/genocide.html
AND on the Genocide of Native or Aboriginal Americans:
"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" . . . and made the first contact with the "Indians." For Native Americans, the world after 1492 would never be the same. This date marked the beginning of the long road of persecution and genocide of Native Americans, our indigenous people. Genocide was an important cause of the decline for many tribes.
"By conservative estimates, the population of the United states prior to European contact was greater than 12 million. Four centuries later, the count was reduced by 95% to 237 thousand.
In 1493, when Columbus returned to the Hispaniola, he quickly implemented policies of slavery and mass extermination of the Taino population of the Caribbean. Within three years, five million were dead. Las Casas, the primary historian of the Columbian era, writes of many accounts of the horrors that the Spanish colonists inflicted upon the indigenous population: hanging them en mass, hacking their children into pieces to be used as dog feed, and other horrid cruelties. The works of Las Casas are often omitted from popular American history books and courses because Columbus is considered a hero by many, even today.
Anyway that's all ancient history so back to the news of the Day that is the present time.
Anyway the torture of detainees by American personnel of the U.S. forces & the CIA & so called subcontractors continues .
According to the Geneva Convention torture of prisoners is not permissible under any circumstances.
Torture is not just ill-legal but is also just plain wrong. It is immoral . It goes against the value system which the Americans & British claim they are fighting for. But they claim when they torture detainees it is for a higher or greater good especially since they are doing God’s Will or whatever. Though , of course , the ISLAMIC TERRORISTS also see themselves as doing God’s Will.
Besides the Ethical or morality or immorality of torture overwhich American officials are unconcerned with there is also that matter of its efficacy. Torture does not reveal reliable information. So from a pragmatic view torture is not a useful tool. But if one's motive is really to extract vengeance & to spread fear then it might be worthwhile pursuing .Is this the real reason the British & Americans have embraced torture as a legitimate tool in their fight against " TERRORISM ".
On American DOUBLESPEAK as a method of Propaganda.
( see George Orwell’s novel 1984 for in-depth analysis or check out the film EQUILIBRIUM )
We should also note the language used by US spokespersons . For instance they do not refer to prisoners as “prisoners “ or “ POWS “ but as “ detainees “ as if they were captured by civilian authorities & that they do not have the same rights which Prisoners of War have under International Law i.e The Geneva Convention or that they have the same rights of any American civilian arrested within the USA. This strips the " DETAINEES " of any civilian or military rights of an accused person which seems somehow odd , since this was one of the grievances they had against the British at the time of the American War of Independence. or Revolutionary War. And further were those involved in the 13 Colonies so-called “ War of Independence “ fighting a “just war” or were they really just a bunch of trouble making self-interested Insurgents rebelling against the Lawful Authority of The British Empire. It all depends on how you look at it.
The Americans & their allies refer to Civilian casualties as “ COLLATERAL DAMAGE “ in order to rob these deaths on innocent men, women & children of its powerful emotional response. When a U.S. soldier is killed in Iraq it is “ a grave tragedy “ but the death of an Iraqi civilian is not worth bothering one’s head about .
In fact the Americans did not keep a tally on Civilians killed, wounded or maimed in Iraq & when they have they tend to down-play the numbers. We now know over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the American invasion of Iraq. Few pictures of Iraqi civilians killed during U.S. attacks on insurgents are shown in the American media either on TV or in newspapers. They only show civilian dead when they have been killed by Terrorist Suicide Bombers . Otherwise they are a mere abstraction to the U.S. Administration & the American people.
If Americans believe in the war then they shouldn’t shy away from the total horror of this war or any other.
If they believe in the war in Iraq then why are the bodies of dead U.S. soldiers returned to America under a cloak of secrecy; shouldn’t the dead be hailed as fallen heroes & not just an embarrassment to the administration & their Hawkish True Believers.
But it is “ Perception” & not “ The Reality of War “ that really matters to the Bush administration & The America Media fall in line like sheep & free speech in America dies slowly day by day by degrees.
But as the English poet John Donne said : “ No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
We are repeatedly reminded that one of the reasons the Nazis in Germany & the Japanese during the Second World War were seen as being such a grave threat was because they tortured large numbers of civilians & Prisoners of War. They had no regard for International Law & no regard for the rights of those who they believed to be their enemy & those they saw as being inferior to their own race.
The US administration risks undermining its case that it's values are superiour to the Terrorist & Insurgents.
Throughout human history torture has been used by various groups .
For instance those in charge of the Spanish Inquisition believed they were fighting such a Great Evil that the use of torture was justified. During the Witch Hunts in Europe & America centuries ago there were those in authority who believed that there really were Evil Witches who had signed pacts with the Devil & were out to destroy Christianity & therefore these authorities especially those of the Church claimed that they needed wide-ranging powers of arrest , the use of torture & execution of all who were suspected & then found out to be witches. Individuals arrested & then tortured more often than not signed statements purported that they were in league with the Devil that they attended ceremonies where they drank the blood of sacrificed babies & that they flew around on broomsticks & had the ability to change into various animal forms & a multitude of other unfounded impossible claims . Those accused of Witchcraft under torture would tell their torturer whatever might stop the torture .
Another excuse for torture was to silence Heretics & what constituted Heresy changed from place to place & from one age to another. But the torturers interest was in getting the Heretic to recant & to name names of other Heretics . To recant might stop the torture but didn't necessarily save the victim from execution ,imprisonment or exile .Again the confessions obtained through torture were far from being trust worthy.
But it has long been believed that the main reason for torture is to terrorize not just those who have been arrested but also to terrorize all those who might in some way dare to question those in authority whether it be the Church or the State .
Given all of this then what purpose is served when Terrorists suspects, Insurgents & even common criminals are tortured by CIA personnel or by U.S. soldiers or by police & army personnel of the New Improved Iraqi Administration except to spread fear among the populace & to take vengeance .
Besides torture the American supported Iraqi Police & Military has also been accused of targeting Iraqi Civilians who criticize the Iraqi Administration & the way in which American forces continue to occupy Iraq & that the occupying forces do not take reasonable precautions to prevent as much as possible the death of Innocent Civilians during their military operations .
The Bush administration at the beginning of this year claimed that they would use death-squads & other means to get rid of those whom they see as a threat. This would include those individuals belonging to terrorists groups & any individual with information on the activities of these groups . The problem with this as we have seen in the former Soviet Union & in the Republic Of China & in countries like Chile under Pinochet & in El Salvador in the 1980s & in South Africa under the Apartheid system the net gets thrown rather widely to include Journalists , doctors , lawyers , social workers, teachers & anyone who in anyway questions the policies of those in power.
" Absolute power corrupts absolutely" as they say.
or to Quote Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) the American Journalist "We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.":
Murrow was speaking about the McCarthyism era in the 1950s when Senator Joseph McCarthy had abused his position of power to destroy the careers & lives of individuals through innuendo & suspicion .But he is also referring to the need to ensure that all American citizens including Black Americans & Native Americans & others are given the same rights as White Americans
Of course SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY is considered a hero by the NeoCons & the religious Right who think any who question the American Way of life, its myths & values should be silenced. Since these legends, stories & anecdotes have taken on a life of their own or are seen as miracles & signs almost of a Religious nature so that they are part of an unquestionable dogma which point to the specialness of America as a unique Nation chosen by GOD to bring His Truth by whatever means to the rest of the World. So to question any of these beliefs or the Authority of the United States in World Affairs is to question the Divine Will.
But to these people to even question certain stories told about the Puritans or the Founding Fathers is an act of sedition. For instance the Puritans were not such a religiously tolerant group & had no tolerance for those who did not strictly adhere to their religious traditions & values.
There are also examples like the question about whether or not Washington cut down a cherry tree with an axe & then admitted to it or is this just a cute little legend an invention as it were.
Or to go a little further is to question whether or not the grievances of the 13 colonies were serious enough to justify a bloody war against the British Empire. The American poet & philosopher Henry David Thoreau was one of those Americans who said if he had been around at the time he probably wouldn't have supported the colonies against the British since he believed most of their grievances were in fact trivial or were the grievances of the wealthiest members of society.
Besides the founding Fathers had little interest in broadening their definitions of citizenship & the rights which come with Citizenship . This has always struck me as odd since they begin by saying “That all Men are Equal & endowed by their creator of certain inalienable rights” as in Thomas Paine’s “The Rights Of Man”. To the Founding Fathers these words excluded all women & anyone who were not White & therefore Women were still Chattel & Slavery had been sanctioned by God & Native American also did not count as “MEN “ or as “persons” since they were mere savages whom Americans had a right & a duty to exterminate as according to GOD’s Will which they proceeded to do no matter what the pretext.
Anyway it is hardly surprising that the CIA & the US Military & the Federal Administration would support the use of torture on their suspected enemies. They saw nothing wrong with the use of Torture & Death Squads & Disappearing people in El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina , the Philippines or under the Shaw of Iran whom they supported for decades as they also supported Apartheid in South Africa for some forty years . & the Americans seem to forget they supported Saddam Hussein for decades till he started following his own agenda & stop being an American puppet.
Americans also forget that part of the reason they lost the War in Vietnam was that while arguing how they detested Communists since Communist usually ended up creating just another form of oppressive brutal Police State yet the Americans supported a brutal undemocratic regime in South Vietnam.
It was also during the Vietnam War that the U.S. forces used Napalm extensively as a form of Chemical Warfare as they without hesitation bombed Combatants & non-Combatants alike. They also used what was known as Carpet Bombing in which they dropped tens of thousand of bombs more than were dropped in Korea & the Second World War combined but according to NeoCons & the Religious Right who cares the enemy were so EVIL that any & all means would be justified in trying to defeat the enemy.
The American leaders & generals never could understand that by supporting corrupt officials in The South Vietnamese Government & that every time they destroyed another village or killed an innocent civilian or tortured another suspected VC the Vietcong would recruit another hundred Vietnamese to their cause.
On McCarthyism see:
on JOSEPH MCCARTHY
www.spartacus.schoolnet
From WIKPEDIA
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy
AND:
McCarthyism
library.thinkquest.org/
ON THE GENOCIDE OF AMERICAN NATIVES SEE:
Native American Genocide Still Haunts US
This World Wide Web site is the on-line version of the international student-produced
magazine, AN END TO INTOLERANCE, for June 1997.
www.iearn.org/hgp/aeti/aeti-1997/native-americans
And further from the website:
Native American Genocide
Genocide of the Powhatan Indians, Means and methods of legalized murder.
www.wicocomico-indian-nation.com/pages/genocide.html
And for more on Genocide & as it is defined by the United Nations see:
Lilliths Realm - The Genocide of Native Americans: A Sociological View
www.nemasys.com/ghostwolf/Native/genocide.
California Genocide Against Native Americans- HOLOCAUST defined
www.iwchildren.org/calif.htm
MASSACRE AT WOUNDED KNEE DECEMBER 1890
www.lastoftheindependents.com/wounded.htm
My Lai ( MAI LAI ) Massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre
American Experience | Vietnam Online | The My Lai Massacre | PBS
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai
DEMOCRACY NOW!
MY LAI MASSACRE
archive.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/
ANYWAY SEE YOU LATER,
GORD.
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