"Lest this seem to be the bellicose pipedream of some dyspeptic desk soldier, let us remember that the military deal of our country has never been defensive warfare. Since the Revolution, only the United Kingdom has beaten our record for square miles of territory acquired by military conquest. Our exploits against the American Indian, against the Filipinos, the Mexicans, and against Spain are on a par with the campaigns of Genghis Khan, the Japanese in Manchuria and the African attack of Mussolini. No country has ever declared war on us before we first obliged them with that gesture. Our whole history shows we have never fought a defensive war. And at the rate our armed forces are being implemented at present, the odds are against our fighting one in the near future."
--Major General Smedley D. Butler, America's Armed Forces: 'In Time of Peace', 1935.
The US maintains to this day over a dozen direct dependencies, the largest of which is Puerto Rico. Its military forces are active over most of the globe: at last audit about 226 countries have US military troops, 63 of which host American bases, while only 46 countries in the world have no US military presence - a projection of military power that makes the Roman, British, and Soviet empires pale in comparison.
...As a point of reference formal American imperialism begins (or not - one would have to completely ignore the genocide of the native population, African and Native-American slavery, rapid and continuous expansion of the national borders through war, rapid and continuous expansion of mercantilism through war and the threat of war, the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples, the mid 1800s mercantilist state established in Nicaragua, etc.) with the acquisition of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War of 1898. It's a good point to remember how that war started: part hoax, part sensationalized, war mongering "journalism", and of course much talk about the brutality of the enemy and the necessity of our intervention on behalf of the suffering - in this case on behalf of the Cubans and their savage treatment at the hands of the tyrannical Spaniards: much better for them to suffer at our hands.
Quotes from American Hegemony- A Timeline
Anyway the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan grind on. These war have little to do with the Terrorist threat and more to do with America's on going desire to expand its influence and to expand as an Empire. They believe this is their right and their destiny.They believe this is God's Will for His chosen Nation. The British at one time believed that it was their right and destiny to rule the world. But I guess God withdrew His support of the British and passed it on to America.
There are other ways to wipe out or at least reduce an indigenous population besides force as in using bullets & napalm etc. so that the Conquerors can control a country which they have invaded. Americans have killed some one million Iraqis either by US troops or by fueling sectarian violence along with operating " Death Squads " and gangs of thugs. There are also some three million or more Iraqis who have left their country as refugees who get little help from the American Government which takes no responsibility for the refugees who are victims of the American invasion of their country. Meanwhile another million to two million Iraqis have become refugees within their own country. So far Americans have not been willing to help or to take in large numbers of refugees.
This was also true in other American conflicts such as American intervention in Korea in the 1950s and here is a quote which represents the American attitude towards refugees fleeing North Korea. These refugees were characterized as being the enemy which seems rather incredible.
"If refugees do appear from north of US lines they will receive warning shots, and if they then persist in advancing they will be shot"
--Ambassador John J. Muccio to Assistant Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
American Hegemony- A Timeline
It is the same sort of genocidal racist policy . In order to save the village or country Americans believe that are being forced to burn the villages to the ground and decimate the country . Americans can then rob Iraq of its wealth i.e. oil etc. while using the country as a staging area for further attacks on other countries such as Iran. This is why America is also concerned with controlling Afghanistan since it too can be used as a base fro the American Empire to strike out against other countries which it desires to control I.E. Pakistan etc. and to control any oil or gas pipeline going through Afghanistan. If a pipeline were to be built which would help certain countries such as Russia then the Americans believe that they have a right or duty in their view to destroy such a pipeline or prevent it from being built unless it is in America's best interest. So as we see colonialism is still continuing as Western Powers under the guise of NATO have occupied and are attempting to Conquer Afghanistan claiming they wish to free the people of Afghanistan . But NATO is merely a front organization for American Empire building.
Anyway the US administration is not out to rebuild Iraq to be controlled by Iraqis but rather a subservient Iraqi puppet regime which will do America's bidding and that of American corporations who are making a killing in Iraq one way or another.
Cholera Outbreak Spreading in Iraq
By Kadhem Ali,Azzaman Sept. 15, 2008.
Contaminated water is believed to be the main cause of the spread of the deadly disease, which is estimated to have killed up to 1,000 people.
No wonder Dick Cheney insists that the Bush Regime does not do body counts . What they mean is they keep count of American soldiers killed that is in combat in the field as it were because each American life lost is a tragedy. ( They do not count US Soldiers who die of their wounds or through suicide or other means after returning to America ) But the lives of Iraqis or Afghans are to Cheney/ Bush or McCain/Palin or even much of the American population are of little consequence. I'm sure the Romans were never too worried about how many Celts or citizens of countries such as Judea were murdered, tortured, brutalized or raped etc. Those who were not of Roman blood were of little consequence. So when Julius Cesar murdered some one million Celts and enslaved another million and seized their wealth Gold etc and their lands this was seen by the Romans as a great victory for Roman Civilization though in fact the Celts were not much of a threat to the Roman Empire. Even this bit of real history is not what is often taught in schools or even universities. Instead students are told of how civilized & honorable the Romans were so the Propaganda continues through the centuries. This is partly because later on the Christian Church & the Roman Empire became one and the same. No matter that the Christians once in power mass murdered all of the so-called Pagans & heretics killing far more Pagans than the Pagans had killed Christians. Over we are told how wonderful the Romans and the Greeks were as if they actually believed in true Democracy and equal rights for all. Rights as such were only reserved for Wealthy Male Romans or Greeks . Women, foreigners and slaves and the poor had no rights. Aristotle himself defended slavery and inequality because he believed only the elite were truly human and deserving of Human Rights and equality. This legacy and philosophical view was held by most of the West and Europeans and Americans up until very recent times that is up at least until about 1965 . With the Civil Rights movement in the United States in the 1950s to the late 1960s it only then was deemed important to grant Black Americans equal rights with white Americans and there are still those even today who believe that this is where and when America lost its way. There are still many Americans who are unable to sympathize or empathize with the ill-treatment of Black Americans.
And as we saw this past Summer in America the right to dissent, to protest, to peaceful assembly is no longer a right. The only Right is that of Might of power. Those with power whenever they feel threatened will crush all dissent one way or another. The other way of controlling dissent is by manipulating elections and voting by using arbitrary means to prevent those who would vote against the Republican Regime from exercising their right to vote by any & all means available to them. So this election in the United States may tip in favor of McCain and Palin through the use of voter fraud, disenfranchising a few million of Obama's would be supporters.
There are also credible reports that the US - NATO forces have little or no concern for innocent Afghan civilians whether killed as so called collateral damage one would think they were talking about inanimate objects damaged during a raid on rebels, insurgents , Taliban or whatever. But sometimes it appears that the US-NATO forces fire upon civilians in order to maintain control & to terrorize the populace of Indigenous people into submission so the US & their private contractors & greedy corporations can find ways to make Afghanistan profitable for American Interests.
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Report: U.S.-NATO Airtrikes Over Afghanistan Are Killing Innocent Civilians/ By Ali Gharib, IPS News. Sept. 12, 2008.
"Civilian deaths act as a recruiting tool for the Taliban and risk fatally undermining the international effort to provide basic security."
WASHINGTON -- Ramped-up U.S. and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan are causing an increased civilian death toll, raising concerns about the fallout from civilian deaths on the war effort against the Taliban insurgency, according to a major new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released here Monday.
The 43-page report, "Troops in Contact: Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan," warned that the cost in civilian casualties caused by the increase in bombings goes well beyond the loss of human life and could put the nearly seven-year U.S.-NATO war effort at risk.
"The harm caused by airstrikes is not limited to the immediate civilian casualties," said the report, which also cited the destruction of homes and property and the displacement of their civilian occupants caused by the bombing.
"Civilian deaths from airstrikes act as a recruiting tool for the Taliban and risk fatally undermining the international effort to provide basic security to the people of Afghanistan," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director of HRW.
Citing HRW statistics, an editorial in Saturday's New York Times went further, asserting that civilian deaths caused by the stepped up bombing played into the hands of the Taliban and other insurgents: "America is fast losing the battle for hearts and minds, and unless the Pentagon comes up with a better strategy, the United States and its allies may well lose the war."
We are also told that the United States is insisting that it be the sole power controlling all of NATO's activities. They will set the policy & agenda ; the goals strategy and tactics. So if the US wants to use torture or other means to interrogate or put the fear of God into Afghan detainees and the populace in general then that's the way it will be. This does not augur well for NATO's members especially for our country that is Canada as we now finally and legally and formally will accept our role as lackeys for the Americans . So if the Americans continue to torture detainees we will not have a right, I guess to object.
Stephen Harper I'm sure would approve no matter what he his cronies say publicly. Since he too would like to be the Strong-Man type leader and personally torture a few Taliban or terrorists suspects. And so it goes . An article in The Independent points this out and we see America in its most arrogant manner pushing its weight around. The Bush Regime really are a bunch of schoolyard bullies . It is either their way or nations who disagree are anti-American & pro-terrorists.
US seeking sole command of Nato's war against the Taliban/Western allies risk public backlash if Washington commands troops/By Kim Sengupta/Thursday, 18 September 2008
The Bush administration is pushing for sweeping changes to the military command structure in Afghanistan, so that the head of international forces would report directly to US Central Command instead of Nato.
The changes would have huge repercussions for Nato, whose officials have stated that Afghanistan is a "defining moment" for the organisation's ability to conduct large-scale operations abroad.
The Independent has learnt that the proposal to streamline the complex chain of command, enabling US General David McKiernan to be answerable to superiors at Centcom in Tampa, Florida, rather than Nato, is before Robert Gates, the American Defence Secretary.
...But it is the proposed change to the command structure in Afghanistan which is seen by the Americans as crucial to whether or not the Afghan mission succeeds. Officials point out that in Iraq, General Petraeus was in sole command, which allowed him to carry out his counter-insurgency plan. In Afghanistan, however, different Nato countries are in charge of different regions, often with different rules. Forty nations ranging from Albania and Iceland to the US and Britain are involved in Afghan operations. The force in southern Afghanistan, the main theatre of combat, includes troops from Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Australia, Romania and nine other nations.
US forces sent to Afghanistan recently from Iraq claimed that operations were being stymied because of the multi-layered command structure. Colonel Anthony Anderson, commander of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines complained publicly: "We are trying to keep our frustration in check ... but we have to wait for the elephants to stop dancing", a reference to the alleged clumsiness of the international command
and so it goes,
GORD.
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