Sunday, August 22, 2004
Alright, Let's Have A Show of Hands...
Who out there thinks this is a good idea?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Hello?
Bueller?
Now, there have been a lot of stupid fucking decisions embraced by this administration that I've casually brushed off. When John Ashcroft sang his little fucking song in front of the press and used taxpayer money to drape Lady Justice, I smirked. When indecency fines were raised to astronomical amounts, I turned a somewhat blind eye to the whole thing. But when we, as a nation, actually consider giving money to fund international "friendly militias", well, that just pisses me off.
Firstly, let's extrapolate this whole "friendly militia" deal:
And now
So basically, what we would be giving money to are kind, favorable, inexperienced citizens and giving them weapons and a reason to kill.
Wait a second. Friendly...kind...favorable? Is that anything like sensitive?
Nah, couldn't be. My mistake.
Now, I know what you're all thinking. "Employing and funding international militias? What a great idea!! No more American soldiers have to die, and we can fix the problem of international terrorism simply by throwing money at it! How could this possibly go wrong??" And I agree, this is obviously the best course of action we can possibly take as the primary fighter in this War on Terrorism.
Except...
Well, except for the fact that history teaches us otherwise:
Then, of course, there's the whole problem we've had with Osama bin Laden:
Indeed, the United States has a glowing record of achievement when it comes to arming foreign militants to try and benefit American causes internationally. Truly, we are a bastion of common sense in the world.
The fact of the matter is that we, as a country, act like a date rape victim that keeps ordering Rohypnol cocktails. No matter how bad we get fucked by our stupid decisions and total lack of common sense, we never ever fucking learn from them and, as such, we are doomed to continue to get fucked time and time again.
On November 27th, 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11th attacks, President George W. Bush said the following:
Now if the United States actively funds, equips and trains these "friendly militias" and they, in turn, decide to rebel against the United States and commit acts of terror, would that not make us the terrorists? Who would we bomb then?
Barkeep?
One Rohypnol cocktail, please.
|
Who out there thinks this is a good idea?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Hello?
Bueller?
Now, there have been a lot of stupid fucking decisions embraced by this administration that I've casually brushed off. When John Ashcroft sang his little fucking song in front of the press and used taxpayer money to drape Lady Justice, I smirked. When indecency fines were raised to astronomical amounts, I turned a somewhat blind eye to the whole thing. But when we, as a nation, actually consider giving money to fund international "friendly militias", well, that just pisses me off.
Firstly, let's extrapolate this whole "friendly militia" deal:
friendly
\Friend"ly\, a. [AS. fre['e]ndl[imac]ce.] 1. Having the temper and disposition of a friend; disposed to promote the good of another; kind; favorable.
And now
militia
\Mi*li"tia\, n. [L., military service, soldiery, fr. miles, militis, soldier: cf. F. milice.] 1. In the widest sense, the whole military force of a nation, including both those engaged in military service as a business, and those competent and available for such service; specifically, the body of citizens enrolled for military instruction and discipline, but not subject to be called into actual service except in emergencies.
So basically, what we would be giving money to are kind, favorable, inexperienced citizens and giving them weapons and a reason to kill.
Wait a second. Friendly...kind...favorable? Is that anything like sensitive?
Nah, couldn't be. My mistake.
Now, I know what you're all thinking. "Employing and funding international militias? What a great idea!! No more American soldiers have to die, and we can fix the problem of international terrorism simply by throwing money at it! How could this possibly go wrong??" And I agree, this is obviously the best course of action we can possibly take as the primary fighter in this War on Terrorism.
Except...
Well, except for the fact that history teaches us otherwise:
...Human Rights Watch said in a report that elite Colombian counternarcotics battalions trained by the US military to fight drug trafficking in the South American nation shared bases, intelligence, and logistical support with the army's 24th Brigade during antidrug operations in the southern Putumayo region in 1999 and in 2000.
The 24th Brigade, which Washington cut off from US aid and training in October 1999 on suspicion of abuses, coordinated operations with right-wing death squads fighting leftist rebels in Colombia's 37-year-old war, the report said.
... Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing through his Information Collection Program information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein," said an intelligence source Friday who was briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's conclusions, which were based on a review of thousands of internal documents...The Defense Department this week halted payment of $340,000 a month to Chalabi's program.
...The Jehadis, notorious for throwing acid in the faces of women, slicing off their breasts and other atrocious acts, gained power during the 1980's when the U.S saw fit to fund, arm and train them in the fight against Soviet occupation. During their rule, they terrorized the civilian population with blanket rocket shellings, rape, torture and killing, to such a degree that when the Taliban emerged in 1996, they were initially welcomed.
...After twenty-seven years of withholding details about covert activities following the 1973 military coup in Chile, the CIA released a report yesterday acknowledging its close relations with General Augusto Pinochet’s violent regime. The report, “CIA Activities in Chile,” revealed for the first time that the head of the Chile’s feared secret police, DINA, was a paid CIA asset in 1975, and that CIA contacts continued with him long after he dispatched his agents to Washington D.C. to assassinate former Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier and his 25-year old American associate, Ronni Karpen Moffitt.
...In 1965, the CIA organized general Suharto to topple the nationalist regime of Suharto in Indonesia and to wipe out the powerful Communist Party there. Suharto and the CIA used Moslem fanaticism to justify the murder of one million communists and others. Suharto ruled Indonesia under iron hand making it "safe" for Exxon-Mobil, investors like Henry Kissinger and his own family. Today, a couple of years after Suharto was overthrown, Indonesia is a hotbed of Moslem fundamentalists who now threaten U.S. interests there and are siding with bin Laden.
In the early 1980s after the overthrow of the pro-U.S. Shah of Iran by Shiite Islamic fundamentalists, the CIA supported and pushed Saddam Hussein to wage war against Iran. For several years, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Iranian workers and soldiers die in this war. Now Saddam Hussein is competing with bin Laden as number one in the U.S. top list of enemies.
George Bush Sr. was godfather to one of General Manuel Noriega’s children. Noriega was another CIA asset, used against the nationalist Panamian ruler General Torrijos, who negotiated the nationalization of the Panama Canal. In 1989, Bush ordered an invasion of Panama when Noriega another "blow black" for the CIA. Several thousands Panamanians died when Stealth planes bombed Chorillo, a working class neighborhood, during the invasion.
Then, of course, there's the whole problem we've had with Osama bin Laden:
...Both he (bin Laden) and the Taliban in Afghanistan that protects him are products of the 10-year-long, U.S.-backed war against the ex-USSR occupation of Afghanistan. After Russian troops invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the U.S. trained bin Laden and thousands of other Arab men.
Back then, President Ronald Reagan liked to call bin Laden and his cohorts "freedom fighters."
After the USSR was forced out of Afghanistan in 1989, the CIA-trained "freedom fighters" split into rival factions that fought a civil war during the 1990s. With help from the CIA and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, the small Taliban militia group emerged out of the chaos, taking over the government in 1996.
The U.S. backed the hard-line Islamists of the Taliban because they thought the group would be able to provide stability for big business. But then the Taliban began to shelter bin Laden and other Islamist movements that the U.S. opposes.
Like Iraq’s Saddam Hussein before them, bin Laden and the Taliban have moved from U.S. allies to enemies.
...When the Soviet Union attacked and invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979, the U.S. trained bin Laden and his group in terrorism techniques that could be used against the Soviets. We trained them so effectively they were able to deter one of the strongest military powers in the world, eventually forcing them completely out of their country in the winter of 1988.
Former President Ronald Reagan praised the Mujahedin (Afghan rebels), calling them "The moral equivalent of the founding fathers of America."
Indeed, the United States has a glowing record of achievement when it comes to arming foreign militants to try and benefit American causes internationally. Truly, we are a bastion of common sense in the world.
The fact of the matter is that we, as a country, act like a date rape victim that keeps ordering Rohypnol cocktails. No matter how bad we get fucked by our stupid decisions and total lack of common sense, we never ever fucking learn from them and, as such, we are doomed to continue to get fucked time and time again.
On November 27th, 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11th attacks, President George W. Bush said the following:
"America has a message for the nations of the world: if you harbour terrorists, you're terrorists; if you train or arm a terrorist, you are a terrorist; if you feed or fund a terrorist, you're a terrorist, and you will be held accountable by the United States and our friends."
Now if the United States actively funds, equips and trains these "friendly militias" and they, in turn, decide to rebel against the United States and commit acts of terror, would that not make us the terrorists? Who would we bomb then?
Barkeep?
One Rohypnol cocktail, please.
