Dick Kazan Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:56 pm
Alex raised the issue of U.S. support for the coup and murder of Chili's duly elected President Salvatore Allende in 1973. But keep in mind, the U.S. has long supported rule by dictators if it served U.S. interests.
Mr. Allende, a socialist, became President in 1970 despite the CIA secretely financing one of his opponents, with the help of ITT Corporation who itself donated at least $350,000.
President Nixon vigorously opposed Mr. Allende because he protected U.S. corporate interests and he didn't want someone else leading a nation in this hemisphere with a similar philosophy to Fidel Castro.
When Mr. Allende took office, he began nationalizing industries such as banking, mining and large scale real estate holdings and it was determined allegedly by the CIA he had to go, even though the Chilean people elected him. The CIA's choice to replace him was Chili's Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Augusto Pinochet.
Following Mr. Allende's assassination, with U.S. support, Mr. Pinochet seized power and ruled that nation until 1990, always looking out for U.S. interests, as a staunch ally. He retained power in Chili as head of the Army until 1998.
Unfortunately for the people of Chili, Mr. Pinochet would not tolerate dissent and used death squads to murder any opposition. No-one knows how many people he killed, for many bodies were dumped in the ocean, in the mountains or buried in mass graves, but estimates of 30,000 would be highly conservative.
When Mr. Pinochet died last year at 91, there were still 300 criminal charges pending against him. That the U.S. and Britain were strong supporters of his is an embarrassment to both nations.
But the U.S. has an long history of working closely with ruthless dictators, whether it is Mr. Pinochet, Saddam Hussein or the Shah of Iran, each of whom the U.S. armed heavily. In Mr. Hussein's case, the U.S. was also largely silent when he killed thousands of Kurds.
Russia's brutal ruler Joseph Stalin, known as "Uncle Joe" to Americans during World War 2 is yet another fine example as is Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of Panama, who was on the CIA's payroll from the early 1970's, until well into the 1980's.
Mr. Noriega suddenly became an intolerable drug lord when the U.S. no longer had use for him, at which time the U.S. military invaded Panama in 1989, killing no-one knows how many people as it seized him. Today, he is rotting away in a U.S. prison.
And we as Americans were told seizing him was crucial to our War on Drugs, and that it would sharply reduce the world's drug trafficing, which you have probably noticed it has not done. It was never fully explained why he was on the CIA payroll nor why his rule was supported by the U.S.
In Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf overthrew the elected government in 1999 and has ruled with an iron hand ever since. He is a close American ally as the U.S. fights a resurgent Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.
And not to overlook the obvious let's add Osama bin Laden to the list, for in Afghanistan when he and the Taliban fought the Russians, we as Americans were told they were "freedom fighters" as the U.S. heavily armed them.
In Iraq, the U.S. is supposedly bringing democracy as it brutally enforces its military occupation and tries to control Iraq's oil and oversee the rule of its people. But military action to serve its interests is what the U.S. has often done. It just likes to paint a nicer picture of it.
If it could find a dictator who could bring order to Iraq by whatever means and would support the U.S. interests there, my guess is they would put this person in power as quickly as possible.
It would be no problem for the U.S. often supports ruthless killers like Mr. Pinochet, Mr. Hussein and Osama bin Laden and then tries to spin it into something good so we will support it. And when it blows-up on them, they try to convince us it is our war to either save mankind, prevent the next 9/11 or bring democracy somewhere in which the U.S. didn't care before.
If you find this offensive, then as a citizen, act in good conscience on behalf of humanity when these things happen. We must raise our voices to stop it or face the consequences of the pain we allow our government to inflict. If you haven't already begun, take action now. Don't wait another day.
Is it any wonder much of the world despises and fears the U.S. government as we find ourselves in one war after another.
Dick
P.S. - As promised, please see a recently posted new article, "The Iran War," for commentary on that controversial subject.
No comments:
Post a Comment