Tag Archive: terrorism
Frans van Anraat may count himself a little unfortunate to have been given a 15 year jail term for complicity to war crimes particularly in the current geo-political climate. Of course Meneer van Anraat seeking to profit from the sale of constituent components of chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein’s regime is something that he should rightly stand trial for and yet this beacon of world justice seems misplaced and hollow in the light of so much that has been going on in the last 50 years.
The weapons created using the components obtained from van Anraat were part of a “a political policy of systematic terror and illegal action against a certain population group,” namely Saddam’s repression against the Kurds in the Northern areas of Iraq in 1988. A crime widely reported that the US and the rest of the world chose to ignore at the time. Of course one must add the context here that Iraq was the US’s choice in the Middle East power struggle of the 1st Persian Gulf War between Iran and Iraq which ran from 1980-88.
Hmm, interesting, ok fair enough, so how does the van Anraat ruling square with “It is in Britain’s interests that Indonesia absorbs the territory [East Timor] as soon and as unobtrusively as possible, and when it comes to the crunch, we should keep our heads down.” (Former GB ambassador, Sir John Archibald Ford). British Aerospace Hawk aircraft sold to the Indonesian air force were observed on bombing runs across East Timor every year from 1984 until the Indonesians eventually withdrew from the territory after General Suharto (whose regime originally began purchases of the plane from the Wilson government in 1978) was no longer in charge.
How does this ruling square with U.S. covert operations between 1968 and 1975 to destabilize the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile and, after the violent 1973 coup, to bolster the military regime of Augusto Pinochet, a regime responsible for ‘the disappeared’ accused of state terrorism and genocide and the definite killing of 3,000 people and probably disposal of a further 1,100+ who remain unaccounted for?
How does this ruling square with the Nicaragua contra funded operations of the US that resulted in the destruction both of government and economy in Nicaragua and the loss of 60,000 lives? The Sandinista government had won international acclaim for its gains in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions, and land reform. The US paid $178 billion to destabilise and eventually bring down the government in 1990.
van Anraat is not the first in the US-led succession of kangaroo trials. Taking things from Nuremburg on, it is worth analysing the actual numbers of those Nazis convicted. It is hardly surprising that Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter, had enough work to keep him going until his death more than 50 years after the Nuremburg trials. The end of the Second World War maked the shift of the US’s enemy from Fascism to Communism and thus a principle of the enemy of my enemy is my friend has been applied. Hence coutless Nazis were simply overlooked in the quest to rebuild West Germany as a buffer against the emergence of a Soviet-influenced Eastern Europe.
In more recent times one need look no further than the trial of Slobodan Milosevic another case of victor’s justice. The Milosevic trial has gone remarkably silent since the defendent decided he was going to actually stand up for himself and not wallow in the dock in contrite fashion. Time was it was in the news every day and yet a couple of sucessive days of Milosevic’s defence and he was micraculously dropped from the schedules. I can only suspect that the trial of Saddam will go much the same way should the bearded one attempt to put up any sort of cogent fight. It is rather coincidental that his defence team seem to have a life expectancy akin to First World War pilots and yet the prosecutors who one might think would be the targets of the remaining insurgents appear to be either anonymous or adequately protected.
Whilst the world allows one single country to prosecute all others whilst it itself refuses to even subject any of its citizens to international legal scrutiny there can be no justice.
I know there will be many Americans remain in the belief that the US is a force for good in the world. Whatever one thinks of the motives and however naive one may be regarding the involvement take a closer look at US involvement across the globe since WWII, you may find the following a good starting point for research. Take one of these conflicts and research why it happened. Look at why it has been “necessary” for the US to bomb over 50 countries since WWII. Look at how it has been possible for the US to in fact invade a British sovereign territory in 1983 when Thatcher was still in charge. If you choose to you will find twice as much again between the years of 1798 and 1948 so it is hardly a recent phenomenon.
- 1946 – Iran – troops deployed in northern province.
- 1946 – 1949 – China – Major US army presence of about 100,000 troops, fighting, training and advising local combatants.
- 1947 – 1949 – Greece – US forces wage a 3-year counterinsurgency campaign.
- 1948 – Italy – Heavy CIA involvement in national elections.
- 1948 – 1954 – Philippines – Commando operations, “secret” CIA war.
- 1950 – 1953 – Korea – Major forces engaged in war in Korean peninsula.
- 1953 – Iran – CIA overthrows government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh.
- 1954 – Vietnam – Financial and material support for colonial French military operations, leads eventually to direct US military involvement.
- 1954 – Guatemala – CIA overthrows the government of President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman.
- 1958 – Lebanon – US marines and army units totaling 14,000 land.
- 1958 – Panama – Clashes between US forces in Canal Zone and local citizens.
- 1959 – Haiti – US Marines land.
- 1960 – Congo – CIA-backed overthrow and assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.
- 1960 – 1964 – Vietnam – Gradual introduction of military advisors and special forces.
- 1961 – Cuba – failure of CIA-backed and trained Bay of Pig invasion aimed at deposing Castro.
- 1962 – Cuba – Cuban Missile Crisis, Nuclear threat and naval blockade (US aggressive tactics met with stonewall from Kruschev who refused to sanction retalitory actions)
- 1962 – Laos – CIA-backed military coup.
- 1963 – Ecuador – CIA backs military overthrow of President Jose Maria Valesco Ibarra.
- 1964 – Panama – Clashes between US forces in Canal Zone and local citizens.
- 1964 – Brazil – CIA-backed military coup overthrows the government of Joao Goulart and Gen. Castello Branco takes power.
- 1965 – 1975 – Vietnam – Large commitment of military forces, including air, naval and ground units numbering up to 500,000+ troops. Full-scale war, lasting for ten years.
- 1965 – Indonesia – CIA-backed army coup overthrows President Sukarno and brings Gen. Suharto to power.
- 1965 – Congo – CIA backed military coup overthrows President Joseph Kasavubu and brings Joseph Mobutu to power.
- 1965 – Dominican Republic – 23,000 troops land.
- 1965 – 1973 – Laos – Bombing campaign begin, lasting eight years.
- 1966 – Ghana – CIA-backed military coup ousts President Kwame Nkrumah.
- 1966 – 1967 – Guatemala – Extensive counter-insurgency operation.
- 1969 – 1975 – Cambodia – CIA supports military coup against Prince Sihanouk, bringing Lon Nol to power. Intensive bombing for seven years along border with Vietnam.
- 1970 – Oman – Counter-insurgency operation, including coordination with Iranian marine invasion.
- 1971 – 1973 – Laos – Invasion by US and South Vietnames forces.
- 1973 – Chile – CIA-backed military coup ousts government of President Salvador Allende. Gen. Augusto Pinochet comes to power.
- 1975 – Cambodia – Marines land, engage in combat with government forces.
- 1976 – 1992 – Angola – Military and CIA operations.
- 1980 – Iran – Special operations units land in Iranian desert. Helicopter malfunction leads to aborting of planned raid.
- 1981 – Libya – Naval jets shoot down two Libyan jets in maneuvers over the Mediterranean.
- 1981 – 1992 – El Salvador – CIA and special forces begin a long counterinsurgency campaign.
- 1981 – 1990 – Nicaragua – CIA directs exile “Contra” operations. US air units drop sea mines in harbors.
- 1982 – 1984 – Lebanon – Marines land and naval forces fire on local combatants.
- 1983 – Grenada – Military forces invade Grenada.
- 1983 – 1989 – Honduras – Large program of military assistance aimed at conflict in Nicaragua.
- 1984 – Iran – Two Iranian jets shot down over the Persian Gulf.
- 1986 – Libya – US aircraft bomb the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, including direct strikes at the official residence of President Muamar al Qadaffi.
- 1986 – Bolivia – Special Forces units engage in counter-insurgency.
- 1987 – 1988 – Iran – Naval forces block Iranian shipping. Civilian airliner shot down by missile cruiser.
- 1989 – Libya – Naval aircraft shoot down two Libyan jets over Gulf of Sidra.
- 1989 – Philippines – CIA and Special Forces involved in counterinsurgency.
- 1989 – 1990 – Panama – 27,000 troops as well as naval and air power used to overthrow government of President Noriega.
- 1990 – Liberia – Troops deployed.
- 1990 – 1991 – Iraq – Major military operation, including naval blockade, air strikes; large number of troops attack Iraqi forces in occupied Kuwait.
- 1991 – 2003 – Iraq – Control of Iraqi airspace in north and south of the country with periodic attacks on air and ground targets.
- 1991 – Haiti – CIA-backed military coup ousts President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
- 1992 – 1994 – Somalia – Special operations forces intervene.
- 1992 – 1994 – Yugoslavia – Major role in NATO blockade of Serbia and Montenegro.
- 1993 – 1995 – Bosnia – Active military involvement with air and ground forces.
- 1994 – 1996 – Haiti – Troops depose military rulers and restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to office.
- 1995 – Croatia – Krajina Serb airfields attacked.
- 1996 – 1997 – Zaire (Congo) – Marines involved in operations in eastern region of the country.
- 1997 – Liberia – Troops deployed.
- 1998 – Sudan – Air strikes destroy country’s major pharmaceutical plant.
- 1998 – Afghanistan – Attack on targets in the country.
- 1998 – Iraq – Four days of intensive air and missile strikes.
- 1999 – Yugoslavia – Major involvement in NATO air strikes.
- 2001 – Macedonia – NATO troops shift and partially disarm Albanian rebels.
- 2001 – Afghanistan – Air attacks and ground operations oust Taliban government and install a new regime.
- 2003 – Iraq – Invasion with large ground, air and naval forces ousts government of Saddam Hussein and establishes new government.
- 2003 – present – Iraq – Occupation force of 150,000 troops in protracted counter-insurgency war
- 2004 – Haiti – Marines land. CIA-backed forces overthrow President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Of course that’s the price of freedom isn’t it? World’s police force eh? Or perhaps more the actions of a country that is hell-bent on completely safeguarding its interests at all costs despite the price in human terms.
Song Of The Day ~ Big Audio Dynamite – E=mc²
Original Comments:
fiordizucca made this comment,
happy new year Barone 😉
comment added :: 4th January 2006, 15:43 GMT+01 :: http://fiordizucca.blogspot.comJohn made this comment,
I believe that it was the British who invented ‘gunboat diplomacy’ but the Americans are now the masters of ‘gunpoint democracy’.
comment added :: 7th January 2006, 17:09 GMT+01 :: http://bigjohn.blog-city.com/The Fat Boy made this comment,
RedBaron, I don’t agree with your political opinions, but you write well. Do you write for newspapers? Have you considered it?
-Redbaron responds – Thank you for the compliment, I do not write for newspapers at least not on politics or the like because I have a fundamental aversion to doing what I am told. I have written on more boring stuff but it isn’t nearly as fun!-comment added :: 9th January 2006, 13:12 GMT+01 :: http://spongeblog.blog-city.com
It was no surprise that there have been no WMDs found in Iraq despite all the protestations to the contrary by Bliar and Bush on the intelligence they allegedly had. One could be a little surprised at the time of the invasion that there appeared no plans on what to actually do once the Iraqi army was defeated. As time went on the protestations grew weaker and the evidence that this was a war founded on economics became almost irrefutable.
What has been most perturbing is the, at best astonishing ineptitude and at worst systematic repression of civilians that has taken place during the US occupation of Iraq. The treatment of prisoners at Iraqi jails was brought to light after the discoveries of Abu Gharaib and one might have thought that this problem had been stamped out since there has been no reporting of a continuation of the problem. You would not think this were the case though if you were in Iraq where it is well-known that the Shia-dominated and US-trained security forces. “I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating, one or two detainees were paralysed and some had their skin peeled off various parts of their bodies” Hussein Kamal (Deputy interior minister). The case in question involves 170 detainees but is believed to be only the tip of the iceberg. Most or very likely all, of the 170 heldwere Sunnis and were found to be in a state of both malnutrition as well as showing clear signs of having been subjected to torture.
Anne Clywd, Tony Blair’s envoy in Iraq claims to have known about such problems since May when she received reports from the Sunni community that such actions were going on. What Ms Clywd, who was strongly in favour of military action to depose Saddam Hussain, did regarding these reports she did not make clear, in a BBC Newsnight interview, they were certainly not heavily publicised at the time and the cynical amongst you might summise that this would have been too close to the whole Abu Gharaib incidents thus causing further embarrassment at a time when it would have been even more politically disastrous. Outside the blinkered government circles, a report by Human Rights Watch earlier in the year had said that methods used by Iraqi police included beating detainees with cables, hanging them from their wrists for long periods and giving electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body.
As if the torture of prisoners angle wasn’t enough the Pentagon has confirmed after many previous denials that they used white phosphorus in the attacks on Fallujah, this type of weapon is a dangerous incendiary and causes horrific burns on contact with skin, there are serious questions over whether or not this constitues a chemical weapon. Unsurprisingly the military does not consider this a chemical weapon although of course the military’s assessment of chemical weapons at the moment is something of a moot point. I’m sure no-one who reads this blog by now will be shocked to know that he US is not a signatory to the International treaty restricting the use of white phosphorus as a weapon (Protocol III of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons).
In the case of Fallujah the US army claim that 1,600 people killed all of whom were allegedly insurgents. This would be the most staggeringly accurate war in all history were it to have any chance in hell of being even remotely true. Initially we were told that resistance in Fallujah was a small group of extremists and not a widespread popular revolt against US occupying forces. Now we are expected to believe that the US indescriminately bombed the city and wiped out all of the resistance without any innocent lives being lost. Usually if something smells like bullshit, that’s probably because it is bullshit, this is no exception.
Song Of The Day ~ Alabama 3 – Mansion On The Hill
Amazing really when you think of the convenience of yet another report that backs up US interventionist foreign policy. I’m not even going to discuss here whether or not there is truth contained within it because frankly at the moment it doesn’t matter. No-one will be scrutinising the evidence, asking questions of the source material. It will be taken as gospel because the powers that be want it to be that way, it is expedient for them. Just as it was to study Iran, just as it was to report lies about Iraq and cover up the truth of the necessity of invasion in Afghanistan. Now the US has 2 exit strategies for its troops in Iraq. It is almost as if they are going to march on Damascus with the words, “well since we were passing we thought we’d look in…!”
Do I doubt there are “bad” people in Syria? Not at all. Give me a country where none of the governing elite are seriously suspect. Whilst I am quite sure Syria wants to influence neighbouring countries, it would be foolish not to recognise that all countries do so in an effort to create a protection zone around themselves, this is normal even if the means are sometimes questionable. The only way to get away from this would be the anarchist principle, to abolish borders, which I agree with to a great extent, but that’s another story. The US has many many “bad” people that create protection zones for its interests across the globe but I don’t see many reports heralded in the mainstream media about that. In fact the US works its influence through trade barriers and restrictions as well as through military might. “You’ll practice free trade because it suits us and we won’t because it doesn’t.”
The German investigator in the Syrian affair, Detlev Mehlis, is careful to say that the investigation needs much more work, and that the people named in his report must be presumed innocent until proved guilty. It is of course highly unlikely that this will now happen. One can’t sully a good conclusion with triflings like evidence! Perhaps Syria should turn around and say that President Asad is immune from any prosecution and can then go around the world giving lectures on his own importance like war criminal Henry Kissinger. There will be many detractors who will say that any of us who dissent in this matter are simply doing so to be on the anti-US side no matter what. This of course is just a fudge to avoid a genuine debate of the issue.
In the case of Syria’s influence in Lebannon it has long been the case, just as Israel has long since made infractions and exercised influence in South Lebannon particularly with the South Lebanese Army. Syria’s problems with Israel relating to the seizing of the Golan Heights in 1967 are well documented and Lebannon has traditionally been a useful ally agaisnt the Israelis. Syria is part of George Bush’s convenient ‘axis of evil’ which includes lots of countries that have anti-Anerican sentiment whilst notable by their absence are many repressive regimes that keep the US sweet. So Syria is on the ‘hit-list’ and in the direct aftermath of the invasion of Iraq there were many of us that believed Syria was next and immediately in the firing line. Recent history has shown that when the US has got it in for you, it is only a matter of time before there is some charge to answer.
The fact is you cannot have an international judiciary at all if one country refuses to subject its citizens to its scrutiny the way the US currently does. It therefore undermines every single other case that judiciary may be called upon to examine. To boil it down to a legal argument it is the case of the guilty man and his defence, if he is guilty shouldn’t he be damned whatever? No, quite the contrary, for to set such a precedent is genuinely the legal road to totalitarianism because you are denying someone the right to representation and the presumption of guilt becomes enough to convict. The guilty man must be ably represented so that the case of his prosecution is subject to such scrutiny that if he is convicted it is clearly on the grounds of sound evidence. If he escapes on a technicality then justice has not been done but it is up to the prosecution to ensure that cases are watertight thus is the mantra of innocence until proven otherwise.
Look already at the actual phrases being used by the US and UK, after Syria’s denials at the involvement in the assasination of the Lebanese president, Condoleeza Rice told BBC One’s Politics Show there was at the least evidence of Syria failing to cooperate, as well as the “very strong implication” it was involved in assassinating Mr Hariri. This is very very different from irrefutable proof of Syrian involvement and yet you would think already that it is very much a done deal as far as Syria’s guilt in concerned. British foreign secretary Jack Straw has been quoted “…And they have to get the message that you cannot have a government, if I may say so, at any level going into assassinations.” Straw goes on to say that it was “very serious” that people at a high level in the Syrian regime had been implicated and that there was evidence of false testimony by senior figures. This does not sound much like the speech of someone whose mind is yet to be made up. Whilst giving evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Straw talked about Syria’s alleged involvement being “intolerable” and said that the United Nations would have to decide what action to take against Syria. He does not say that it is imperitive that the UN look into the case independently to establish the facts behind the case.
Straw’s position is unsurprising when you consider what his boss thinks -“Any implication of the involvement of Syria or any other country is something the international community has got to treat with the most fundamental seriousness and gravity because it calls into question the whole of our relationship not just with that country – but our ability to make sure the rule of law is enforced internationally.” Intersting that Tony Blair is now all of a sudden interested in the international rule of law when flouting it has not bothered him in the past.
So if our governments are so willing to disregard the presumption of innocence when it comes to international law, is it any wonder that there are many of us deeply concerned that with the erosion of our rights in the judicial processes and to privacy it can only be a matter of time before that presumption of innocence is lost for us as individuals.
Song Of The Day ~ Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor*Red letter day for the SOTD, the first time I believe that I have ever picked the current No.1 of the day.
Original Comments:
neil made this comment,
Loss / changes of individual freedom – read the last two sentences hidden at the bottom of this BBC article…. comment added :: 26th October 2005, 21:42 GMT+01
RED BARON'S WORDS 