QUOTE OF THE DAY
"If you assume that there's no hope, you guarantee that there will be no
hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are
opportunities to change things, there's a chance you may contribute to
making a better world. That's your choice."
- - Noam Chomsky
The 9-11 Peace.org bulletin is a weekly newsletter providing resources,
news, and action ideas to over 28,500 people around the world. The full text
of the bulletin is online at
www.9-11peace.org/bulletin.php3
Users can subscribe to the bulletin at that address also. Following is a
sample bullitin from earlier this week. I think the information here is
valuable, not to imply that all the problems caused by these leaders are the
fault of the U.S. Government, but I do believe, as is documented here, that
the U.S. has time and again trained, armed and generally enabled the same
men that eventually become the worst nightmares of the American people and
the World. If we dont study this legacy and find out the causes, I fear it
will keep happening.
THE FRANKENSTEIN SYNDROME
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Susan V. Thompson, ed.
THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND
-------------------------------------------------
The US has become adept at creating monsters. Osama bin Laden is only the
latest in a long line of US-backed despots, dictators, and criminals against
humanity. Too many times to count, the US has supplied the training and
support to bring into power a leader who abuses human rights, traffics
drugs, demolishes democracy, or commits massacres and genocide.
The official story is that the US -- usually through the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) -- has made a series of mistakes. Backing Saddam
Hussein was a mistake. Backing Manuel Noriega was a mistake. Backing the
Taliban was a mistake. The CIA took a chance on these guys, and the project
backfired. There's even a word for it -- "blowback."
But the leaders in question hardly started out "good" and then "turned
evil." Most of these leaders were corrupt, ruthless, anti-democratic, and
murderous long before they bit the US hand that fed them. Often, it was this
very behavior which made them suitable candidates for support. US backing
only stopped when the leader was no longer useful in achieving US aims or
became "disobedient."
The stories of these infamous leaders are often surprising and always
disturbing, and they offer valuable insights into the strategy behind US
foreign affairs. This week, we offer accounts of five top offenders,
although the list is so long that there should be many "Dishonorable
Mentions."
By studying the affairs of leaders of other nations, we can learn some
important lessons about the leaders of the United States -- and the kind of
world they have been creating.
Next week: Representatives of Peace
ONE LINK
---------
This list of "friendly dictators" gives brief summaries of the careers of
many US-supported dictators, including all of the people listed below.
www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/dictators.html
OSAMA BIN LADEN
----------------
Much has been written since Sept. 11 about the US relationship to bin Laden,
who was a very useful pawn during the proxy war against the USSR in the
80's. Here are a few links that summarize this controversial relationship.
In "Bin Laden comes home to roost," Michael Moran of MSNBC explains how the
US helped to create bin Laden. Although the article was written in 1998,
it's still a compelling case for US complicity.
www.msnbc.com/news/190144.asp
David Corn argues that although the CIA may not have had direct contact with
Osama bin Laden, they are ultimately responsible for the conditions that
created him.
www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11757
"Blowback chronicles": An article summarizing information from several books
on past actions of the CIA and US foreign policy.
www.9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=18
Noam Chomsky on bin Laden and Afghanistan.
struggle.ws/issues/war/chomsky_b26_sept19.html
MULLAH OMAR AND THE TALIBAN (Afghanistan)
------------------------------------------
Mullah Omar, leader of the former Taliban government, was a group commander
in the Afghan Mujahedeen, and is thus a US creation in much the way that bin
Laden is. His Taliban fighters, with direct support from Pakistan and
indirect support from the United States, seized Kabul in 1996.
www.rte.ie/news/features/aftermath/assessment/mullahomar.html
The CIA worked with Pakistan to create the Taliban. This pre-Sept. 11
article quotes Selig Harrison from the Woodrow Wilson International Center
for Scholars as saying, "I warned them that we were creating a monster."
rawa.fancymarketing.net/cia-talib.htm
SADDAM HUSSEIN (Iraq)
----------------------
Saddam Hussein is another one of "America's Most Wanted" leaders; but he
also was once on the US's side.
Hussein's profile includes a chronology of his career and notes the number
of people that he is thought to have killed (somewhere in the hundreds of
thousands).
www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hussein.htm
This brief summary explains how the Reagan administration supported Iraq and
Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran (prior to the Gulf War).
www.parascope.com/articles/1196/iraq2.htm
This is an excellent and credible explanation of the relationship between
the US and Iraq prior to the Persian Gulf war, based on State Department
documents. It includes many important details of this relationship,
including the fact that "...the Reagan administration removed Iraq from the
State Department[not equal]s list of countries regarded as supporters of international
terrorism," despite doubts about whether that support had ended.
The article also states that "Throughout the Iran-Iraq war, the Reagan
administration chose to give priority to maintaining US-Iraq relations over
concerns about Iraq[not equal]s use of chemical warfare," which is very important
considering that Iraq's development of chemical weapons is currently being
used as a pretext for a possible attack on the country.
nsarchive.chadwyck.com/igessayx.htm
This is a chronology of the events affecting the Kurdish people, which
demonstrates the fickle relationship that the States has had with
anti-Hussein forces.
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/kurds/cron.html
AUGUSTO PINOCHET (Chile)
-------------------------
Pinochet seized power in Chile after a CIA sponsored coup, ushering in years
of "disappearances" and deaths.
Pinochet's profile describes the CIA actions that helped him seize power and
the subsequent problems of his regime. One of these was the assassination of
Rene Schneider, the Commander-in-chief of the military, who refused to
approve the coup.
www.moreorless.au.com/killers/pinochet.htm
Thousands of declassified CIA documents reveal that the CIA aided in the
overthrow of democratically elected Chilean President Salvador Allende in
the 70's, thus putting Augusto Pinochet into power.
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1022000/1022347.stm
Henry Kissinger played a key role in the overthrow of Allende. This article
explains his involvement (which he denies in his memoirs), and details the
many instances of direct US and CIA involvement in the situation, such as
setting up a fascist organization run by a former PR person for the Ford
Motor Company.
www.wsws.org/news/1998/oct1998/kis-o21.shtml
MANUEL NORIEGA (Panama)
------------------------
Manuel Noriega was employed by the CIA for years before being demonized by
George Bush Sr. and arrested by the US for drug trafficking. Noriega's
profile.
www.cnn.com/resources/newsmakers/world/namerica/noriega.html
Manuel Noriega is the most infamous graduate of the US-based School of the
Americas (now renamed WHISC). This "resume" provides an overview of his
career in point form.
www-personal.umich.edu/~lormand/poli/soa/panama.htm
This is another brief summary of Noriega's career, which makes it clear that
he was arrested due to his growing disobedience to the US rather than his
drug trafficking, which had always been tolerated by the CIA before.
www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA%20Hits/Panama_CIAHits.html
EAST TIMOR: A STORY OF HOPE
------------------------------------------------
The people of East Timor, like the peoples of Panama, Iraq, and Afghanistan,
suffered at the hands of a brutal US-backed ruler. Suharto came to power in
Indonesia in a 1965 coup. The CIA and the US Embassy participated in the
coup by creating and supplying lists of Communist Party members and
sympathizers, which were then used by Suharto's death squads to murder
between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people.
In 1975, he invaded East Timor. According to the East Timor Action Network,
90% of the weapons used came from the U.S, and one-third of the population
-- more than 200,000 people -- were killed. But thanks to the efforts of
countless activists, East Timor has since gained its independence, becoming
its own nation on May 20 of this year.
The US provided Suharto with death lists: "According to a report by States
News Service, published in the Washington Post May 21, 1990, State
Department and CIA officials at the US Embassy in Jakarta personally
provided the names of thousands of local, regional and national leaders of
the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) to the armed forces, which then killed
or detained most of those named."
www.wsws.org/news/1998/may1998/coup-m20.shtml
In the face of mass opposition to his regime, US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright requested that Suharto resign, while showering praise on
him.
www.wsws.org/news/1998/may1998/alb-m22.shtml
Suharto did resign, appointing one of his closest associates in his place.
www.wsws.org/news/1998/may1998/ined-m21.shtml
In 1999, the East Timorese were allowed to vote on the issue of independence
in a UN-organized referendum. 89% favored it, leading to an immediate surge
of pro-Indonesian violence.
www.boogieonline.com/revolution/multi/war/etimor/independence.html
East Timor became an independent nation on May 20, 2002. The East Timor
Action Network issued this statement congratulating the East Timorese. It
says: "Your victory against occupation by the fourth largest country backed
by the world's most powerful nation gives hope and inspiration to all who
work for genuine democracy, human rights and self-determination."
www.etan.org/news/2002a/05congrats.htm
This statement on the occasion of East Timor's independence examines the
roles of the UN, the US, Australia, and the rest of the world in allowing
the military occupation to happen in the first place
www.etan.org/et2002b/may/12-18/18hak.htm
Even now that East Timor has won independence, the Bush administration can't
resist meddling; therefore it may be a qualified victory.
www.commondreams.org/views02/0523-01.htm
HITLER AND STALIN: BLURRING THE DISTINCTION
BETWEEN ENEMY AND ALLY IN WWII
--------------------------------------------
HITLER: Friend of American Big Business
While the US didn't "create" Hitler, the ties between American business and
the Nazi regime were so strong that in essence, Wall Street helped finance
Hitler's rise to power.
Hitler's profile describes him as the "grand champion of killers."
www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hitler.htm
During the war, the three major American motor vehicle companies supplied
both Nazi Germany and the US, and became an integral part of the Nazi war
effort.
members.tripod.com/~Chaplain1/ford.html
Hitler greatly admired Henry Ford's anti-Semitism, which Ford publicly
expressed in the series of articles he wrote and published titled "The
International Jew." Ford even received a Nazi medal.
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/books/2995894.htm
Author and former U.S. Justice Dept. Nazi War Crimes Prosecutor John Loftus
contends that "the Bush family fortune came from the Third Reich."
serendipity.magnet.ch/jsmill/bushnz1.htm
Indeed, it is apparently uncontested that the current American President's
political influence extends back to his grandfather's support of the Nazis.
This article explains how WWII era companies such as IG Farben helped build
Hitler's regime (including several concentration camps, one of which was
Auschwitz) as well as describing how such connections continued even after
the war.
www.citypaper.net/articles/011801/sl.slant.shtml
For more on this topic, you may be interested in reading the short online
book, "Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler."
reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/
JOSEF STALIN (former USSR)
The distinction between friends and enemies never seems to be clear-cut, and
Stalin is perhaps the prime example of this. Stalin made a pact of
non-aggression with Hitler, an act that Time magazine described as making
WWII possible. Later he allied with Britain and the US in order to defeat
the Nazis, making him one of the "good guys." In fact, President Roosevelt
was fairly enthusiastic about building a relationship with Stalin, mainly
because he thought that it would bring about peace. However, Stalin's entire
career was marked by ruthlessness and the deaths of millions of his own
citizens.
Stalin's profile.
www.moreorless.au.com/killers/stalin.htm
This is an excellent written summary of Stalin's career.
www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/stalin/
Roosevelt acknowledged that the USSR was a dictatorship, but cultivated ties
with Stalin nonetheless in order to defeat Hitler.
www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/AD_Issues/amdipl_6/stefan.html
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM
--------------------------------------------
SAUDI ARABIA
The corrupt Saudi ruling family abuses human rights, but America is still
Saudi Arabia's number one trading partner, continuing in a long-standing
tradition of American support for the regime. This rosy relationship may be
one of the origins of the Sept. 11 attacks, since 15 out of 19 of the WTC
terrorists were Saudi, as is bin Laden, and US presence on Saudi soil has
long been a source of anger among Muslim extremists.
www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/faq/0111saud_body.html
THE LATEST FRIENDLY DICTATOR: MUSHARRAF
The US has supported a string of dictators in Pakistan, including General
Ziaul Haq, a military dictator who was an ally during the proxy war against
the USSR in Afghanistan. The most recent dictator to win US favor is
President Musharraf, who seized power in 1999. Musharraf is now enjoying
support due to his willingness to assist US efforts in Afghanistan.
In 1999, Musharraf took control of Pakistan in a "bloodless coup," therefore
putting the nuclear power under military control.
www.rnw.nl/hotspots/archive/pak/html/pakistane991013.html
One year after the coup, support for Musharraf was at a low point, and the
US was tilting towards India, strengthening its ties with that country
rather than Pakistan.
www.wsws.org/articles/2000/nov2000/pak-n21_prn.shtml
Now Pakistan has once again become America's ally in the War on Terrorism.
Democracy for the people of Pakistan will not be coming any time soon.
www.charm.net/~marc/chronicle/musharref_apr02.shtml
Musharraf is currently planning a "referendum" to undemocratically extend
his term of office. This article describes various misgivings about the
referendum.
www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/04/06/pakistan.reax/
Pakistan and India are now on the brink of nuclear war, due in no small part
to Musharraf's actions, which include current missile tests (although India
is no less to blame for engaging in dangerous brinkmanship).
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9198-2002May25.html
11:42:30 AM 
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