My Lai . . . Haditha . . . and America’s whitewashers

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

By Ben Tanosborn
Online Journal Guest Writer

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_844.shtml

<snip>

My Lai had its victims, a gruesome display on par with the worst incidents that have come to light in the last century. It also had its gang of perpetrators; soldiers under the command of Lt. William Calley. And it even had four heroes; three from a helicopter crew (Thompson, Colburn and Andreotta) who saved the lives of a few villagers; and a man in Calley’s platoon whose conscience would not permit him to take part in the massacre (Bernhardt). But beyond heroes and villains, for the next few years My Lai would also have a never-ending series of whitewashers, who in good conscience must also be considered villains . . . by choice or by default.

The whitewashers came in all ranks of importance, from the anticipated ever-present military brass, that initiated and maintained the cover-up, to a host of politicians and people in leadership, all the way to the commander-in-chief, President Nixon in this case. The incredible bottom line to this massacre was, however, that the only person found guilty for this carnage was Lt. Calley, who ended up serving three and a half years of “house arrest” in his quarters at Fort Benning, Georgia. The entire sordid affair became not just a national disgrace for which the country could do penance, but a monumental whitewash that to date Americans prefer not to talk about.

In a way, the enablers to the entire whitewash were the American public. Not only were the villains and whitewashers de facto exonerated, but the four heroes in the plot became traitors . . . to their military comrades, and also to much of the population.

My Lai, photos and all, was just too big a war crime to allow an effective cover-up, or it might have remained a secret to this date. Accounts provided by soldiers who lived through similar criminal accounts, if on a much smaller scale, were kept hush-hush we are led to believe “not to affect the morale of the troops.” It was all done, as it always seems to be in these cases, for the “greater good.” Yes, the end justifies the means!...

[IndyOp]

1. End ALL Wars. War IS A War Crime.

The Heroes of My Lai

SERVE your country by refusing to pick up a gun.

US Soldiers Do NOT Protect us. US Soldiers put us in DANGER.

Killing Hope: Over 250 Military & CIA Interventions Since World War II

What I've Learned About US Foreign Policy - Bill Moyers & Secret Government, more...

America's Third World War - How 6 million People Were killed in CIA secret wars against third world countries

John Stockwell, former CIA Station Chief in Angola in 1976, working for then Director of the CIA, George Bush. He spent 13 years in the agency. He gives a short history of CIA covert operations. He is a very compelling speaker and the highest level CIA officer to testify to the Congress about his actions. He estimates that over 6 million people have died in CIA covert actions, and this was in the late 1980's.

Real Shock & Awe: 15 Years of US Policy - Over 1,000,000 Iraqis Dead

In 15 Years (1991-2006), the US has caused/contributed to 1,000,000 Iraqi deaths

Persian Gulf War: 150,000
Gulf War Aftermath: Many thousands
UN Sanctions: Primary cause of 600,000 deaths
Iraq War: 250,000

Important: Whether or not you believe that US foreign policy caused/contributed to all of these deaths - the death toll is a valid, conservative estimate of Iraqi deaths in the past 15 years in excess of what would have been expected if there had been peace. PLEASE TELL PEOPLE THIS NUMBER -- maybe it is big enough to shock the American public awake and cause them to realize the true devastation in Iraq:1,000,000

The Persian Gulf War did not have to happen: Hussein did not invade Kuwait until after he had received an assurance from April Gillespie that the "US had no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts." Even if he had invaded, alternatives to war were available.

The Gulf War Aftermath Encouraged by American radio broadcasts to rise up against their ‘dictator’, the Kurds of northern Iraq rebelled against a nominally defeated and certainly weakened Saddam Hussein in March of 1991. Fear of being drawn into an Iraqi civil war and possible diplomatic repercussions precluded President Bush from committing US forces to support the Kurds. Within days Iraqi forces recovered and launched a ruthless counteroffensive including napalm and chemical attacks from helicopters. They quickly reclaimed lost territory and crushed the rebellion. By the first week of April, 800 to 1,000 people, mostly the very young and the very old, were dying each day. link Al Franken has said that many 100,000's of Kurds and Shia were slaughtered, but I do not have a printed source.

UN (US/UK Sanctions) The United Nations Security Council has maintained comprehensive economic sanctions on Iraq from August 1990 until March 2003. Sanctions in Iraq hurt large numbers of innocent civilians not only by limiting the availability of food and medicines, but also by disrupting the whole economy, and reducing the national capacity of water treatment, electrical systems and other infrastructure critical for health and life. The oil-for-food program provided an average of $200 per year for each of 23,000,000 Iraqis - well below the international poverty level. In the UN Security Council, countries urged the US and UK to allow the sanctions to be lifted, but the US/UK would not allow this.

Iraq War A Johns Hopkins University study published in the British medical journal The Lancet in October, 2004. // The figure of 100,000 had been based on somewhat "conservative assumptions", notes Les Roberts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, U.S., who led the study. That estimate excludes Falluja, a hotspot for violence. If the data from this town is included, the compiled studies point to about 250,000 excess deaths since the outbreak of the U.S.-led war. // Eman Ahmad Khamas.... said: "This occupation has destroyed Iraq. Americans don't know that tens of thousands of Iraqis are in prisons. Americans don't know how many have been killed. Lancet reported 100,000 in 2004, not counting Falluja. Now it is something like double this number."

[izzie]

2. I guess as long as we make war to fix things this will happen

And it is often who wins that makes it a crime. We took Germans to court for doing the same-thing Americans did to them. We could have hardly said we have put in prison GI for killing German POW's now could we? We could do that to the Germans. Even the SC had to step into that one. Look at what happened around Malmady court and what happened when GI saw the camps the Germans set up. Guess war are not for the fair of mind or heart. I think it is time we stopped wasting our youth and money on wars. I am for voting for some one who will run on cutting the money going to the DOD.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

7. The Pentagon's budget should be cut by 70%. nt.

[izzie]

8. I am with you on that and I get a pension from them.

--

[northamericancitizen]

3. War has to stop...NOW . For the survival of our collective soul .

We, in North America have to use all of our power to stop it Now.

Speaking for myself, I am waiting and more than ready to join any organized movement for Peace Now. I don't care if it's organized by the Communist Party (no insult intended) or any fringe group. What I want is to go and march or sit as long as it takes to end this nonsense.

Here in Québec (Canada)there was only 2 occasions to manifest against the current War in Iraq. The first one, 1 month before the beginning and the second one, a couple of weeks later.


I wish I could do more. Much more..

peace
nac

[IndyOp]

4. If you wish you could do more, there probably is much more you can do..

I am not slamming you - at all - there is so much more I want to do, but don't get done.

If I keep my intention to 'do more' in mind, then I will do what I can when I can.

I need to more often take time to ask what else I can do...

:(

[donbrunton]

5. Please

Don`t forget Abu Sifa - Isahaqi.

It`s been buried.

Articles and Flash presentation here.

http://isahaqi.chris-floyd.com

[IndyOp]

6. Welcome to DU - donbrunton - we have to help each other know

and remember. :hug:

Abu Sifa
Abu Ghraib
Fallujah
Haditha