>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) us: > >from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >A Brief History of United States Interventions, 1945 to the Present > By William Blum > >The engine of American foreign policy has been fueled not by a >devotion to any kind of morality, but rather by the necessity to >serve other imperatives, which can be summarized as follows: > >1) making the world safe for American corporations; > > 2) enhancing the financial statements of defense contractors at home >who have contributed generously to members of congress; > > 3) preventing the rise of any society that might serve as a >successful example of an alternative to the capitalist model; > >4) extending political and economic hegemony over as wide an area as >possible, as befits a "great power." > >This in the name of fighting a supposed moral crusade against what >cold warriors convinced themselves, and the American people, was the >existence of an evil International Communist Conspiracy, which in >fact never existed, evil or not. > >The United States carried out extremely serious interventions into >more than 70 nations in this period. Among these were the following: > > >China 1945-49: Intervened in a civil war, taking the side of Chiang >Kai-shek against the communists, even though the latter had been a >much closer ally of the United States in the world war. The U.S. used >defeated Japanese soldiers to fight for its side. The communists >forced Chiang to flee to Taiwan in 1949. > > >Italy 1947-48: Using every trick in the book, the U.S. interfered in >the elections to prevent the Communist Party from coming to power >legally and fairly. This perversion of democracy was done in the name >of "saving democracy" in Italy. The Communists lost. For the next few >decades, the CIA, along with American corporations, continued to >intervene in Italian elections, pouring in hundreds of millions of >dollars and much psychological warfare to block the specter that was >haunting Europe. > > >Greece 1947-49: Intervened in a civil war, taking the side of the >neo-fascists against the Greek left which had fought the Nazis >courageously. The neo-fascists won and instituted a highly brutal >regime, for which the CIA created a new internal security agency, >KYP. Before long, KYP was carrying out all the endearing practices of >secret police everywhere, including systematic torture. > > >Philippines 1945-53: U.S. military fought against leftist forces >(Huks) even while the Huks were still fighting against the Japanese >invaders. After the war, the U.S. continued its fight against the >Huks, defeating them, and then installing a series of puppets as >president, culminating in the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. > > >South Korea 1945-53: After World War II, the United States suppressed >the popular progressive forces in favor of the conservatives who had >collaborated with the Japanese. This led to a long era of corrupt, >reactionary, and brutal governments. > > >Albania 1949-53: U.S. and Britain tried unsuccessfully to overthrow >the communist government and install a new one that would have been >pro-Western and composed largely of monarchists and collaborators >with Italian fascists and Nazis. > > >Germany 1950s: The CIA orchestrated a wide-ranging campaign of >sabotage, terrorism, dirty tricks, and psychological warfare against >East Germany. This was one of the factors which led to the building >of the Berlin Wall in 1961. > > >Iran 1953: Prime Minister Mossadegh was overthrown in a joint U.S. >and British operation. Mossadegh had been elected to his position by >a large majority of parliament, but he had made the fateful mistake >of spearheading the movement to nationalize a British-owned oil >company, the sole oil company operating in Iran. The coup restored >the Shah to absolute power and began a period of 25 years of >repression and torture, with the oil industry being restored to >foreign ownership, as follows: Britain and the U.S., each 40 percent, >other nations 20 percent. > > >Guatemala 1953-1990s: A CIA-organized coup overthrew the >democratically-elected and progressive government of Jacobo Arbenz, >initiating 40 years of death-squads, torture, disappearances, mass >executions, and unimaginable cruelty, totaling well over 100,000 >victims -- indisputably one of the most inhuman chapters of the 20th >century. Arbenz had nationalized the U.S. firm, United Fruit Company, >which had extremely close ties to the American power elite. As >justification for the coup, Washington declared that Guatemala had >been on the verge of a Soviet takeover, when in fact the Russians had >so little interest in the country that it didn't even maintain >diplomatic relations. The real problem in the eyes of Washington, in >addition to United Fruit, was the danger of Guatemala's social >democracy spreading to other countries in Latin America. > > >Middle East 1956-58: The Eisenhower Doctrine stated that the United >States "is prepared to use armed forces to assist" any Middle East >country "requesting assistance against armed aggression from any >country controlled by international communism." The English >translation of this was that no one would be allowed to dominate, or >have excessive influence over, the middle east and its oil fields >except the United States, and that anyone who tried would be, by >definition, "communist." In keeping with this policy, the United >States twice attempted to overthrow the Syrian government, staged >several shows-of-force in the Mediterranean to intimidate movements >opposed to U.S.-sported governments in Jordan and Lebanon, landed >14,000 troops in Lebanon, and conspired to overthrow or assassinate >Nasser of Egypt and his troublesome middle-east nationalism. > > >Indonesia 1957-58: Sukarno, like Nasser, was the kind of Third World >leader the United States could not abide by. He took neutralism in >the cold war seriously, making trips to the Soviet Union and China >(though to the White House as well). He nationalized many private >holdings of the Dutch, the former colonial power. And he refused to >crack down on the Indonesian Communist Party, which was walking the >legal, peaceful road and making impressive gains electorally. Such >policies could easily give other Third World leaders "wrong ideas." >Thus it was that the CIA began throwing money into the elections, >plotted Sukarno's assassination, tried to blackmail him with a phoney >sex film, and joined forces with dissident military officers to wage >a full-scale war against the government. Sukarno survived it all. > > >British Guiana/Guyana, 1953-64: For 11 years, two of the oldest >democracies in the world, Great Britain and the United States, went >to great lengths to prevent a democratically elected leader from >occupying his office. Cheddi Jagan was another Third World leader who >tried to remain neutral and independent. He was elected three times. >Although a leftist -- more so than Sukarno or Arbenz -- his policies >in office were not revolutionary. But he was still a marked man, for >he represented Washington's greatest fear: building a society that >might be a successful example of an alternative to the capitalist >model. Using a wide variety of tactics -- from general strikes and >disinformation to terrorism and British legalisms, the U.S. and >Britain finally forced Jagan out in 1964. John F. Kennedy had given a >direct order for his ouster, as, presumably, had Eisenhower. > > >One of the better-off countries in the region under Jagan, Guyana, by >the 1980s, was one of the poorest. Its principal export became >people. > > >Vietnam, 1950-73: The slippery slope began with siding with the >French, the former colonizers and collaborators with the Japanese, >against Ho Chi Minh and his followers who had worked closely with the >Allied war effort and admired all things American. Ho Chi Minh was, >after all, some kind of communist. He had written numerous letters to >President Truman and the State Department asking for America's help >in winning Vietnamese independence from the French and finding a >peaceful solution for his country. All his entreaties were ignored. >For he was some kind of communist. Ho Chi Minh modeled the new >Vietnamese declaration of independence on the American, beginning it >with "All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator >with ... " But this would count for nothing in Washington. Ho Chi >Minh was some kind of communist. > > >Twenty-three years, and more than a million dead, later, the United >States withdrew its military forces from Vietnam. Most people say >that the U.S. lost the war. But by destroying Vietnam to its core, >and poisoning the earth and the gene pool for generations, Washington >had in fact achieved its main purpose: preventing what might have >been the rise of a good development option for Asia. Ho Chi Minh was, >after all, some kind of communist. > > >Cambodia 1955-73: Prince Sihanouk, yet another leader who did not >fancy being an American client. After many years of hostility towards >his regime, including assassination plots and the infamous >Nixon/Kissinger secret "carpet bombings" of 1969-70, Washington >finally overthrew Sihanouk in a coup in 1970. This was all that was >needed to impel Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge forces to enter the fray. >Five years later, they took power. But five years of American bombing >had caused Cambodia's traditional economy to vanish. The old Cambodia >had been destroyed forever. > > >Incredibly, the Khmer Rouge were to inflict even greater misery upon >this unhappy land. To add to the irony, the United States supported >Pol Pot, militarily and diplomatically, after their subsequent defeat >by the Vietnamese. > > >The Congo/Zaire 1960-65: In June 1960, Patrice Lumumba became the >Congo's first prime minister after independence from Belgium. But >Belgium retained its vast mineral wealth in Katanga province, >prominent Eisenhower administration officials had financial ties to >the same wealth, and Lumumba, at Independence Day ceremonies before a >host of foreign dignitaries, called for the nation's economic as well >as its political liberation, and recounted a list of injustices >against the natives by the white owners of the country. The poor man >was obviously a "communist." The poor man was obviously doomed. > > >Eleven days later, Katanga province seceded, in September Lumumba was >dismissed by the president at the instigation of the United States, >and in January 1961 he was assassinated at the express request of >Dwight Eisenhower. There followed several years of civil conflict and >chaos and the rise to power of Mobutu Sese Seko, a man not a stranger >to the CIA. Mobutu went on to rule the country for more than 30 >years, with a level of corruption and cruelty that shocked even his >CIA handlers. The Zairian people lived in abject poverty despite the >plentiful natural wealth, while Mobutu became a multibillionaire. > > >Brazil 1961-64: President Joao Goulart was guilty of the usual >crimes: He took an independent stand in foreign policy, resuming >relations with socialist countries and opposing sanctions against >Cuba; his administration passed a law limiting the amount of profits >multinationals could transmit outside the country; a subsidiary of >ITT was nationalized; he promoted economic and social reforms. And >Attorney-General Robert Kennedy was uneasy about Goulart allowing >"communists" to hold positions in government agencies. Yet the man >was no radical. He was a millionaire land-owner and a Catholic who >wore a medal of the Virgin around his neck. That, however, was not >enough to save him. In 1964, he was overthrown in a military coup >which had deep, covert American involvement. The official Washington >line was ... yes, it's unfortunate that democracy has been overthrown >in Brazil ... but, still, the country has been saved from communism. > > >For the next 15 years, all the features of military dictatorship >which Latin America has come to know and love were instituted: >Congress was shut down, political opposition was reduced to virtual >extinction, habeas corpus for "political crimes" was suspended, >criticism of the president was forbidden by law, labor unions were >taken over by government interveners, mounting protests were met by >police and military firing into crowds, peasants' homes were burned >down, priests were brutalized ... disappearances, death squads, a >remarkable degree and depravity of torture ... the government had a >name for its program: the "moral rehabilitation" of Brazil. > > >Washington was very pleased. Brazil broke relations with Cuba and >became one of the United States' most reliable allies in Latin >America. > > >Dominican Republic, 1963-66: In February 1963, Juan Bosch took office >as the first democratically elected president of the Dominican >Republic since 1924. Here at last was John F. Kennedy's liberal anti- >communist, to counter the charge that the U.S. supported only >military dictatorships. Bosch's government was to be the long sought >"showcase of democracy" that would put the lie to Fidel Castro. He >was given the grand treatment in Washington shortly before he took >office. > > >Bosch was true to his beliefs. He called for land reform; low-rent >housing; modest nationalization of business; and foreign investment >provided it was not excessively exploitative of the country; and >other policies making up the program of any liberal Third World >leader serious about social change. He was likewise serious about the >thing called civil liberties: Communists, or those labeled as such, >were not to be persecuted unless they actually violated the law. > > >A number of American officials and congressmen expressed their >discomfort with Bosch's plans, as well as his stance of independence >from the United States. Land reform and nationalization are always >touchy issues in Washington, the stuff that "creeping socialism" is >made of. In several quarters of the U.S. press Bosch was red-baited. > > >In September, the military boots marched. Bosch was out. The United __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
