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January 12, 2009 at 08:29:31
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 1/12/09: by Dave Lindorff Page 1 of 2 page(s) |
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By Dave Lindorff As we hear the horrifying and sickening reports of the atrocities in Gaza by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), and as ardent Israel backers predictably justify each one or contest the facts it’s worth reading a new book ("The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth about US War Crimes"), by a former Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington bureau investigative reporter of the LA Times named Deborah Nelson. Nelson with the help of war historian Nick Turse, got hold of a 9000-page secret report by the Pentagon's own people, stored in the National Archive and dating to the Nixon era. Compiled in the wake of a flood of charges from returning GIs and Marines about US atrocities which began appearing following the expose of the My Lai massacre, it sought to investigate and repudiate those claims. Nixon's people, following the My Lai scandal, had made an enormous effort to discredit those returned soldiers, like John Kerry of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, who came forward to report that the war was a massive series of atrocities against civilians. What this remarkable and well-documented book shows is that the Pentagon’s exhaustive investigation actually ended up concluding that most of the reports--which were often of massacres on the same scale as My Lai--were true. As a result it was labeled top secret and buried for thirty-plus years.
Nelson and Turse took this study, released following a Freedom of Information Act request, and proceeded to track down the actual soldiers who had filed the reports. They brought the complete investigative records to these guys and had them go over their own old stories in view of what evidence the investigators had found. The vets in question, now in their 50s and 60s, had had no idea that their protests had been secretly taken seriously or investigated, or that they had been found to be telling the truth. Many, at the time they came forward, had been spied on, called out as liars, and intimidated into silence.
The conclusion can only be that these atrocities--things like just herding 20 women and small children into a ditch and machine gunning them, and then calling them all VC "killed in action"--were really just the tip of the iceberg, and that many many more such incidents were simply never reported by anyone. In Vietnam, atrocities and massacres of civilians by American forces were not aberrations, they were part of the battle plan.
This should come as no surprise. My father, who was a marine in WWII, tells of how at boot camp at Camp LeJeune, he and his comrades were trained systematically to consider the "Japs" to be subhuman, and to be ready to kill at a moment's notice and without mercy. The same was done to the draftees being sent to Vietnam, and it is true of the troops trained to “liberate” Iraq in the 2003 invasion of that country.
The point is, Israel's IDF is no better or worse than America's military. Given the level of mutual hatred between Israeli and Palestinian, I have no doubt that while there may well be humanists among IDF draftees, who manage to maintain their humanity despite their situation, many in the IDF are as ready to blow away women and children in Gaza without a moment's remorse as Hamas rocketeers are happy to hit a kindergarten in Israel. That is what soldiers get conditioned to do. It is not even their fault. It is the fault of a leadership that wants this to happen.
Of course there are atrocities being committed in Gaza by the IDF. That is the point of the invasion, which is to terrorize the 1.5-million people of Gaza into turning against Hamas. It is the same policy as the American “pacification” program in Vietnam. It didn’t work there, and it won’t work in Gaza, but in the process, many, many innocent civilians, including little children, will die horrible deaths.
As of today, nearly 900 people are known to have been killed by Israeli forces. At least half of these are reported to be civilians, but since in fact only children and women are “known” to be civilians, what this really means is that the IDF has killed nearly 500 women and children. Undoubtedly, many of the other dead, who are adult males, are also civilians. And the actual number of dead is certainly much higher, because many bodies have not been recovered from the rubble. They cannot be because the IDF is shooting at anyone who attempts a rescue.
In all this, it is important for us in the US to remember that Israel is the number-one recipient of US foreign aid and military aid.
Without US support—-military, financial and diplomatic—-this war would not be happening. It is, in the final analysis, as much America’s fault as Israel’s.
The irony is that even as Israel pounds Gaza and slaughters the inhabitants of this modern-day Warsaw-like ghetto, it is gaining nothing. Year by year, Israel’s security situation worsens.
In 1967 it fought a brilliant and decisive war against multiple attackers and triumphed. It won decisively again in 1973. Since then, however, it has had a harder and harder time winning its battles and in the last instance, against Hezbollah, the IDF arguably lost.
Now it is in a fight against a really pitiful opponent in Gaza--a bunch of poorly trained guys with guns and RPGs vs. one of the most modern and
heavily equipped military forces in the world--and yet there are many who say the IDF will fail, and will end up leaving Gaza in ruins but with Hamas still not only in control but more popular than ever for having "stood up" to the IDF.
Now the thing Israel and its backers need to bear in mind that the US itself is a power in the midst of a historic decline. The US military is weaker than at any time since the Vietnam era: over-extended, its equipment wrecked and top heavy with bureaucracy. And with the US economy in ruins after two decades of de-industrialization, and deliberate creation of economic bubbles designed to hide the general decline in Americans' incomes and keep the consumer spending frenzy going artificially, it is not coming back.
The "Ebay economy" of virtual wealth we Americans thought we had in our homes and our 401(k) funds will not bounce back in coming years, because it was all a fake. When this recession finally ends, we Americans will find that recovery will mean a much lower standard of living than we have become used to. (Just one example of the problem: The Fed has printed $2 trillion of new dollars over the last two months. When you do that, you inevitably debase the currency. We are doomed to see the dollar plummet in value over the next few years, and because the US doesn't make anything anymore, all the goods we need, including even the bulk of the things that go into making our cars, are imported and will soar in price. It will be even worse if, as is likely, oil producers stop pricing oil in dollars.)
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The Hamas and the Americans Were Guilty of War Crimes
All relevant authorities say that Gaza started the war against Israel with over 8,000 projectiles delivered over a three-year period. The Israeli response was made in self-defense. In a defensive mode Israel is entitled to do anything to stop the bombardment. She must do so by exercising due caution to prevent civilian casualties. International law is not clear how far the attacked party can go. Merely winning a war is insufficient to charge the winner with using disproportionate force. Indeed, the projectiles are still falling on Israel. A cease fire just because Gazans are doing most of the dying is preposterous on its face. The Hamas will not talk to us, stop the arms smuggling or cease fire until we withdraw to the 1967 borders. Comparing the actions of the IDF to the Americans in Vietnam is a gross canard on the face of it. The USA staged a false flag event to illegally attack Vietnam. The US soldiers were guilty of war crimes as soon as they landed on the tarmac. The US leaders should have been executed. That the US had a humiliating defeat does not excuse their actions. Likewise, the Hamas leaders should be hanged twice. They started the war they knew would harm their civilians. They doubled the crime by using their civilians as human shields. by Jason Paz (68 articles, 88 quicklinks, 112 diaries, 1386 comments [97 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 12, 2009 at 10:58:38 AM  (0+)
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Reply: Zealots
"All relevant authorities say that Gaza started the war against Israel with over 8,000 projectiles delivered over a three-year period. The Israeli response was made in self-defense."--Paz Newspeak doubletalk, "relevant"--the authorities that YOU agree with. UN Resolution 242 means that the Israeli's have no legitamate right nor authority to be anywhere near the Gaza or the West Bank. Israel may not rely on the authority of the UN to establish their 'State', but ignore the UN when it declares sanctions. Israel is a criminal racket run by insane zealots. "Self defense"--Israel has been the aggressor for more than 60 years, claims of 'self defense' are absurd, mad...yes literally insane. 8000 projectiles that are little more than bottle rockets and have harmed so few that it is literally tragicomedy to consider them an effective weapon. On the otherhand, the use of modern high tech killing devices that the Terror State of Israel is afforded by the Terror State of the US is simply genocide. by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 12, 2009 at 3:55:51 PM (0+)
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Reply: Winning Should Not Be Confused with Aggressing
Israel responded to a huge Egyptian military build-up on the borders. They outnumbered Israel three-to-one in every category. Under the UN Articles, Israel had every justification to attack preemptively. The other nine wars began with an Arab attack and ended in an Israeli victory. [If you call the destruction of the Lebanese infrastrucure a stalemate, good luck to you.] What put the bee in your bonnet? The USA humiliated in Asia three times? Your distortion of history is monumental. by Jason Paz (68 articles, 88 quicklinks, 112 diaries, 1386 comments [97 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 5:51:59 AM (0+)
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Reply: Numbers, Jets, Dead Children do not Lie, but Nazionists do!
Poor Israel is again defending itself against Palestinian children who have rocks and peanut rockets. Poor Israel is again defending itself against Pals who are imprisoned and starved in concentration camp called Gaza. Poor Israel is killing hundreds of children, about a thousand civillians and injuring thousands because the 8000 rockets killed only one or two fascist occupiers. The pictures and numbers do not lie; by Nazionists have been lying and killing, lying and killing. Sadly, they are controlling the media and your brain. Hamas is a mosquito, which was created by Nazionist beast's atrocities and is feeding itself on the pools of blood shed by the NaZionism, the cancer that is trying to lead the world to a WW III However, I strongly believe that the Nazionists will be the ultimate losers of this conflict. Injustices and atrocities cannot sustain its agent forever. Here is an American artist, Michael Heart's reaction to the most recent NaZionist massacre, which I am sure will not be the last. Here his words and watch the pictures and let me know how long you can tone down my friend. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlfhoU66s4Y also make sure watching this award-winning documentary DVD: Occupation 101, which is sold at: www.occupation101.com And can be viewed online, though in low quality, at: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2451908450811690589 finally, you may look at this: by Edip Yuksel (17 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 90 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 12, 2009 at 11:19:07 PM (0+)
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The Law
-- Article 25: "The attack or bombardment, by whatever means, of towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended is prohibited." by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Monday, Jan 12, 2009 at 7:51:37 PM (0+)
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An impotent military
A frustrated, impotent military will go nuts and start committing atrocities. It's a law of history. In Viet Nam, it didn't matter how powerful our military was--we just couldn't beat the Viet Namese people. The more destruction we wrought, the worse it became. So our conduct of the Viet Nam War turned into an endless series of atrocities. I don't have to tell you it's gone the same way in Iraq. Likewise with Israel. Can you imagine their frustration? They've got NUKES, and they can't stop a single f*cking rocket from getting through! An impotent military power is the most dangerous thing in the world. I wish we could shoot Israel with a tranquilizer dart. by Perry Logan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 558 comments [74 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 5:09:00 AM (0+)
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Reply: impotence...very dangerous/also leads to rapists
"An impotent military power is the most dangerous thing in the world. I wish we could shoot Israel with a tranquilizer dart."--Parry Yea...I think America could use a few darts in its thick hide as well. by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 5:15:45 AM (0+)
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