Bush in Denial

 *Feel free to circulate* The Logic of War Crimes in a Criminal War By:  Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Brian Becker

June 2, 2006 When U.S. marines carried out the savage and systematic  execution of Iraqi families and small children in Haditha last November, it was initially reported as a ³battle² with ³insurgent casualties.² A photo of a kneeling Iraqi civilian moments before he was murdered was taken by a  Marine using his cell phone camera. Other pictures of the corpses of small  children, families lying in pools of blood in their homes, students gunned down in a taxi are all part of the documentary evidence. The massacre in Haditha took place one year after a much larger massacre  of civilians in Fallujah. Four to six thousand civilians are estimated to  have been killed in Fallujah in November 2004, according to credible  independent sources reporting from the ground. The truth of Iraq is that there were  other massacres almost every week in between the events that have made Haditha  and Fallujah famous cities: famous in the way no city wants to become well  known throughout the world. The attack on the people of Iraq and ensuing > occupation> by the United States government has caused the deaths of well over 100,000Iraqi people (the British medical journal, The Lancet, reported an excess  of 100,000 dead eighteen months ago). ³Ethics Training² to Prevent Massacres. Now that the butchery in Haditha is making headlines in the United States, high ranking officials in the Pentagon as well as the President are  promising an investigation. They have even announced ³ethics training² for combat troops. The implication is that something unusual happened when unarmed civilians, including terrified small children and their mothers who were trying to shield them, were riddled with bullets by U.S. soldiers.

KBuš kaže malo morgenWere  they rogue soldiers lawlessly breaking ranks from an otherwise pristine mission> aimed at liberating Iraqis? That is pure fiction. Those who criticize the> management of the war are talking complete nonsense when they say
that the
> actions of these Marines will make it ³harder to carry out the
mission in
> Iraq.²
>
> The Haditha massacre will not make the Iraqis think differently about
the
> United States or Bush. It will only confirm their view, an outlook
shaped
> by
> the cruel, cold-hard reality of the past years. A Routine Phenomenon
>
> Just this week, on May 31, US soldiers in Iraq ³killed two Iraqi
women <
> one
> of them about to give birth < when the troops shot at a car that
failed to
> stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad." The AP
reports
> that
> Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital
in
> Samarra
> by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday.  Jassim, the
mother of
> two
> children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were
killed
> by
> the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and
witnesses.
> Her
> husband was waiting for her at the maternity unit of the hospital
when
> Jassim,
> pregnant with their child, and her cousin were murdered.
>
> Yesterday, the BBC disclosed new video evidence that U.S. forces
massacred
> another group of Iraqi civilians in the town of Ishaqi in March. The
> story,
> carried by Knight-Ridder in March, and denied by the U.S. government
> thereafter, stated that U.S. troops had rounded-up villagers into a
single
> room of a house and then ³executed 11 people, including a 75-year-old
> woman
> and a 6-month-old infant.² BBC reported June 1 that of the eleven
people
> murdered by U.S. troops, five were children. The soldiers then,
³burned
> three
> vehicles, killed the villagers¹ animals and blew up the house.²
>
> In Afghanistan this week, large masses of people took to the streets
> throwing
> rocks at U.S. military vehicles following another incident in which
U.S.
> military personnel raced through Kabul and then rammed passenger
vehicles
> killing at least three people. A top Afghan police officer reported
that
> U.S.
> soldiers then opened fire indiscriminately directly into the crowd
killing
> at
> least four more people. Rejecting the Disney Version of U.S. Foreign
> Policy
>
> The perception of the U.S. in the Arab world is based on actual
> information
> and knowledge of the Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan. The U.S.
> financing
> and support for the ongoing war waged by the Israeli military against
the
> Palestinian people also contributes to the understanding of the U.S.
role
> among the people of the Middle East. This perception is 100 percent
> different
> than the fantasy promoted in the United States. In the United States,
> facts
> are not allowed to stand in the way of the official legend.
>
> All the mainstream media, the politicians and even some in the ³peace
> movement² in the United States uphold the Disney version of U.S.
> imperialism:
> a fundamentally benign force, motivated by democratic values and a
vision
> of
> freedom, that is suffering an unexplained outburst of criminality
based on
> stress caused by  poor management of the war. Haditha, and Fallujah
before
> it,
> or Abu Ghraib, are registered as deviant behavior by out of control
> people.
> Conveniently they are all rank and file enlisted men and women. No
> Generals,
> Secretary of Defense or President need worry.
>
> That every exposed crime is widely accepted to be ³deviant² or
> aberrational in
> the United States is only a testament to the power of political
> indoctrination
> by the media and the government whose economic resources for
> ³opinion-molding²
> are greater than that of any previous empire in human history.
>
> The Perception of U.S. Imperialism from The Middle East
>
> ³The deaths in Haditha, a volatile town in western Iraq, have barely
> caused a
> stir in Iraq and much of the Arab world < where American troops are
> reviled as
> brutal invaders who regularly commit such acts,² writes AP reporter
Hamza
> Hendawi, in a story filed on May 30, 2006.
>
> The next day a dispatch from AP reporter Kim Gamel, reports the same
> sentiment, "People in Samarra are very angry with the Americans not
only
> because of Haditha case but because the Americans kill people
randomly
> especially recently," Khalid Nisaif Jassim said.
>
> Closely connected by language, historical and geographic knowledge,
and
> access
> to more comprehensive media reporting, the Arab people consider the
entire
> war, including its unprovoked initiation by Bush on March 20, 2003,
to be
> a
> criminal endeavor by large powers against a small but oil-rich
nation. The
> racist character of the war itself is well recognized throughout the
> region.
> Having battled for a century against colonial and semi-colonial
> domination,
> the Arab people don¹t derive their knowledge about the intentions of
> Britain
> or the United States from FOX News or the New York Times.
>
> In the U.S. media, Iraq is treated as a low-intensity war. When U.S.
> soldiers
> are killed their deaths are accompanied by a small article. The fact
that
> well
> more than 100,000 Iraqis have died does not merit blazing headlines.
Iraqi
> suffering is minimized or usually attributed to ³terrorists.² Thus,
the
> people
> of the United States are shielded from that which the Arab people
know all
> too
> well about the criminal character of the war of aggression. Fallujah
and
> Hue
> City, Vietnam
>
> The issue of Fallujah is a case in point. Fallujah is emblematic of
the
> war.
> It is well understood throughout the Arab world but treated like
ancient
> history by the U.S. media.
>
> On the eve of the assault on Fallujah, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
sent out
> an
> email to anti-war activists (November 7, 2004) under the headline:
³Top
> U.S.
> Marine in Iraq Calls for Massacre in Fallujah.² It reported that Sgt.
> Major
> Carlton W. Kent gave an emotional pep-talk to 2,500 Marines who were
> poised to
> attack the city. The marines had just notified the people of Fallujah
that
> any
> male between the age of 15-55 who dared go outside would be
automatically
> killed. ³You¹re all in the process of making history,² the Sgt. Major
> exhorted
> his soldiers. ³This is another Hue City in the making. I, have no
doubt,
> if we
> do get the word, that each and every one of you is going to do what
you
> have
> always done kick some butt.² (AP, November 7, 2004)
>
> Evoking the events in Hue by U.S. officers, as a motivation for
today¹s
> troops, shows the macabre criminality inherent in imperialism¹s war
for
> conquest.
>
> Hue was a city in South Vietnam that was a scene of horrific war
crimes by
> military personnel when it was captured by U.S.-led forces in March
1968.
> U.S.
> Under-Secretary of the Air Force, Townsend Hoopes, admitted that Hue
was
> left
> a ³devastated and prostrate city. Eighty percent of the buildings had
been
> reduced to rubble, and in the smashed ruins lay 2,000 dead civilians
S²
> (Noam
> Chomsky¹s forward to the papers of the 1967 International War Crimes
in
> Vietnam Tribunal.) The Machinery of Racism
>
> How can 100,000 people die, how can children be murdered, how can the
> devastation and destruction of an entire society occur at the hands
of the
> U.S. government without there being a huge outpouring of indignation
and
> condemnation in the U.S. mass media, much less even acknowledgment by
so
> many
> in the ³loyal opposition²? Because the U.S. mainstream media is a
> corporate
> dominated propaganda machine that is part and parcel of the imperial
> establishment and shares its interests. It uses the instrument of
racism,
> a
> tool that has been fine-tuned by the forces of militarism in the
United
> States
> for nearly four centuries. The racist demonization of conquered and
> targeted
> people has been crafted with the idea of dehumanizing the victims so
as to
> prevent the forging of human solidarity in opposition to the crimes
of
> conquest and Empire. The mass media, always willing to exploit the
> emotional
> appeal of death and tragedy that occurs within the United States, can
> ignore
> or define the experiences of the people of Iraq as somehow less
worthy,
> the
> death of Iraqi children as less agonizing, their lives less valuable.
>
> Bush Proclaims that Iraq ³is only the beginning² of Endless War
>
> The day after the NY Times front page story revealing the graphic
details
> of
> the Haditha massacre, George W. Bush said these words about the Iraq
war
> to
> the West Point graduating class of 2006: ³This is only the beginning.
The
> message has spread from Damascus to Tehran that the future belongs to
> freedom,
> and we will not rest until the promise of liberty reaches every
people, in
> every nation.² Reiterating his and Cheney¹s theme that the U.S. is
now
> engaged
> in ³endless war,² Bush told the young cadets:  ³The war began on my
watch,
> but
> its going to end on your watch.²
>
> While Bush was exhorting the next generation of privileged military
> officers
> to enthusiastically embrace his imperial crusade, the reality is that
this
> administration sees in every rank and file enlisted man and woman
nothing
> more
> than pawns. For the working class youth who make up the bulk of the
> military,
> the Bush administration has only callous disregard. Bush is willing
to
> send
> these young people to kill and be killed while it carries out vicious
> cut-backs in education, job training and veterans benefits. The rich
are
> always ready to have the working class and poor people do their
fighting
> and
> dying.
>
> The crimes of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq are as inevitable as the
crimes
> committed by soldiers in imperial armies throughout history. The
conquered
> people refuse to accept their fate. They rise up, they form
resistance
> organizations. They take up arms and conspire to oust the foreign
> occupiers.
> They are then branded as terrorists and criminals by the Empire. To
the
> extent
> that they enjoy popular support among the indigenous population, the
> population itself is considered ³suspect² by the occupiers.
>
> Civilians thus become a danger. Children and young teenagers can
become
> the
> ³enemy.² The vehicles carrying expectant mothers to the hospital can
thus
> become a threat because they must travel quickly, too quickly for the
> comfort
> of the occupying soldiers who are fearful of car bombs.
>
> A Pertinent Revelation this Week: 50 Years After the Fact
>
> In the Korean War, U.S. soldiers gunned down hundreds and possibly
> thousands
> of South Korean civilians as they tried to escape the horrors of war.
For
> five
> decades, the Pentagon and each successive U.S. administration denied
these
> facts. South Korean survivors who tried to press their claims against
the
> United States were labeled traitors and North Korean spies and put
into
> prison
> for many years. After the killings of No Gun Ri in July 1950 were
exposed
> decades later in the U.S. media, the Pentagon even carried out an
> ³exhaustive²
> investigation and concluded that the actions were those of
inexperienced
> soldiers. ³The deaths and injuries of civilians, wherever they
occurred,
> were
> an unfortunate tragedy inherent to war and not a deliberate
killing....
> Soldiers were not ordered to attack and kill civilian refugees in the
> vicinity
> of No Gun Ri.² (Department of the Army Inspector General, No Gun Ri
> Review,
> Jan. 2001)
>
> But just this week, as the Pentagon begins its new ³investigation²
into
> Haditha, a document has come to light that not only reveals the truth
of
> the
> massacre of Koreans but that it was an act of official U.S. war
policy.
> The
> day of the mass killings, the US Ambassador to South Korea sent a
letter
> to
> State Department official Dean Rusk about the military decision
arrived at
> a
> meeting on July 25, 1950 announcing that Korean war refugees would be
shot
> if
> they approached US lines. The day after the decision the 7th U.S.
Cavalry
> Regiment killed hundreds of civilians at No Gun Ri in South Korea.
>
> The Logic of War Crimes
>
> There was a military rationale for killing the civilians at No Gun Ri
and
> in
> scores of other sites throughout Korea during the war. The U.S.
soldiers
> could
> not tell whether the civilians were sympathetic to the North Koreans
or
> whether they would permit North Korean soldiers into their midst.
>
> The Geneva Conventions expressly prohibit the targeting of civilians
under
> any
> circumstances. But the Pentagon had a bigger political concern than
> adhering
> to international law. The fundamental fear of the Pentagon and the
White
> House
> in Korea, as it was in Vietnam and during the first and current war
> against
> Iraq, was that public opinion at home would turn against the
imperialist
> adventure and tie the hands of the warmakers. The logic of their
political
> calculus was that U.S. public opinion would turn against the war
directly
> as a
> result of a large number of U.S. casualties. This thought took them
to the
> next murderous conclusion: if civilians pose even a remote risk to
U.S.
> soldiers it is better to shoot the civilians first and ask questions
> later.
> Dead Korean or Vietnamese or Iraqi civilians will not be as
politically
> damaging back home as dead American soldiers. There is one more side
to
> the
> logic of war crimes. If the civilian population is sympathetic to the
> resistance fighters it is necessary to terrorize the civilians as
> punishment
> for providing aid or shelter to a guerrilla army. This is not a new
story.
> The
> Japanese wiped out whole villages and nearly some cities in China as
a
> warning
> against aiding the communist-led resistance during World War II. The
> Nazi's
> policy in Serbia was to kill one hundred Serbs for every German
soldier
> killed
> by the resistance. Under the direction of John Negroponte, current
> Director of
> US Intelligence services, the Salvadoran military carried out
large-scale
> massacres of peasant communities that were considered supportive of
the
> FMLN
> resistance fighters in El Salvador during the 1980¹s. In Vietnam, the
CIA
> organized the Phoenix Program, a clandestine war that assassinated as
many
> 50,000 south Vietnamese who were considered to be members or
sympathizers
> of
> the National Liberation Front.
>
> The People of the United States Must Act to Stop Imperialist War
>
> There is no investigation, no new training, or change in the way the
war
> and
> occupation is administered that can stop massacres like Haditha,
Fallujah
> and
> the day in and day out killings of Iraqis and destruction of their
> society.
> The only change that can bring about the hope of building a new
future for
> Iraqis, one of self-determination and eventual peace, is to end the
> foreign
> occupation of Iraq and remove the invading army. Every day the U.S.
and
> other
> troops remain in Iraq the situation grows more dire for the Iraqi
people.
> We
> must demand that the troops be brought home now and reach out to our
> friends,
> families, co-workers and schoolmates to make this demand a powerful
and
> undeniable force. The majority of people of the U.S. now oppose the
war in
> Iraq - but at this very moment, many in the peace movement are urging
that
> all
> focus turn towards the elections, just as they did two years ago.
This is
> the
> road to irrelevance and it must be rejected.  The war in Vietnam was
not
> ended
> because ³better politicians² were elected. No one could assert that
> Richard
> Nixon was better than anything or anyone. What mattered was that
millions
> of
> people used every avenue to intensify the mass struggle in the
streets and
> in
> every community throughout the country. The Vietnamese people were
clearly
> determined to fight until their homeland was free from foreign
occupation.
> Ultimately, the U.S. soldier was only fighting to return to his or
her
> home.
> The congruence of these factors and the ever-widening mass anti-war
> movement
> made the nearly genocidal conflict unsustainable for the Pentagon
brass
> and
> the occupant of the White House. We must learn and re-learn these
lessons
> and
> apply them to today. That is the challenge and obligation of the next
> period.
> Mara Verheyden-Hilliard is a civil rights attorney and co-founder of
the
> Partnership for Civil Justice. Brian Becker is the National
Coordinator of
> the
> A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition.
>
>
> **Feel free to circulate the above message widely**
> Take the next steps with the antiwar movement. Go to
www.votenowar.org
> <http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=D4VVud1wJN8mLpV4uKLnpQ..>  to get
> involved.
> Click here to receive email updates.
> <http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=putAkX8ZEeZ3Ck0lh7FLWg..>
>
>
------ End of Forwarded Message

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