If the United States was really waging a Global War on Terror (GWOT) it would be like the Godfather waging a war against organized crime. The very idea is absurd. Nevermind that you can no better fight terrorism than you can ninja-kicks to the head. If my Kung-fu is good, I will block the ninja-kick; but I will never be able to end the possibility of a ninja-kick. You can't fight something you actively participate in.
States sponsor terror the way Nike sponsors basketball players. The prevailing myth is that terrorism is a weapon of the weak, but in reality it is a weapon of the strong. We do not have millitary bases in 136 countries around the world because we like to help; we have them to maintain global hegemoney. One method of maintaining our global dominance is through terrorism.
The FBI defines terrorism as "violent acts intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government, or affect the conduct of a government." Keep that in mind as you read the following well-known and government-confirmed examples of US acts of terrorism. These examples come from BODY OF SECRETS by James Bamford, Doubleday, 2001 :
Operation Ajax (1953) was an Anglo-American covert operation to overthrow the democratically chosen government of Iran and Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and restore the exiled dictator Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to the throne. This operation was the first time the Central Intelligence Agency orchestrated a plot to overthrow a democratically-elected government. Mossadegh was a socialist who nationalized the oil industry (which was previously controlled by the British). There were also fears Mossadegh was secretly communist or a USSR sympathizer. This operation was successful and inexpensive, and gave the CIA the confidence to do the same thing a year later in Guatemala. The reinstated Shah was widely unpopular and this led to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Operation PBSUCCESS (1954) was the CIA-organized covert operation that overthrew the democratically-elected President of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. The CIA armed and trained an ad-hoc "Liberation Army" of about 400 fighters in Nicaragua. Under the command of Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, the Liberation Army invaded Guatemala via Honduras on June 18, and Arbenz resigned on June 27. The coup ignited decades of repressive government and civil conflict. With factions of the Guatemalan Army and the influential landowning upper class opposed to Arbenz's policies, some have speculated that his left-wing reformist government would not have lasted even if the CIA had not intervened; nonetheless, the event has become a focus of criticism regarding American covert operations during the Cold War."Operation Mongoose" AKA The Cuban ProjectThe Cuban Project, also known as
"Operation Mongoose" (1961) is the general name for CIA covert operations initiated by President Kennedy authorizing aggressive covert assault on Communism in the Cuban Republic. The operation was led by Air Force General Edward Lansdale and came into being after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.Over thirty different plans were considered under The Cuban Project, some of which were carried out. The plans included the use of American Green Berets, destruction of the Cuban sugar crop, mining of harbors and even the possible creation of rumors that Jesus would return to Cuba after the Communist Party of Cuba was overthrown.Operation NorthwoodsThe Joint Chiefs of Staff and the NSA planned to launch terror attacks on American targets, blaming them on the Cubans in 1962. ...the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans for what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. government. In the name of anti-Communism, they proposed launching a secret and bloody war of terrorism against their own country in order to trick the American public into supporting an ill-conceived war they intended to launch against Cuba.
CIA attacks Chile and installs PinochetOn September 11th 1973, terrorists attacked Chile, overthrowing the oldest functioning democracy in Latin America. They installed a military dictatorship headed by General Augusto Pinochet who suppressed opposition, murdered thousands, tortured tens of thousands and employed a former Nazi Colonel Walter Rauff to assist the elimination of dissidents. This coup was the result of a three-year terrorist campaign to destabilize the Chilean government and included assassinations, arson, bombings and economic sabotage.The terrorist organization which carried was none other than the CIA. In 1970 the Chileans had elected a democratic socialist, Salvador Allende, as their president in a free and fair election. Allende increased civil liberties, instituted agrarian reform, and increased spending on health, education, housing and sanitation. Many foreign-owned businesses were nationalized, including copper firms (largely American owned). This threatened US domination over South America, and so the CIA launched the coup that murdered Allende and put Pinochet in power.
US invasion of Grenada. The conflict began on October 25, 1983, when the United States armed forces landed troops on the beaches of Grenada.A Grenadian faction led by the strongly pro-Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard seized power; Coard's forces subsequently executed popular leader Bishop (black power and Marxist-Leninist leanings) in spite of mass protests in Bishop's favor. The OECS appealed to the United States, Barbados, and Jamaica to assist them.The combination of a bloody seizure of power by a hardline Marxist group within the U.S. "sphere of influence" prompted it to act militarily. The U.S. government described the invasion as a "noncombatant evacuation operation" for almost 600 American medical students on the island. There was no indication that the administration tried to evacuate the Americans peacefully.The Invasion was opposed by the British government, as Grenada was part of the Commonwealth of Nations. Margaret Thatcher contacted Ronald Reagan, telling him that "Grenada was part of the British Commonwealth, and the United States had no business interfering in its affairs."After the invasion, Prime Minister Thatcher wrote to Reagan:"This action will be seen as intervention by a western country in the internal affairs of a small independent nation, however unattractive its regime. I ask you to consider this in the context of our wider East-West relations and of the fact that we will be having in the next few days to present to our Parliament and people the siting of cruise missiles in this country. I cannot conceal that I am deeply disturbed by your latest communication."In 1984, Reagan often quipped that Grenada had to be invaded because it was the world's largest producer of nutmeg. He also said, "You can't make eggnog without nutmeg."
Terrorist training camp on US soil? You bet - run by the United States ArmyThe US Army maintains a terrorist training camp in Columbus, Georgia called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas. On November 16, 1989, six Salvadoran Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her teenage daughter were murdered at the University of Central America. Of the 27 soldiers cited for that massacre by a 1993 UN Truth Commission, 19 were SOA graduates. The New York Times reported, "Americans can now read for themselves some of the noxious lessons the United States Army taught thousands of Latin Americans... [The SOA manuals] recommended interrogation techniques like torture, execution, blackmail and arresting the relatives of those being questioned."
If the United States was really waging a Global War on Terror (GWOT) it would be like the Godfather waging a war against organized crime. The very idea is absurd. Nevermind that you can no better fight terrorism than you can ninja-kicks to the head. If my Kung-fu is good, I will block the ninja-kick; but I will never be able to end the possibility of a ninja-kick. You can't fight something you actively participate in.
