A short history of US foreign policy and exploitation of the third world

Table of Contents

Introduction
ANGOLA
ARGENTINA
BRAZIL
CAMBODIA
CHILE
COLUMBIA
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
CUBA
El SALVADOR
GUATEMALA
HAITI
INDIA
IRAN
IRAQ
LEBANON
NICARAGUA
THE PHILIPPINES
VIETNAM

1. Introduction

This paper is a short history of selected US foreign policy incidents during mainly the cold war era from 1946 to 1999. During this period the US had 6% of the world's population and 50% of the worlds wealth. The United States has supported dictators, sold or given away weapons, and generally supported tyranny. This action was not justified by cold war threats. It began before the twentieth century and it continued even after the breakup of the Soviet Union. This paper was revised in November 2000 after review by a foreign policy professional.

2. ANGOLA

Angola has been plagued by a butcher and terrorist named Johnas Savimbe. Supported by the racist South Africa and CIA, Savimbe has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people in his bid to seize Angola. Savimbe was defeated in a United Nations sponsored election however he has continued fighting for more than twenty years. During the cold war the only nation that had the decency to help the people of Angola was Fidel Castro's Cuba, which sent twenty thousand troops. The US has still not disavowed assistance to Savimbe.

3. ARGENTINA

Everyone remembers the Falkland war but no one seems to remember the "disappeared." Now that it is too late the media sees fit to tell about it. Most noteworthy from the point of view of the United States is the fact that the International Monetary Fund saw fit to make loans to Argentina's military dictatorship, but when democracy was restored the country was turned down because it was a "bad risk."

4. BRAZIL.

A CIA-backed military coup overthrew the democratically elected government of Joao Goulart in 1964. The junta headed by Castelo Branco became one of the most bloodthirsty in history. General Castelo Branco created Latin America’s first death squads, or bands of secret police who hunted down and killed political opponents. The CIA trained the death squads.

In "Art of Deception" Jim Huck wrote:
"Joal Goulart became Brazil's the first democratically elected president in 1961. ...
The reform-minded Goulart proposed numerous social and economic reforms. He announced plans to distribute millions of acres of land to the poor and to nationalize seven United States oil companies. ...
At this point the CIA set out to overthrow this new democracy. The agency spent up to $20 million in a campaign to support other candidates in the 1962 election. ...
50,000 textbooks were printed by the CIA and distributed to high schools and colleges. ...

In 1963, was CIA was able to infiltrate the right wing element of the army and bought the support of Castelo Branco. The CIA provided him with weapons and the equipment with which to destroy oil refineries. The United States Navy deployed ships off the coast of Brazil and made available military personnel who would aid Branco when fighting was to erupt.

     In March 1964, Branco and leading army officers carried out the coup in Rio de Janiero.
     ....   The United States placed in power a repressive and murderous regime which kept the great mass of the population in conditions of severe poverty. The social and economic reforms of Goulart were terminated, and Brazil's standard of living quickly declined....
     Meanwhile, $12 billion a year was spent on the Brazilian army, the most powerful in Latin America. Thousands of trade unionists, students, clergy, peasants, and intellectuals were arrested, tortured, and murdered."

From Thirdworldtraveler.com's book reviews:
Black, Jan Knippers. United States Penetration of Brazil.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977. 313 pages.
"Jan Black was a Peace Corp volunteer in Chile when a coup in Brazil
toppled the government of Joao Goulart in April, 1964. Her Chilean friends suggested that the coup was supported by the CIA, but Black thought they were being paranoid. Twelve years later, much more information about the CIA was available. Black, then a professor at the University of New Mexico, began extensive research on U.S. covert and overt involvement in Brazil, and put it in this book. As of 1999 Professor Black is at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, and her book endures as the best we've seen on U.S. policy in Brazil during the 1960s. Unlike its role in Chile from 1970 to 1973, the U.S. role in Brazil in 1964 was more subtle. The U.S. Air Force was ready with six C-135 transports and 110 tons of small arms and ammunition, and a "fast" Carrier Task Group was ordered to take positions off the Brazilian coast. They weren't needed because the U.S. had been subverting labor groups, reform-minded populists, and big media for many months, while pumping up the police and military. The coup was almost bloodless since everyone knew it was unstoppable; the military took over and Goulart fled to Uruguay. Most of the blood came later -- by the time this book appeared, Brazil had a well-deserved reputation for political repression and torture. "

5. CAMBODIA

The history of US involvement in Cambodia begins with the Vietnam war. The CIA and its right wing allies seized control of the cocaine business in the 60s as a revenue source for their covert war against communism. A lot of the cocaine was smuggled out of Laos into the US with high level Washington approval and assistance. A video documentary was made about the smuggling called "Air America." It shows US made C130 aircraft carrying drugs in an operation run by the CIA. The drug lord's need for drugs to meet the CIA demand was so great that there were reports about farmers in Laos who failed to meet their quota loosing a hand or their first born son as punishment. The Empowerment Project's video tape on the Iran Contra scandal describes the CIA involvement in the smuggling business. This business continued until the final US pullout in the mid 70s. US and South Vietnamese raids into Cambodia to attack the Viet-Cong began as early as 1964. These raids were viewed by Prince Sihanouk, the liberal head of state at the time as a violation of Cambodia's neutrality. In 1967 the Viet-Cong under intense bombardment from American forces moved the Ho-Chi-Minh communist war supply trail west into Cambodia. US attacks on the eastern region of Cambodia followed with four hundred thousand civilian casualties from the B52 carpet bombing and other attacks. In 1970 a CIA financed coup against Sihanouk's neutralist government put Lon Nol in power.(1) The right wing Lon Nol immediately sought and received US and South Vietnamese military intervention to support his regime in the face of popular revolt which quickly controlled the rural areas. Nixon launched the Parrot's Beak invasion to support Lon Nol. This combined US and South Vietnamese ground force entered Cambodia in the early '70s and devastated the area with high civilian casualties. The illegal incursion was hotly denied by then president Nixon who ordered it. The resulting anti-American feeling is believed to be a strong factor in the rise to power of the militant Khmer Rouge communist forces headed by Pol Pot a native tribesman from the area. The Khmer Rouge formed a united front with the North Vietnamese Liberation forces and by 1972 had wrested all of Cambodia except Pom Penh and a few surrounding villages from the right wing Lon Nol government. The US pull out in 1973 doomed the Lon Nol regime. Pom Penh fell to the communists on April 17, 1975 following a US helicopter evacuation of American personnel and supporters.

Within a few hours of the invasion all residents were ordered to evacuate the city. This action was the beginning of the murderous Pol Pot anti western cleansing campaign. There were no facilities in the countryside for support of the population and thousands starved. The Khmer Rouge then proceeded to kill all civilians that were suspected of having any connection with the west or knowledge of western culture. All educated individuals were killed in a mass execution often done by a shovel blow to the head. The sites of the resulting mass murder were documented in the movie "The Killing Fields" which showed wooden structures with trays filled with thousands of bleached white sculls. Apparently the Khmer Rouge believed that this effort would somehow rid their country of the evils caused by the American war.

After the communist victory in Vietnam and consolidation of power in 1978 the (North) Vietnamese communist army invaded Cambodia and seized the entire country. The Vietnamese 200,000 man army met very little resistance from a population desperate to escape from the Khmer Rouge killers. The Khmer Rouge retreated across the Thai border into refugee camps. The Chinese support for the Vietnamese ended with the war against the Americans and at that point the centuries old border fighting between Vietnam and China resumed. A Vietnamese attacking force invaded China and was quite successful in taking territory from the massive but unprepared Chinese army. The Chinese subsequently directed their military support to the Khmer Rouge. The US as part of its anti Soviet campaign also supported the Khmer Rouge throughout most of the 1980s. The refugee camps at the Thai border received US support. Liberal protest against this policy finally led to change in 1987. US restrictions on exports to the Vietnamese backed government hampered efforts to rebuild the economy. By 1985 the Kampuchian resistance forces numbered 25000 under Pol Pot, 5000 under Sihanouk and 9000 men under Son Sann. Around 1988 the Vietnamese forces pulled out leaving a weak puppet government.

In subsequent years a United Nations force moved in to try to restore democracy through free elections. These were long incoming with constant harassment from Khmer Rouge forces but the election was finally held in 1992. It appears that despite failed efforts of the defeated Vietnamese faction to try to break away the new government is holding together. Cambodia is at long last on the road to economic recovery. In August 1993 the new government launched a combined military offensive against the Khmer Rouge. United Nations officials have voiced quiet approval as they began the scheduled September pullout.

(1) Cambodia in the Southeast Asian War, Caldwell & Lek Tan 1973, Monthly Review Press

6. CHILE

Salvador Allende was elected president of Chile in 1969. He was a very popular Marxist and he immediately implemented his socialist campaign promises. Shortly after he took office Anaconda Copper and ITT were expropriated by the government. He enacted many socialist measures like public education and free medical care for the poor. It is generally agreed that Allende's promises were unrealistic for Chile's economy. US interests were not prepared to let their investments slip away easily. They appealed to the US government for help. President Nixon and Henry Kissinger masterminded the plot to take Chile by force and deliver the country into the hands of a right wing minority headed by a gangster-Pinochet. Using his power as president, in 1973 Nixon secretly directed the CIA and the Pentagon to send hundreds of troops and thousands of tons of military hardware to support the coup which put Pinochet in power.
The CIA head of covert operations who ran the destabilization operation was Bill Nelson. He also appears to have had an "arms for cocaine relationship" with Ronald Lister, the alledged CIA agent who supplied arms to the famous LA cocaine pusher "Freeway" Ricky Ross. See Gary Webb"s book "Dark Alliance" on the LA crack explosion page 195.
In the resulting civil war thousands of people were taken prisoner and 50 thousand were killed in the same infamous stadium used by the Pope during his visit. The extensive use of torture by the Pinochet government is well known. A woman who suffered torture in the Santiago stadium described it to me in detail during a visit to Denver in 1985. They used mice to torture Women. The visit was a meeting of the American Friends Service Committee. Government sponsored terror and anti-government demonstrations continued in Chile until in 1989 when the government finally permitted elections which forced Pinochet out of power. The elections were only possible because continued bad press caused public pressure in the US for a change. Chile may be on a sounder economic footing but the people suffered horribly under Pinochet.

7. COLUMBIA

Noted for its drugs, Columbia has long received US military aid. Slated to combat the drug traffickers the aid instead supports the military who are in league with the drug dealers. The weapons instead are used to exterminate the poor and any other political opposition.

8. REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

In the sixties the popular leftist Patrice Lamumba was assasinated by a right wing terrorist. That brought to power the US supported right wing leader Mobutu Sesi Seiko. He was installed as the new president and had US support for more than thirty years. He ruled a corrupt regime that stole much of the countries' wealth and left the population impoverished. Mobutu was strongly supported to the end by senator Jessee Helms of North Carolina and his Republican friends.

9. CUBA

When Fidel Castro took over cuba he did the Cuban people a great favor. The Batista regime was a hated mob-run mess. Castro was and remains popular. Castro once said he would allow freedom of the press in Cuba when it is allowed in the US. The US media remain under tight control. The Americans instituted an international boycott against Cuba and then when the economy fails have the gall to blame it on "communism." The two planes shot down over Cuba in 1999 were on offensive military missions for anti-Castro militias operating out of Florida. Shooting them down is Cuba's right and most likely the right thing to do. For the US to allow a lawsuit over this is a cynical joke.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis the United States threatened to start an all out nuclear war if the
Soviets did not tke their missiles out of Cuba. The Soviets had a right to put missiles there. The
Cubans had a right to keep them. The US had done the same thing to the Soviets in Turkey. The
US demand was a clear violation of international law. The US was the agressor and this kind of
agression has been a characteristic of the US since the Monroe Doctrine (itself illegal) was
formulated.

10. El SALVADOR

The rebellion in El Salvador has its roots in a long history of poverty and repression. Fourteen rich families ruled the country and ran the death squads in the eighties. The government of El Salvador long ago prohibited labor unions and on many occasions launched military attacks on peaceful demonstrations. Hundreds of people were killed. The Catholic church has been very active in the support of poor people in El Salvador. They reported that the fighting was an internal problem caused by repression. The Reagan/Bush Administrations and the popular press constantly accused the rebel FMLN of being communists supported by Castro. It was a widely believed lie in the US. To keep the American people from finding out from the El Salvadorans themselves the US government denied entry to refugees, falsely labeling them "economic refugees." Despite the ban numerous US church groups formed and "underground railroad" to Canada for the refugees. I personally met one such refugee in Wichita at a FOCUS meeting and heard his story. The Federal agents have accused members of these groups of violating the law. Rather than hiding the groups have dared the government to bring them to trial, because they are confident that the exposure will seriously damage the Republican Administration. In one case of note when the trial actually proceeded the judge ruled in favor of the accused. The US government supported the government of El Salvador all along, covered for it and both presidents Reagan and Bush lied numerous times. US supplied aircraft regularly used white phosphorous against civilian populations in the contested areas. Roberto D' Aubuisson the death squad leader was acknowledged by the CIA to be a gun and cocaine smuggler. See Gary Webb's book "Dark Alliance" page 194.
A personal friend Tim Lorentz visited El Salvador in the summer of 1989 and was arrested by the treasury police. He was held for several days in a torture prison where he was forced to draw drinking water from a toilet tank. During the rebel offensive in November 1989 a US government supplied DC-8, with a sideways mounted Gatling gun, circled the poor neighborhoods firing indiscriminately into the houses to kill as many people as possible. I met two Americans who were caught in the middle of it and returned unhurt to tell me their story. A Huntsville attorney, Ed Hart goes down to El Salvador regularly. He seems a little sneaky to me. He makes like he is a friend of the right wing when he is around the airport, but when he gets out in the country he joins up with the natives. On one trip he brought back pictures of the mother of a girl who was killed by the army. He told us the whole story torture and all. They broke her legs so she couldn't get away, raped her with a bayonet, and then found two soft parts to chop off before they smashed in her head. The army of El Salvador killed lots of folks. In one massacre nearly a thousand natives were killed. The US news media joined the Reagan Administration's denial. On a later trip we got to see part of the devastated town rebuilt. When six Jesuit priests were killed by the El Salvadoran army an American witness was threatened by the FBI and insulted by the US ambassador. Now that the war is dying down US newspapers have been allowed to give credibility to the report of the UN "truth commission." The government sponsored massacres verified by this commission had been repeatedly dismissed as "communist propaganda" in the US press throughout the 1980s. There was even a report in 1993 of prosecution of Reagan /Bush spokesmen for lying to Congress but it died out. No doubt so many Democrats cooperated with the crooks that they didn't want to be found out.

11. GUATEMALA

The systematic extermination of Indians in Guatemala by the military has been one of the most massive human rights abuses in Central America. During the Eisenhower administration US troops installed a dictator at the request of the United fruit Company. The Carter administration withdrew military aid because of the killing. The Reagan Administration resumed military aid claiming that the killing was reduced. This was a fraudulent claim and only happened to be true because the Indians had died of left and had become harder for the army to hunt down. In 1991 or thereabouts, the military tried another coup after a moderate government emerged. Then, possibly because the Clinton administration is more supportive of human rights, the US press raised the issue and before it was all over the embarrassed regime picked a well-known liberal for its figurehead president. Since then things have cooled down considerably and a lot of the natives are coming back home. But there were still quite a few scared Indians holding out in Mexico in 1993.

12. HAITI

When Haiti first won its independence through a slave rebellion, led by Toussiant Oventure, the US supported the imperial powers in their efforts to reestablish slavery. When that failed the US refused to recognize Haiti until 1862.

Under Woodrow Wilson the US occupied Haiti and disbanded the Haitian Parliament for refusing to ratify a US designed constitution. The occupation lasted for 19 years from 1915 to 1934, reimposing virtual slavery. 50,000 people were killed. The US pullout started a series of dictators that had the support and approval of Washington. The last of these were Papa Doc Duvalier and Baby Doc Duvalier. When things got hot for Baby Doc the US Air Force provided him with a getaway airplane. The US then supported a bunch of thugs who formed the National Council of Government with $2.8 million in military aid. This enabled them to pull off a series of coups and massacres. In December 1990 to give an illusion of democracy an election was held which was intended by Washington to be won by Marc Bazin, a former world bank official. A little known Catholic priest Jean Bertrand Aristide, got the poor folks vote instead, winning with a two-thirds majority. President Aristide held office from February until September when he was overthrown by a coup. The organization "Americas Watch" maintains that Aristide instituted democratic reforms, took measures to reduce corruption, and acted quickly to restore order to the government's finances. The US state department acknowledged these events in a secret cable classified until 1994. The US media led by the New York times began a campaign to discredit Aristide. He was accused of surrounding himself with "idealists and leftists." They reported that " . . . statements by Aristide blaming the wealthier classes for the poverty of the masses encouraged the coup." The US government through USAID opposed Aristide's efforts to increase the minimum wage to 37 cents an hour and terminated investment in Haiti. USAID also encouraged Haitian businesses in anti-labor practices. Although America's watch and European news sources generally acknowledge a sharp decrease in violence during Aristide's term of office, the American media selectively, only reported human rights violations during this period. In response to Aristide's election the State Department began funding " . . . those sectors of the Haitian political spectrum where opposition to the Aristide government could be encouraged." The institutions that merited such support were the ones that survived the coup and the ones which US troops were preparing to face before the Carter agreement.

After the coup US media coverage of human rights abuses was terminated and instead reports from the Haitian government of events during the Aristide regime were widely circulated. Also, a report on Aristide's "psychological disorders" was given wide circulation. It is noteworthy that during Aristide's presidency the flow of refugees from Haiti nearly stopped and it resumed immediately after the coup. This fact is acknowledged in a cable by US Ambassador William Swing which says that the Haitian left, human rights organizations, the UN and OAS missions all fabricate human rights abuses as a propaganda tool. The Ambassador dismissed reports of rapes with the explanation " . . . rape has never been considered or reported as a serious crime here." After the release of this cable an Immigration and Naturalization Service officer quit and announced that under one percent of legitimate asylum cases had been accepted by the INS because of racism. US support of the Haitian military has continued through the training program of the School of the Americas at Ft. Benning Ga. which was continuing through October 1993. Graduates of this school were accused by the UN of hundreds of murders in El Salvador. When the OAS slapped an embargo on Haiti, the Bush administration joined but secretly made clear that it was not to be taken seriously. Indeed US imports from Haiti rose by more than 50% in 1993. The reason was explained by Howard French of the New York Times who said that in calling for punishment of the Haitian military for several thousand murders Aristide was showing himself to be a "clumsy extremist." The London Financial Times reported that Washington was proving oddly ineffective in detecting the "lucrative use of the country in the transshipment of narcotics" by which "the military is funding its oil and other necessary imports." The terms of the agreement between Carter and the Haitian dictator are slowly coming out. The criminals will not be punished and will be allowed to take their time stepping down. The killers will just go into hiding until US forces leave. A story came out in mid 1996 illuminating the CIA-Haiti relation. A criminal named Emanuel Caunstvant was caught passing drugs or guns in Florida but the government let him off scott free because he threatened to reveal the secret CIA ties to the Hatian death squads. The State Department justified their intervention for his release "to protect intelligence sources."

13. INDIA

India was a liberal neutral democracy during the cold war. Because India voted with the Soviet Union occasionally in the United Nations, the US had a very cold relationship with India, even going so far as to allow weapons sales to its enemy Pakistan. Pakistan is a Muslum theocracy and is very repressive, deserving no US support.

14. IRAN

The history of US involvement with Iran is virtually unknown to the American public but it starts with the oil companies. A popular Iranian coalition elected in 1950 chose Mosaddeq as its head in 1952. He headed a nationalist regime and seized foreign oil holdings in Iran. The US and British governments responded to oil company pressure by supporting a coup which brought the Shah to power in August 1953. The brothers Allen and John foster Dulles were the masterminds of the CIA effort. It is reported that the CIA spent several millions on this venture. From that time on, the Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi received strong US military support. The Shah granted generous concessions to the western oil companies. In his first deal the profits from the Iranian oil were apportioned as follows: US-20%, British Petroleum-20%, Royal Dutch Shell-7%, French Petrol Co.-3%, and Iran-50%. The US companies were: Standard Oil of New Jersey, Standard Oil of California, Gulf Oil Corporation, Texas Oil Company, and Sconey-Mobil. Iranian oil money in turn was used to buy arms. US arms sales up to 1977 amounted to $12 billion. Included were 20 F-14 jet aircraft and a Spruance class destroyer. On order in 1977 was $20 billion more including F-16 jet aircraft and three more destroyers. The Shah's security force was aided by the CIA and the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, equivalent to the CIA. The Shah's methods were brutal as indicated by the following statistics. The number of Iranians killed has been estimated at 30,000. 300,000 persons were imprisoned in 19 years and 50,000 in 1975 alone. In just one day-June 5, 1963, SAVAK gunned down 6,000 Moslems who were involved in a peaceful demonstration. US official and military support in these actions was well known and highly resented. Popular uprising finally brought down the Shah in 1978. President Jimmy Carter had a foreign policy commitment to human rights yet after September 1976 when the Shah's troops gunned down peaceful protesters in Jaleh Square, Tehran he reiterated his support for the Shah by calling him morally impeccable. This outrageous public statement contributed to the famous hostage crisis of 1979 in which 50 Americans were taken prisoner by a Moslem mob. The Shah appointed Bani Sadir as temporary head of state and left the country in a US supplied "getaway" jet.. He was quickly given a warm welcome in the United States. After the Shah took refuge in the US, Iran demanded his extradition for crimes. When the US refused, the attack on the US embassy followed. The Iranian "mob" that stormed the embassy found undercover pay off money, fake passports, forged immigration papers, and fake license plates in the embassy building. Much press has been made of the 50 US hostages in the embassy and the number of people killed by Ayatollah Kumani but, these numbers are small (thousands) when compared to the number of people the Shah killed which is tens of thousands.

15. IRAQ

Under the Ottoman Empire Kuwait was part of Iraque. When the British ruled the Middle East they, with the concurrance of the French in the Sykes-Picot treaty, drew national boundaries, including the Syrian-Lebanese border, that cut apart many ethnic groups. According to one writer in Z-Magazine, this policy was designed to cause maximum dissent and in-fighting supposedly to make military domination easier. That is how the part of Iraq called Kuwait was created. With the loss of the Shah's control of Iran and the following war caused by Iranian fundamentalists, US arms flowed to Iraq. The US continued to build up Iraq's military even after the war for reasons generously attributed to inertia. Because of the breakup of the Soviet Union a new enemy was needed by the Pentagon to justify the bloated US military budget, and Iraq filled the bill. The UN resolution calling for Sadam to give up Kuwait just barely squeaked by the security council with a large amount of bribery and arm twisting on the part of the US. Even though the UN Security Council was designed to give undue influence to the principal world powers, especially NATO, it took all this and still all the US could get was a resolution that did not call for war.
The US proceeded with a war that included violations of the Geneva conventions. Prohibited infrastructure was bombed including power plants, oil fields and sewer plants. Soldiers that were hiding helplessly in underground bunkers were buried alive. Since the Gulf war the loss of infrastructure and blockade of Iraq have resulted in inhuman living conditions for the nation and the starvation of several million children. The principal US motivation remains control of the oil. To achieve low oil prices the US supports several dictators including the Saudi government of Arabia and the government of Kuwait. This imperialist domination of the Middle East is in clear violation of international law and the principles of democracy.

16. LEBANON

Everyone remembers the two hundred Marines that were killed by a suicide bomber at a barracks in Lebanon, but no one seems to remember the hundreds of Palistanians in internment camps who were killed by the shells from the US Battleship.

17. NICARAGUA

The long standing government of Estachio Samoza was installed by US Marines in the 1930s. Samoza's administration was a puppet government following the US party line in the UN and with all its foreign policies, but it was very unpopular and repressive at home. Military repression of a growing civilian rebellion and wanton slaughter of civilians in the '70s led to the popular uprising which brought the Sandinistas to power. The Sandinista government instituted progressive reforms including health and literacy campaigns, which were successful at first, but sabotaged by the US Contra war. Some of the Sandinistas were Marxists but the charge of "Communist" was U. S. propaganda. The economy remained 80% private through the late '80s. A sprinkling of Marxism was popular in the third world and no cause for alarm elsewhere. The Reagan Administration's claim of a base for Soviet aggression was false. The real motivation was uncompromising domination by certain US business interests. The Soviets provided only token support for the Sandinistas, and the Sandinistas, contrary to us presidential assertions, provided very little support for the popular revolts in neighboring El Salvador and Guatemala. On the other hand the military campaign against Nicaragua by the Reagan/Bush administrations has been a massive effort amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars and 9,000 civilians killed, 1800 of which were children under 15. 5000 Nicaraguan soldiers were killed and 13000 contras according to the Nicaraguan mission to the United Nations. Despite the ruling of the World Court and protest by dozens of western nations this violation of international law continued. Many of the Contras were members of Samoza's old guard. They are bitterly hated, and their military effort was confined to terrorist attacks against civilians, many of them children. In an effort to help the besieged Nicaraguan people some 3000 Americans had taken part in work-visits in support of the Sandinista government by 1990. A well-known American who took part in that effort and was killed by the Contras was Ben Linder. He helped with rural electrification through small hydroelectric power installations. After his death American newspapers nationwide called him a "gun toting communist." This is a lie that originated from right wing network managers, and shows the scope of the American newspaper misinformation campaign. The election held in the spring of 1990 was much heralded by the American press as a free election but Mrs. Chimorra was the CIA's hand picked candidate. The US used serious carrot and stick politics to force the outcome. The CIA spent $20 million on the right wing campaign, and more military support for the Contras was threatened if Chimorra lost. The CIA investment amounting to $5 per voter was even more intense than spending on US presidential elections. If a foreign power ever attempted to influence US elections in this way it would be considered an act of war. Anyone involved would be imprisoned under the McCarren-Walters Act. I had friends who visited Nicaragua after the election. They reported that the people of Nicaragua gave in because they were tired of being killed. Even so Mrs. Chimorra barely won. The US promised to halt the Contras if their woman won, but some of them remained armed and loose still causing trouble in 1993.

18. THE PHILIPPINES

After the Philippines were taken from Spain, US forces met stiff resistance from the natives. They were excellent spear warriors and were often successful in killing Americans. The 45 caliber pistol was extensively used to stop these attacks. One story says it was invented to kill Phillippinos at close range because of its stopping power. In one midnight raid an entire US Army platoon was killed. In retaliation the US Army killed every available male between the ages of 18 and 45, a total of 100,000 men. President Marcos was a dictator who suspended elections in the '70s, and a US puppet. His regime received US support, both military and economic, the bulk of the economic being the rent for the US naval base at Subic Bay. In the early '80s Marcos finally agreed to hold a presidential election, probably due to the influence of Jimmy Carter. To avoid any serious opposition he had his chief rival, Mr. Acquino, killed. To his shock and dismay Mr. Acquino's wife continued his effort. When the election was held, Acquino won and a big crisis was caused when the vote counters refused to allow Marcos' henchmen to stuff the ballot boxes. Marcos was fixing to ignore the election when the local Catholic Bishop came out against him. That was followed by a popular uprising where crowds blocked the army's tanks and enabled Acquino to assume power. The situation was not helped a bit by Ronald Reagan who declared that he was not so sure that Marcos had really lost the election, a statement calculated to reassure Marcos that he could use force with official US government support. The military tried several more times to seize power but each time was put down. Marcos was declared a thief but he managed to get a quick ride to Hawaii on a USAF getaway plane. He hid out in Hawaii until he finally died. Mrs. Acquino brought reform at first. The communist guerrilla war almost died out. But later she turned out to be as bad as Marcos, supporting the rich land owners and turning against her promised reforms. Free elections revealed the native hatred of the US military and the rent price for Subic Bay was raised so high that the contract was not renewed. The US finally got out of the Philippines.

19. VIETNAM

Vietnam was a French colony before World War II. During the War the Viet Minh became a significant fighting force. Ho-Chi-Minh was a Viet Minh leader who studied in France and became a Marxist. He became prominent in the thirties by supporting independence and local control. Roosevelt believed that after the war the British and French colonies should be set free. At least one Asian US diplomat promised such post war US support to Ho-Chi-Minh. With the expectation of US support for independence after the war the Viet-Minh assisted in locating and returning downed US fliers. They were soon to find that the US could not be trusted. After the war the US had a universal anti-colonial position everywhere except Viet Nam. The reason was that Truman had the belief that restoring this French colonies would strengthen Europe. Consequently, the US assisted France in regaining control over Viet Nam after the war.

Upon Japanese surrender the Viet-Minh were the most popular nationalist group. They assumed government functions in many areas. Ho-Chi-Minh took the opportunity to proclaim Vietnamese independence when the war ended. Shortly after, the British and the Americans with the help of the Japanese retook key areas and assisted returning French troops. The Viet-Minh launched a guerrilla war for independence against the French. It lasted from the late forties to 1954. The struggle was hopeless for the French but intense US pressure, massive military support (one fourth of the total effort) and even threats against the French of retaliation should they quit, all had the effect of prolonging the war. This was a strategic error on the part of the US because Ho-Chi-Minh was predisposed to friendly relations with the US. The military strength added by the US almost forced a truce but a brilliant move and last desperate gamble by Ho at Dien Bien Phu led to a Viet-Minh victory and tremendous French losses. In this battle the Viet-Minh exploited trench warfare and the isolation of the jungle outpost to strangle the French forces. Much the same tactics would later be used against the Americans. With the backbone of the occupation forces broken the French agreed to a cease fire and negotiations began in Geneva for forming an independent Vietnamese government. The Geneva agreement of 1954 gave independence to Vietnam. At the cessation of hostilities Vietnam was divided into two parts North and South by the opposing armies. The Northern half was controlled by the Viet-Minh and came to be known as North Vietnam. The Southern half was controlled by a government installed by the French. It came to be Known as South Vietnam. According to the agreement an election was to be held in which the nation as a whole would choose between the two contending governments. It is a universally acknowledged conclusion that the North Vietnamese "Communists" would win this election. In addition several Vietnamese people have insisted to me personally the correctness of this statement. It is acknowledged by historians that Ho-Chi-Min was the respected nationalist who would have won the election.

As the French withdrew the American nation was suffering from the McCarthy era and anti-communism was coming to a boil. The Americans were determined to pursue right wing goals in Vietnam. The US supported the supposed temporary government of South Vietnam with an ever growing stream of military advisors and economic aid. The US pressured the South Vietnamese to cancel the elections in violation of the Geneva agreement. Americans have justified this act by insisting that the US never signed the agreement but the US never had any business in Vietnam to start with. Its action was entirely illegal and cold war motivated.

The US immediately began military attacks against North Vietnam and an enormous propaganda campaign against the North to terrify people into voting for the South. Many Catholics fearing a "godless" government fled south. The American accusations were lies. Simultaneously American commando teams later known as green Berets launched attacks against the North. The government in the South was not a representative government. It was composed entirely of French chosen Catholics. The Diem and Thieu regimes were noted for corruption and constant infighting. The majority of Vietnamese, mostly Buddhists, were ruthlessly repressed. In contrast the only leader who had any credibility was Ho-Chi-Min, the so-called Communist leader in the North. This fact is admitted in the US secret Pentagon Papers revealed by Daniel Elsberg of the Rand Corporation in 1971. The government, press, and right wing were outraged at Elsberg's action and he was even prosecuted for spying. But the point should be emphasized that the information he released did not contain military technical secrets and was classified only to hide government workers whose opinions resulted in controvorsial decisions. This was clearly illegally classified and Elsberg did the American people and nation a service by releasing this historical information. It is hard to maintain that releasing the Pentagon Papers was spying when Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara wanted them released but was overruled. In retrospect the individuals involved in Elsberg's persecution must be viewed as corrupt. The nation today gives its thanks to Daniel Elsberg.

Facing increasing US intervention the patriotic forces of North Vietnam resumed their struggle for independence. At first only the local population in the south was called on by the North to overthrow the puppet government. Viet-Cong organizations sprang up and waged an increasingly successful rebellion against the Diem government. The Viet Cong was able to fight to some extent with American weapons because the inept and cowardly mercenary Army of Vietnam often abandoned or sold their equipment. The president of South Viet-Nam, Diem, seeing these early defeats preferred that the Americans end their involvement and leave. Even though he agreed with the American goals, he realized that the Americans could not muster the strength to succeed against a united Vietnamese people. The US response was to allow a South Vietnamese military coup which killed the Diem family and seized power in the early sixties. The decision for this policy was made by President Kennedy. As the US intervention grew it became necessary to send down troops from the North. The first of these were Viet-Minh soldiers who had been forced from their homes to go north in accordance with the Geneva accords. They had expected to return home promptly and had been cheated by the Americans.

After 1965 the Viet Cong controlled 75% of the land area. The "Strategic Hamlet" program, to deny popular support to the Viet Cong, only caused mass defections. Viet Cong spies were everywhere in South Vietnam according to my military friends. The South Vietnamese army fought poorly and suffered mass desertions, particularly in the end.

Corruption was not confined to the government of South Vietnam. It was rampant in American Politics, the American military, and the Johnson administration. In fact the entire US government and both political parties cooperated to mislead the American people. General Westmoreland was one of the biggest liars of the war. He falsified battle reports in favor of US forces. He sent to Washington a constant stream of deliberate misinformation. He maintained for years that victory was just around the corner, when more objective observers knew it was remote or hopeless. President Johnson did likewise. There was constant criticism of adverse press reports. Fortunately the press was allowed in, unlike the Gulf war. Initially most of the press coverage was favorable. Even so the networks were called "leftist" by the right wing mostly Republicans and the administration. This could hardly be true in light of the fact that the war in Vietnam was called a war "against communist aggression" by the major newscasters. The press never mentioned that the Vietnamese might not appreciate US domination and US bombs. There was a lot of press coverage given to Buddhist monks who burned themselves to death to protest the war. However the Buddhist position was ignored and they were portrayed as nuts.

The Johnson administration was looking for an incident to raise public anger in support of the war. A timely provocation from the North never happened so several times incidents were faked. The CIA loaded a junk with Russian weapons and sent it south to a waiting group of newsmen. This supposed captured boat was to be proof of an invasion from the North. The gag did not work. The Tonkin Gulf Incident did.

Immediately prior to the Tonkin Gulf Incident the Americans had been stepping up attacks on North Vietnam. Sabotage teams were sent in and the South had been supplied with small boats which made repeated attacks just north of the border. The border was a wide area called the demilitarized zone. The secret operation was named Oplan 34A. After one attack the South Vietnamese boats retreated hastily with North Vietnamese PT boats in hot pursuit. The US destroyer Turner Joy was in the area either gathering intelligence or supporting the raid. The Turner Joy opened fire and sank at least one PT boat. On a subsequent stormy night on the US destroyer Maddox a panicky radar man reported sighting and firing on additional North Vietnamese craft but years later investigation revealed that he had been chasing the radar ghosts caused by sea returns. LBJ made a fiery speech about the incident. I remember his statement that "An American warship was attacked without provocation on the high seas." It was a lie. Using this incident as an excuse LBJ unleashed operation Rolling Thunder, a long series of B52 raids against North Vietnam.

Despite the massive bombing, US air attacks were not capable of halting the flow of arms to the South. This fact was revealed in the Pentagon Papers and reports published after the war. One reason was the famous Ho-Chi-Minh trail. It was located along the western border of Vietnam and was buried in the "triple canopy jungle" which Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's generals complained so much about. As the war intensified it was shifted across the border into Laos. The CIA supported a thirty thousand man force in Laos in 1971. The Pentagon made much to do about the Ho-Chi-Minh trail. Despite heavy bombing and massive air attacks the Americans could not stop the ever increasing flow of arms to the South. The US government knew this as revealed in the Pentagon Papers and reports published after the war. It was the determination of thousands of workers and the thick jungle that won the war for Vietnam. The Vietnamese were prepared for at least ten more years of war and even higher casualties than occurred, if it was necessary to win independence. The US military never understood this fact. LBJ however understood that the Soviets and the Chinese meant business. Soviet and Chinese military advisors and even troops were plentiful in North Vietnam in 1971. At one point the Chinese almost entered the war with human wave attacks. The Soviets planned diversionary attacks in Europe.(2) If they had, it would have been World War III. That threat and the outrage of the "hippies" at home combined to deny Nixon the option of using tactical nuclear weapons. In the late 60s the antiwar movement grew up. Old LBJ was so upset by the antiwar movement that he decided not to run for reelection. The ever growing demonstrations were instrumental in ending the war by forcing the US troop withdrawal in 1973. The antiwar movement's first big showing was at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. There they stormed the barricades and fought a two-day battle with police. Among the six leaders arrested was Bobby Seale. After I was drafted and in the Army at Ft. Bliss, Texas, the judge at Seale's trial ordered him bound and gagged. I was standing around that day on duty and a redneck walked in mad as hell at Bobby. I told him I worshiped Bobby Seale. He said "Soldier, you don't belong in that uniform." I said "You're right. Let me out." I never got out for another year. The antiwar movement grew until they had almost constant demonstrations around the White House. Nixon was furious. At one time he pointed to the crowd and said "That is the reason I can't use tactical nuclear weapons." They would have stormed the White House.

Without the use of nuclear weapons or a much greater military force the US was doomed to defeat. The Vietnamese were experts in a war of attrition. It has been estimated that the strength margin in the victory against the Americans was much greater than the margin in the war against the French.

After the final US pullout the unpopular South Vietnamese army was easily routed. Saigon fell in the spring of 1975. As I remember once the North Vietnamese steamroller got going, it took only about three months to sweep the country. Contrast this with the Soviet pullout of Afghanistan. The supposed communist puppet regime there lasted five years, and fighting was still going on eight years later. The Americans made the usual prediction that a mass execution of South Vietnamese would occur once the North took over. It never happened. There were however numerous "reeducation" camps set up where soldiers from the South wasted for many years. Finally it must be emphasized that the supposed communist takeover of Vietnam was just a ruse for intervention. No outside communist forces ever attacked Vietnam. North Vietnamese attacked an illegal government in South Viet-Nam. Their right to do so was in complete accordance with the Peace of Paris, signed by the French, which called for an election which the South Vietnamese never allowed. The supposed communists were North Vietnamese nationalists who happened to be Marxist. They had every right to resume the war against foreign domination when the peace treaty was broken. The USA was granted no rights by the Peace of Paris. Communist political domination of Vietnam was assured in the 1930s and there was nothing that the USA could to change the minds of the Vietnamese people.

Three million Vietnamese people died because of the illegal US intervention. Thousands more died in Cambodia because of B52 bombings. The Europeans hotly protested the US intervention. It is no wonder that informed Americans held returning GI's in contempt.

It is unfortunate that in the later days of the war, after his death, the hard liners in Ho-Chi-Min's government came to power. They added a faulty economic system to the damage caused by the war, but that story is for someone else's history book.

As a final note on Vietnam, Secretary of Defense McNamara wrote a book which came out in 1994 and confessed to essentially every accusation listed here.
(2) Delusion and Reality, Radvanyi 1978. Communist Indochina and US Postwar Policy, Zasloff 1978.

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