File spoon-archives/marxism-intro.archive/marxism-intro_2001/marxism-intro.0109, message 36


Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 09:10:56 -0600 (MDT)
From: Hans_Ehrbar-AT-pseud.pseud
Subject: M-INTRO: [Fwd: Miami Herald]



This came on another mailing list I am on.

Hans.

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Subject: Re: Miami Herald


I thought people might be interested in this as well--from a
Vietnam combat veteran who is now a Catholic priest.

Robert Bowman flew 101 combat missions in Vietnam. He is
presently [1998] bishop of the United Catholic Church in
Melbourne Beach, FL.

Originally printed in The National Catholic Reporter,
Oct. 2, 1998.  Quoted online at
http://users.aol.com/pasaforum/action/iraq.htm#secure

The "Security" Charade
by Robert Bowman

If deceptions about terrorism go unchallenged, then the
threat will continue until it destroys us.

The truth is that none of our thousands of nuclear weapons
can protect us from these threats. No Star Wars system no
matter how technically advanced, no matter how many
trillions of dollars are poured into it can protect us from
a nuclear weapon delivered in a sailboat or a Cessna or a
suitcase or a Ryder rental truck. Not one weapon in our vast
arsenal, not a penny of the $270 billion a year we spend on
so-called defense can defend against a terrorist bomb. That
is a military fact.

As a retired lieutenant colonel and a frequent lecturer on
national security issues, I have often quoted Psalm 33: "A
king is not saved by his mighty army. A warrior is not saved
by his great strength." The obvious reaction is, "Then what
can we do? Is there nothing we can do to provide security
for our people?"

There is. But to understand it requires that we know the
truth about the threat. President Clinton did not tell the
American people the truth about why we are the targets of
terrorism when he explained why we bombed Afghanistan and
Sudan. He said that we are a target because we stand for
democracy, freedom, and human rights in the world. Nonsense!

We are the target of terrorists because, in much of the
world, our government stands for dictatorship, bondage, and
human exploitation. We are the target of terrorists because
we are hated. And we are hated because our government has
done hateful things.

In how many countries have agents of our government deposed
popularly elected leaders and replaced them with puppet
military dictators who were willing to sell out their own
people to American multinational corporations?

We did it in Iran when the US Marines and the CIA deposed
Mossadegh because he wanted to nationalize the oil
industry. We replaced him with the Shah and armed, trained,
and paid his hated Savak National Guard, which enslaved and
brutalized the people of Iran all to protect the financial
interests of our oil companies. Is it any wonder that there
are people in Iran who hate us?

We did it in Chile. We did it in Vietnam. More recently, we
tried to do it in Iraq.

And, of course, how many times have we done it in Nicaragua
and all the other banana republics of Latin America? Time
after time we have ousted popular leaders who wanted the
riches of the land to be shared by the people who worked
it. We replaced them with murderous tyrants who would sell
out their own people so the wealth of the land could be
taken out by the likes of Domino Sugar, Folgers, and
Chiquita Banana.

In country after country, our government has thwarted
democracy, stifled freedom, and trampled human
rights. That's why it is hated around the world.  And that's
why we're the target of terrorists.

People in Canada enjoy democracy, freedom, and human
rights. So do the people of Norway and Sweden. Have you
heard of Canadian embassies being bombed? Or Norwegian, or
Swedish?

We are not hated because we practice democracy, value
freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our
government denies these things to people in Third World
countries whose resources are coveted by our multinational
corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to
haunt us in the form of terrorism and in the future, nuclear
terrorism.

Once the truth about why the threat exists is understood,
the solution becomes obvious. We must change our
ways. Getting rid of our nuclear weapons unilaterally if
necessary will enhance our security. Drastically altering
our foreign policy will ensure it.

Instead of sending our sons and daughters around the world
to kill Arabs so we can have the oil under their sand, we
should send them to rebuild their infrastructure, supply
clean water, and feed starving children. Instead of
continuing to kill hundreds of Iraqi children every day with
our sanctions, we should help Iraqis rebuild their electric
power plants, their water treatment facilities, their
hospitals all the things we have destroyed and prevented
them from rebuilding.

Instead of training terrorists and death squads, we should
close the School of the Americas. Instead of supporting
insurrection, destabilization, assassination, and terror
around the world, we should abolish the CIA and give the
money to relief agencies.

In short, we should do good instead of evil. Who would try
to stop us?  Who would hate us? Who would want to bomb us?
That is the truth the American people need to hear.


------- End of forwarded message -------


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