US
Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction
The indiscriminate
use of bombs by the US, usually outside a declared war situation, for wanton
destruction, for no military objectives, whose targets and victims
are civilian populations, or what we now call “collateral damage.”
- Japan (1945)
- China (1945-46)
- Korea & China
(1950-53)
- Guatemala (1954,
1960, 1967-69)
- Indonesia (1958)
- Cuba (1959-61)
- Congo (1964)
- Peru (1965)
- Laos (1964-70)
- Vietnam (1961-1973)
- Cambodia (1969-70)
- Grenada (1983)
- Lebanon (1983-84)
- Libya (1986)
- El Salvador (1980s)
- Nicaragua (1980s)
- Iran (1987)
- Panama (1989)
- Iraq (1991-2000)
- Kuwait (1991)
- Somalia (1993)
- Bosnia (1994-95)
- Sudan (1998)
- Afghanistan (1998)
- Pakistan (1998)
- Yugoslavia (1999)
- Bulgaria (1999)
- Macedonia (1999)
US Use of Chemical
& Biological Weapons
The US has refused
to sign Conventions against the development and use of
chemical and biological
weapons, and has either used or tested (without
informing the civilian
populations) these weapons in the following
locations abroad:
- Bahamas (late 1940s-mid-1950s)
- Canada (1953)
- China and Korea
(1950-53)
- Korea (1967-69)
- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
(1961-1970)
- Panama (1940s-1990s)
- Cuba (1962, 69,
70, 71, 81, 96)
And the US has tested
such weapons on US civilian populations, without
their knowledge,
in the following locations:
- Watertown, NY and
US Virgin Islands (1950)
- SF Bay Area (1950,
1957-67)
- Minneapolis (1953)
- St. Louis (1953)
- Washington, DC Area
(1953, 1967)
- Florida (1955)
- Savannah GA/Avon
Park, FL (1956-58)
- New York City (1956,
1966)
- Chicago (1960)
And the US has encouraged
the use of such weapons, and provided the
technology to develop
such weapons in various nations abroad, including:
US Political and
Military Interventions since 1945
The US has launched
a series of military and political interventions since
1945, often to install
puppet regimes, or alternatively to engage in political actions
such as smear campaigns, sponsoring or targeting opposition political
groups (depending on how they served US interests), undermining political
parties, sabotage and terror campaigns, and so forth. It has done so in
nations such as
- China (1945-51)
- South Africa
(1960s-1980s)
- France (1947)
- Bolivia (1964-75)
- Marshall Islands
(1946-58)
- Australia
(1972-75)
- Italy (1947-1975)
- Iraq (1972-75)
- Greece (1947-49)
- Portugal
(1974-76)
- Philippines (1945-53)
- East Timor
(1975-99)
- Korea (1945-53)
- Ecuador (1975)
- Albania (1949-53)
- Argentina
(1976)
- Eastern Europe (1948-56)
- Pakistan
(1977)
- Germany (1950s)
- Angola (1975-1980s)
- Iran (1953)
- Jamaica (1976)
- Guatemala (1953-1990s)
- Honduras
(1980s)
- Costa Rica (mid-1950s,
1970-71)
- Nicaragua
(1980s)
- Middle East (1956-58)
- Philippines
(1970s-90s)
- Indonesia (1957-58)
- Seychelles
(1979-81)
- Haiti (1959)
- South Yemen
(1979-84)
- Western Europe (1950s-1960s)
- South Korea
(1980)
- Guyana (1953-64)
- Chad (1981-82)
- Iraq (1958-63)
- Grenada (1979-83)
- Vietnam (1945-53)
- Suriname
(1982-84)
- Cambodia (1955-73)
- Libya (1981-89)
- Laos (1957-73)
- Fiji (1987)
- Thailand (1965-73)
- Panama (1989)
- Ecuador (1960-63)
- Afghanistan
(1979-92)
- Congo (1960-65, 1977-78)
- El Salvador
(1980-92)
- Algeria (1960s)
- Haiti (1987-94)
- Brazil (1961-64)
- Bulgaria
(1990-91)
- Peru (1965)
- Albania (1991-92)
- Dominican Republic
(1963-65)
- Somalia (1993)
- Cuba (1959-present)
- Iraq (1990s)
- Indonesia (1965)
- Peru (1990-present)
- Ghana (1966)
- Mexico (1990-present)
- Uruguay (1969-72)
- Colombia
(1990-present)
- Chile (1964-73)
- Yugoslavia
(1995-99)
- Greece (1967-74)
US Perversions of
Foreign Elections
The US has specifically
intervened to rig or distort the outcome of foreign elections, and sometimes
engineered sham “demonstration” elections to ward off accusations
of government repression in allied nations in the US sphere of influence. These
sham elections have often installed or maintained in power repressive
dictators who have victimized their populations. Such practices have occurred
in nations such as:
- Philippines (1950s)
- Italy (1948-1970s)
- Lebanon (1950s)
- Indonesia (1955)
- Vietnam (1955)
- Guyana (1953-64)
- Japan (1958-1970s)
- Nepal (1959)
- Laos (1960)
- Brazil (1962)
- Dominican Republic
(1962)
- Guatemala (1963)
- Bolivia (1966)
- Chile (1964-70)
- Portugal (1974-75)
- Australia (1974-75)
- Jamaica (1976)
- El Salvador (1984)
- Panama (1984, 89)
- Nicaragua (1984,
90)
- Haiti (1987, 88)
- Bulgaria (1990-91)
- Albania (1991-92)
- Russia (1996)
- Mongolia (1996)
- Bosnia (1998)
US Versus World at
the United Nations
The US has repeatedly
acted to undermine peace and human rights initiatives at the United Nations,
routinely voting against hundreds of UN resolutions and treaties. The
US easily has the worst record of any nation on not
supporting UN treaties.
In almost all of its hundreds of “no” votes, the US was the “sole” nation
to vote no (among the 100-130 nations that usually vote), and among
only 1 or 2 other nations voting no the rest of the time. Here’s a representative
sample of US votes from 1978-1987:
- US Is the Sole “No” Vote on Resolutions or Treaties
- For aid to underdeveloped nations
- For the promotion of developing nation exports
- For UN promotion of human rights
- For protecting developing nations in trade agreements
- For New International Economic Order for underdeveloped nations
- For development as a human right
- Versus multinational corporate operations in South Africa
- For cooperative models in developing nations
- For right of nations to economic system of their choice
- Versus chemical and biological weapons (at least 3 times)
- Versus Namibian apartheid
- For economic/standard of living rights as human rights
- Versus apartheid South African aggression vs. neighboring states (2 times)
- Versus foreign investments in apartheid South Africa
- For world charter to protect ecology
- For anti-apartheid convention
- For anti-apartheid convention in international sports
- For nuclear test ban treaty (at least 2 times)
- For prevention of arms race in outer space
- For UNESCO-sponsored new world information order (at least 2 times)
- For international law to protect economic rights
- For Transport & Communications Decade in Africa
- Versus manufacture
of new types of weapons of mass destruction
- Versus naval arms
race
- For Independent
Commission on Disarmament & Security Issues
- For UN response
mechanism for natural disasters
- For the Right to
Food
- For Report of Committee
on Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- For UN study on
military development
- For Commemoration
of 25th anniversary of Independence for Colonial Countries
- For Industrial Development
Decade in Africa
- For interdependence
of economic and political rights
- For improved UN
response to human rights abuses
- For protection of
rights of migrant workers
- For protection against
products harmful to health and the environment
- For a Convention
on the Rights of the Child
- For training journalists
in the developing world
- For international
cooperation on third world debt
- For a UN Conference
on Trade & Development
- US Is 1 of Only 2
“No” Votes on Resolutions or Treaties
- For Palestinian
living conditions/rights (at least 8 times)
- Versus foreign intervention
into other nations
- For a UN Conference
on Women
- Versus nuclear test
explosions (at least 2 times)
- For the non-use
of nuclear weapons vs. non-nuclear states
- For a Middle East
nuclear free zone
- Versus Israeli nuclear
weapons (at least 2 times)
- For a new world
international economic order
- For a trade union
conference on sanctions vs. South Africa
- For the Law of the
Sea Treaty
- For economic assistance
to Palestinians
- For UN measures
against fascist activities and groups
- For international
cooperation on money/finance/debt/trade/development
- For a Zone of Peace
in the South Atlantic
- For compliance with
Intl Court of Justice decision for Nicaragua vs. US.
- **For a conference
and measures to prevent international terrorism (including its underlying
causes)
- For ending the trade
embargo vs. Nicaragua
- US Is 1 of Only 3
“No” Votes on Resolutions and Treaties
- Versus Israeli human
rights abuses (at least 6 times)
- Versus South African
apartheid (at least 4 times)
- Versus return of
refugees to Israel
- For ending nuclear
arms race (at least 2 times)
- For an embargo on
apartheid South Africa
- For South African
liberation from apartheid (at least 3 times)
- For the independence
of colonial nations
- For the UN Decade
for Women
- Versus harmful foreign
economic practices in colonial territories
- For a Middle East
Peace Conference
- For ending the embargo
of Cuba (at least 10 times)
In addition, the
US has:
- Repeatedly withheld
its dues from the UN
- Twice left UNESCO
because of its human rights initiatives
- Twice left the International
Labor Organization for its workers rights initiatives
- Refused to renew
the Antiballistic Missile Treaty
- Refused to sign
the Kyoto Treaty on global warming
- Refused to back
the World Health Organization’s ban on infant formula abuses
- Refused to sign
the Anti-Biological Weapons Convention
- Refused to sign
the Convention against the use of land mines
- Refused to participate
in the UN Conference Against Racism in Durban
- Been one of the
last nations in the world to sign the UN Covenant on
- Political &
Civil Rights (30
years after its creation)
- Refused to sign
the UN Covenant on Economic & Social Rights
- Opposed the emerging
new UN Covenant on the Rights to Peace, Development & Environmental Protection
Sampling of Deaths
>From US Military Interventions & Propping Up Corrupt
Dictators (using
the most conservative estimates)
- Nicaragua – 30,000 dead
- Brazil – 100,000 dead
- Korea – 4 million
dead
- Guatemala – 200,000 dead
- Honduras – 20,000 dead
- El Salvador – 63,000 dead
- Argentina – 40,000 dead
- Bolivia – 10,000 dead
- Uruguay – 10,000 dead
- Ecuador – 10,000 dead
- Peru – 10,000 dead
- Iraq – 1.3 million
dead
- Iran – 30,000 dead
- Sudan – 8-10,000
dead
- Colombia – 50,000 dead
- Panama – 5,000 dead
- Japan – 140,000 dead
- Afghanistan – 10,000 dead
- Somalia – 5000 dead
- Philippines – 150,000 dead
- Haiti – 100,000 dead
- Dominican Republic – 10,000 dead
- Libya – 500 dead
- Macedonia – 1000 dead
- South Africa – 10,000 dead
- Pakistan – 10,000 dead
- Palestine – 40,000 dead
- Indonesia – 1 million
dead
- East Timor – 1/3-½ of
total population
- Greece – 10,000 dead
- Laos – 600,000 dead
- Cambodia – 1 million
dead
- Angola – 300,000 dead
- Grenada – 500 dead
- Congo – 2 million
dead
- Egypt – 10,000 dead
- Vietnam – 1.5 million
dead
- Chile – 50,000 dead
Other Lethal US Interventions
CIA Terror Training
Manuals
Development and
distribution of training manuals for foreign military
personnel or foreign
nationals, including instructions on assassination,
subversion, sabotage,
population control, torture, repression,
psychological torture,
death squads, etc.
Specific Torture
Campaigns
Creation and launching
of direct US campaigns to support torture as an
instrument of terror
and social control for governments in Greece, Iran,
Vietnam, Bolivia,
Uruguay, Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama
Supporting and Harboring
Terrorists
The promotion, protection,
arming or equipping of terrorists such as:
- Klaus Barbie
and other German Nazis, and Italian and Japanese fascists, after WW II
- Manual Noriega
(Panama), Saddam Hussein (Iraq), Rafael Trujillo (Dominican Republic),
Osama bin Laden (Afghanistan), and others whose terrorism has come
back to haunt us
- Running the
Higher War College (Brazil) and first School of the Americas (Panama), which
gave US training to repressors, death squad members, and torturers (the second
School of the Americas is still running at Ft. Benning GA)
- Providing
asylum for Cuban, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Haitian, Chilean, Argentinian, Iranian,
South Vietnamese and other terrorists, dictators, and torturers
Assassinating World
Leaders
Using assassination
as a tool of foreign policy, wherein the CIA has
initiated assassination
attempts against at least 40 foreign heads of state
(some several times)
in the last 50 years, a number of which have been
successful, such
as: Patrice Lumumba (Congo), Rafael Trujillo (Dominican
Republic), Ngo Dihn
Diem (Vietnam) Salvador Allende (Chile)
Arms Trade &
US Military Presence
- The US is
the world’s largest seller of weapons abroad, arming dictators, militaries,
and terrorists that repress or victimize their populations, and
fueling scores of violent conflicts around the globe
- The US is
the world’s largest provider of live land mines which, even in peacetime, kill
or injure at least several people around the world each day
- The US has
military bases in at least 50 nations around the world, which have led to frequent
victimization of local populations.
- The US military
has been bombing one Middle Eastern or Muslim nation or another almost continuously
since 1983, including Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Iran, the Sudan,
Afghanistan, and Iraq (almost daily bombings since 1991)
This, then, is a
sampling of American foreign policies over the last 50
years. The FBI uses
the following definition for Terrorism: “The unlawful
use of force or
violence committed by a group or individual, who has some
connection to a
foreign power or whose activities transcend national
boundaries, against
persons or property to intimidate or coerce a
government, the
civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance
of political or
social objectives.” This sounds like the terrorism we just
experienced. It
also sounds a lot like the US policies and actions since
1945 that I’ve just
described.
This
is a version of an an original page atributed to Robert Elias, a US Professor
of Political Science , a list which, like so many others, has otherwise
‘disappered’
via https://web.archive.org/web/20161125052245/http://www.the-philosopher.co.uk/whocares/popups/warcrimes.htm
