Well, gee, I guess it's all just relative then, huh, folks? "We" are bad;
"they" are bad too. Should we just call it even?

Beyond this self-defeating relativism, please be aware as you read the
article of the very questionable "history" used here. I don't think this is
quite the correct forum for a debate about Israel, but suffice it say
Mosqueda's interpretation is contested.

Best,

Martin


Martin J. Sweet
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Political Science
UW-Madison

***

-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Marsha Hass
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 12:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fw: "Shocked and Horrified," article by Larry Mosqueda

 Sat, 15 Sep 2001 23:38:08 -0700
> > From: Larry Mosqueda <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > Dear Friends and Associates,
> > Attached is an article I wrote on the current situation.
> > Please pass it along or post if you wish.
> >
> > *********************************
> >
> > Shocked and Horrified
> >
> > Larry Mosqueda, Ph.D.
> > The Evergreen State College
> > September 15, 2001
> >
> > Like all Americans, on Tuesday, 9-11, I was shocked and horrified to
> > watch the WTC Twin Towers attacked by hijacked planes
> > and collapse, resulting in the deaths of perhaps up to 10,000 innocent
> > people.
> >
> > I had not been that shocked and horrified since January 16, 1991, when
> > then President Bush attacked Baghdad, and the rest of Iraq
> > and began killing 200,000 people during that "war" (slaughter). This
> > includes the infamous "highway of death" in the last days of the
> > slaughter when U.S. pilots literally shot in the back retreating Iraqi
> > civilians and soldiers. I continue to be horrified by the sanctions on
> > Iraq, which have resulted in the death of over 1,000,000 Iraqis,
> > including over 500,000 children, about whom former Secretary of
> > State Madeline Allbright has stated that their deaths "are worth the
> > cost".
> >
> > Over the course of my life I have been shocked and horrified by a
> > variety of U.S. governmental actions, such as the U.S. sponsored
> > coup against democracy in Guatemala in 1954 which resulted in the
> deaths
> > of over 120,000 Guatemalan peasants by U.S. installed
> > dictatorships over the course of four decades.
> >
> > Last Tuesday's events reminded me of the horror I felt when the U.S.
> > overthrew the governments of the Dominican Republic in 1965
> > and helped to murder 3,000 people. And it reminded me of the shock I
> > felt in 1973, when the U.S. sponsored a coup in Chile
> > against the democratic government of Salvador Allende and helped to
> > murder another 30,000 people, including U.S. citizens.
> >
> > Last Tuesday's events reminded me of the shock and horror I felt in
> 1965
> > when the U.S. sponsored a coup in Indonesia that resulted
> > in the murder of over 800,000 people, and the subsequent slaughter in
> > 1975 of over 250,000 innocent people in East Timor by the
> > Indonesian regime with the direct complicity of President Ford and
> > Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
> >
> > I was reminded of the shock and horror I felt during the U.S. sponsored
> > terrorist contra war (the World Court declared the U.S.
> > government a war criminal in 1984 for the mining of the harbors)
> against
> > Nicaragua in the 1980s which resulted in the deaths of over
> > 30,000 innocent people (or as the U.S. government used to call them
> > before the term "collateral damage" was invented--"soft
> > targets").
> >
> > I was reminded of being horrified by the U. S. war against the people
> of
> > El Salvador in the 1980s, which resulted in the brutal deaths
> > of over 80,000 people, or "soft targets".
> >
> > I was reminded of the shock and horror I felt during the U.S. sponsored
> > terror war against the peoples of southern Africa (especially
> > Angola) that began in the 1970's and continues to this day and has
> > resulted in the deaths and mutilations of over 1,000,000. I was
> > reminded of the shock and horror I felt as the U.S. invaded Panama over
> > the Christmas season of 1989 and killed over 8,000 in an
> > attempt to capture George H. Bush's CIA partner, now turned enemy,
> > Manual Noriega.
> >
> > I was reminded of the horror I felt when I learned about how the Shah
> of
> > Iran was installed in a U.S. sponsored brutal coup that
> > resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 Iranians from 1952-1979. And the
> > continuing shock as I learned that the Ayatollah Khomani,
> > who overthrew the Shah in 1979, and who was the U.S. public enemy for
> > decade of the 1980s, was also on the CIA payroll, while
> > he was in exile in Paris in the 1970s.
> >
> > I was reminded of the shock and horror that I felt as I learned about
> > the how the U.S. has "manufactured consent" since 1948 for its
> > support of Israel, to the exclusion of virtually any rights for the
> > Palestinians in their native lands resulting in ever worsening
> > day-to-day
> > conditions for the people of Palestine. I was shocked as I learned
> about
> > the hundreds of towns and villages that were literally wiped
> > off the face of the earth in the early days of Israeli colonization. I
> > was horrified in 1982 as the villagers of Sabra and Shatila were
> > massacred by Israeli allies with direct Israeli complicity and
> > direction. The untold thousands who died on that day match the scene of
> > horror that we saw last Tuesday. But those scenes were not repeated
> over
> > and over again on the national media to inflame the
> > American public.
> >
> > The events and images of last Tuesday have been appropriately compared
> > to the horrific events and images of Lebanon in the 1980s
> > with resulted in the deaths of tens of thousand of people, with no
> > reference to the fact that the country that inflicted the terror on
> > Lebanon was Israel, with U.S. backing. I still continue to be shocked
> at
> > how mainstream commentators refer to "Israeli settlers" in
> > the "occupied territories" with no sense of irony as they report on who
> > are the aggressors in the region.
> >
> > Of course, the largest and most shocking war crime of the second half
> of
> > the 20th century was the U.S. assault on Indochina from
> > 1954-1975, especially Vietnam, where over 4,000,000 people were bombed,
> > napalmed, crushed, shot and individually "hands on"
> > murdered in the "Phoenix Program" (this is where Oliver North got his
> > start). Many U.S. Vietnam veterans were also victimized by
> > this war and had the best of intentions, but the policy makers
> > themselves knew the criminality of their actions and policies as
> > revealed
> > in their own words in "The Pentagon Papers," released by Daniel
> Ellsberg
> > of the RAND Corporation. In 1974 Ellsberg noted that
> > our Presidents from Truman to Nixon continually lied to the U.S. public
> > about the purpose and conduct of the war. He has stated
> > that, "It is a tribute to the American people that our leaders
> perceived
> > that they had to lie to us, it is not a tribute to us that we were so
> > easily misled."
> >
> > I was continually shocked and horrified as the U.S. attacked and bombed
> > with impunity the nation of Libya in the 1980s, including
> > killing the infant daughter of Khadafi. I was shocked as the U.S.
> bombed
> > and invaded Grenada in 1983. I was horrified by U.S.
> > military and CIA actions in Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan, Brazil,
> > Argentina, and Yugoslavia. The deaths in these actions ran into
> > the hundreds of thousands.
> >
> > The above list is by no means complete or comprehensive. It is merely a
> > list that is easily accessible and not unknown, especially to
> > the economic and intellectual elites. It has just been conveniently
> > eliminated from the public discourse and public consciousness. And
> > for the most part, the analysis that the U.S. actions have resulted in
> > the deaths of primarily civilians (over 90%) is not unknown to
> > these elites and policy makers. A conservative number for those who
> have
> > been killed by U.S. terror and military action since World
> > War II is 8,000,000 people. Repeat--8,000,000 people. This does not
> > include the wounded, the imprisoned, the displaced, the
> > refugees, etc. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated in 1967, during the
> > Vietnam War, "My government is the world's leading purveyor of
> > violence." Shocking and horrifying.
> >
> > Nothing that I have written is meant to disparage or disrespect those
> > who were victims and those who suffered death or the loss of a
> > loved one during this week's events. It is not meant to "justify" any
> > action by those who bombed the Twin Towers or the Pentagon. It
> > is meant to put it in a context. If we believe that the actions were
> > those of "madmen", they are "madmen" who are able to keep a
> > secret for 2 years or more among over 100 people, as they trained to
> > execute a complex plan. While not the acts of madmen, they
> > are apparently the acts of "fanatics" who, depending on who they really
> > are, can find real grievances, but whose actions are
> > illegitimate.
> >
> > Osama Bin Laden at this point has been accused by the media and the
> > government of being the mastermind of Tuesday's bombings.
> > Given the government's track record on lying to the America people,
> that
> > should not be accepted as fact at this time. If indeed Bin
> > Laden is the mastermind of this action, he is responsible for the
> deaths
> > of perhaps 10,000 people-a shocking and horrible crime. Ed
> > Herman in his book The Real Terror Network: Terrorism in Fact and
> > Propaganda does not justify any terrorism but points out that
> > states often engage in "wholesale" terror, while those whom governments
> > define as "terrorist" engage is "retail" terrorism. While
> > qualitatively the results are the same for the individual victims of
> > terrorism, there is a clear quantitative difference. And as Herman and
> > others point out, the seeds, the roots, of much of the "retail" terror
> > are in fact found in the "wholesale" terror of states. Again this is
> not
> >
> > to justify, in any way, the actions of last Tuesday, but to put them in
> > a context and suggest an explanation.
> >
> > Perhaps most shocking and horrific, if indeed Bin Laden is the
> > mastermind of Tuesday's actions; he has clearly had significant
> training
> >
> > in logistics, armaments, and military training, etc. by competent and
> > expert military personnel. And indeed he has. During the 1980s,
> > he was recruited, trained and funded by the CIA in Afghanistan to fight
> > against the Russians. As long as he visited his terror on
> > Russians and his enemies in Afghanistan, he was "our man" in that
> > country.
> >
> > The same is true of Saddam Hussein of Iraq, who was a CIA asset in Iraq
> > during the 1980s. Hussein could gas his own people,
> > repress the population, and invade his neighbor (Iran) as long as he
> did
> > it with U.S. approval.
> >
> > The same was true of Manuel Noriega of Panama, who was a contemporary
> > and CIA partner of George H. Bush in the 1980s.
> > Noriega's main crime for Bush, the father, was not that he dealt drugs
> > (he did, but the U.S. and Bush knew this before 1989), but
> > that Noriega was no longer going to cooperate in the ongoing U.S.
> > terrorist contra war against Nicaragua. This information is not
> > unknown or really controversial among elite policy makers. To repeat,
> > this not to justify any of the actions of last Tuesday, but to put
> > it in its horrifying context.
> >
> > As shocking as the events of last Tuesday were, they are likely to
> > generate even more horrific actions by the U.S. government that
> > will add significantly to the 8,000,000 figure stated above. This
> > response may well be qualitatively and quantitatively worst than the
> > events of Tuesday. The New York Times headline of 9/14/01 states that,
> > "Bush And Top Aides Proclaim Policy Of Ending States
> > That Back Terror" as if that was a rationale, measured, or even sane
> > option. States that have been identified for possible elimination
> > are "a number of Asian and African countries, like Afghanistan, Iraq,
> > Sudan, and even Pakistan." This is beyond shocking and
> > horrific-it is just as potentially suicidal, homicidal, and more insane
> > than the hijackers themselves.
> >
> > Also, qualitatively, these actions will be even worse than the original
> > bombers if one accepts the mainstream premise that those
> > involved are "madmen", "religious fanatics", or a "terrorist group." If
> > so, they are acting as either individuals or as a small group. The
> > U.S. actions may continue the homicidal policies of a few thousand
> > elites for the past 50 years, involving both political parties.
> >
> > The retail terror is that of desperate and sometime fanatical small
> > groups and individuals who often have legitimate grievances, but
> > engage in individual criminal and illegitimate activities; the
> wholesale
> > terror is that of "rational" educated men where the pain, suffering,
> > and deaths of millions of people are contemplated, planned, and too
> > often, executed, for the purpose of furthering a nebulous concept
> > called the "national interest". Space does not allow a full explanation
> > of the elites Orwellian concept of the "national interest", but it
> > can be summarized as the protection and expansion of hegemony and an
> > imperial empire.
> >
> > The American public is being prepared for war while being fed a
> > continuous stream of shocking and horrific repeated images of
> > Tuesday's events and heartfelt stories from the survivors and the loved
> > ones of those who lost family members. These stories are real
> > and should not be diminished. In fact, those who lost family members
> can
> > be considered a representative sample of humanity of the
> > 8,000,000 who have been lost previously. If we multiply by 800-1000
> > times the amount of pain, angst, and anger being currently felt
> > by the American public, we might begin to understand how much of the
> > rest of the world feels as they are continually victimized.
> >
> > Some particularly poignant images are the heart wrenching public
> stories
> > that we are seeing and hearing of family members with
> > pictures and flyers searching for their loved ones. These images are
> > virtually the same as those of the "Mothers of the Disappeared"
> > who searched for their (primarily) adult children in places such as
> > Argentina, where over 11,000 were "disappeared" in 1976-1982,
> > again with U.S. approval. Just as the mothers of Argentina deserved our
> > respect and compassion, so do the relatives of those who
> > are searching for their relatives now. However we should not allow
> > ourselves to be manipulated by the media and U.S. government
> > into turning real grief and anger into a national policy of wholesale
> > terror and genocide against innocent civilians in Asia and Africa.
> > What we are seeing in military terms is called "softening the target."
> > The target here is the American public and we are being
> > ideologically and emotionally prepared for the slaughter that may
> > commence soon.
> >
> > None of the previously identified Asian and African countries are
> > democracies, which means that the people of these countries have
> > virtually no impact on developing the policies of their governments,
> > even if we assume that these governments are complicit in
> > Tuesday's actions. When one examines the recent history of these
> > countries, one will find that the American government had direct
> > and indirect influences on creating the conditions for the existence of
> > some of these governments. This is especially true of the Taliban
> > government of Afghanistan itself.
> >
> > The New York Metropolitan Area has about 21,000,000 people or about 8 %
> > of the U.S. population. Almost everyone in America
> > knows someone who has been killed, injured or traumatized by the events
> > of Tuesday. I know that I do. Many people are calling for
> > "revenge" or "vengeance" and comments such as "kill them all" have been
> > circulated on the TV, radio, and email. A few more
> > potentially benign comments have called for "justice." This is only
> > potentially benign since that term may be defined by people such as
> > Bush and Colin Powell. Powell is an unrepentant participant in the
> > Vietnam War, the terrorist contra war against Nicaragua, and the
> > Gulf war, at each level becoming more responsible for the planning and
> > execution of the policies.
> >
> > Those affected, all of us, must do everything in our power to prevent a
> > wider war and even greater atrocity, do everything possible to
> > stop the genocide if it starts, and hold those responsible for their
> > potential war crimes during and after the war. If there is a great war
> > in 2001 and it is not catastrophic (a real possibility), the crimes of
> > that war will be revisited upon the U.S. over the next generation.
> > That is not some kind of religious prophecy or threat, it is merely a
> > straightforward political analysis. If indeed it is Bin Laden, the
> > world must not deal only with him as an individual criminal, but
> > eliminate the conditions that create the injustices and war crimes that
> > will inevitably lead to more of these types of attacks in the future.
> > The phrase "No Justice, No Peace" is more than a slogan used in a
> > march, it is an observable historical fact. It is time to end the
> > horror.
> >
> > In a few short pages it is impossible to delineate all of the events
> > described over the past week or to give a comprehensive accounting
> > of U.S. foreign policy. Below are a few resources for up to date news
> > and some background reading, by Noam Chomsky, the noted
> > analyst. The titles of the books explain their relevance for this
> topic.
> >
> > For the most current information see http://www.commondreams.org/.
> > For information on how the media distorts the news see
> > http://www.fair.org/.
> > For excellent links on the Middle East see
> > http://al-awda.org/newyork/links.html.
> >
> >
> > For background reading by Noam Chomsky see: Necessary Illusions:
> Thought
> > Control in Democratic Societies Manufacturing
> > Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (with Ed Herman)
> > Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians
> > Deterring Democracy
> >
> >
> >
> >
>