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Terrorism in the United States
Manhattan New York, United
States ( U.S.), 11 September
2001.
Terrorist attacks were waged against the peaceful, and vulnerable communities
of New York in the United States ( U.S. ); on 11 September, 2001. And six
years earlier, on the Murrah
Federal Building, Oklahoma City ( U.S. ) on 19 April, 1995.
For whatever purpose, these crimes were unmistakable an outrageous, and
unconscionable horrific exercises at their worst. They were shameful,
depraved and iniquitous crimes by an hostes hum
 ani generis ( an enemy of humanity ), and unjustifiable,
in any religio-political perspective.
The preliminary vital statistics on the deaths, ensuing from the New York
attack, in the aggregate, represent a total of 2,726 deaths ( sec.
death certificates with the New York City Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene ( N.Y.C.D.H.M.H. ) qu., 16 August 2002 ) ). The deaths at
Oklahoma reached 168. The actual machinations, as to the whom, behind this
tragedy is, in my opinion, yet to become public information. The truth must
eventually emerge out of respect for the lives lost, and integrity to the
historic record.
Oklahoma City U.S.
19 April, 1995.
The Oklahoma terrorist attack
was similar, to the Manhattan attack, inasmuch as it targeted an innocent
civilian population. It was a high-profile attack, by an internal group,
against the U.S. federal government, and the crème de la crème of the
corporate community, perhaps motivated by ideologies of a political extreme
right-wing militant patriot organization. This appeared to be a form of
'urban terrorism', id est., they
McVeigh,
Nichols
et alii.,
targetted a federal building in their own particular region, killing 168
people, perhaps attacking the social system, they believed, were not
accommodating their hedonistic expectations. Although McVeigh and Nichols
appeared not to be directly connected with any major political group, they
did, to whatever extent, hold views characteristic of the broad patriot
movement who appear to have illusory ( or delusory ) trepidation,
regarding left-centrists gaining power in Washington.
" We must try to find ways to starve the
terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen
of publicity on which they depend ".
( Margaret Thatcher, 'The Times', 16 July, 1983 )
Terroristic activities, could very probably culminate in an antagonistic
outcome, by means of a government introducing draconic repressive measures,
that could impact on the hoi polloi. A classic example of this, was on the
27 February, 1933 when a foolish individual set alight the thirty-nine year
old Reichstag ( "Imperial Diet" ) building in Berlin [ The Reichstag had
been the seat of the German Empire ( 1871–1918 ), and Weimar Republic
( 1919–33 ) ]. The building was completely destroyed. This event provided
the newly formed Nazi party, or to be precise: the 'Nationalsozialistische
Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (N.S.D.A.P.)' ( National Socialist German Workers' Party );
the opportunity to introduce totalitarian decrees that would foreshadow the
worst crimes in history.
Terrorism vs. Islam
Osama Bin Laden.
Osama Bin Laden, age 49, seems prima facie to be a likely suspect, by
virtue of his virulent anti-American rhetoric ( including an admix of
injudicious quotations from the Qur'an ), and supposed formation of Al-Qa'ida
q.e. "The Base" or "Foundation" ( pr. 1993 ) which conducts
terrorist training programmes for Sunna Islamic extremists organizations in
Algeria, Eritrea, the Philippines et alibi.
Apparently, Al-Qa'ida, is determined to forcefully re-establish a global
pan-Islamic Khalifate following its fall in 1924 at Constantinople; under
Mustafã Kemãl's republican regime. Its principal objectives are to
overturn non-Islamic régimes including Islamic régimes whom they
disapprove, e.g., Shites [ "Party" or "followers" of
"Alï" whom they regard as the first authentic Khalifa ], and establish
governments to follow the rule of the Khalifate [ e.g., Hanafi,
Shafi't, Maliki, or Hanbali orthodox systems of law. ],
and to 'kill United States citizens, civilian or military personnel, and
their allies globally' ( 'World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews
and Crusaders', February 1998 ).
Bin Laden and the Qur'an.
Osama Bin Laden, the Al-Qa'ida terrorist network, et al., who equate
terrorists activities with the Islamic Jihâd ( 'striving' or 'holy war' )
are, in my opinion; sorely mistaken. The Jihâd is, as I understand it,
the quintessential impulse towards subduing destructive instincts. It does not
include indiscriminate hostilities against innocents, viz.,
'non-combatants', 'women', and 'children'. The terrorists attacks on New York,
Oklahoma City, et alibi., were iniquitous, and quite apart from the
majority of peace-loving Moslems worldwide, and are not in rapport with the
teachings set out in the Qur'an ( 'reading' or 'recitation' ), which clearly
states:
"Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you,
but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors."
The Qur'an, Surah ii:cxc.
Furthermore, there is a very conspicuous anti-Islamic idée reçues, that
permeates through the United States controlled news agencies, television, and
radio networks. The opinions formulated from news gatherings fail to
differentiate between the mainstream peacekeeping Islamic communities from a
minority of what I would consider to be anti-Islamic despotic militants.
I do not believe that there are "Islamic terrorists". However, I do believe that
there are 'Moslems'. There are politically driven 'terrorists' who commit crimes
erroneously in the name of the Islamic Jihâd, and there are peace-loving
Moslems who strive to live by the tenets, of their Prophet Muhammad, as outlined
in the Qur'an. 'Terrorists' are an antithesis to 'Moslems', as would be
'terrorists' to 'Christians'. Stigmatising Islam with the "terrorist" label isn't
a pragmatic exercise if the three great monotheistic religions ( Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam ) ever hope to share a future together in peace, harmony,
and mutual respect.
Invisible hand or Scapegoat?
Osama Bin Laden and Manhattan.
'The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States'
( Commissioned late in 2002 ) was a cause célèbre that suggested Osama
bin Laden was 'the person ultimately responsible' for the 11 September attack
on Manhattan. Subsequent to the Commission's conclusions, the Chief
Investigative Publicist, for the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( F.B.I. ),
Rex Tomb, said: “The FBI has no hard evidence connecting Usama bin Laden to
nine-eleven” ( 'Muckraker Report', 5 June, 2006 ).
Osama Bin Laden may well have been the distal invisible force ( or
architect ) responsible for those cowardly attacks on the inoffensive
Manhattan community, but those who were supposedly responsible: Saudi
Arabia's Abdulaziz al-Omari, Waleed M. al-Shehri, Wail al-Shehri, Satam
al-Suqami, and Egypt's Muhammad `Ata as-Sayyid, are liken to international
neo-terrorist groups or cells, although not necessarily organically affiliated,
do appear, in virtue of their supposed actions, to have been influenced by bin
Laden's rhetoric.
Some terrorists don't operate autonomously, but receive funding ( or support )
from outside their own particular territory. Whether or not this was a
verifiable circumstance of Abdulaziz al-Omari et alii., in the
Manhattan attack appears, at the time of writing, to be suppositional, in so
far as, all suspects are entitled to natural justice ( viz.,
access to the rules and procedures at law, by way of, submissions of evidence
by both prosecution and the defence, followed by an unbiased process of
conviction and sentence. ); even in the light of incontrovertible
incriminating evidence.
This democratic principal, of natural justice, was embedded in the
Great Charter granted by King John between 1215 - 1225: "Nulli vendemus,
nulli negabimus aut differemus, rectum aut justitiam". ( "To no man will
we sell, or deny, or delay, right or justice" ), Magna Carta, cl. x.
If a society fails to observe the rules and procedures of law, its very
fabric will disintegrate into lawlessness liken to those lawless, heinous
crimes against the hoi polloi in Manhattan, Oklahoma et alibi.
However, all things considered, whether or not, at law, realizable visual or
intellectual evidential support - independent of circumstantial evidence -
can certify the validity of Osama bin Laden's assumed organic connection
between his rhetoric, Al-Qa'ida, and the attacks on Manhattan, I believe,
would at the present time be inconclusive at law.
Osama bin Laden
and the International
Criminal Court ( I.C.C. ).
Theoretically, it would have been difficult to have brought charges, against
Osama bin Laden, before the International Criminal Court ( I.C.C. ), prior to
the Resolution that was adopted in September 2001 ( v.i., ). The statute
laws, and their formulated practical applications, prior to September 2001,
were drafted solely for matters concerning interstate altercations. The laws
as they stood then did not include "Terrorist" activities per se,
among the categories, nor statutory laws to serve a formal charge on an
individual. Bin Laden it would seem, fell under the latter category,
in that, he was born on 10 March, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was a
national there until the Saudi government rescinded his citizenship in 1994,
in which status he would have been unrepresentative of any nation state; at
the date of his alleged crime. Therefrom, I would deduce that his alleged
crime, in an I.C.C. jurisdiction would have most likely been ruled
ultra vires.
This judicial anomaly however, has since been remedied. Seventeen days
following the 11 September attack, the United Nations Security Council
( U.N.S.C. ) passed Resolution number 1373 ( 28 September ), for all member
states to 'apprehend and bring terrorists to law'. However, whether or not
evidential support could establish a verifiable organic connection between
bin Laden, and his alleged crime ( 'terrorist attack' )
against the Manhattan community remains to be seen. Furthermore, if this
particular piece of legislation ( viz., no.1373 ) were retroactively
applied, there would be problems in indicting, and
succeeding in a conviction, at an I.C.C. jurisdiction. Moreover, there are
possibilities of the emergence of defence evidence that might establish
embarrassing financial affiliations between the Osama bin Laden and Bush
families. Foremost, is finding his whereabouts to apprehend him, without
of course, his trial might proceed in absentia, if such a procedural
statute were included within the Resolution.
'Terrorism' or 'Guerrilla movements'?
" You see it's like a portmanteau - there are
two meanings packed up into one word ".
Lewis Carroll, 'Through the Looking-Glass' ( 1872 )
Definitive definitions of the nouns 'terrorists' and 'Guerrillas'
seems prima facie to be comprehensible, but as differing political
ideologies, acute division of the affluent and the necessitous, or other
similar circumstances become apparent, the definitions can interchange.
A case in point was Yasir Arafat ( Born Muhammad 'Abd
ar-Ra'uf al-Qudwah al-Husayni, 4 August, 1929, died 11
November, 2004 ), who was chairman of the Munazzamat al-Tahrir
Filastiniyyah ( Palestinian Authority ( PLO ) ), from 1969 to
– 2004, and was co-founder ( with Khalil al-Wazir ) of
the Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watanî al-Filastînî
( Movement of Liberation of the Nation of the Palestinians ) also known
as the "Fatah" ( "conquest" or literally "opening" ); in 1957. This
organization was responsible for killing eleven Israeli competitors at
the 1972 Olympic Games in München, Germany. Other terrorists acts
soon followed, especially against Israel. Arafãt was regarded by
his opponents as a "terrorist", whilst his followers would have
considered him an heroic "guerrilla" fighter, and symbol of the national
aspirations of the Palestinians. In the course of time, Arafãt
metamorphosed firstly, into a first time non-governmental diplomat to
ever address a plenary session of the U.N., General Assembly ( November,
1974 ), and then into a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, with Shimon Peres,
and Yitzhak Rabin ( 1994 ), for signing the 'Oslo Accords', in September
1993.
The case of Yasir Arafat suggests that Terrorists or Guerrillas
today can become heads of state tomorrow, e.c., Yitzhak Shamir
( Lohame Herut Yisrael ), and Yitzhak Rabin ( Irgun Tsvai Leumi ).
And contrariwise, heads of state, can become terrorists tomorrow, e.c.,
Idi Amin Dada Oumee, president of Uganda ( 1971–79 ), reported to have
tortured, and murdered, between 100,000 and 300,000 Ugandans, and to have
hijacked a French aeroplane bound for Entebbe; in July 1976. Pol Pot ( or
Saloth Sar ), prime minister of the new Khmer Rouge ( 1976 - 79 ), who
killed and displaced millions of his people.
Delineating the nouns:
' Terrorism ' and ' Guerrilla '.
The English noun 'Terrorism' ( fm., Fr., 'terrorisme' ) evolved from the
French Revolution between 1787 and 1799. A fundamental and explicatory
definition of 'Terrorism', for convenience purposes, will be defined as:
'any violent actions against civilian targets for the purpose to
intimidate'. A few examples, apart from the Oklahoma ( 1995 ) and New York
bombings ( 2001 ), were: The Puerto Rican Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación
Nacional ( 'Armed Forces of National Liberation' formed in 1974 to gain
independence from the U.S. ). This organization was responsible for an
attempted assassination of Harry S. Truman ( 33rd president (1945 - 53 )), on
the 1 November, 1950. And on the 1 March, 1954, fired projectiles, into the
U.S., House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen. They were also
responsible for bombing Rockefeller Centre Manhattan ( 1974 ), and Wall Street,
Manhattan ( 1975 ); which killed four people and injured fifty others.
The noun ' Guerrilla ' or ' Guerilla ' ( fm., Sp., dim., ' guerra '
‘war’ ) was adopted into the French and English lexicons between 1808 and 1814.
'Guerrilla movements', in this article, will likewise, be defined as: 'an
activity specifically directed against military targets', v.g.,
during World War II ( 1939–45 ), the 'resistance movements' which conducted
covert operations against the German occupation of France, Belgium, et
al., were 'guerrilla movements'. Other examples were: China's Mao Tse-tung
( 1949 ), and Cuba's Fidel Castro Ruz ( 1959 ).
Inexactness of the nouns:
' Terrorist ' and ' Guerrilla '.
The distinguishing features in these definitions ( vs. ) does
tend to become ambiguous in diverse situations, v.g., attacks on U.S.,
armed services in Saudi Arabia (1996), and at Port Aden ( 2000 ), and two
U.S., embassies ( Kenya and Tanzania ) were bombed in 1998, and the attack
at the Al-khobar oasis, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( 1996 ), which killed
nineteen U.S., servicemen, has been described, by the U.S's. State Department,
as a 'terrorist attack', attributed to the Hizb Allãh ( "Party of
God" ). Defining these as 'terrorist attacks' doesn't match the definition
of 'Terrorism'. Military installations, and embassies, seem more likely
targets for 'guerrillas' than 'terrorists', but if civilian are inevitably
entangled in the attack, the line between the definitions become inexact.
The Hizb Allãh, a ' Terrorist '
organization or a ' Guerrilla '
movement?
The Hizb Allãh is a potent guerrilla movement, formed in 1982.
It is a blanket organization for the Revolutionary Justice organization, the
Jihad for a Free Palestine, and other Revolutionary Arab Groups. The Hizb
Allãh is oppose to Israel, and western influences in Lebanon. Both the
U.S., and Israel assert that the Hizb Allãh is a 'terrorist
organization' that engages in 'terrorist activities' ( bombings, abductions
et cetera ), while the Hizb Allãh assert that it is a vehicle
for the Islamic Jihãd ( Angl. tr., "fight," or "battle" [ Koran, 2:214,
215; 8: 39-42 ] ) v.i., a 'guerrilla movement', and as a leading
political party following the post-civil war period ( 1975 - 76 ). Whatever
description the Hizb Allãh may be today, we can be assured - as the
historic record has demonstrated time and again, in other situations -
that it will metamorphose to a pyramide Inversée description
tomorrow.
Human Potential towards
the Cesspool of Terrorism
A Nation of High Culture
to a Nation of Savagery.
C'est au milieu de ce cloaque infect que le plus grand fleuve
de I'industrie humaine prend sa source et va feconder
I'univers. De cet egout immonde, I'or pur s'ecoule.
C'est la que I'esprit humain se perfectionne et s'abrutit;
que la civilisation produit ses merveilles et que I'homme civilise
redevient presque sauvage.
It is from the midst of this putrid sewer that the greatest river of human
industry springs up and carries fertility to the whole world. From this foul
drain pure gold flows forth. Here it is that humanity achieves for itself both
perfection and brutalization, that civilization produces its wonders, and that
civilized man becomes again almost a savage.
Alexis de Tocqueville, 'Alexis de Tocqueville,
Voyage en Angleterre et en Irlande de 1835'
Some nation states have been responsible for sanctioning 'terrorist'
acts, and organized mass extermination of human beings. For example, Germany,
one of the most civilized and cultured nation states of Europe, which gave
to the world great intellectual giants such as: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
( 1844 -1900 ), Dietrich Bonhoeffer ( 1906 - 45 ), the Neoclassic literary
works of Goethe ( 1749 - 1832 ), and Schiller ( 1759 - 1805 ), and musical
compositions, of the early German Romantic period ( 18th – 19th c. ):
Ludwig Mendelssohn ( 1809 - 1847 ), and Richard Wagner ( 1813 - 1883 ).
Dort, wo man bücher Verbrennt, verbrennt
man auch am Ende Menschen.
Wherever books will be burned, men
also, in the end, are burned.
Heinrich Heine, 'Almansor', (1823 ).
Germany, was universally recognized, in history, for its tremendous
contributions to learning, particularly in the 19th, and first
quarter of the 20th century. It has made enormous contributions to
the fields of science, technology, philosophy, psychology, et
cetera. Yet, notwithstanding its pre-eminent scientific,
technological achievements, and cultural traditions, it was capable
of burning all non-Aryan books, particularly any publications that were
contrary to government policies ( 10 May, 1933 ) - Germany ceased being
German. Eight years later, the Holocaust ( 1941 – 1945 ), the persecution
and unmitigated extermination of 6,000,000 German, Russian, and Polish
Jews. These systematic killings were carried out with the enthusiastic
acquiescence, and support of some of the élite intellectuals, among
whom there were scientists, writers, and artists.
Man with all his noble qualities ... still bears
in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his
lowly origin.
Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, ( 1871 ).
From an amiable, cultured, and refined
individual to an anti-Semitic, homicidal
mass murderer.
Hermann Göring ( 1893 - 1946 ), was the son of Heinrich Ernst
Göring, and Franziska Tiefenbrunn. His father, Heinrich, held
ambassadorial posts, first in Africa, and then in Haiti. Due to Hermann's
parents absence from Germany, most of his formative years were spent with
relatives, or governesses, and later at a boarding school at Ansbach, after
which he entered cadetship at Karlsruhe, followed by military studies at
Lichterfelde. He received his commission, on 22 June, 1912 in the 112th
Prinz Wilhelm Regiment, and served with distinction in the fledgling
Luftwaffe ( 'Air Force' ) during World War I ( 1914 – 1918 ), at the
end of which he was appointed commander of the Luftwaffe squadrons.
He was a World War I recipient of the coveted 'Pour le Mérite'
( June 1918 ), and 'das Eiserne Kreuz' ( 'the Iron Cross 1st Class' )
on 19 July, 1940.
Göring was well-liked among foreign representatives, diplomats, heads
of state, and was popular with the hoi polloi. He had the persona of
an amiable, cultured, and refined individual; a perfect example of German
attractiveness, and sophistication.
Göring became a member of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei ( German National Socialist Workers' Party ( N.S.D.A.P. ))
q.e., the Nazi party. In July 1932, he was elected to the presidency
of the Reichstag [ the principal legislature of the German state under
the Second and Third Reichs, between 1871-1918 and 1933-45 respectively ],
after which the Nazis took control, on 23 March, 1933, through means of
'persuasion' by World War I veteran, 'Gefreiter' ( lance corporal )
Adolf Schicklgruber ( 1889 - 1945 ); later he changed his name to 'Hitler'.
Photograph © above, Goring as SA Commanding
Chief. By courtesy of the German Bundesarchives.
Between April 1933, and April 1934, Göring organized the 'Gestapo'
( 'Geheime Staatspolizei' ) within the Prussian police force, and
continued his role as chief of the Luftwaffe. He was the highest
associate within the Nazi hierarchy, for whom he founded their
internment centres, and authorized the planning for the 'final solution
of the Jewish Question'.
"I herewith commission you to carry out all preparations
with regard to ... a total solution of the Jewish question
in those territories of Europe which are under German
influence".
Hermann Göring, in W. L. Shirer 'The Rise and
Fall of the Third Reich (1962), bk. 5, ch. 27
Notwithstanding his prestigious military career, and his formative
grounding, Göring crossed the line from being a German to a
barbarian. He diverted from a civilized, and cultured, figure to
an anti-Semitic, homicidal mass murderer.
Göring appeared before the I.C.C., was found guilty on four counts:
(1) 'Crimes against peace', (2) 'Crimes against humanity', (3) 'War
crimes', and (4) 'Conspiracy' i.e., in having committed the
offences described in the first three categories. He was sentenced to
death, by hanging, but committed suicide before the sentence
could be carried out.
From a prosperous aristocratic family
to chief of the Mittelwerk plant, and
mastermind of the V-2 rocket , for the
blitzkrieg on London.
Dr. Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( 1912 - 1977 ), was
an intellectual, probably the most pre-eminent scientist of his generation.
He received his B. Sc. Eng. degree at the Berlin Institute of Technology
in 1932, and Ph.D. phys, at the Berlin University; 1934. Von Braun designed the
Vergeltungswaffe 2 ( Aggregat 4 or Reprisal weapon 2 ), for Hitler's war effort.
These missiles were instrumental to the blitzkrieg, or the "Lightning War"
campaign, [ which killed 7,000 people q.v. ], to have supposedly brought
a speedy conquest of London ( U.K. ) in 1940.
The Faustian and
Mephistophelean Pact.
Subsequent to the closure of the major theatres in Europe ( 1945 ), von
Braum was first considered a 'war criminal', or 'security threat' by the
U.S.'s military. Nonetheless, he and 120 q.l., of his Peenemünde
colleagues were brought to the U.S., under the surreptitious "Operation
Overcast" ( or "Operation Paperclip" ) programme. They were admitted to
citizenship, and employed by the U.S., government. Under customary
emigration criterion, they would not have obtained visas, or entry into
the U.S., nor citizenship.
Barbarous “science” from
the Ashes of the Pogroms
Von Braum, and his fellow Nazis war crime suspects, would have undoubtably
been indicted to appear at the Nüremberg Palace of Justice ( Trials of
War Criminals before the Nüremberg Military Tribunals ( N.M.T. ) ( 1946
- '49 )), had it not been for the U.S., intervening by harbouring, and
shielding these former Nazi enablers. This exercise was unmistakably absent
of all moral principles, and in contravention of war crime indictments. In
effect, the U.S., was denying justice for all those who died at the Mittelwerk
plant. The U.S., obstructed the course of justice for the sole purpose of gaining
worldwide scientific and technological superiority, and dominance over other
nations, particularly their World War II ally, the Union of The Soviet Socialist
Republics ( U.S.S.R. ). It was, indeed, an heinous Faustian pact, and unmitigated
Machiavellian opportunism.
In contravention of the
Berne Convention ( 1886 ).
Furthermore, the U.S., et al., were, quite clearly, ignoring the
international conventions, by poaching on German technology, intellectual property,
and patents, with total disregard to the Berne Convention ( 1886 ) which outlined
protective measures ( subsequent to the Paris Convention three years earlier
( 1883 )); regarding various types of intellectual property, and industrial designs.
There is no virtue in the victors infringing these Conventions over the conquered.
It is, quite clearly, theft of intellectual property from the conquered.
Distorting the veracity, and openness
of the American Democratic processes.
Under the "Operation Overcast" project, von Braum and his fellow Nazis,
were clandestinely employed by the U.S., government, unbeknownst to the
American public. This in itself was a gross betrayal of U.S.,
constitutionalism; the foundation of American democracy. Von Braun, and his
conspirators, worked upon developing the U.S., intercontinental ballistic
missile ( I.B.M. ) programme, and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's ( N.A.S.A. ) project for the rocket propulsion system for
Saturn V, which carried the three-manned Apollo 11 vehicle to the Moon; 16
July, 1969.
Von Braum's background was dubious, and controversial. According to U.S.,
Military documents ( 1947 ): 'He joined the Schutzstaffel ( 'Protective
Echelon' ( SS ) ); in 1933. Four years later ( 1 May, 1937 ) he joined the
Nazi party where he started in the rank of a Untersturmführer
( 'Second Lieutenant' ), and was eventually upgraded, by Himmler, to the rank
of a Wehrmacht major; and remained as such until the end of the war.
Von Braum was in charge of the Mittelwerk V-2 rocket plant ( founded in
1943 ), a subsidiary company of the Mittelbau-Dora complex; near Nordhausen.
Production of the rocket begun in January 1944. The company drew its unpaid
forced labour, i.e., the inmates, largely of Russians, Poles, and
French; from nearby Camp Dora. Von Braum, unlike the other Nazi enablers
( viz., Alfried Krupp, Hans Kammler, et. al. ), was
clandestinely sheltered under United States sponsorship, from the Trials
of War Criminals at the N.M.T.
Photograph above: Dora 'Mittelbau' Fertigung 1945.
Honorariums for former
Nazi Wehrmacht major.
Von Braum was honoured as a principal U.S., scientist, awarded the
1975 'National Medal of Science, and the International Astronomical Union
( I.A.U. ) honoured him by designating a lunar crater with his name. Von
Braum, notwithstanding that he was in charge of Mittelwerk, made the
admission that he 'frequently visited the plant', and observed "repulsive"
conditions, yet makes the incredible claim that he 'never observed
immediate maltreatment, or deaths of inmates', whilst an estimated 20,000
maltreated forced labourers were being worked to death, allegedly
unnoticed by him at his plant, from January 1944 until the end of
the War in 1945. Von Braum did acknowledge 'learning about these
maltreatments and deaths in 1944'. When the camp was liberated 6,000
unburied corpse didn't go unnoticed by the American soldiers.
Personal Avariciousness
in lieu of Moral Principals.
Von Braum was born into a prosperous aristocratic family, and was morally
condition by the teachings and practises of the Lutheran church. He would
have understood, that the principal of the laws of the state ( Reichstag,
30 January, 1939 ) to 'annihilate the Jewish race in Europe', and
ill-treatment of forced labourers in unjustifiable military sine
qua non were crimes in contravention of the Hague Conventions of 1907.
He would have also understood that the Reichstag legislations would not
exempt an individual from culpability under the Hague Conventions. He was
intellectually capable of making moral, and ethical choices, and would have
understood that implementation of these crimes, even with the Reichstag
sanctions, would not have exonerated any individual from war crimes.
Denial of Wrongdoings.
Von Braum justified his Nazi involvement saying: "My refusal to join
the party would have meant that I would have to abandon the work of my life.
Therefore, I decided to join ... "My membership in the party did not involve
any political activities" ( sic. ), U.S., Office of Military
Government, United States document dated 23 April, 1947.
Whilst von Braum ( and his fellow Nazis ) were being sheltered by the U.S.,
so not to "abandon the work of my [ his ] life" [ brackets mine ],
Alfried Krupp, et. al., were being served with indictments ( 17
November, 1947 ), for: 'Having enabled the armament of the German
military forces and thus having actively participated in the Nazi's
preparations for an aggressive war, and also for having used slave
labourers in their companies'. His co-offenders, appeared at the
twelve trials of the N.M.T., in the case of: 'The United States of
America vs. Alfried Krupp, et. al'. The trials lasted from 8
December, 1947 to 31 July, 1948. During the trial, the principal defendant,
Alfried Krupp, denied the allegations:-
"Die Wirtschaft brauchte eine ruhige oder aufwärts steigende
Entwicklung. Infolge des Kampfes zwischen den vielen deutschen Parteien
und der Unordnung gab es keine Möglichkeit für aufbauende Tätigkeit.
... Wir hatten den Eindruck, daß Hitler uns solch eine gesunde
Entwicklung bescheren würde. Tatsächlich hat er das getan. ... Wir
Kruppianer haben uns nie viel um Ideen gekümmert. Wir wollten nur ein
System, das gut funktionierte und das uns eine Gelegenheit gab,
ungestört zu arbeiten. Politik ist nicht unsere Sache." ( sic. ).
"The economy needed a steady or growing development. Because of the
rivalries between the many political parties in Germany and the general
disorder there was no opportunity for prosperity. ... We thought that
Hitler would give us such a healthy environment. Indeed he did do that.
... We Krupps never cared much about [political] ideas. We only wanted
a system that worked well and allowed us to work unhindered. Politics
is not our business." - Alfried Krupp, Golo Mann's ms. published in Friz
1988.
Alfried Krupp was convicted and sentenced to twelve years imprisonment,
and forfeiture of property, both real and personal. However, two and a
half years later ( 31 January, 1951 ), the U.S's high Commissioner, in
occupied Germany, John J. McCloyin, granted amnesty and rehabilitated
Krupp, and his family firm ( 1953 ), allowing him to continue "...to
work unhindered", after which Krupp amassed a fortune exceeding one billion
dollars.
Krupp, and von Braum never accepted responsibilities for their activities
for, and on behalf, of the Nazi party, nor did they receive their just
deserves. The leniency of Krupp's sentence subsequent to the Nüremberg
Tribunals, and von Braum's protection, and laudations, transcends decency.
They were indubitable Nazis who participated in the largest systematic
genocide programmes in history. They were involved in the wholesale
premeditated slaughter of millions of men, women and children; of an
incomprehensible statistical magnitude. These unremorseful, recalcitrant
Nazis walked away free, with the smell of blood on their hands, with the
wholehearted support of the U.S., who freed them from all accountability.
On doit des égards aux vivants;
on ne doit aux morts que la vérité.
We owe respect to the living;
to the dead we owe only truth.
Voltaire ( François-Marie Arouet ),
'Premiere
Lettre sur Oedipe’ in Oeuvres ( 1785 ) vol. 1
The U.S's., leniency towards these former Nazis was an insult to the
memory of those who died at their hands, and a gross disappointment at
the final outcome of the judicial decisions of the Nüremberg
Tribunals. The well-intentioned judicial decisions of the Tribunals
were one step forward to civilization, but the subsequent miscarriage
of the penalties - and the U.S's. harbouring of former Nazi enablers
from the N.M.T., were two steps backwards to pre-civilization.
From the Pogroms to
Auschwitz-Birkenau II.
The discrimination of the Jewish people, beginning with the Pogroms
( 'organized massacre of the Jewish people' ), that eventually culminated
in the Holocaust, id est., 'the mass murder of the Jewish people',
was state-sanctioned, at the behest of the Nazi convention at
Nürnberg on the 15 September, 1935.
Adolf Hitler ( 1889 - 1945 ) was chiefly responsible for initiating,
all the programmes that led to those most terrible crimes. He was
Der Führer ( "The Leader" ) of the Nazi party ( 1920 - 1921 ),
and Kanzler ( Chancellor ) and Führer of Germany (1933 - 1945 ). He
initiated the Pogroms Kristallnacht, 9,10 November, 1938, when the
Nazis violently attacked Jews and their properties, after which followed
his "Reichsbürgergesetz" ( "Law of the Reich Citizen" ), which deprived
Jews of German citizenship, and the 'Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes
und der Deutschen Ehre' ( "Law for the Protection of German Blood and German
Honour” ), which forbade marriage between Jews and German citizens; eventually
leading to the implementation of the programs for the "...annihilation of the
Jewish race in Europe." ( Reichstag, 30 January, 1939 ).
Three and a half years later, beginning in July 1942, 10,000 to 20,00 Jews
per day, were transported from Warszawa, to the numerous Vernichtungslager
( 'death camps' ) including: Bergen-Belsen, Maidenek, Oswieçim,
Treblinka, and to the largest and most lethal of the camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau
II ( where Zyklon-B was used ), where between 14 June, 1940, and 27 January,
1945, a medial estimate of 1.2 million people were put to death, of which 90
percent were Jews.
During the 12-year period from 1933 to 1945, 90 to 100,000 homosexuals -
acc. to figures extrapolated from the United States Holocaust Memorial,
Washington DC - were deported from all the Nazi occupied ( or annexed )
territories; to the Vernichtungslager at Auschwitz-Birkenau II Schirmeck,
Dachau et al, where they received the worst treatment, often being beaten
to death, by the German soldiers and fellow-prisoners.
Notwithstanding 10 to 15,000 ( q.v. ) deaths, homosexual Holocaust victims
were excluded from the historic record for an approximate period of 30 or
40-years; only receiving recognition in the 1970s and 80s. In 2005 the European
Parliament marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau
II camp with a resolution which included, in part, the following text:
"...27 January 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of
Nazi Germany's death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where a combined total
of up to 1.5 million Jews, Roma, Poles, Russians and prisoners of various
other nationalities, and homosexuals, were murdered, is not only a major
occasion for European citizens to remember and condemn the enormous horror
and tragedy of the Holocaust, but also for addressing the disturbing rise
in anti-semitism, and especially anti-semitic incidents, in Europe, and for
learning anew the wider lessons about the dangers of victimising people on
the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, social classification, politics
or sexual orientation,..."
"Those who cannot remember
the
past are condemned to repeat it".
George Santayana
The Life of Reason (1905).
United States and the
Third Reich 1933 - 45
During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( 32 president of
the United States ( 1933–45 )), issued presidential endorsements for U.S.,
companies to conduct carte blanche commercial transactions with Hitler's
Nazi regime.
A case in point was the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation
( I.T.T. ), which manufactured and supplied telephone, and radio
communications equipment, and vital components for incendiary devices
to Hitler's Wehrmacht. Another case was the Ford Motor Company
( Owned by Henry Ford, an American industrialist, anti-Semitic, and
recipient of Hitler's 'Grosskreuz des Deutschen Adlerordens' ( 'Grand
Cross of the German Eagle' ), on 30 July, 1938. Other companies who also
eagerly collaborated with Hitler's Nazi regime were the Standard Oil New
Jersey, DuPont, General Motors, Davis Oil Company, and the Chase National
Bank.
Ford was licensed, by Roosevelt to manufacture and supply military
trucks and tanks to Hitler's Wehrmacht, notwithstanding the Treaty
of Versailles ( 28 June 1919, which came into effect 10 January 1920 ); as
a penal prohibition, of such activities, subsequent to Germany's defeat
in the international conflict of 1914 - 18.
The 14 Points of the Treaty, in part 4, clearly declared: "... national
armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic
safety". Notwithstanding the treaty, Hitler's armaments had exceeded
the requirements for national safety prior to 1939. Even though Ford was
aware, as were the international community, that Germany had exceeded its
armaments threshold, his company was the largest producer and provider to
the Reich, particularly following Hitler's invasion into Poland ( "Fall
Weiß" ); on the 1st September 1939, after which its profits increased
in excess of 50 per cent, during the following four year period.
Ford, although in contravention of part 4 of the Treaty of Versailles,
was ( unlike his German co-conspirators ), not indicted to appear at the
Trials of War Criminals before the Nüremberg Military Tribunals
( N.M.T. ).
A vision for Peace in the
aftermath of World War I
World War I ( 1914 – 18 ) involved the majority of the nations of central Europe,
south-central Europe, north-central Europe, west-northern Europe, western
Europe, east Asia, east Europe and north Asia, the western Hemisphere, and
the Middle East, viz., Hungary, Austria, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom
( U.K. ), France, Japan, Russia, the U.S., and Turkey; respectively. The
Central Powers, for the most part: Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Turkey, were
in hostile engagement with the Allies viz., France, U.K., Russia, Italy,
Japan, and from 1917, the U.S.
The carnage, bloodshed, and the tragic loss of human life was unprecedented in
the history of warfare. At the first Battle of Saint-Quentin ( Somme ), in
North-eastern France, German, French, and British soldiers died from rifle and
machine-gun fire, explosive shells, and massive artillery bombardment, and
followed later by poison gas. The offensive begun on 1 July, and lasted until
13 November, 1916. In this Battle alone, 65,000 French, British, and German,
soldiers were killed on the first day. This four-month battle resulted in an
appalling loss exceeding half a million Allied soldiers, and a congruent number
of Germans.
The military and civilian casualties, throughout the entire War ( 1914–18 ),
irrespective of whether they were of the Central, or Allied Powers, were
estimated at 15,596,071 ( The 'Wikipedia Encyclopaedia' 'World War I,
Casualties' ) Another source suggests that "8,500,000 soldiers died as a
result of wounds and/or disease", and that "civilian deaths attributable
to the war was higher than the military casualties, or around 13,000,000",
and that, "These civilian deaths were largely caused by starvation, exposure,
disease, military encounters, and massacres" ( Encyclopaedia Britannica
2003, 'The last offensives and the Allies' victory'). By comparison,
there appears a vast difference between these figures. However, the precise
number of lives lost in this war may never be known, but we can be assured that
the magnitude, in terms of the lives lost, were far too great.
This war was the turning-point that changed the political and geographical
divisions that brought down the Central Powers in the Middle Eastern theatre,
and subsequently the imperial Western dynasties, viz., Austria, Germany,
Hungary, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire ( 1922 ) 'partitioning it into
39 q.v., separate nation states. The Empire's centre of power, 'Anatolia',
eventually became the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923
President Woodrow Wilson an
American ikon of World Peace
In the aftermath of World War I, many of the world leaders shared an
abhorrence to war ever occurring again. One of these leaders had a vision
for world peace, which was actualized by the establishment of a world body,
that would be responsible for exercising decisive influences over
international disputes, to ensure against any future hostilities.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States (1913–21),
a scholar and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, statesman and
diplomatist par excellence in world affairs. He was to become the
architect, and initiator, of the League of Nations, which was founded on
14 February, 1919 and ensconced at Geneva, and was subscribed to by the
World War I Allies: France, U.K., Italy, Japan, and from 1917, the U.S.,
at the Paris Peace Conference on the 14 February, 1919; for which he was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Unfortunately, Wilson's vision was not realized in toto. Some of
the member nations behaved towards the League as if it were a forum which
they could manipulate for their own self-serving policies. Antagonist and
quiescent nation states were initially alienated from the League. Eventually,
they were given entrée to membership in the 1920s.
The principal purpose of the League during the inter-war years, was to
retain harmonious relationships between the various nation states. It
successfully resolved varied international altercations between a number of
nation states, with formal consent of the membership of the League,
subsequently preventing hostilities.
The work of the League was, nevertheless, critically damaged by the
U.S's., non-compliance to the treaties that were formulated, and included
in the Treaty of Versailles ( 28 June, 1919 ); in the post-War I period.
Subsequently, the League was disempowered, through lack of support by the
major powers, to resolve individual grievances viz., those of Italy,
Japan, and Germany.
These events, all-inclusive, were, in my opinion, instrumental in
precipitating the outbreak of World War II. Hitler's rejection of the
Treaty of Versailles, at Münich in December, 1920, his violation
of the 1925 Pact of Locarno, by sending his Wehrmacht ( 'armed forces' )
into the Rhineland on the 7 March, 1936, and subsequently, his invasion
into Poland in August, 1939. Following the closure of World War II, the
League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations ( U.N. ); on
24 October, 1945.
In consequence of this - and the impact of the Great Depression ( 1929
to 1939 ) on the industrialized Western economies - Rome and Berlin
amalgamated to form an Axis on the 25 October, 1936. The following month
( 25 November ) Germany, and Japan cooperatively signed an "Anti-Comintern
Pact", against the Soviet Union. In the following year, on 6 November 1937,
Italy was included into this agreement. Four months earlier in July, Japan
had invaded China, and in the ensuing three years, a Tripartite Pact was
signed on 27 September, 1940, by Germany, Italy, and Japan to amalgamate
a political and military Axis.
World War II, 1939 – 45.
World War II ( 1939–45 ) followed twenty-one years after the closure of
the World War I theatre ( 1918 ), as a consequence of residual issues
from the previous war, and the failure of the economic infrastructures of
the pre-Depression period, qu., among the major issues that inaugurated
the armed conflicts beginning with Manchuria ( 1931 ), Abyssinia ( 1935 ),
Spain ( 1936 ), and followed by World War II three years later. This war was a
composite of the Axis governments, and the Allies: France, U.K., the U. S.,
Russia, and China.
Following Hitler's invasion into the Rhineland, Poland et al., Japan
made an air strike on the U.S., naval base, Oahu Island, Hawaii, on 7 December,
1941, which resulted in 3,540 military casualties ( Japanese were estimated to
be below 100, and the U.S., total were 3,440 ). The death toll, for the entire
period of the War ( 1939–45 ), reached a staggering estimated medial aggregate
of 35,000,000 to 60,000,000 ( Britannica 2003, 'The Allied landings in Europe
and the defeat of the Axis powers') [ The 'Wikipedia Encyclopaedia' quotes
62,000,000 in 'World War II Casualties' ]. This includes both civilian
and military personnel, of the Allies and Axis Powers; the largest number of
casualties ever recorded in the history of warfare.
United States' Aversion
to Global Peace
Various administrations in Washington have maintained an attitude of
being impolite and uncooperative towards the various international
organizations working towards securing global peace. For example, in July
1998, the council of the International Criminal Court ( I.C.C. ) introduced
the 'The Rome Statutes' ( 1998 ) which were examined, and approved by 120
signatory nations. However, the council of the I.C.C., was nevertheless,
unsuccessful in obtaining cooperation from William Jefferson Clinton
( 42nd president of the U.S., ( 1993 - 2001 )), in becoming a signatory,
together with the other nations, for the I.C.C's jurisdiction over these
particular crimes. These Statutes included a body of rules of laws
concerning: 'war crimes', 'crimes against humanity', 'crimes of genocide',
and 'crimes of aggression' et cetera. Under these statutes, any
head of a nation state, found in breach of these rules of law, could face
prosecution in an I.C.C., jurisdiction.
Further examples include; the occasion of the Convention for the
'Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty' ( 1996 ), in which Clinton's delegate
abstained from becoming a signatory, and at the treaty, in Ottawa Canada, for
'Banning of Anti-personnel Landmines' ( 1997 ); Clinton's delegate was absent.
And at the convention for 'Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and
Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines, and on Their Destruction' ( 1998 ); Clinton's
delegate abstained from becoming a signatory. Five years later ( July 2002 ),
at the I.C.C's final preparatory meeting, at the United Nations ( U.N. )
headquarters, there was a very conspicuous absence of the George W. Bush's
( 43rd president of the U.S., ( 2001 - present )) delegate.
"If you open that Pandora's Box,
you never know what Trojan 'orses
will jump out".
Sir Roderick Barclay, Ernest
Bevin and the Foreign Office (1975).
I believe, the U.S. is opposing partisanship to these treaties because,
in effect, they would severely censure any future aggressive military
campaigns the U.S., might consider, and in all likelihood, could open a
Pandora's box regarding the likelihood of past infringements by the U.S.,
itself ( et alii. ), i.e., if these laws were retroactive.
Any alleged breaches, or alleged non-fulfillments, of these treaties,
accompanied by evidential depositions, could prompt the I.C.C., to serve
writs on the president himself, George W. Bush ( U.S. ), and his accomplices
( "coalitionists" ): Prime Ministers Tony Blair ( U.K. ), John Howard ( AUS ),
et alii., for allegedly 'aiding', 'abetting', or as 'accessorials before
or after the facts'. And in all likelihood military personnel; could also be
served with writs.
The I.C.C., could draw from the ' Kellogg-Briand Pact ' of 1928, and the ' London
Agreement v.i., ' of 8 August, 1945, ( as did the Nürnberg series of
trials in Germany (1945-46)), in which the I.C.C., could reject any pivotal
defence contention, that 'the duty or responsibility is that of the state, and
not individuals'. The statutes, of both the 'Agreement' and 'Pact', disallow the
defence argument, as it did at Nürnberg, that both 'the judicial proceedings,
and determination would not be ex post facto', on the grounds that actions,
of defendants, would have been deemed as criminal acts subsequent the codification
of the statutes into Law in 1928 and 1945.
International Military Tribunal
for the Far East
The Charter of the 'International Military Tribunal for the Far East'
( C.I.M.T.F.E. ) was established on 19 January 1946 for the Far East'
became the legal instrument describing the essential laws, and
processes, by which suspect war criminals could be formally indicted,
tried, and sentenced.
Three categories of crimes were devised. The first of which concerned
the premeditated stage of the crimes, viz., "Class A" ( Crimes
against peace ). The following two, involved the actual undertaking of
the crimes: "Class B" ( War crimes ), and "Class C" ( Crimes against
humanity, executed between 1939 – 1945 ).
On the 25 April, 1946, Amendments were made to the Charter, under the
provisions of Article 7, which included crimes known as the "Nan-ching
Massacre", committed by the Japanese Imperial Army, against the Chinese
civilian population at Nan-ching [ in East-Central China ]; from December
1937 to January 1938. Although the actual number of deaths, of the
Chinese population is unknown, it is estimated to be approximately
150,000.
Eleven judges were drawn from the Allied victors, i.e., U.K.,
French Republic, U.S.S.R., Republic of China, the Netherlands, Canada,
U.S., India, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia. Twenty-five
Japanese political, and military, suspects were charged under 'Class
A' crimes, and 300,000 of the hoi polloi were charged under
'Class B' and 'C' crimes, and were indicted to stand trial ( over a
duration of almost two year ) at the C.I.M.T.F.E. jurisdiction in
Tokyo. Seven of the defendants were found guilty, as charged, and
sentenced to death They were executed at Sugamo Prison in Ikebukuro
on December 23, 1948, seven were sentenced to life in prison, and two
received reduced sentences. Japanese bureaucrats, and soldiers, in
Korea, Manchuria, China, et al., were tried in other
jurisdictions, and minor crimes were heard in other trials in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Twelve scientists, who worked in the 'Japanese Political Department
and Epidemic Research Laboratory', (a bacteriological and chemical
warfare unit titled, 'Unit 731', based at Pingfang in Northeast
China ), were accused of 'Having manufactured and used biological
weapons during World War II'. The accused, some of whom included,
Lt., Generals Kajitsuka Ryuji, Takahashi Takaatsu, and Major General
Kawashima Kiyoshi, were indicted to appear before the U.S.S.R.'s,
'Khabarovsk War Crime Trials ( 25 - 31 December, 1949 )'. 'Unit 731'
was particularly active for eight years during the Second Sino-Japanese
War, fought between the Republic of China, and the Empire of Japan
( 7 July 1937 to 9 September 1945 ); and World War II ( 1939–1945 ).
During this period medical experiments were conducted, at 'Unit 731',
"... on live humans in order to develop biological weapons, such as bubonic
plague, typhoid, anthrax ( v.i. ) and cholera" ( 'China Daily',
3 August, 2005 ). Among the prisoners experimented on were: Russians,
Chinese, Koreans, the Allies et al. "Outside the camp, an estimated
more than 200,000 Chinese were killed by biological weapons produced in the
laboratories of Unit 731" ( ibid. ).
All defendants were found guilty, as charged, and sentenced to terms
between two to twenty-five years hard labour. Subsequent to serving only
seven years of their sentences, all the prisoners were either pardoned,
or paroled, released and repatriated to Japan ( 1956 ), where many of
them entered into distinguished positions in politics, universities
appointments; and business corporations.
Waiving Justice for
Corrupt Technology
Interchanging Impunity for
Biological Weapons Technology.
Other members of 'Unit 731' were spared from appearing before The War
Crime Trials, through the intervention by General Douglas MacArthur,
autocratic commander, for the Allies; in occupied Japan ( 1945 - 1951 ).
The U.S., was aware of Japan's activities in developing weapons for
biological warfare, viz.,
'Anthrax' ( malignant pustule ). The other biological agent which the
U.S., were interested in was
'Botulism' ( Clostridium botulinum ). General MacArthur, assisted
by his intelligence team, Dr. Norbert Fell, and Lt., Colonel Arvo Thompson,
of the 'Supreme Commander Allied Powers' ( S.C.A.P. ), to clandestinely
negotiate an impunity arrangement, with former principal directors of the
Unit, including: Kajitsuka Ryuji, Takahashi Takaatsu, Kawashima Kiyoshi,
and Karasawa Tomio, et al. The immunity bargain included supplying
the U.S., with biological weapon data, and notes, from the 'Anthrax' and
'Botulism' programmes ( developed by Lt., General Shiro Ishii ); in lieu of
not being served with indictments to appear before the Military Tribunals.
At the behest of MacArthur, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito and Prince
Asaka were not prosecuted for any alleged involvement in any of the three
categories of crimes. Kishi Nobusuke, who was held as a suspected 'Class A'
criminal but never tried, later became Prime Minister. Emperor Hirohito
was the only head of state, among the Axis Powers to have escaped The War
Crime Trials, remain alive, and on the chair of State, in the aftermath
of World War II.
Harry S. Truman and the
Hague Conventions 1907
In the case of 'Shimoda vs. Japan' ( 1983 ), the court ruled that the U.S.'s
'bombardment' of the 'civilian population', at Hiroshima ( 6 August, 1945 ), and
Nagasaki ( 9 August, 1945 ), were in breach of the Hague Conventions of 1907.
Harry S. Truman ( 33rd President of the U.S. ( 1945 - 53 )), was head of state,
and by virtue of Article II, sec. 2, ls. 409-11 of 'The Constitution of The
United States of America' ( 17 September, 1787 ), which states, in part: "The
President shall be Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United
States... ", and in this capacity, he was ultimately responsible for breaching
the Hague Conventions ( 1907 ).
"When the President does it,
that means that it is not illegal".
Richard Milhouse Nixon,
I gave them a Sword (1978).
Quite clearly, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ( unlike the U.S's. naval
base at Pearl Harbour, Oahu Island, Hawaii ), were not military targets,
yet Truman wittingly bombarded these cities. At Hiroshima, there were between,
70,000 and 80,000 innocent civilians killed, and at Nagasaki there between:
35,000 and 40,000 killed, totalling a medial estimate of between 105,000 and
120,000 people killed in these cities. Truman authorized these two bombings,
yet was not included among the twenty-two defendants appearing at the Trials of War
Criminals before the 'Nüremberg Military Tribunals ( N.M.T. )' 1945–46, or
the twenty-five defendants at the 'International Military Tribunal for the Far
East (IMTFE)' 1946-'49 ( v.g., Hermann Göring, Tõjõ Hideki,
et al., ).
"If Japan is judged, the Allies
should also be judged equally".
Radhabinod Pal,
Indian justice at the IMTFE.
I believe that any head of a nation state, and their accomplices, ought to be
accountable to the laws of the international agreements and treaties,
particularly the Rome statute ( 1998 ). Perpetrators of these crimes,
notwithstanding, their military superiority, self-serving political ideologies,
and global dominance; are in my opinion 'war criminals'; hostes humani
generis.
These are the decisive points at issue of which, I believe, the U.S. remains a
non-signatory, in defiance against any obligations or liabilities towards the
international treaties. This has developed into a climate of increasing
exasperation with the U.S., over its contemptuous behaviour towards the various
international organizations.
For this reason, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, voted for the cancellation
of the U.S membership, in 2000 [ The first occurrence, involving the U.S., in
the Commission's fifty-three year history ]. The U.S. is, quite clearly,
enforcing its national self-serving political interests above international
law, to retain its hegemonic status, middle eastern ( et alibi., )
expansionary policies and continuation of its protracted history of invasions,
and aggressive military campaigns into other sovereign nation states, in
violation of international law, e.g., República de Nicaragua
( 1986 ), República de Panamá ( 1989 ), Republic of Iraq ( 2003 );
et al.
The United States
War against Peace
President Bush's propaganda, in his State of the Union address, alleged
that Iraq's president Saddam Hussein had used 'the world's most dangerous
weapons against his own people', viz., cyanide-based gas, and
cluster bombs. Bush was referring to an event, int. al., that
took place at Halabjah, a town with a population of 70,000, north-east
of Baghdad, nine miles from the Iranian border, on the 16th and 17th March,
1988, which resulted in an estimated loss of 5,000 q.v. lives;
including women, children and the elderly.
Bush's address was without foundation, and was a shameless and presumptuous
tissue of deception. He wittingly disseminated this disinformation, with the
intent to manipulate his U.K., aide-de-camp Tony Blair, and the
obsequious John Howard of Australia, to wage war against the innocent people
of Iraq; even though Iraq's forces were a threat to no one. Whilst Blair and
Howard were giving Bush the obliging "yes", the populace in the U.S., U.K.,
Australia, et al., were communicating an unequivocal "no".
Photograph © 2007. Paras Deliyannis/Fathershomepage.com
The facts that Bush omitted from his address were, not making a clear
distinction between the numerous innocent noncontiguous civilian Kurds,
who were unfortunately caught in between the battle between Iraq's forces,
and the Kurdish guerrilla confederates; commiserate with the combatant
Iranian Revolutionary Militia.
" Muchos de ellos, por complacer a tiranos,
por un puñado de monedas, o por cohecho
o soborno,
están derramando la sangre de
sus hermanos".
"Many of them, so as to curry favour with
tyrants, for a fistful of coins, or through bri-
bery or corruption, are shedding the blood
of their brothers".
( Emiliano Zapata, 'Plan de Ayala' 1911 )
Immediately following the Halabjah incident, a report was prepared, and
distributed to Bush and his inner circle, by the United States Defence
Intelligence Agency ( U.S.D.I.A. ), indicating that the cyanide-based gas
weapons, used to kill the Kurds, were not from the Iraqi arsenals.
Professor Stephen C. Pelletiere, former senior political analyst for the
Central Intelligence Agency ( C.I.A. ), said: "But the truth is, all we
know for certain is that Kurds were bombarded with poison gas that day at
Halabja. We cannot say with any certainty that Iraqi chemical weapons
killed the Kurds" ( New York Times, Friday, January 31, 2003 ).
Bush's Strike on Baghdad - 9 April 2003.
Bush's attack on Baghdad raises some curious issues, some of which
include: to what extent were there actual participation by the American
populace ( e.g., by referendum ), in the decision-making process,
for central government, to have made this strike.
Did Bush act within a valid interpretation of the great 'American State
Papers' ( v.i. ), by his unequivocal concealment of the known facts,
regarding Iraq, from the hoi polloi. And did Bush, by not having
made adequate transparent facts accessible, to the populace, had in effect,
excluded them from participation in government "...of the people, by the
people, and for the people ..." ( Abraham Lincoln, ( 16 President of the
U.S. ) Gettysburg, 19 November, 1863 )). The answers to these questions
automatically present themselves in the existent, and apparent, concealment
from the populace, on the pretext of 'weapons of mass destruction' et
cetera.
Bush's invasion has brought about continuous 'injuries and usurpations', and
a 'tyrannical' form of government [ controlled by U.S's., domestic policies ]
behind the façade of 'democracy' and 'human rights'. Comparing Bush's attack
on the innocent people of Iraq, with the 'American State Papers' ( v.i. )
reveal a flagrant deficit of constitutionalism in his foreign policies.
'The Declaration of Independence' [ Thomas Jefferson, 3 President
of the U.S. ], adopted on 4 July 1776, stated that the then King of Great
Britain ( G.B. ), and Ireland: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich III ( 1760–1820 ), had
inflicted " .. repeated injuries and usurpations...", and "...an absolute
tyranny over these states" ( l. 25 - 28 ), and "He has kept among us, in time
of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures" ( l. 58 -
9 ); and "... cutting off our trade with all parts of the world" ( l. 69 ).
Furthermore, 'The Constitution of The United States of America' ( 17
September, 1787 ) says: "No State shall, without the consent of
Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time
of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State or
with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded or in
such imminent danger as will not admit of delay" ( l. 314 - 20 ).
Subsequent to the Declaration of Independence ( 1776 ), the U.S.,
resembling King Georg III, of G.B., has repeatedly committed
'injurious' acts in other nation states, 'overturned heads of state',
'exercised arbitrary power', sanctioned 'tyrannical governments',
'deployed troops' into other sovereignties, and impositioned 'embargoes'.
I believe, the attack on the people of Iraq, was a contradiction of
contemporary U.S's., foreign policies, and the objections they raised,
in 'The Declaration of Independence', regarding the foreign policies of
G.B's., King Georg III.
President Bush was determined, to make a military strike in Iraq,
notwithstanding the inexistent sanctions of the United Nations Security
Council ( U.N.S.C, Charter, ch. vii ); and the anti-war consensus,
in the U.S., et al. Bush's assault on the peaceful people of Iraq
is not in concordance with his rhetoric on 'war against terrorism', and
'human rights'. The Iraqi people have not threaten the U.S., or have they
been linked, in anyway, to the attack on Manhattan ( 11 September 2001 ).
Iraq's former despotic Hussein has gone, but the unabated killings are
continuing. Both innocent Iraqi citizens, and honourable United States
servicemen, and women, continue losing their lives. The war in Iraq, I
believe, has a déjà vu familiarity with the former
protracted and futile Second Indochina War (1955–75), or what the
Vietnamese called: "Kháng chiến chống Mỹ"
( 'Resistance War Against America' ). The Indochina War resulted in
the loss of 2,058,000 qq.v., of innocent Vietnamese citizens,
and the crème de la crème of American youth.
Photograph left. The Attack on Baghdad, on 2 April, 2003.
Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper ( Public Domain ) .
The attack on Baghdad appears to be a somewhat reoccurrence of the
Indochina War. The Iraq war, like its Indochina predecessor, will
continue in an increasing astronomical loss of human lives, suffering
( both Americans and Iraqis ), and enormous amount of damage to Iraq's
essential infrastructures. Additionally, it will continue exacerbating
contentions among the various factions of the Arab, Kurd, Turk
( et al. ) population including other groups, viz., Shï‘ite
Muslim, Sunnite Muslim, Jews, Christians, and a variety of small sects.
Blood, Oil and Water
I believe, Bush's euphemistic rhetoric on 'human rights' and 'democracy' was
an appalling pretext for invading Iraq for, sit venia verbo Blood for Oil',
and this becomes very transparent when recalling the occasions when the U.S.,
( et al., ) remained silent on issues of 'human rights' whilst
despotic régimes committed atrocities against their own hoi polloi
in countries without copious oil endowments. The motives become even
more evident after consideration of some other factors that represent
very long term economic benefits for the United States et
al.
Motives for the Strike.
Iraq is considered to have one of the largest oil reserves is the world.
This could be one of the pivotal points for the U.S., to maintain continuous
presence in the region, to secure uninterrupted oil volumes at nominal costs,
and sustain a monopoly to exclude foreign contenders e.g., Russia and
China. At present there is a world oil aggregate of approximately
"2,390,000,000,000 barrels". "Seventy-seven percent" has been struck of
which "30 percent" has been depleted. The present rate of production and
supply, is estimated to last until approximately "2050"; after which it is
'expected to subside' ( Encyclopædia Britannica 2003 ). Iraq is unaware
of the quantity of barrels being exported, the price tags, or who receives
the revenue.
Iraq is also considered to have expansive river networks including, the
two great rivers: the Euphrátēs Al-Furãt [ 1,740 miles lg. ], and the
Tïgris [ 1,180 miles lg.], as well as effectual dams, e.g., the
Darbandikhan. This is the other point of which, I perceive, as an
opportunistic determination for the U.S., to retain its long term presence
in the Middle East .
The Water Supply,
Anatomy of Greed.
Both the Euphrátēs Al-Furãt, and the Tigris, are now geopolitically
constituted as South-East Turkey, Eastern Syria, and Iraq. [ The Greeks and Romans
formerly referred to the territory as 'Mesopotamia' ( 'The land between the
two rivers' ), until the Arab conquest circa 7th century. ]
The source of the Euphrátēs Al-Furãt, and the Tigris water
supply originates from the subtropical Arm’anskoje Nagor’e, or Armenian
Highland [ 5,000 - 6,500 feet asl. ]; in Eastern Turkey. Each river, at the
source, are separated by approximately 50 miles. Both the Euphrátēs Al-Furãt
travels south for 776 miles, and the Tigris 326 miles prior to reaching the
Syrian and Iraq border. The Euphrátēs Al-Furãt journeys, through Syria,
for 220 miles q.l. to the Syrian-Iraq border, and crosses into Iraq on an
approximate winding path of 475 miles south-east to Al-Qurnah. The Tïgris
travels 25 miles q.l. parallel to the Syrian-Iraq border then into Iraq where
it journeys, first for an approximate 95 miles to the Az-Zab al-Kabii, or
'Great Zab' [ 93 miles lg. ], and a further 58 miles to the Az-Zab as-Saghir
or 'Little Zab' [ 155 miles lg. ], and then the Diyãlã [ 186 miles
lg. ]. It journeys 380 miles south-eastward, via Baghdãd, to Al-Qurnah
where it merges with the Euphrátēs Al-Furãt, which travel a further 100
miles ( q.v. ) downstream, and ultimately discharging into the Bahr
Fãris ( 'Arabian Gulf' ).
Conflicts of Interest.
There has been conflict of interest regarding access to the Tïgris-Euphrátēs
Al-Furãts river systems. Differing opinions exist between Iraq, Syria and Iran
as to who has national prerogative to draw off from the rivers. The riverine
composite hasn't adequate water capacity to sustain these nations' requirements.
This is worsened by Turkey's construction of 22 dams, including the Ataturk,
( 604 ft Emb., and 5,971 ft. long ), completed in 1990, and 19 hydroelectric
installations, built during the 1980s and '90s at the upper aspects of the
rivers. Additionally, Syria had completed its Tabaqah Dam ( 197 ft. high
and almost 3 miles in length ) in 1973, which forms Lake Assad ( 50 miles length,
and 5 miles width ). A power house was added in 1977 to supply electricity to
Al-JazYrah, and surrounding districts. This has had an adverse effect on
Iraq's water levels. In 1974 Iraq troops grouped at the Syrian border and cautioned
Syria of its intent to bomb the al-Thawra dam on the Al-Furãts. Irag
and Iran had shared sovereignty over the 25-mile banks q.l. of the Iraq-Iran
border, the Shatt al-‘Arab river; the historic border between the two
countries. But Iraq broke the historic border-arrangement, by invading Western Iran
on 22 September, 1980, and captured the city of Khorramshahr, and other areas.
Later in the following year ( 1982 ) it voluntarily withdrew its troops, and sought
a peace pact with Iran.
Israel's Kinneret-Negev Conduit ( 'National Water Carrier' ) - built in 1964 -
conveys water from the Yam Kinneret ( 'Sea of Galilee' ), which is 686 ft.
bsl, and has surface area of 64 square miles, with a depth of 157 ft.
q.l., at the northeast aspect, and it measures 13 miles and 7 miles from
north-south, and east-west aspects respectively. The Conduit transports the
water to the coastal area and to the Negev Desert. The water flow is supported
by two pumping stations, one to raise the water to approximately 800 ft., ( above
the Yam Kinneret water level ), to be carried to Nahal ‘Ammud
and Zalmon, and the other to raise the water again for the Bet Netofa
valley from there the |
