[2008] The Real Drug Lords: A brief history of CIA involvement in the Drug Trade By William Blum
[1996] The CIA, Contras, Gangs, and Crack by William Blum
[2003] Guatemala 1953-1954 by William Blum
[2003] Nicaragua 1981-1990 by William Blum
[2001] The Bombing of PanAm Flight 103. Case Not Closed by William Blum
Book
[2003] Killing Hope by William Blum
Quotes
A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't
have an air force.
[2010 Oct] The Anti-Empire Report by William Blum since the end of World War Two the United States has: Endeavored to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, most of which were democratically-elected. Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries. Waged war/military action, either directly or in conjunction with a proxy army, in some 30 countries. Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders. Dropped bombs on the people of some 30 countries. Suppressed dozens of populist/nationalist movements in every corner of the world.
"No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine."--William Blum
The contras' brutality earned them a wide notoriety. They regularly destroyed health centers, schools, agricultural cooperatives, and community centers-symbols of the Sandinistas' social programs in rural areas. People caught in these assaults were often tortured and killed in the most gruesome ways. One example, reported by The Guardian of London, suffices. In the words of a survivor of a raid in Jinotega province, which borders on Honduras: "Rosa had her breasts cut off. Then they cut into her chest and took out her heart. The men had their arms broken, their testicles cut off, and their eyes poked out They were killed by slitting their throats and pulling the tongue out through the slit." [2003] Nicaragua 1981-1990 by William Blum
In all these paradigms, "communist" is often no more than the name ascribed to those people who stand in the way of the realization of such ambitions (as "national security" is the name given for the reason for fighting "communists"). It is another twist of the old adage: if communists didn't exist, the United States would have to invent them. And so they have. The word "communist" (as well as "Marxist") has been so overused and so abused by American leaders and the media as to render it virtually meaningless. (The left has done the same to the word "fascist".) But merely having a name for something - witches or flying saucers-attaches a certain credence to it. Introduction to Killing Hope by William Blum
In the midst of the American preparation to overthrow the government, the Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Guillermo Toriello, lamented that the United States was categorizing "as 'communism' every manifestation of nationalism or economic independence any desire for social progress, any intellectual curiosity, and any interest in progressive liberal reforms." [2003] Guatemala 1953-1954 by William Blum
During the Cold War, Washington officials of course couldn't say that they
were intervening to block social change, so they called it fighting communism,
fighting a communist conspiracy, and of course fighting for freedom and
democracy. Just like now the White House can't say that it invaded Iraq to
expand the empire, or for the oil, or for the corporations, or for Israel, so it
says it's fighting terrorism.
The word "communist" was used
exceptionally loosely during the Cold War, just as the word "terrorist" is used
these days; or "al-Qaeda"-almost every individual or group that Washington wants
to stigmatize is charged with being a member of al-Qaeda, as if there's a
precise and meaningful distinction between people retaliating against American
imperialism while being a member of al-Qaeda and people retaliating against
American imperialism while not being a member of al-Qaeda; as if al-Qaeda gives
out membership cards to fit into your wallet, as if there are chapters of
al-Qaeda that put out a weekly newsletter, and hold a potluck on the first
Monday of each month.
U.S. policies keep creating new
anti-American terrorists, whom Washington calls al-Qaeda, which justifies
continuing the same policies to fight the new al-Qaeda terrorists.----William
Blum
Following its bombing of Iraq in 1991, the United States wound up with
military bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United
Arab Emirates. Following its bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the United States
wound up with military bases in Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Hungary,
Bosnia, and Croatia.
Following its bombing of
Afghanistan in 2001-02, the United States wound up with military bases in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia,
Yemen, and Djibouti. Following its bombing and invasion of Iraq in 2003, the
United States wound up with Iraq.
This is not very subtle foreign
policy. Certainly not covert. The men who run the American Empire are not easily
embarrassed.
And that's the way the empire
grows-a base in every region, ready to be mobilized to put down any threat to
imperial rule, real or imagined. Sixty-two years after World War Two ended, the
United States still has major bases in Germany and Japan; fifty-four years after
the end of the Korean War, tens of thousands of American armed forces continue
to be stationed in South Korea.----William Blum
Since World War Two the United States has attempted to overthrow more than fifty foreign governments, it has dropped bombs on the people of around thirty countries, has attempted to assassinate some sixty foreign leaders, helped to suppress dozens of populist or nationalist movements, has tortured many thousands, and seriously and illegally intervened in one way or another in virtually every country on the planet, in the process of which the U.S. has caused the end of life for several million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair.
I like to ask the question: What does U.S. foreign policy have in common with Mae West, the Hollywood sexpot of the 1940s? The story is told of a visitor to her mansion, who looked around and said: "My goodness, what a beautiful home you have." And Mae West replied: "Goodness has nothing to do with it." And that's one of the important points I try to make about U.S. foreign policy-goodness has nothing to do with it.----William Blum
The two laws of politics that came out of the
Watergate scandal of the 1970s, which I like to cite.
The First Watergate Law of American Politics states: "No matter how paranoid you
are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine."
The Second Watergate Law states:
"Don't believe anything until it's been officially denied."
Both laws are still on the books.
"Our leaders are cruel because only those willing to be inordinately cruel and remorseless can hold positions of leadership in the foreign policy establishment. People capable of expressing a full human measure of compassion and empathy toward faraway powerless strangers do not become president of the United States, or vice president, or secretary of state, or national security adviser or secretary of the treasury. Nor do they want to."--William Blum
"[American leaders] are perhaps not so much immoral as they are amoral. It's not that they take pleasure in causing so much death and suffering. It's that they just don't care ... the same that could be said about a sociopath. As long as the death and suffering advance the agenda of the empire, as long as the right people and the right corporations gain wealth and power and privilege and prestige, as long as the death and suffering aren't happening to them or people close to them ... then they just don't care about it happening to other people, including the American soldiers whom they throw into wars and who come home-the ones who make it back alive-with Agent Orange or Gulf War Syndrome eating away at their bodies. American leaders would not be in the positions they hold if they were bothered by such things." [2003] Killing Hope by William Blum