>>
>>Given the alternatives, the world should be grateful for the hegemony
>>of the US throughout the 20th century, writes Martin Wolf
>><Martin.Wolf at ft.com>
>
>>This was
>>the American century. Given the grim alternatives to US hegemony, the
>>rest of the world should, for once, express its gratitude.
>
>The short [Anglo-] American Century
>
>(This is just from memory, other subscribers can add in the details of
>Panama, Guatemala, Cuba and the extensive CIA involvement in Africa.)
Below is the table of contents from William Blum's 'Killing Hope' (http://members.aol.com/bblum6/American_holocaust.htm). It says alot, but it doesn't say it all.
Having come from a thoroughly moderate, middle-american background, and having lived all my life in the South (where obedience to authority is thought of as being properly manly), and only recently being politically motivated, I find it amazing to compare the historical record to what I learned (or didn't) in school, etc. Perhaps this is old hat to most LBO-ers, but I find it surprising still the extent to which the 'average American' is heavily indoctrinated with falsehoods and half-truths designed to generate compliance. I was taught that that sort of training was typical of the Soviets, as against us here in the 'free world'. The list below would seem to belie that notion, given that it would come as a complete surprise to most people in the US (I think).
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1. China - 1945 to 1960s: Was Mao Tse-tung just paranoid? 2. Italy - 1947-1948: Free elections, Hollywood style 3. Greece - 1947 to early 1950s: From cradle of democracy to client state 4. The Philippines - 1940s and 1950s: America's oldest colony 5. Korea - 1945-1953: Was it all that it appeared to be? 6. Albania - 1949-1953: The proper English spy 7. Eastern Europe - 1948-1956: Operation Splinter Factor 8. Germany - 1950s: Everything from juvenile delinquency to terrorism 9. Iran - 1953: Making it safe for the King of Kings 10. Guatemala - 1953-1954: While the world watched 11. Costa Rica - Mid-1950s: Trying to topple an ally - Part 1 12. Syria - 1956-1957: Purchasing a new government 13. Middle East - 1957-1958: The Eisenhower Doctrine claims another backyard for America 14. Indonesia - 1957-1958: War and pornography 15. Western Europe - 1950s and 1960s: Fronts within fronts within fronts 16. British Guiana - 1953-1964: The CIA's international labor mafia 17. Soviet Union - Late 1940s to 1960s: From spy planes to book publishing 18. Italy - 1950s to 1970s: Supporting the Cardinal's orphans and techno-fascism. 19. Vietnam - 1950-1973: The Hearts and Minds Circus 20. Cambodia - 1955-1973: Prince Sihanouk walks the high-wire of neutralism 21. Laos - 1957-1973: L'Arme Clandestine 22. Haiti - 1959-1963: The Marines land, again 23. Guatemala - 1960: One good coup deserves another 24. France/Algeria - 1960s: L'tat, c'est la CIA 25. Ecuador - 1960-1963: A text book of dirty tricks 26. The Congo - 1960-1964: The assassination of Patrice Lumumba 27. Brazil - 1961-1964: Introducing the marvelous new world of death squads 28. Peru - 1960-1965: Fort Bragg moves to the jungle 29. Dominican Republic - 1960-1966: Saving democracy from communism by getting rid of democracy 30. Cuba - 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution 31. Indonesia - 1965: Liquidating President Sukarno ... and 500,000 others ...... East Timor - 1975: And 200,000 more 32. Ghana - 1966: Kwame Nkrumah steps out of line 33. Uruguay - 1964-1970: Torture -- as American as apple pie 34. Chile - 1964-1973: A hammer and sickle stamped on your child's forehead 35. Greece - 1964-1974: "Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution," said the President of the United States 36. Bolivia - 1964-1975: Tracking down Che Guevara in the land of coup d'etat 37. Guatemala - 1962 to 1980s: A less publicized "final solution" 38. Costa Rica - 1970-1971: Trying to topple an ally -- Part 2 39. Iraq - 1972-1975: Covert action should not be confused with missionary work 40. Australia - 1973-1975: Another free election bites the dust 41. Angola - 1975 to 1980s: The Great Powers Poker Game 42. Zaire - 1975-1978: Mobutu and the CIA, a marriage made in heaven 43. Jamaica - 1976-1980: Kissinger's ultimatum 44. Seychelles - 1979-1981: Yet another area of great strategic importance 45. Grenada - 1979-1984: Lying -- one of the few growth industries in Washington 46. Morocco - 1983: A video nasty 47. Suriname - 1982-1984: Once again, the Cuban bogeyman 48. Libya - 1981-1989: Ronald Reagan meets his match 49. Nicaragua - 1981-1990: Destabilization in slow motion 50. Panama - 1969-1991: Double-crossing our drug supplier 51. Bulgaria 1990/Albania 1991: Teaching communists what democracy is all about 52. Iraq - 1990-1991: Desert holocaust 53. Afghanistan - 1979-1992: America's Jihad 54. El Salvador - 1980-1994: Human rights, Washington style 55. Haiti - 1986-1994: Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?
------ david