- a former Detective, NYC Police Dep't, Safe, Loft and Truck Squad, Special Frauds Bureau, (1961-65),
- a former Plans and Operations Officer, CIA, Far East, Special Ops. Div.(1967-68),
- now for over 30 years Mgr. Dir. of a small Risk Management consulting company in Europe, FineMen, specializing in major Fraud, Extortion, Kidnapping and Corruption inquiries.
TERRORISM WARS: CAUSED AND DEFINED BY THE WEST
Finally, as seen in Jason Burke’s "Terror's myriad faces" appearing in the Sunday Observer of 18 May, we have an establishment International Terrorism expert who really knows of what he speaks.
Some readers of the Alternative Press may remember, over a year ago, a few months after my essay, "Patriotism & History", I postulated that actually an extension of the worldwide Islamic fundamentalist militant movement that perpetrated the 9/11 WTC attacks - perhaps with Ben laden encouragement and/or financial involvement. Jason Burke's well done essay and thesis supports that 2001 judgment.
To make a rough but historically valid extrapolation bringing the US Indochina invasions up-to-date, directly into today’s admittedly infinite War on Terrorism, let me tell you an anecdote offering two direct analogies regarding: problems at home vs. losing a war by false meddling in foreign problems, and loyalty to one’s nation by telling the truth.
Back to Vietnam: contrary to what we claimed, it was the former southern Viet Minh, having returned to farming in 1954, who reorganized themselves into what in 1959-60 we started calling the "Viet Cong". Reorganized expressly to stop the US installed puppet Catholic dictators, Ngo Dinh Diem and his three brothers, from continuing their vast CIA supported programs of harassment, arrest, torture and murder. Crimes against anyone, even Buddhist clergy, who had in any way, including verbally, previously had supported or helped Ho Chi Minh's successful revolution against the then 100 year-old French occupation of Vietnam.
These Viet Cong, therefore, came not out of the North to begin their fight, as we first claimed, but from and with deep allegiances to the agricultural and fishing peasants of the South. So, being born in and close to the land and the 95% rural people, their new organization soon spread out and solidified into many locally organized, and nation-loyal, peasant forces: trying to eject the latest White colonial-minded invaders of their country, the USA. These anti-Americans did not all like Communism as an ideology, as Muslims do not all like Terrorism as a method, but almost all of these people agreed with the anti-colonial objectives of the fight. As do almost all Muslims, at home and abroad.
The present Islamic fundamentalists represent, in essence, the same type of inequitable, racist situation: young people tired of being exploited, harassed, tortured and murdered by foreigners and their indigenous dictator buddies who are both controlling and exploiting the peoples' natural resources and institutions. And, thereby, degrading as well their lands and cultures.
The same facts I told my boss, the ROIC of my II Corps region, Dean Almy, a few weeks after the Tet Attacks of January 31, 1968 - - the morning after I finished debriefing that VC Lt. Colonel Sapper CO for my province. Facts reaching a conclusion I shall repeat again, now, about this present situation: America is going to lose, this time its War On Terrorism: not due to the material power of the "Terrorists" but due to the corruption behind its treatment of these Third World peoples, and their resources. Corruption instilling and fermenting new spiritual powers into their victims.
Lose simply because it is, as in our Indochina invasions, a war based on over 80 years of Western exploitation, this time of Muslims, and including the usual panoply of ongoing lies, hypocrisies and greed founding such exploitation. Tragically, such examples did not begin with Indochina in the 1950s and will not end with Muslim fundamentalism in this new century. For much of these actions have been long practiced, but particularly so as clearly manifested by the US pursuit, development and rapid advancement of its principal post-WW II objective: economic and military hegemony over as much of the world as feasible.
Lose for another reason, as well, albeit one that is somewhat more long-term and possibly also somewhat less obvious to most people. The above noted Viet Cong Lt. Colonel I debriefed was a nationalist, not really much of a communist having been a rural teacher in civilian life, plus a quietly speaking, very intelligent and honest Buddhist soldier who had previously fought the Japanese and the French. Just after midnight, as my debriefing on political and military intelligence ended, I rose and asked something that had been in my mind: would he not mind our continuing to speak but on more of a man-to-man basis. He raised his head slowly, the first time in over three hours, and answered positively by replying that he was thinking the same idea.
I asked him this because though I had come to his country as an truly ignorant John Wayne Jesus Christ American - - believing America’s supposed purpose was to undo the French loss and "Save the Indochinese People" from Communism - - I had already learnt much about the lies, false programs, cover-ups and civilian atrocities destroying that purpose. As my prisoner had filled me in on other examples of American criminality, I wished to talk further.
After noting that I needed a short break and was going for a walk on Nha Trang’s beach, I asked him if he would like food or tea. He accepted the tea and I ordered the nervous Nung guard not to return the prisoner to his cell but serve him right there in the interrogation room. On the beach, I spent almost an hour visualizing, once again, all the falsehoods that I had discovered, or stumbled upon, since arriving in Nam that past October. Plus those that my enemy Colonel had just added to said list of disappointments.
Upon my return we talked casually but seriously for over three hours. Towards the end, still sharing a pot of tea in that stark, naked bulb-lit chamber (where, after three weeks in charge of that province, I had begun to hear that many a prisoner had been tortured and killed), he said two things that have always firmly stuck inside me. And which I find are directly related to why I feel sure America must lose its "War on Terrorism".
First was his firm, blunt statement that America was going to lose in Vietnam. When I asked Why?, he immediately responded, "Because this is our country, not yours, and you finally must go home. To face your own problems." He added, after a pause, that although America’s great technological power can continue to kill many more Vietnamese than Vietnamese can kill Americans, his people are never going to stop fighting, no matter how many must die. I had never thought about these points before but, after learning of the intelligence and tenacity of his people since arriving in-country, I instinctively knew he was right.
A bit later was a direct question, resulting, I believe, from his surprisingly detailed knowledge of my various disagreements with my bosses: What are you going to do about what you know, continue fighting with your superiors?
I thought for a moment about whether I should tell him the truth or not. Then answered, "No, I am disgusted with what I have seen and learnt here and I’ve decided to resign. My wife over in Taiwan also feels the same about the agency station in Taipei, so agrees."
The Colonel had his eyes on his sandals, but after a minute or so raised them up and looked me directly in the eyes for the first time that night, saying, "If you quit you will be disloyal to your country." That confused me, so I asked, a bit harshly, How will I be disloyal, having been honest in all my reporting since coming over here? He said, Because you will leave us with the worst Americans, those who to be promoted lie to your people and to the world. That means the cover-ups and the war will continue longer than necessary, killing many more of my people. And yours. If you stay and keep fighting for the truth, you will help end the war sooner.
Later that morning upon reporting to my boss what I had learned from the Colonel, he once again asked me to resign if I did not "get with the program", and stop "making waves". Once again I refused, staying to keep fighting the lies we disseminated. I lasted another six months.
As this Viet Cong Colonel defined what loyalty to one’s country really means, so to the many lies told and many violent actions taken by America in both Indochina and afterwards have also begun to awaken the American public. Many are no longer sitting in their niches quietly consuming, but have begun to protest. The Colonel defined learning and telling the truth as loyalty to one’s country, and he was right for there are many more such loyal Americans these days than at any time since our Indochina invasions failed.
This means that Americans are awakening, albeit slowly, catching up to what the rest of the world, especially the former communist countries, has long understood: Be skeptical about, and question, your leaders’ intentions and actions, especially your politicians.
Maybe, therefore Americans are beginning to realize the answers to these two lessons the Viet Cong Colonel taught me: 1) What is the first priority, paying attention to and resolving our own problems at home or running amuck overseas trying to unilaterally, without invitation, "save" the Third World?; 2) What defines loyalty to country, fearfully saluting flags and obediently bowing down to Christian slogans spouted out of the crooked mouths of politicians, or learning, discovering and telling the truth?
This awakening to such realizations is maybe why America’s hegemonic policies and actions are now - for the first time since they became official just after World War II - honestly admitted to, and correctly labeled as, just what in reality they are: Imperialism.
Richard Manning
David Hackworth & Richard Manning on the Vietnam War Amerika? Poetry False Heroes Jews vs Christians vs Arabs
Our Land by Charles Buffalo Photos of: Family & friends
NYC & Antibes, France
By an ex New York City cop
2 distinguished veterans tell the truth about the war.
"Our civilization is a dingy, ungentlemanly business."
YHWH's Love Poems : Abraham to Westmoreland
We are in such dire need of any kind of honest hero.
Letters from Jerry Falwell and God
Mother Earth shall be renewed
"The CIA is not now nor has ever been a central intelligence agency.
It is the covert action arm of the president's foreign policy
advisers. In that capacity it overthrows or supports foreign
governments while reporting "Intelligence" justifying those
activities. It shapes its intelligence, even in such critical areas as soviet nuclear weapon capability, to support presidential policy.
Disinformation is a large part of its covert action responsibility,
and the American people are the primary target audience of its lies." - Ralph McGehee, former CIA analyst
Cadence Magazine said Joe McPhee is: "Probably the best saxophone/cornet instrumentalist in the history of jazz."
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