From The Ramparts

   

                                                 From The Ramparts

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                          Psy Ops For Fear Mongering

            After 9-11, the Bu$h administration instituted color code alerts and warnings to keep us hyped and fearful. Remember George W (Dubya) Bu$h and "Deadeye" Dick Cheney extremely unpopular even after 9-11 so they used the color code system whenever their approval ratings dropped or they felt they lost the attention of the people. Eventually the color coded alerts became the butt of comedians' jokes, late night TV talk show hosts' monologues and so much derision the Obama administration discontinued them in May of 2011.

            Tyrants, megalomaniacal leaders, false prophets and charlatans have used fear to intimidate and control the masses since the earliest days of humanity. Exploiting the fear of forces and events the people did not understand was used to prop up and legitimatize leaders who took advantage of the people's ignorance and desires for safety and security. Sociopaths and psychopaths began to intentionally use natural and manufactured events to manipulate and control the masses.

             Adolph Hitler used the 1933 arson of the German parliament Reichstag Building carried out by his own henchmen to stoke national fears, to blame the fire on his political rivals and as the rationale to grab more personal and political power for himself. Hitler used the Reichstag arson to launch internal oppression, institute the legalization of a German domestic police state and launch foreign wars of imperialist conquest. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/burns.htm

            The Bu$h administration did the exact same thing following September 11, 2001. Bu$h, the NeoCons, multinational oil consortia, the Wall Street banksters and assorted criminals used September Eleventh and the fear generated by the corporate mind control apparatus to pass the USA PATRIOT ACT I and II (the Patriot Act was crafted and written way before 9-11 even happened) to legalize the formally illegal actions of the government like COINTELPRO and Operation Chaos and ive Bu$h, Congress, the NSA, FBI and the giant telecommunications companies a pass for the spying and intrusion into our lives they were conducting before 9-11. http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/911_reichstag.html

            Both the Reichstag arson and 9-11 airplane attacks were psychological operations by the German and US deep states respectively (9-11 was a more elaborate and extremely complex crime) to condition the German and American public to be afraid and to look to their governments for protection and safety no matter how much personal freedom, privacy and assets we had to forfeit. In order to continuously reinforce the psychological operation (psy-op)  threats of future attacks, wars, disasters and apocalypse have to be overtly and subliminally produced, enemies must be created, the fear of strangers and outsiders (xenophobia) has to be drummed up and propagated. 

            In Germany Hitler demonized the communists, and socialists, he stigmatized non-Aryan or Nordic phenotypes and outsiders like the Gypsies, Slavs and Jews using the controlled media as his platform. Following 9-11 the US the corporate media was used to hype anti-Islamic rhetoric, promote American exceptionalism/nationalism and vilify anyone who did not go along with their warmongering and imperialism in the name of their phony War on Terrorism. Yet the 1% demonize Donald Trump for doing the same thing!?

            The ruling elites are still trying to keep us fearful. The FBI creates sting operations to entrap not too bright people so they can continue the ruse the government is on the case protecting us from bogymen all around us. They want us to be afraid so we cannot discern the con game being run on us. http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/911_reichstag.html

            Many other psy-ops and false flag operations are used to keep us fearful such as the London subway bombings, the Paris attacks, the recent shootings in Florida, or the bombings in New York last weekend. The objective is to keep us afraid, dependent on the government and demanding more oppression in the name of security. Don't fall for the okey-doke.

                                                           

                                                    From The Ramparts

                                                   Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                     9-11, The Crime of The Century

            Nine-eleven wasn't a surprise terrorist attack on the United States by a small group of fanatical Muslims. It was a false flag operation, a multifaceted and complex criminal operation perpetrated by elements within the US government like Vice President  Dick Cheney with the assistance of  the NeoCons, influential financiers and operatives from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It wasn't a surprise because it is now a known fact the US CIA Director personally warned President George W. Bu$h as did Russian President Vladimir Putin and governments such as: Argentina, Germany, Egypt, Jordan and Israel.  http://www.historycommons.org/essay.jsp?article=essaytheytriedtowarnus

            Despite being warned, the Bu$h administration chose to do nothing. Nine-eleven was a false flag operation. A false flag operation is a crime perpetrated by individuals, groups or nations where disguises, other nation's flags and/or false clues are left to make people think someone else did the crime. A classic example of  a false flag operation was the Boston Tea Party where whites dressed up as Native American and threw English tea into the harbor.

            The notion that a terminally ill Osama bin-Laden living in a cave using a laptop and satellite cell phone could circumvent the US intelligence and defense systems, major airport security, NORAD, Air Force and the FAA is preposterous. Nine-eleven was a multilayered criminal enterprise abetted and obscured by the Bu$h administration, their cabal of warmongers, Wall Street bankers and thugs. Various cliques and elements within the government, Wall Street and foreign capitals plotted and planned 9-11 or used it for their own nefarious ends whether to launch a global military campaign for resource expropriation and US dollar hegemony or as a cover for massive theft and fraud here at home.

            For example the Afghanistan government at the time was not responsible for 9-11, but the Taliban had shut down the opium growing that was/is part of the US CIA's money making and money laundering monopoly and they refused to go along with plans to construct transit pipelines across Afhganistan that would carry Eurasian oil and gas to the Indian Ocean to Western markets. So for being uncooperative, they had to be deposed. Plans for this were made way before 9-11 happened, 9-11 was just the pretext for the invasion and occupation! https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/21/afghanistan.september1112

             After years of stonewalling demands for a formal investigation into 9-11 by the victims' families, the Bu$h administration finally relented and convened the "9-11 Commission".  It was a total sham just like the Warren Commission that investigated the JFK assassination which the perpetrators convened to cover up JFK's murder. Even the two co-chairs of the 9-11 Commission admitted it was designed to fail, that the government failed to provide the needed resources and truthful information! http://911proof.com/6.html

            The 9-11 Commission obfuscated the facts to reinforce the government's disingenuous fairytale about Muslim fanatics. Every crime creates and leaves evidence that must be scrutinized, analyzed, evaluated and discussed if it is to be solved. But within days, the US government literally scooped up all the critical evidence: the scrap metal and debris from the twin towers and Building 7, carted it off and sold it overseas to China without any forensic examination whatsoever! No attempt was ever made to examine the debris to verify or discount the governments preposterous claim three buildings fell (when only two were hit by planes) because of the heat and fire from airplane fuel! No tangible evidence was ever offered to prove Osama bin-Laden was the culprit, nevertheless government and media sycophants kept repeating it over and over until it became accepted "fact".

            On the international level, nine-eleven was used to expand the resource theft and destabilization of a region stretching from North Africa into the so called Middle East and Eurasia; all rich in oil and other natural resources that just happened to be under the feet of Muslims and enemies of Israel! The War on Global Terrorism is a total fraud. It is based on the criminal act of 9-11 which was an inside job! Most of the major US advocates and architects of the invasion of Iraq we now know was based on lies, were dual citizens and supporters of Israel, rabid supporters of the military industrial complex, the police security state and big oil. http://hugequestions.com/Eric/TFC/FromOthers/list-of-neocons-for-Iraq-war.htm

            There were additional aspects of 9-11 we never heard about such as the fact building 7 which was not hit by a plane but collapsed in free fall just like a controlled demolition, housed offices of the IRS, EEOC, Secret Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission which was investigating thousands of securities fraud cases like Enron and Worldcom, many linked to prominent Wall Street investment firms and government officials. Investigative Reporter Tom Flocco reported in 2005 http://www.truedemocracy.net/hj31/30.html  several other "coincidences" such as the Securities and Exchange Commission was in the midst of massive investigations into securities fraud. One investigation involved "Brady Bonds" worth hundreds of billions of dollars that had been fraudulently purchased which were scheduled to come due on September 12th. Coincidently one of the firms that held the bonds, Canter-Fitzgerald had offices on the 101-105 floors of the North Tower and it suffered major loss of life and supposedly all their records. How convenient for the perpetrators. Remember building 7 was not hit by a plane! Check out http://www.wanttoknow.info/911/black_eagle_trust_fund to glean just how deep and intricate this crime was.

            On this fifteenth anniversary of 9-11 don't go for the okey-doke. There are enough anomalies, inconsistencies and evidence https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-308-911-trillions-follow-the-money/  that provide a concrete prima facie case  9-11 was not a terrorist attack but the crime of the century executed by rogue elements within the US government and their international corporate crime network patrons.

                                                         

                                                       Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                             Colin Kaepernick vs Francis Scott Key       

            The corporate mind control apparatus is making a big deal about NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand during the playing of the US National Anthem. I think the media has a reprehensible motive for focusing on Kaepernick. When he did it the first two times nothings was said or written because he was injured and not in uniform. When he suited to play in the third pre-season game he was noticed and when asked about it he articulated his reasons and a contrived controversy ensued.

            Controversy sells papers, controversy increases viewers for the TV and cable propaganda machines. But we must always remember the main message of the Western media is Eurocentric domination. There are numerous reasons the media is focusing on Colin Kaepernick: 1) to take our minds of the four white swimmers who brought international discredit to the US by their antics in Rio when they urinated in and vandalized a convenience store and fabricated the story they were robbed. The swift US PR/media campaign to minimize the damage demonstrates just how powerful the US media is. 2) the media is playing the race card with Kaepernick which is always guaranteed to trigger emotions further obfuscating the national shame Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger caused by their actions in Rio, 3) the media is making Kaepernick the scapegoat, the villain and substitute target of white ire,  4) the media's demonizing of Kaepernick 5) the media is subliminally defendng the militaristic theme of the Star Spangled Banner.

            There are other issues, but I'll just stick with these for the time being. The main point I want to convey is Colin Kaepernick is a young man of conscience who is doing something valuable that could cause him great "loss". He risks the loss of endorsements, his position as a professional athlete and the vilification of white America. The good news is his stand is gaining ground with other NFL players. Now the NFL is going to have to balance the line of respecting his First Amendment rights with their need to keep their white patrons satisfied.

            Lost in all of this is the fact the man who wrote the Star Spangled Banner was a successful lawyer, a slave owner and an influential founder and life long supporter of the American Colonization Society an organization created in 1816 whose goal was to send free Blacks back to Africa, the Caribbean or South America. Key remained a faithful advocate of the ACS until his death in 1843.

            The Star Spangled Banner was written by Key in 1814 during the War of 1812. It  became popular and was first used officially by the US Navy in 1889. In 1931 it became the United States' national anthem. Most people have no idea how racist the song's lyrics are since they usually only sing the first verse. This is third verse's words "And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave". These words were directed at the Blacks who fought for the British who promised them their freedom if Britain prevailed in the war. Key a slave owner and poet spewed his venom against our ancestors who made the decision to be free by fighting against their American oppressors. Black people should applaud them for their decision which offered a way out of the hell they were experiencing at the hands of the Americans!

            Colin Kaepernick may not even be aware of the words or history of the song because his protest is against the ongoing legacy, patterns of bigotry and violence against people of color!  The corporate media is using him, but that shouldn't detract from our respect for him and what he is doing.

                                                                        -30-    

                                                       

                                                              From The Ramparts

                                                            Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                              Partners In Crime

            From their time in Arkansas to the present the Clintons have been dogged by allegations they benefited from insider access, corruption, and a network of organized criminal activities. There have been numerous and costly investigations, books written and theories about the couple that depict them in an unfavorable light. But except for the Monika Lewinsky affair which resulted in Bill Clinton being impeached by the US House of Representatives but acquitted by the US Senate on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton have been convicted of any crimes on the state or federal level. But that doesn't mean they are not guilty, that they are not crooks.

            The Bu$h family has a multigeneration documented record of crony capitalism and shady dealings dating back to Samuel Prescott Bu$h the patriarch of the Bu$h crime family.  The elder Bu$h became well connected as an industrialist working with the Harriman and Rockefeller families in railroads, arms and banking industries. He began the family fortune profiting off of armament sales to both sides during WWI.

            When you look at all the rumors of wrong doing, countless allegations, conspiracy theories about all the people connected to the Clintons dying under strange circumstances, the Congressional hearings into a myriad of Clinton activities, you get the impression there is something irregular going on but either investigators have not figured it out or they are being protected by very powerful people.

            The Bu$hes and Clintons have had a cozy relationship since Clinton's days as Governor of Arkansas when Vice President George H.W. Bu$h's National Security Council ran drugs out of the Mena airfield in the mountains of Arkansas. The consequences of this operation was the cocaine and crack epidemics that devastated urban America during the 80's and 90's.

            As President, Clinton pushed for legislation that resulted in poor recreational drug users and low level drug dealers being sent to prison for long terms, the expansion of the federal prison system and the subsequent creation of profitable private prisons. http://www.alternet.org/drugs/clinton-dynasty-horrific-legacy-more-drug-war-more-prisons

            There is a sinister nexus between the Bu$h and Clinton families, George H.W. Bu$h and his NSC trafficked drugs through Mena in Arkansas during the 80's and 90's when Clinton was the governor and President Clinton passed legislation that locked people of color up for using the drugs the NSC/CIA brought in!  

            With all the scrutiny about the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative why hasn't there been a thorough investigation into what happened to the money Bill Clinton and George W Bush raised to "help" the people of Haiti following the devastating earthquake in 2010. Both former presidents were asked by President Obama to spearhead an initiative to raise money to assist in the rescue and recovery following the earthquake.

            When I first heard it I thought to myself, "this is not going to end well for the people of Haiti given the personal history of both men and the fact Haiti is a failed state made so by US neocolonialism. An entity called the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund as created supposedly to focus on the creation of micro, small and medium sized entrepreneurial initiatives, life skills and job training, all noble sounding objectives. http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund raised over $54 million dollars from over 200,000 donors. Many donors thought they were contributing to an Haitian relief effort. But that was not the case. The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund closed shop in 2012.

            When you look at the Board of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund you see members of both the Clinton and Bush administrations like Alexis Herman and Joshua Bolton, you also see former US Senator Bill Frist, and people connected to agencies like US AID, who had no expertise promoting grass roots entrepreneurship.

            Many people thought the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund was a vehicle to rebuild, revitalize and stabilize Haiti following the devastating earthquake of 2010.  The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund money actually went to: making mortgages available to Haitians ($40 million), $1 million for insurance products?!, $350,000 to upgrade a tourist hotel, $2 million to complete another luxury hotel, $500,000 for cooking facilities for "micro-entrepreneur" chef/cooks at an industrial park, $300,000 for computer labs for the University of Haiti's School of Management, $1.5 million to fight cholera (a disease that was brought to Haiti by the UN)  http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022415607.

            None of the money went towards reconstruction of Haiti's infrastructure. Some of the money in the form of grants and loans (which obviously have to be repaid) went to a series of small entrepreneurs and community agencies.  http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/programs/entry/fhaf/  No Haitians were included in the decision making process to determine who received the funds! Now many Haitians are demanding an accounting and rightly so.

             It's hard to run a business when the towns and country are still in rubble with no running water, extremely limited electricity and horrible sewage conditions. Most of the $54 million went to mortgage loans and to build luxury hotels! Even if the people who were trained for employment were serious entrepreneurs, with their country still in ruins no national electric grid system and cholera spreading it is difficult to see how they will be successful in such an environment since no new industries except a few sweatshops have been created since the earthquake. If they fail the entrepreneurs still have to repay the loans!

              Methinks the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund was a scam by prime time crooks like Bill Clinton and George W. Bu$h, as a way to raise and reroute money to benefit their non-Haitian cronies. We need to remember this when the election comes around.

                                                                        -30-

                                       

                                                             From The Ramparts

                                                            Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                              What Can We Do?

            There are many who subscribe to the notion "you can't fight city hall" so they deliberately avoid trying solve and resolve problems. That type of thinking negates our sense of  agency, self-determination and our ability to act in our own best interests. I know from experience you can take on the powers that be and affect change!

            The United States is drowning in corruption, fraud, criminality and malfeasance to the point it is obvious to even the most casual observer. This is why so many people feel angry, overwhelmed and anxious about their future. This is why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump were able to resonate with people on all sides of the ideological spectrum. This is why Congress is held in such low esteem. This is why so many have opted out of the electoral process and don't vote.  But we already know this, the question is what can we do?

            The corporate media is a propaganda machine that serves as the stenographers and megaphones for the 1%, their minions and flunkies. Their goal is to maintain the status quo. They want us to think we can't win.  What can we do?

            Often demonstrations and protests fail because the government intervenes and break them up like the US government did to the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. But there are other ways to get our point across. During the Vietnam War era people tired of the mainstream media's lies and created independent newspapers dedicated to peace, liberation and truth.

            While some still exist today, the new communications paradigm is the Internet, wreless streaming and social media . We can replicate the efforts of the dissidents and activists of 60's and 70's by creating Websites and social media platforms to get our message out, share our perspective, change the narrative and offer counterbalance to the corporate media's disinformation and propaganda.

            Because of the streaming capabilities of the Internet, we can effectively counter the corporate media's influence at a fraction of the costs. There are numerous Websites, Internet radio and television stations, streaming platforms and services we can use to get our ideas, images, ideologies and information to the masses. Social media is the modern way to galvanize and organize!

             Websites come and go, change is an ever present reality but opportunities are still available.  Since 2000 I have been involved with numerous Internet radio stations, only a few are still operational today. Nevertheless, new technologies and opportunities constantly arise to facilitate, create, produce and share content and I have taken full advantage of them.

            Each municipality, state and the federal government has "right to know" or "freedom of information" legislation. Except for top secret or classified data, you can write to them to request their records, minutes, internal audits and notes. You can then share this information with the community and world via the Internet.

             I have made such requests, fortunately because of a positive relationship a key person at the institution gave me the documents without me having to make a formal written demand.

            In 1971 a group of anti-war activists broke into the FBI office in Media Pennsylvania and stole records that revealed the existence of a massive nation wide surveillance and counter insurgency program called COINTELPRO. COINTELPRO was one of the major campaigns the US government used to illegally spy on ordinary citizens, disrupt dissident groups, viciously attack the Peace, Civil Rights, anti-war, Native American and organized labor movements. The perpetrators were never caught or prosecuted. I am not advocating breaking the law or violence but there may come a time when it is necessary. Civil disobedience and direct confrontation can be effective means to social reformation and change. Those tactics brought down legalized US apartheid and the Vietnam War! Of course you have to be prepared to face the consequences such as arrest, jail having an arrest record but real heroes have the courage of their convictions.

            Today whistleblowers, hackers and leakers can easily gain access to government, corporate and individual documents and reveal them to the world. We can cut through the government wall of secrecy and get to the truth. We see it all the time.

             You can organize to file a lawsuit or a class action suit to seek redress for an issue. In 2014 I was part of the group of alumni who filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of their egregious neglect of Cheyney University and their failure to abide by a 1999 consent decree agreement to fund programs and renovations at that HBCU. Our lawsuit contributed to the defeat an incumbent governor and brought the new administration to the negotiation table, committed to saving the school.

            When it comes to dealing with corporations and businesses the best way to affect real change is through their bottom line, disrupt their income flow via boycotts, disinvestment strategies and where possible in the board rooms by gaining support of sympathetic shareholders. Since WWII numerous leaders and organizations have successfully used selective patronage and withholding dollars as a means to get the attention of the powers that be. Organizations have led boycotts of cities, voting not to hold their conventions in that town thereby depriving them of millions of dollars and discouraging tourism. These tactics are very effective.

            We are not hopeless nor helpless. There are numerous ways we can take on the powers that be and win. The first and foremost action is, to believe we can.

                                                                        -30-

                                                From The Ramparts

                                               Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                         Massive Fiscal Irresponsibility

            "While the Department of Defense can’t account for $6.5 trillion dollars of taxpayer funds, in 2014 there were 47 million people, including over 15 million children, living in poverty in the U.S. – 15% of the U.S. population, which is the largest total number in poverty since records began being kept 52 years ago."
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/audit-reveals-pentagon-6-5-trillion/#JWIwDrmxrbyVdTgs.99

            You probably won't see this on the front page of your local newspaper, or see/hear it repeated incessantly by the corporate mind control apparatus, but an Inspector General audit revealed the US Department of Defense cannot account for $6.5 trillion that's trillion with a "T" of US Army general fund transactions and data. According to the report released on July 26th the US Army cannot account for "$6.5 trillion in adjustments made to its year end 2015 financial statements." This is not a one time occurrence, the military has not been able to track, account for or comply with standardized accounting procedures in reporting their transactions for decades!

            Remember on September 10, 2001 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld held a press conference to announce the Pentagon could not account for $2.3 trillion dollars. http://www.911myths.com/html/rumsfeld__9_11_and__2_3_trilli.html  Of course the very next day 9-11 the "new Pearl Harbor" catalyst the NeoCons needed to jump start their bogus war on terror occurred. Nine-eleven was the instigator of perpetual war, no bid contracts worth billions to administration crony insiders and campaign contributors, it spurred the creation of  new government departments like Homeland Security, TSA and expanded the police spy state apparatus that grows larger every year.

            Fiscal irresponsibility is the norm in this country. We forget this is our hard earned taxpayer dollars being spent on wars started based upon lies!!  How many new bridges, roads, schools, sewage systems, humanitarian research and development projects could have been built, started and created with the trillions of dollars the US spends to kill innocent civilians? $8.5 trillion dollars from 1996 to 2014 has not been accounted for! http://www.biggovernment.news/2016-08-08-6-5-trillion-reasons-why-the-pentagon-needs-to-get-its-act-together-before-it-asks-taxpayers-for-more-money.html

            If you handled your personal finances or your business and tax returns like the Department of Defense handles its accounting, you'd be wearing an orange jump suit now. Here are some examples of Pentagon mismanagement: "$300 Million a Year Unaccounted for in Afghanistan. In the latest example of lax oversight, a blistering new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reveals the Pentagon isn’t keeping sufficient tabs on the $300 million in tax dollars each year that are supposed to help fund the payroll of the Afghan National Police (ANP). U.S. Weapons Worth $500 Million Vanish in Yemen. Pentagon officials cannot track the whereabouts of $500 million worth of military equipment the U.S. donated to Yemen since 2007 – raising alarms that the hardware may have ended up with al-Qaeda or Iranian-backed rebels.$1 Billion Paid for Loose Bolts and Damaged Aircraft. It’s bad enough that federal contractors hired to perform routine maintenance work on Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) airplanes dodged their work hours and shirked important safety requirements. It’s even worse that they overcharged the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars for their 'work' – and agency officials didn’t notice any of it." http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/03/19/85-Trillion-Unaccounted-Should-Congress-Increase-Defense-Budget.

            Not one person has been held accountable, demoted or punished! "Consider that politicians of both major political parties are demanding accountability for every penny spent on welfare, including demanding that recipients of welfare prove that they are trying to find work. Ditto for people receiving unemployment compensation. Consider the amount of money and time spent on testing students in public schools in a vain effort to make teachers accountable for student 'performance.' And yet the military doesn’t have to account for any of its trillions of dollars of spending on manpower and weapons — even though Congress fully a generation ago passed a law requiring such accountability." http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/08/11/pentagon-money-pit/

            Wow, the military industrial complex is really powerful.

           

                                                            -30-

   

                                                 From The Ramparts

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                             The Depths of US Depravity

            August 6 2016 marked seventy-one years since the United States unleashed the first of two atomic bomb attacks on two Japanese cities killing, maiming and disfiguring hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. It cannot be stressed enough that both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not militarily significant, they were civilian cities! The US did this dastardly deed despite the fact Japanese resources had been so depleted they were unable to counter the relentless and destructive US bombing runs over Japan the months preceding the dropping of the atomic bombs. The Japanese bombing campaign like the US bombing of German cities was devastating to both the Japanese war effort and their morale. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed by that bombing campaign. The two atomic bombs amounted to deliberate overkill, war crimes of the highest magnitude!

             Records indicate the Japanese were actively seeking negotiations to end the war as early as  January of 1945. Their only condition was that their Emperor not be touched. The US ignored their efforts.  In fact the US boosted their aerial assaults on Japanese cities! The Japanese continuously pressed for a way to save face in their surrender. In July of 1945 the US and Britain issued the Potsdam Declaration demanding an unconditional surrender, saying if they did not Japan faced "prompt and utter destruction."

            The Americans knew the Japanese wanted to end the war as soon as possible but were unwilling to accept a dishonorable surrender! "America's leaders understood Japan's desperate position: the Japanese were willing to end the war on any terms, as long as the Emperor was not molested. If the US leadership had not insisted on unconditional surrender -- that is, if they had made clear a willingness to permit the Emperor to remain in place -- the Japanese very likely would have surrendered immediately, thus saving many thousands of lives." Was Hiroshima Necessary? Mark Weber http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_weber.html

            The US goal was to humiliate the Japanese, not allow them to save face and demonstrate the full power of the US military for all the world to see. By that reckoning the atomic bombs were acts of terrorism!  That US position cost hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, non-combat men, women and children! Months prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US conducted massive bombing runs on Japanese cities reducing them to ruble.

            Looking at the various records, communiqués and memos the dropping of atomic bombs was not necessary! The first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6 1945, three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. When Russia attacked the Japanese positions in Manchuria on August 8, 1945 reneging on their 1941 treaty of non-aggression against the Japanese, the Japanese were in no position to continue the fight. They were totally overwhelmed by the US bombings of Tokyo and the other Japanese cities.

            What lessons can we glean from this knowledge? We can easily conclude the US civilian and military leadership are psychopaths who have no regard for human life. We see this same contempt for life in the Vietnam War, in Kosovo and the "Middle East". Now the US military routinely bombs the civilian infrastructures of nations it deems terroristic regimes, targeting their water treatment plants, electrical generating plants, roads, oil refineries, airports and rail lines inflicting massive suffering on civilians. The US leadership enjoys killing civilians. Look at what the US has done in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and now Syria.

            This is the history of the United States. We must never ignore or dismiss this history when we look at the US government and military.

                                                            -30-