Letter Never Sent

Why did we attack Iraq during the Gulf War? Why are we about to attack them now? I know why the Bush gang wants to and I know the crass justifications they give, but what I really want to know is why are people rolling over to take this? The US wants to maintain coercive influence in the Mideast because we need more and more oil to prop up our extravagence. Everyone knows this, but they pretend like the real reason has to do with some threat posed by Iraq’s dictator. Our dictator and their dictator don’t get along too well, and this spells trouble for the people living in Iraq and the people who will be sent to slaughter and be slaughtered. The Bushes and the Husseins of the world don’t care one bit about things like that. In fact, they delusionally believe they are doing what’s right. We need to shake these parasites off.

Ok, the rant is over here’s why I posted in the first place (via Projecte Censored):

When the U.S. military took on Saddam Hussein in 1991, American planes strategically obliterated Iraq’s water system. Then, with the war over and the water system in ruins, the United States imposed sanctions barring the importation of water purification equipment. The combined effect of this one-two punch was the slow death of thousands of Iraqis – something not unexpected by the U.S. military.

Reporting for the Progressive magazine, Thomas J. Nagy unearthed the Defense Intelligence Agency documents detailing all of this. In fact, Nagy’s scoop showcases, yet again, the laziness of mainstream media: the now declassified documents are online, at an official government Web site, www.gulflink.osd.mil.

Here’s a sample from a January 1991 document titled, “Iraq Water Treatment Vulnerabilities”: “Iraq depends on importing specialized equipment and some chemicals to purify its water supply, most of which is heavily mineralized and frequently brackish to saline. With no domestic sources of both water treatment replacement parts and some essential chemicals, Iraq will continue attempts to circumvent United Nations Sanctions to import these vital commodities. Failing to secure supplies will result in a shortage of pure drinking water for much of the population. This could lead to increased incidences, if not epidemics, of disease.”

One commodity Iraq was banned from importing was chlorine, a chemical used for both chemical weapons and water sanitization. The Defense Department knew a shortage of chlorine would kill – and has kept the ban in place for the past decade. “Unless the water is purified with chlorine, epidemics of such diseases as cholera, hepatitis, and typhoid could occur,” the brief noted.

Ten years on, the U.N. estimates 500,000 children have died as a result of the sanctions, and Hussein remains, for the moment anyway, in power.

Thomas J. Nagy, the Progressive, September 2001.

I was talking to my Uncle once (he’s a Master Sergeant in the Army and a Gulf War veteran) and he said that he didn’t have a problem fighting Iraq if for no other reason than it keeps gasoline cheap. People in the service know why we fight who we do. It’s not about someone attacking America or Americans. It’s power and money.

Even with the story of the sneak attack of the ‘treacherous japs’ at Pearl Harbor there now comes evidence that the US fired the first shots and sunk Japanese submarines up to an hour prior to the attack of Pearl Harbor. Information has already come out that the US government had prior knowledge of a Japanese attack and, indeed, hoped to goad the Japanese into attacking to provide the government with the means to whip Americans into war fever.

From here:

Upon the death of her brother, King Kalakauam, Liliuokalani ascended the throne of Hawaii in January 1891. When Liliuokalani became Queen the islands were experiencing a sharp recession. In reaction to pressure from domestic sugar growers the U.S. government passed the McKinley Tariff in 1890 that eliminated the duty-free status on sugar enjoyed by Hawaiian sugar planters. As a result Hawaii’s wholesale sugar prices dropped forty percent. American interests in Hawaii began to consider annexation for Hawaii to reestablish a competitive position for sugar. Queen Liliuokalani sought to empower herself and Hawaiians by overturning the so-called Bayonet Constitution, passed in 1887, that limited the power of the monarch and the political power of native Hawaiians. Through a new constitution, the Queen desired to quash any attempt of U.S. annexation.

The American planters, faced with ruin, sought to overthrow the monarchy. Led by Sanford Dole, the takeover began in January 1894 and was openly supported by John L. Stevens, U.S. minister to Hawaii. Stevens called for troops to take control of government buildings including the executive building at Iolani Palace. The coup was successful in deposing the Queen and Stevens cabled Washington, D.C., proclaiming “The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the United States to pluck it.” However, the American government was not ready to pluck the pear just yet. …

Cleveland replaced Stevens with Albert Willis as American minister to Hawaii. Willis offered the crown back to the Queen on the condition that she pardon and grant amnesty to those who had dethroned her. She at first refused and asserted that if restored to power, she would behead those who had conspired against her, but then changed her mind and offered leniency. Queen “Lil” had attracted a sentimental following in the U.S. but this delay compromised her position. and President Cleveland released the entire issue of the Hawaiian revolution to Congress for debate. Immediately Dole and his following of annexationists lobbied Congress to set up a Republic of Hawaii. On July 4, 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was established and Sanford Dole (of Dole Pineapple) proclaimed president.

During his administration, Dole worked tirelessly to gain U.S. annexation and to block efforts to a counterrevolution aimed at restoring the monarchy. The ex-Queen herself was arrested in 1895 when a supply of weapons was found in the gardens of her home in Washington Place. She denied any knowledge of this cache or of any endeavor to restore her to the throne. In 1896 she was released and returned to her home at Washington Place where she remained for the next twenty years.

Via whatreallyhappened.com:

On October 7, 1940, Lieutenant Commander Arthur McCollum of the Office of Naval Intelligence submitted a memo to Navy Captains Walter Anderson and Dudley Knox (whose endorsement is included in the following scans). Captains Anderson and Knox were two of President Roosevelt’s most trusted military advisors. The memo, scanned below, detailed an 8 step plan to provoke Japan into attacking the United States. President Roosevelt, over the course of 1941, implemented all 8 of the recommendations contained in the McCollum memo. Following the eighth provocation, Japan attacked. The public was told that it was a complete surprise, an “intelligence failure”, and America entered World War Two.

Remember Pearl Harbor was a military base and Hawaii was not even a part of the United States, but essentially a colony of American business interests. So, is this that hard to believe?