Boston Marathon, This Thing Called Terrorism, and The United States by William Blum

by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.killinghope.org
May 4, 2013

Image by World Can’t Wait via Flickr

Boston Marathon, this thing called terrorism, and the United States

What is it that makes young men, reasonably well educated, in good health and nice looking, with long lives ahead of them, use powerful explosives to murder complete strangers because of political beliefs?

I’m speaking about American military personnel of course, on the ground, in the air, or directing drones from an office in Nevada.

The Panama Deception (1992)

Dandelion Salad

Warning

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

Image via Wikipedia

The Panama Deception is a 1992 documentary film that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.^[1] The film is critical of the actions of the US military during the 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States, covering the conflicting reasons for the invasion and the depicting of the US media as biased. It was directed by Barbara Trent of the Empowerment Project and was narrated by actress Elizabeth Montgomery.

Iraq: ‘evidence for criminal case against Blair’ says expert + Iraq War Inquiry

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

www.therealnews.com

A leading QC tells Channel 4 there is enough evidence for the International Criminal Court to mount a case against Tony Blair.

Michael Parenti: The Panama Deception + US imperialism in full view

with Michael Parenti
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.michaelparenti.org
December 20, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

RTAmerica | December 20, 2010

December 20th marks the 21st anniversary of the 1989 US Invasion of Panama. An Incident, known as ‘Operation Just Cause,’ that erupted after CIA client Manuel Noriega charted and independent path from the US and threatened to close down US bases. The drum beat for war against Panama would eventually play out again in US military interventions that followed. The media coverage of the invasion of Panama became the blueprint in rallying public support for war through the mainstream media.

Legitimizing Phony “Wars” by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
- August 27, 2010
September 3, 2010

So, here we have it. Our cities and towns are facing bankruptcy! State governments cannot help, because they too are in terrible shape, as Uncle Sam stopped Federal Block Grants years ago. These were funds that the Feds send along, gratis to the states, to help with their localities; things like infrastructure repairs, schools, paying first providers ( police, fire , emergency services ) and many other budgetary needs. Since our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq…… No more money! Zippo! Nada! Americans rallied behind the flag and worried not about local needs. After almost 9 years occupying Afghanistan, and over 7 years occupying Iraq, to the tune of over one trillion dollars , our nation is …….broke!

Anti-communist mania by William Blum

http://www.buzzflash.net/story.php?id=1095007

by William Blum
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.killinghope.org
12 May, 2010

Terminally-dumb people have always been with us of course.  It can’t be that we’ve suddenly gone stupid.

If you shake your head and roll your eyes at the nonsense coming out of the Teabagger followers of Sarah “Africa is a country” Palin and other intellectual giants like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh … If you have thoughts of moving abroad after the latest silly lies and fantasies like “Obama the Marxist” and “Obama the antichrist” …  If you share Noam Chomsky’s feeling: “I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime” … keep in mind that the right wing has long been at least as stupid and as mean-spirited.  Consider some of the behavior of the same types for half a century during the Cold War with its beloved — albeit imaginary — “International Communist Conspiracy”.

Why the Oscars are a Con by John Pilger

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by John Pilger
Global Research, February 10, 2010
John Pilger

Why are so many films so bad? This year’s Oscar nominations are a parade of propaganda, stereotypes and downright dishonesty. The dominant theme is as old as Hollywood: America’s divine right to invade other societies, steal their history and occupy our memory. When will directors and writers behave like artists and not pimps for a world view devoted to control and destruction?

I grew up on the movie myth of the Wild West, which was harmless enough unless you happened to be a native American. The formula is unchanged. Self-regarding distortions present the nobility of the American colonial aggressor as a cover for massacre, from the Philippines to Iraq. I only fully understood the power of the con when I was sent to Vietnam as a war reporter. The Vietnamese were “gooks” and “Indians” whose industrial murder was preordained in John Wayne movies and sent back to Hollywood to glamourise or redeem.

Michael Parenti: Against Empire: U.S. Intervention in the Modern World (1995)

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

talkingsticktv
January 02, 2010

Network X – 12/08/95 – Guest Michael Parenti author of “inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media”, “The Sword and the Dollar: Imperialism Revolution and the Arms Race” and “Against Empire”.

Chavez: US uses earthquake to occupy Haiti + Ortega warns of US deployment in Haiti

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

PressTV
18 Jan 2010

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the United States of taking advantage of the deadly earthquake in Haiti to occupy the Caribbean country.

Chavez on Sunday scoffed Washington’s move to send thousands of American soldiers to Haiti, describing them as “Marines armed as if they were going to war.”

“There is not a shortage of guns there, my God. Doctors, medicine, fuel, field hospitals, that’s what the United States should send,” Chavez said on his weekly television show.

“They are occupying Haiti undercover,” he warned.

[...]

via Chavez: US uses earthquake to occupy Haiti

***

[also posted on Ansel Herz: Earthquake Immediate Aftermath On the Ground + The Morning After – The Haitian People Have Mobilized]

Ortega warns of US deployment in Haiti

Disputes emerge over Haiti aid control – Guns, Not Aid Have Arrived

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

AlJazeeraEnglish
January 17, 2010

It is five days since a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, spreading fear and misery across an already fragile nation.

After a relatively slow start, US forces appear to be taking the lead in organising international aid efforts on the ground.

But there is a long way to go. Residents outside the capital complain they have been forgotten.

The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti: Is it a Humanitarian Operation or is it an Invasion? by Michel Chossudovsky

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, January 15, 2010

Haiti has a longstanding history of US military intervention and occupation going back to the beginning of the 20th Century. US interventionism has contributed to the destruction of Haiti’s national economy and the impoverishment of its population.

The devastating earthquake is presented to World public opinion as the sole cause of the country’s predicament.

A country has been destroyed, its infrastructure demolished. Its people precipitated into abysmal poverty and despair.

Haiti’s history, its colonial past have been erased.

The US military has come to the rescue of an impoverished Nation. What is its Mandate?

Is it Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?

Gangs, Resources and the Truth about American Interventions By Timothy V. Gatto

By Timothy V. Gatto
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
liberalpro.blogspot.com
January 1, 2010

I was watching the History channel for lack of something better to do yesterday, and the program airing was Gangland. I don’t usually watch this show as it seems to glorify gang warfare and the interviews with gang members always make me recoil with horror at what passes for acceptable behavior inside the gangs themselves. However, the show yesterday made me think of the world in a newer light.

In an interview with a gang member, the interviewer was told that the gang would always retaliate if it were “dissed” by another gang. That, in this case, meant that the “dissed” gang would go into the offending gang’s territory and generally kick ass and take names. When asked about the situation, a law enforcement officer told the interviewer that this kind of behavior by gangs would not be tolerated and that law enforcement was obliged to try to stop this violence by any means possible.

Reese Erlich: Attack on Syria in 2008 was a cover up + Terrorist attack in Iran

Dandelion Salad

Updated: Oct. 24, 2009

TheRealNews
October 21, 2009

Erlich: The US massacre at Al-Sukkariya, Syria in 2008 was a clear violation of international law

more about “Reese Erlich: Attack on Syria in 2008…“, posted with vodpod

***

Updated

Pt 2

Reese Erlich: Terrorist attack in Iran

more about “Reese Erlich: Terrorist attack in Iran“, posted with vodpod

from the archives:

Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda in Many Countries

Kucinich Questions the Timing of the Syrian Attack

Timing of Attacks in Syria Questionable by Dennis Kucinich

Report: US choppers attack Syrian town + videos (updated)

Israeli Bombing of Syria (nukes)

Barack Obama and the ‘Unipolar Moment’ By Noam Chomsky

Dandelion Salad

By Noam Chomsky

http://inthesetimes.com

Oct. 6, 2009

Every powerful state relies on specialists whose task is to show that what the strong do is noble and just and, if the weak suffer, it is their fault.

In the West, these specialists are called “intellectuals” and, with marginal exceptions, they fulfill their task with skill and self-righteousness, however outlandish the claims, in this practice that traces back to the origins of recorded history.

[...]

As Barack Obama came into office, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice predicted he would follow the policies of Bush’s second term, and that is pretty much what happened, apart from a different rhetorical style that seems to have charmed much of the world.

[...]

via Barack Obama and the ‘Unipolar Moment’ — In These Times

see

NATO

Actor Daniel Sunjata: 9/11 was an inside job. New investigation will reveal government cover-up

Dandelion Salad

[Note: Russia Today pulled the video.  When or if they replace it, I'll post it here.  Sorry about that.]

Update: found the replacement one and added Part 2 of the interview

RussiaToday
October 06, 2009

In an exclusive interview with RT, “Rescue Me” Actor Daniel Sunjata explains his demand for a new 9/11 independent investigation. He says truth will reveal September 11th was an inside job.

more about “Actor Daniel Sunjata: 9/11 was an ins…“, posted with vodpod

Part 2 RT Exclusive: Actor Daniel Sunjata…9/11 was an inside job