Froth.

       Two events that have been prominent in our mainstream media recently have been the Afghanistan withdrawal and the American 9/11 revenge attack. These two events have had our political ballerinas spouting sound bites, hand-wringing, finger pointing and the usual flag waving, while spewing out patriotism, that poison that leads to fascism and war. Of course we know that 99% of all of that media bubble gum and popcorn is pure unadulterated bullshit.
        With that little comment I thought I would share these two videos with you. Thanks Loam for the links.

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

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http://strugglepedia.co.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page  

9/11?

         As most Westerners remember 9/11, a dreadful tragedy in which almost 3,000 people died, a disaster which was a retaliation for Western imperialism from those who resent it most. It was an incident that marred so many innocent lives and those are the people our hearts must go out to in sympathy. However 3,000 deaths are dwarfed by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, that have died at the hands of the Western imperialist foreign policies. From the Philippines, 1899-1902, Vietnam, 1969-1973, Iraq, 2003-2011, Afghanistan, 2001-2021, are just some of the Western imperialists foreign policies that have turned so many against the West.

                                                              Afghanistan.

                                                                   Chile.

                                                                   Iraq.

Vietnam.

        However, when we pay our respects to those who died in the American 9/11 we should also remember that other 9/11, the Chilean 9/11. September 11th. 1973, the U$A supported the overthrow of the elected Chilean government of Salvador Allende in a military coup by General Pinochet. This brutal dictator’s rule ushered in an era of savage state repression and brutality against any opposition, and didn’t end until 1990, by which time more that 3,000 Chileans were dead or missing, while thousands more had fled into exile. All this under the helping hand of the U$A imperialists.

 

FOREIGN POLICY.

Listless eyes, lifeless face
motionless body with hanging limbs
carried by a mother fleeing
foreign policy’s vicious whims.

No toys, no laughter
no playing in the sun,
a short pitiful life;
an Afghan child, 2001.

No plans, no choices
no hope by any name,
collateral damage
in the big players game.

 

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Pinochet-Thatcher, Two Of A kind.

        Following on from my recent post on 9/11, it would be impossible to overlook the Pinochet-Thatcher relationship. Two beasts that that trampled the people in the name of neo-liberal polices of the multi-millionaires. While one slaughtered, tortured and butchered his way across the people, the other throw generations on the scrapheap of society, turned communities into garbage bins, crushed hopes, destroyed the potential of millions of individuals, and played her brutal imperialist card in the Falklands, However, we should never forget, they were not alone, they had the full backing and participation of presidents, Prime Minsters and dictators across the globe. who were following in their festering footsteps. That is the shape of the beast we live with, it's called capitalism.

Got this video from Loam at arrezafe:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Remember 9/11??

       In a few days the anniversary of 9/11 is coming up, and no doubt the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, will spew out its usual avalanche of phoney patriotism, aiming to get all and sundry beating their patriotic chests. This comment in no way detracts from the suffering of those involved in that tragic event. The Western imperialist states’ response to this tragedy was, the “war on terror”, which spawned a continuous series of brutal wars, that are still to this day, shedding the blood of thousands of innocent people. All the wars that arose from the “war on terror”, are still ongoing, with the devastating consequences to people, villages, towns, cities and countries across the whole of the Middle East and North Africa. The “war on terror” was the West’s attempt to reassert its power and control over that region, for no other reason than its oil under the soil.
       However, the 9/11 that the babbling brook of bullshit will not give much, if any cover to, will be the tragedy of September 11th. 1973. This was the brutal overthrow of the elected Chilean government of Salvador Allende, by the butcher of the Chilean people, General Augusto Pinochet, let's not forget, he was a deeply religious man, who acted with the backing of US president Nixon. 

       The presidential palace was bombed, Allende committed “suicide” and there followed the usual fascist public burning of books, brutal torture, savage repression and disappearings. More than 200,000 Chileans went into exile, their lives destroyed by the savagery of the regime. Thousands of Pinochet’s political opponents were murdered, thousands of others ended up being tortured while held indefinitely in detention centres. Such was the savagery of the Pinochet regime that more and more states across the world started to distance themselves from his brutality. Even the US government of President Carter started to distance itself from this butcher, of course we all know that Margaret Thatcher loved him. Over his 16 years of savage power hugging, Pinochet shed the blood of countless thousands of the citizens of Chile. That is the 9/11 that will be to the fore of my thoughts when that date comes round once again. Though the New York 9/11 was a tragic event, it is dwarfed by the 9/11 of Chile, more deaths, more brutality, 16 years of ongoing torture and repression, backed by the so called democratic free West.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Bring Freedom Through Death.

 

      Like I always say, our mainstream media is simply a babbling brook of bullshit. It spews out misinformation, distortions and down right lies. It is no more than a propaganda machine for the imperialists, and a money maker for its owners. Truth, real information and honest discussion, are alien to its basic structure. 

 Bringing freedom to the people of Baghdad.

      Below is an extract from a report made at the beginning of this year, The report is the result of studies by respected and highly qualified people in their field, it trashes the frequently circulated figures of deaths by the US/UK war on terror in the Middle East, vomited out by that babbling brook of bullshit, yet up until now they have ignored it. 

 Shock and awe, democracy Western style.

This from Middle East Eye:

A Muslim holocaust. 

       Last month, the Washington DC-based Physicians for Social Responsibility (PRS) released a landmark study concluding that the death toll from 10 years of the "War on Terror" since the 9/11 attacks is at least 1.3 million, and could be as high as 2 million.
      The 97-page report by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning doctors' group is the first to tally up the total number of civilian casualties from US-led counter-terrorism interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
        The PSR report is authored by an interdisciplinary team of leading public health experts, including Dr. Robert Gould, director of health professional outreach and education at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, and Professor Tim Takaro of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
        Yet it has been almost completely blacked out by the English-language media, despite being the first effort by a world-leading public health organisation to produce a scientifically robust calculation of the number of people killed by the US-UK-led "war on terror".

Read the full article HERE

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The 9/11 Anniversary.

      In a couple of days it will be the anniversary of 9/11, an event that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people, an event that should make the international community drag the American state to the International Court of Justice. A horrific event for which America should be held to account. If you are confused by my statement, you are probably thinking of 9/11, 2001 where a handful of crazy nut cases brought down the twin towers in New York, killing almost 3,000 innocent people. I am of course talking about 9/11 1973, a bloody event that was organised, funded and supported to the hilt by the American state. The military coup in Chile by General Pinochet, which resulted in the death of a freely elected president, burning of books, thousands of "disappearances", thousands more executions, and years of brutal repression, all with the blessing of Dr. Henry Kissinger, America's fascist strategist, and the full backing of the American state apparatus. 

 

From Mickey Z:

“Make the economy scream…”
       When the 1970 Chilean presidential election rolled around, Salvador Allende was still a major player and, despite another wave of U.S.-funded propaganda, he was elected president of South America’s longest functioning democracy on Sept. 4, 1970.
        However, he had a new and powerful enemy: Dr. Henry Kissinger.
The 40 Committee was formed with Kissinger as chair. The goal was not only to save Chile from its irresponsible populace but to yet again stave off the Red Tide™.
      “Chile is a fairly big place, with a lot of natural resources,” explains Noam Chomsky, “but the United States wasn’t going to collapse if Chile became independent. Why were we so concerned about it? According to Kissinger, Chile was a ‘virus’ that would ‘infect’ the region.”
       At a Sept. 15, 1970, meeting called to halt the spread of infection, Kissinger and President Nixon told CIA Director Richard Helms it would be necessary to “make the [Chilean] economy scream.” While allocating at least $10 million to assist in sabotaging Allende’s presidency, outright assassination was also considered a serious and welcome option.

Read the full article HERE:

      So, when our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, start spouting there usual platitudes on 9/11, and our pompous parasitic politicians, wax lyrically on the horrible event in New York, remind them of that even more brutal and blood event, perpetrated by America on the people of Chile some 28 years earlier.  It was a longer lasting and more savage 9/11, than the one in New York.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

9/11 Through The Ages.

       9/11 events are scattered throughout history. Another 9/11 event that marks our history was September 11, 1926. Italian anarchist Gino Lucetti, born in Carrara in Italy August 31, 1900, and killed September 17, 1943, in a German bombing raid, attempted the assassination of Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini by throwing a bomb at Mussolini's car. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison but escaped shortly before being killed in 1943.

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NOAM CHOMSKY ON AFGHANISTAN.

          A voice I always feel is worth listening to, Noam Chomsky, here he is with some more words to ponder. It never does any harm to have a look in the mirror.

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ETHICAL KILLING.

A short extract from Stop the War.  

    A defining feature of state power is rhetoric about a ‘moral’ or ‘ethical’ role in world affairs. Errors of judgement, blunders and tactical mistakes can, and do, occur. But the motivation underlying state policy is fundamentally benign. Reporters and commentators, trained or selected for professional ‘reliability’, tend to slavishly adopt this prevailing ideology.

How an "ethical" war looks from the receiving end.

         Thus, on the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an editorial in the Independent on Sunday gushed about ‘Bush's desire to spread democracy as an end in itself’. It was, the paper said, ‘the germ of a noble idea’. There was ‘an idealism’ about Blair’s support for Bush. The drawback was that the execution of the righteous vision had been ‘naive, arrogant and morally compromised by torture and the abrogation of the very values for which the US-led coalition claimed to fight’.

Continue reading HERE.