Put US Attack in Historical Perspective
September 16, 2001
by Corey Gilkes
I have looked at Mr. Franz "Delamo" Lambkin and it is really disappointing that someone like him could not display more level-headedness and reason at a time like this. Indeed, I have listened to the comments of many otherwise intelligent people and virtually all of them have been caught up in the emotion and the rhetoric coming out of the US. Not one of them has put the tragic events into their proper historical perspective.
Make no mistake, my heart goes out to the people who have suffered the loss of loved ones on that fateful day of 11 September. It is always tragic whenever innocent people have to suffer for the atrocities of others, but regardless of who exactly perpetrated these acts [and I am yet to hear any solid evidence that the notorious Osama bin Laden was the architect of this horror], the blood ultimately lies on the hands of the United States government. This was no doubt a callous act, a truly unspeakable horror, but a perfect example of violence that was exported to other lands finally returning to its roots.
Has everyone forgotten that bin Laden and those of his ilk, including the Taliban government, are creations of the very United States that now seek to destroy them? But they were not "terrorists" then, after all they were fighting the then Soviet Union and at the time the US knew full well the future intentions of these people. Now hold that thought while we look around the world and the actions of the US and Europe since the end of World War II [in fact even before the war]; the US has been meddling in the affairs of almost every country one can think of in the quest to foist their ideals and way of life. Mr Lambkin, have you ANY idea how many innocent people were killed, tortured, displaced and jailed by agencies like the CIA or by people trained by them in the last 30 years alone? One of the very first coups orchestrated by the CIA was in Guatemala when they ousted a democratically elected president because his land reform policies threatened the financial interests of an American company called United Fruit.
This was no threat to national security or anything like that, just plain capitalism talking. What about the bloody 1973 coup in Peru when they ousted President Allende, murdering key officials who stood in the way and installing Pinochet [did anyone notice that the day after the 11th Newsday published an article in which it was mentioned that the family of a murdered Peruvian general is suing Henry Kissinger for his complicity in that man's death]. Let us not even talk about the acts of the West in Africa such as the murdering of Congolese president Patrice Lumumba or the propping up Noriega and Saddam Hussein who as I recall were allies of the US when it served their interests. Maybe you need to remember what transpired in Guyana shortly after it became independant and how exactly Forbes Burnham came to power.
Delamo, while you have observed their humanitarian acts in many parts of the world, you overlooked the fact that in many of these countries, US and European intelligence agencies manipulated events, destabilised governments, trade unions, etc., sometimes for the purpose of creating trouble that other agencies of the US and Europe would then rectify and "look good". Sorry, but truth is often stranger – and sicker – than fiction. What is tragic is that many of these humanitarian agencies had and still have the best of intentions, unaware of the extent to which they are manipulated by the government.
I am no fan of fundamentalist Islam, what with it being every bit as fascist as Christianity has been, but I could not help but notice the look of joy, not happiness, but absolute joy on the faces of the Palestinians when they received the news of the tragedy. Ask yourself the question, what is it about the US, Europe and Israel that you have not heard about [or ignored] that makes them hated to the point where there is rejoicing over such sorrowful events.
Whatever good the US have done to help the impoverished and the exploited of the world, almost all of it has been done only when it served the interests of the US. And if it is that Trinidad is taken over by some terrorist or mercenary group, I would be only too happy if the US came to our aid. But I would not be at all surprised to find out that the same US may have had a hand in the training of those same terrorists.
Open your eyes, sir, follow your calypsonian forbears and do some sound research, your beneficent nation is by no means the angels you think they are. Judging by the posts I have seen on the internet, many American people have come to realise that much. Let us mourn for the victims and their families, and let us hope that reason overcomes the urge to seek revenge.
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