Bolton: A bully and a mafioso, to boot. No more masks to the vileness underneath. The enduring scum that stains the honor of the United States to this day.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he United States threatened Monday to arrest and prosecute judges and officials of the International Criminal Court if it moves to charge any American convicted of war crimes in Afghanistan. (2)
The United States (and its vassal states that make up NATO) has long shifted to a permanent war doctrine. Under the guise of fighting “communism” then “terrorism” or “the war on drugs” it has militarised every part of the globe.
Were it not for the “war on drugs” they’d be no reason for US destroyers to be sailing up and down South American rivers (even while Afghanistan heroin production skyrockets under US occupation).
Were it not for the “war on communism” the US wouldn’t have been funnelling millions in arms and weapons to the Muhjadeen (who would later morph into Al Qaeda) and Osama Bin Laden in the 1980s.
Were it not for the “war on terror” there would be no reason for the US to invade and occupy countries in the Middle East. (Ironically enough, the US is on the side of the jihadists in Syria against a secular and inclusive government whilst fighting them across the border in Iraq.)
Preventing Americans who have committed crimes against humanity from being tried in foreign courts is actually codified into US law with the American Service-Members’ Protection Act (nick-named the “Hague Invasion Act” as it would involve invading the Hague in the Netherlands).(3)
It is incredible that the United States plans to invade Europe should American servicemen be called before an International Court for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Now people may think the American people would be against this. That they would be for the prosecution of American soldiers. That surely if American soldiers were guilty of crimes against humanity they would be for the prosecution of those.
H. Thompson, Jr.
However it’s worth remembering Hugh Thompson bravely stood between a murderous platoon of US troops who brutally murdered 500 vietnamese civilians (mostly women and children). When Hugh Thompson returned home he was vilified by the American public. [As usual these vile chauvinist cowards took it out on the most helpless of creatures. See our addendum for full detailes about this genuine American hero. )
“I’d received death threats over the phone…Dead animals on your porch, mutilated animals on your porch some mornings when you get up.”
– Hugh Thompson
The United States contempt for international law is neither new nor an aberration but a longstanding tradition between both Democrats and Republicans in the United States. It's yet another instance of US exceptionalism.
In another stunning example of human rights abuse by the United States is the case of Khaled El-Masri, who happened to have the misfortune of having the same name as a terror suspect. He was subsequently kidnapped, flown to Afghanistan and was tortured and sodomised.(4)
“Masri’s treatment at Skopje airport at the hands of the CIA rendition team — being severely beaten, sodomised, shackled and hooded, and subjected to total sensory deprivation — had been carried out in the presence of state officials of [Macedonia] and within its jurisdiction,” the European Court of Human Rights ruled. (Idid.)
When the International Court of Justice ruled against the United States in 1986 in favour of Nicaragua and found the United States was guilty of many international laws and human rights violations it simply upped and walked away from the court. (5)
The US benches were empty when the court announced its decision. Among the Nicaraguan delegates was the Foreign Minister, Father Miguel d’Escoto, who said he hoped that the verdict would help the Americans to re-evaluate their position and stop defying the law and the court.
Dutch legal experts argue that the decision is legally binding on the US, despite the American refusal to recognise the court’s jurisdiction. One said: ‘The USA has always recognised the ICJ. It should have changed its position earlier if it wanted to duck the court in this case.
‘It is a well-known principle of international law that, if a country submits to the jurisdiction of a court, it cannot sidestep the court after the judges have started their work,’ a professor of international law at Amsterdam University said. (Ibid.)
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 2002 the psychopathic Washington regime and a familiar moustached face (John Bolton) issued a threat to the head of Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Jose Bustani. In 2001 Colin Powell had sent him a letter thanking him for his progressive work but by 2002 the Washington Regime had wanted him out. Why exactly? Negotiating with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to allow OPCW weapons inspectors to make unannounced visits to that country — thereby undermining Washington’s rationale for regime change.(6)
“Cheney wants you out,” Bustani recalled Bolton saying, referring to the then-vice president of the United States. “We can’t accept your management style.”
Bolton continued, according to Bustani’s recollections: “You have 24 hours to leave the organization, and if you don’t comply with this decision by Washington, we have ways to retaliate against you.”
There was a pause.
“We know where your kids live. You have two sons in New York.”-Ibid
Bustani was ousted from his position 16 years ago despite having done so much to prevent conflict and chemical weapons usage. The flagrant disregard for human rights, the willingness to use rape on detained suspects and the utter contempt for rule of law by the United States shows it for the rogue state that it is.
The one silver lining is that the ICC has stood firm and will continue to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan (which is a member to the ICC).
“Bolton’s added bellicose language that ICC judges and prosecutors face possible prosecution in the US is a distressing extension of the Trump administration’s attack on the judiciary — both domestic and now international.
“The ICC was created for the noble purpose of ending impunity for perpetrators of the most heinous crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, when nations are unwilling or unable to prosecute.”(7)
One can hope that some of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity will end up in a dock in the Hague. But more likely we will see some more of that “American exceptionalism” they love to bang on about.
—RSA
References
(1) https://theintercept.com/2018/03/29/john-bolton-trump-bush-bustani-kids-opcw/
(3) https://www.democracynow.org/2002/8/6/hague_invasion_act_bush_signs_a
(4) https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/dec/13/cia-tortured-sodomised-terror-suspect
(5) https://www.theguardian.com/world/1986/jun/28/usa.marktran
(6)https://theintercept.com/2018/03/29/john-bolton-trump-bush-bustani-kids-opcw/
And a brief request…
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ADDENDUM
Hugh Thompson, Jr.: A man few Americans know and even fewer remember.
An example of a true hero, a person who acted with moral integrity.
Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. (April 15, 1943 – January 6, 2006) retired as a United States Army Major, and formerly a warrant officer in the 123rd Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division, who played a major role in ending the My Lai Massacrein Sơn Mỹ Village, Sơn Tịnh District, Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam, on March 16, 1968.
During the massacre, Thompson and his Hiller OH-23 Raven crew, Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn, stopped a number of killings by threatening and blocking officers and enlisted soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division. Additionally, Thompson and his crew saved a number of Vietnamese civilians by personally escorting them away from advancing United States Army ground units and assuring their evacuation by air. Thompson reported the atrocities by radio several times while at Sơn Mỹ. Although these reports reached Task Force Barkeroperational headquarters, nothing was done to stop the massacre. After evacuating a child to a Quảng Ngãi hospital, Thompson angrily reported to his superiors at Task Force Barker headquarters that a massacre was occurring at Sơn Mỹ. Immediately following Thompson's report, Lieutenant Colonel Frank A. Barker ordered all ground units in Sơn Mỹ to cease search and destroy operations in the village.
In 1970, Thompson testified against those responsible for the My Lai Massacre. Twenty-six officers and enlisted soldiers, including William Calley and Ernest Medina, were charged with criminal offenses, but all were either acquitted or pardoned. Thompson was condemned and ostracized by many individuals in the United States military and government, as well as the public, for his role in the investigations and trials concerning the My Lai massacre. As a direct result of what he experienced, Thompson suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, divorce, and severe nightmare disorder.[1] Despite the adversity he faced, he remained in the United States Army until November 1, 1983, and continued to make a living as a helicopter pilot in the Southeastern United States.
In 1998, 30 years after the massacre, Thompson and the two other members of his crew, Andreotta and Colburn, were awarded the Soldier's Medal (Andreotta posthumously), the United States Army's highest award for bravery not involving direct contact with the enemy.[2] Thompson and Colburn returned to Sơn Mỹ to meet with survivors of the massacre at the Sơn Mỹ Memorial in 1998. In 1999, Thompson and Colburn received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.
Early life
Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. was born on April 15, 1943, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, to Wessie and Hugh Clowers Thompson.[3]:39-40[4] His ancestry can be traced back to the Mississippian culture era in North America, the British Isles, and the Province of Georgia.[3]:39-40 His paternal grandmother was full Cherokee Native American and his ancestors were victims of the ethnic cleansing policies and actions that resulted from the Indian Removal Act, most notably the Trail of Tears.[3]:39-40
Hugh Clowers Thompson Sr. was an electrician and served in the United States Navy during the Second World War.[3]:39
In 1946, the Thompson family relocated from Atlanta to Stone Mountain, Georgia.[3]:39 Thompson's brother and only sibling, Thomas Thompson, was born in 1938 and served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War.[3]:40 Thompson was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and his family was actively involved in the Episcopal Church.[3]:40 Hugh Clowers Thompson Sr. educated his children to act with discipline and integrity. The Thompson family denounced racism and ethnic discrimination in the United States and assisted many ethnic minority families in their community.[3]:42 Coming from a working-class family, Hugh Clowers Thompson Jr. plowed fields and later worked as an assistant for a funeral mortuary to support his family during his adolescence.[3]:44
Thompson graduated from Stone Mountain High School on June 5, 1961.[3]:46 Following graduation, Thompson enlisted in the United States Navy and served in a naval mobile construction battalion at Naval Air Station Atlanta, Georgia, as a heavy equipment operator. Thompson married Palma Baughman in 1963.[3]:47 In 1964, Thompson received an honorable discharge from the Navy and returned to Stone Mountain to live a quiet life and raise a family with his wife. He studied mortuary science and became a licensed funeral director.[3]:47
When the Vietnam War began, Thompson felt obligated to return to military service.[5]:135[6] In 1966, Thompson enlisted in the United States Army and completed the Warrant Officer Flight Program training at Fort Wolters, Texas, and Fort Rucker, Alabama.[3]:47 In late-December 1967, at the age of 25, Thompson was ordered to Vietnam and assigned to Company B, 123rd Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division.[7]
My Lai massacre intervention
Murdered Vietnamese civilians, My Lai massacre, Sơn Mỹ, Quảng Ngãi Province, March 16, 1968; photography by Ronald L. Haeberle
Dead man and two children (Truong Nam and Truong Thi Sau), My Lai massacre, Sơn Mỹ, Quảng Ngãi Province, March 16, 1968; photography by Ronald L. Haeberle
On March 16, 1968, Thompson and his Hiller OH-23 Raven observation helicopter crew, Larry Colburn (gunner) and Glenn Andreotta (crew chief), were ordered to support Task Force Barker's search and destroy operations in Sơn Mỹ, Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam.[3]:59 Song My Village was composed of four hamlets, Mỹ Lai, Mỹ Khê, Cổ Lũy and Tư Cung, and was suspected by the United States Army Military Intelligence Corps to be a Viet Cong stronghold.[3]:59
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Hiller OH-23 Raven, three-place, light observation helicopter, similar to the one Thompson commanded during the massacre
Army intelligence concerning the presence of Viet Cong in Sơn Mỹ was inaccurate, however, and the village's population was predominately composed of neutral, unarmed rice-farming families. Reconnaissance aircraft, including Thompson's OH-23 crew, flew over the Sơn Mỹ vicinity but received no enemy fire.[3]:66 At 07:24, without validating intelligence reports, the United States Army shelled Sơn Mỹ, killing many Vietnamese civilians. Following the shelling, Company C (Charlie Company), 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment of Task Force Barker, led by Captain Ernest Medina, moved into Sơn Mỹ.
Upon entering Sơn Mỹ, officers and soldiers of Company C moved through the Song My Village and vicinity, murdering civilians, raping women, and setting fire to huts.[3]:69[5]:137[10] 1st Platoon of Company C, commanded by Lieutenant William Laws Calley Jr., forced approximately 70–80 villagers, mostly women and children, into an irrigation ditch and murdered the civilians with knives, bayonets, grenades, and small arms fire.[3]:73
Thompson recounted at an academic conference on My Lai held at Tulane University in December, 1994: "We kept flying back and forth, reconning in front and in the rear, and it didn't take very long until we started noticing the large number of bodies everywhere. Everywhere we'd look, we'd see bodies. These were infants, two-, three-, four-, five-year-olds, women, very old men, no draft-age people whatsoever."[8]
Thompson and his crew, who at first thought the artillery bombardment caused all the civilian deaths on the ground, became aware that Americans were murdering the villagers after a wounded civilian woman they requested medical evacuation for, Nguyễn Thị Tẩu (chín Tẩu), was murdered right in front of them by Captain Medina, the commanding officer of the operation. According to Larry Colburn,
Then we saw a young girl about twenty years old lying on the grass. We could see that she was unarmed and wounded in the chest. We marked her with smoke because we saw a squad not too far away. The smoke was green, meaning it's safe to approach. Red would have meant the opposite. We were hovering six feet off the ground not more than twenty feet away when Captain Medina came over, kicked her, stepped back, and finished her off. He did it right in front of us. When we saw Medina do that, it clicked. It was our guys doing the killing.[9]
Immediately after the execution, Thompson discovered the irrigation ditch full of Calley's victims. Thompson then radioed a message to accompanying gunships and Task Force Barker headquarters, "It looks to me like there's an awful lot of unnecessary killing going on down there. Something ain't right about this. There's bodies everywhere. There's a ditch full of bodies that we saw. There's something wrong here."[3]:75 Thompson spotted movement in the irrigation ditch, indicating that there were civilians alive in it. He immediately landed to assist the victims. Lieutenant Calley approached Thompson and the two exchanged an uneasy conversation.[3]:77
Thompson: What's going on here, Lieutenant?
Calley: This is my business.
Thompson: What is this? Who are these people?
Calley: Just following orders.
Thompson: Orders? Whose orders?
Calley: Just following...
Thompson: But, these are human beings, unarmed civilians, sir.
Calley: Look Thompson, this is my show. I'm in charge here. It ain't your concern.
Thompson: Yeah, great job.
Calley: You better get back in that chopper and mind your own business.
Thompson: You ain't heard the last of this!
As Thompson was speaking to Calley, Calley's subordinate, Sergeant David Mitchell, fired into the irrigation ditch, killing any civilians still moving.[3]:78 Thompson and his crew, in disbelief and shock, returned to their helicopter and began searching for civilians they could save. They spotted a group of women, children, and old men in the northeast corner of the village fleeing from advancing soldiers from the 2nd Platoon, Company C. Immediately realizing that the soldiers intended to murder the Vietnamese civilians, Thompson landed his helicopter between the advancing ground unit and the villagers.[3]:79 He turned to Colburn and Andreotta and told them he would shoot the men in the 2nd Platoon if they attempted to kill any of the fleeing civilians.[3]:81 While Colburn and Andreotta focused their guns on the 2nd Platoon, Thompson located as many civilians as he could, persuaded them to follow him to safer location, and ensured their evacuation with the help of two UH-1 Huey pilots he was friends with.[5]:138–139
Low on fuel, Thompson was forced to return to a supply airstrip miles outside the village. Before they departed the village, Andreotta spotted movement in the irrigation ditch full of bodies. According to Trent Angers in The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story (2014),
The helicopter looped around then set down quickly near the edge of the ditch. Andreotta had maintained visual contact with the spot where he saw the movement, and he darted out of the aircraft as soon as it touched the ground. Thompson got out and guarded one side of the chopper and Colburn guarded the other. Andreotta had to walk on several badly mangled bodies to get where he was going. He lifted a corpse with several bullet holes in the torso and there, lying under it, was a child, age five or six, covered in blood and obviously in a state of shock.
The child, Do Ba, was pulled from the irrigation ditch and after failing to find any more survivors, Thompson's crew transported the child to a hospital in Quảng Ngãi.[3]:215
After transporting the child to the hospital, Thompson flew to the Task Force Barker headquarters (Landing Zone Dottie), and angrily reported the massacre to his superiors.[5]:176–179 His report quickly reached Lieutenant Colonel Frank Barker, the operation's overall commander. Barker immediately radioed ground forces to cease the "killings". After the helicopter was refueled, Thompson's crew returned to the village to ensure that no more civilians were being murdered and that the wounded were evacuated.[3]:89
Read the full account on Wikipedia, although we suspect fuller accounts may be found in other sources.
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Things to ponder
While our media prostitutes, many Hollywood celebs, and politicians and opinion shapers make so much noise about the still to be demonstrated damage done by the Russkies to our nonexistent democracy, this is what the sanctimonious US government has done overseas just since the close of World War 2. And this is what we know about. Many other misdeeds are yet to be revealed or documented.
Parting shot—a word from the editors
The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found
In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” — acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump — a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report
