If Americans could only imagine what it was like for the citizens of thirteen much smaller nations to have been bombed and invaded by the American veterans who are celebrated on Veterans Day in the USA every November 11.
How would Americans take its own countryside being high altitude carpet bombed the way Laos, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and Cambodia suffered? What if twice the amount of bombs dropped in Europe, Asia and Africa during the Second World War, were dropped on the United States of America over a 15 year period like was done to Vietnam? – if USA were invaded over the same period by of a superpower army of up to a half-million better armed soldiers with tanks and napalming air support?
How would Americans react to their cities being reduced to ruble from bombings, like all the 38 cities in North Korea were (as the northern armed forces were in one month overthrowing the murderous dictatorship in the South before the Americans invaded.) [1]
How many Americans ever wonder what their veterans thought about the distress, pain and grief their bombings and invasions were bringing to the men, women and children in Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Yemen or Syria.
Veteran airmen who once mercilessly carpet bombed the plains of Laos and other compatriots who decades later did the same over the jungles and rice paddies of Cambodia – don’t they all have the same queasiness about what they did regardless of Veterans Day orations proclaiming them honors?
Veterans who participated in the bloody blitz of Panama, – or in the slaughtering intervention on the side of the half of the army of the Dominican Republic fighting against those who successfully rebelled and were about to re-install their overthrown elected president – or in the conquering of the tiny island of Grenada – many surely have conflicting thoughts about the fairness of these lives-taking invasions of almost defenseless tiny countries.
The huge membership of Veterans For Peace and Veterans Against War activist organizations is testimony to the shame thousands of veterans feel about having followed criminal orders bringing death and destruction in someone else’s country.
Militarytimes.com reports that four times as many troops and vets have died by suicide as in combat. [2]
Many veterans of ‘The War on Terror’ are well aware from the Internet that the CIA with its European and Middle East branches secretly armed, funded and trained a series of radical Islamic terrorist armies to use in its genocidal regime change wars first in Afghanistan, against a popular women liberating Socialist government in Kabul, then in Iraq, to have Sunni terrorists attack the majority Shiite, then used both to destroy wealthy Libya aided by US and NATO warplanes, then to invade and decimate Syria and then Iraq again before sending ISIS back again into Afghanistan at the end of a twenty year US/NATO occupation war, all while and proxies attacked popular government and backed warlord governments in Somalia, and helps Saudis bomb, kill and starve children to death in Yemen. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,”
corollary:
Or some others might do to you as you have done others
(A corollary is a natural consequence, or a result that naturally follows)
All those thirteen countries demolished by US attack since the Second World War are much smaller than the USA.
But now the US government claims Russia and China as US adversaries and prepares for war with them. Russia is twice the size of the USA with half as much population. China is the same size as the US, but is four times greater in population.
Perhaps Americans should now worry about some good possibility of retribution for its many undeclared wars on nations much smaller than the USA.
Being that the USA, its media and military are controlled by the Deep State Military Industrial Complex on Wall Street addicted to investing in war, Americans might well come to suffer even worse than men, women and children in the Middle East are today suffering from US soldiers killing and maiming in their country (the majority of whom will be honored during future Veterans Day celebrations at home.)
End Notes
1. Crimes, Concealment and South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission – n the summer of 1950, at the start of the Korean conflict, the government of Syngman Rhee in the South ordered the massive execution of over one hundred thousand (perhaps two hundred thousand ) civilians simply suspected of being communist sympathizers. This war crime by any standard, civilized and uncivilized, has only been unveiled recently and officially by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea http://www.jinsil.go.kr/English/Commission/index.asp .
https://apjjf.org/-Do-Khiem/2848/article.html
2.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/06/21/four-times-as-many-troops-and-vets-have-died-by-suicide-as-in-combat-study-finds/
3. ISIS IS US: The Shocking Truth: Behind the Army of Terror
In ISIS IS US, a panel of cutting-edge researchers tell what ISIS really is, Paperback – April 4, 2016 by Washington’s Blog (Author), Wayne Madsen (Author), John-Paul Leonard (Author)
4. There Was No Libyan Peaceful Protest,
Just Murderous Gangs and Nic Robertson, June, 2011, Countercurrents.org
https://countercurrents.org/janson160611.htm
5. Time to Expose Media Manufactured Uprising CIA Terrorists US-NATO Air Strikes On Wealthy Libya, OpEdNews 7/10/2019
https://www.opednews.com/articles/Time-to-Expose-Media-Manuf-by-Jay-Janson-Capitalism-Over-Humanity_Controlled-Media_Media-Blackout_Media-Distractions-Murder-190711-828.html
6. Syria: CIA, M16, French, Mossad, Saudi Involvement
Unreported In Imperialist Media, 27 June, 2011
Countercurrents.org
https://countercurrents.org/janson270611.htm
7. Carter Had CIA Armed Fundamentalist Terrorists War Against Afghan Women’s Liberation & Education, OpEdNews 12/22/2010
https://www.opednews.com/articles/Carter-Had-CIA-Armed-Funda-by-Jay-Janson-101220-176.html
8. Americans Are Guilty of Genocide Right Now in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, countercurrents 7/2020
Americans Are Guilty of Genocide Right Now in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria
9. MERCILESS US NATO UN GENOCIDE IN SOMALIA, RISE UP TIMES
https://riseuptimes.org/2013/10/16/jay-janson-merciless-us-nato-un-genocide-in-somalia/
Jay Janson is an archival research peoples historian activist, musician and writer; has lived and worked on all continents; articles on media published in China, Italy, UK, India and in the US by Dissident Voice, Global Research; Information Clearing House; Counter Currents and others; now resides in NYC; First effort was a series of articles on deadly cultural pollution endangering seven areas of life emanating from Western corporate owned commercial media published in Hong Kong’s Window Magazine 1993; Howard Zinn lent his name to various projects of his; Weekly column, South China Morning Post, 1986-87; reviews for Ta Kung Bao; article China Daily, 1989. Is coordinator of the Howard Zinn co-founded King Condemned US Wars International Awareness Campaign, and website historian of the Ramsey Clark co-founded Prosecute US Crimes Against Humanity Now Campaign, which Dissident Voice supports with link at the end of each issue of its newsletter.
Veterans
Spot on, Jay. Rather disgraceful that so many in our community would agree with you but none dare step forward and speak. You neglected to mention that Communist Vietnam has become a favorite retirement destination for many Americans. I’m sure some of those are Veterans, who would much prefer that their choice fly under the radar.
How to easily speak out on Yemen and US militarism
You can start here: individual phone calls and emails bring needed attention to this country’s facilitation of the war on Yemen. Now is the time for Congress to act, and your voice is needed!
https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/37713/?utm_source=advocacyteamsalert2022
The United States is complicit in the Saudi-led coalition’s war and blockade in Yemen, which is helping to create the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Over 16 million people are on the brink of famine. Civilians are being bombed. Cholera and Covid run rampant.
President Biden announced 2/4/21 that the United States would end its support for the Saudi-led coalition’s war and blockade in Yemen. Yet, the U.S. continues to provide maintenance and intelligence sharing for warplanes conducting airstrikes and enforcing an air and sea blockade of Yemen.
Congress has voted to stop U.S. participation in the war but has failed to hold the President accountable. National alliances are demanding the passage of a War Powers Resolution to end U.S. participation in the war on Yemen and to press Saudi Arabia to end its blockade.
You can help! I think the call-in link above is well set-up and easy to use.
It took me less than 5 minutes to leave voicemails at all 3 offices; Welch, Leahy and Sanders.
With thanks to the Friends Committee on National Legislation.