Democracy Burning

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press

Saturday September 30, 2006 17:13

by Kingfisher

What consistencies, common elements and patterns are identifiable in the following events: the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the attack on the USS Liberty and 9/11? Although time, geographic location and historical context separate these events they nevertheless share remarkably similar aims, objectives and characteristics. All these orchestrated events provided an excuse for the USA to engage in what would have otherwise been blatantly illegal warfare. The Tonkin incident ‘justified’ American miliary aggression against Vietnam; the USS Liberty incident would have provided an ideal excuse for U.S. involvement in the six-day war; the 9/11 attack has been utilised as the primary justification for America’s military expansionism and the implementation of draconian laws on the home front.

Full story:
http://cleaves.zapto.org/clv/newswire.php?story_id=317

Comments (1 of 1)

There is a difference

by mick

Tue Oct 03, 2006 14:56

The Gulf of Tonkin incident occured when north vietnamese patrol boats opened fire on US naval vessels - but the real issue was the infiltration of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong guerillas into South Vietnam to lauch guerilla attacks against South Vietnam as part of a grand strategy to spread communism through South East Asia,in Laos and Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia and the Philipines.This is why it became the excuse that the US needed to launch their "police action" the escalation of the war in Vietnam with conventional US military forces rather than a limited conflict between the South Vietnamese army direct by American "advisors" and the NVA and Viet Cong guerillas led by Chinese and Soviet "advisors."

The attack on the USS Liberty spy vessel by Israeli aircraft was a "friendly fire" incident - incompetence led the Israelis to believe that the American vessel was an Egyptian spy vessel.
This happened at the high of the Six Day War when relations between the superpowers the US and USSR were at the point of a hot war. America had sided with Israel but not with military support while the Soviets were giving material support in weapons and advisors to Arab armies.

The 9/11 attack inevitably provoked America into action because it demonstrated the futility of isolation rather than intervention in the middle east - american disinterest in Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan in the 1990's and the overconfidence in the separation of two vast oceans from far away problems were cruelly exposed. Rather than have aircraft smashing American cities into rubble the americans decided to fight the war on their enemies home turf - while thousands of American soldiers have died on Arab soil - in five years since 9/11 there has not been one single attack on American soil.