Though largely discredited in my eyes, I still glance at The
Intercept from time to time. There are still some good reporters attempting to
produce decent journalism and while the original goals of the outlet have
clearly been subverted, the mechanisms of control are not absolute.
I've been following the Depleted Uranium story since the
1990's and it played a part in my 'turning' against the Right-wing nationalism
that once dominated by outlook. A new convert I was for the first time actually
reading the Scriptures and was astonished to learn that not only was much of
the Christianity I had been taught was bogus, my views of the United States and
how such nationalism informed my ethics was also patently in opposition to the
Scriptures. My foundations had crumbled but were quickly replaced by moorings
rooted in eternity and in the revelation of Christ.
I started to dig and read voraciously. This was 1995 and 1996
and the Internet was still in its early days but already there were resources
available that surpassed what I was likely to find at a mainstream public
library not to mention the small base library where I was stationed in Italy.
Yes, I was undergoing this larger conversion while I was a member of the US
military. As others have put it, it was a startling and upsetting moment to
realise that I was not a 'good guy', not a Luke Skywalker battling the Dark
Side but was in fact an imperial stormtrooper. I was part of the evil. The many
pictures I encountered in the mid-1990's of the deformed babies and broken
lives were like a slap in the face.
And it was this very wrestling with US policy in the Balkans
and the tip of the NATO spear in Turkey... through which the Northern No-Fly
Zone policy was executed... that I found myself in crisis. I was part of these
operations, part of the genocidal sanctions regime. Was I myself directly dropping
the bombs in the Balkans? No, but I unloaded the bombs and missiles that were
being used and watched them take flight strapped to the undersides of F-16's,
A-10's, F-15's and other fighter aircraft that crossed the Adriatic.
And I certainly handled my share of cargo, weapons and
radioactive materials bound for bases in Eastern Turkey.
I played an indirect part in the mass murder of Iraqi
civilians and in promoting US policy in the wake of the Cold War. I say this to
my absolute shame and though I could claim 'veteran' discounts at retail
outlets and the like I will never use these benefits. I rejected the
possibility of a VA loan. I want nothing to do with these benefits or any of
the organisations surrounding them. When I left the Air Force my uniforms and
medals went into the dumpster... where they belong with the other filth and
refuse. I am ashamed that I ever wore the uniform or that my lips uttered those
wicked oaths.
Of course the legacy of Depleted Uranium lives on, not just
in Iraq but in Afghanistan, Kosovo and in time we'll learn about its effects in
Syria and Libya too.
This is but another chapter in the house of horrors that is
the satanic war machine of the United States. I guess people can always feel
better because they can point to the mass murder of the Nazis, Stalin and Mao.
Just because the US comes in numerically behind these monsters is (bizarrely)
for some a point of comfort. Somehow being a little less monstrous is something
to be proud of. And yet few know the extent of US crimes. The people of North
Korea certainly believe the US surpasses not only Nazis, Stalin and Mao but
even the likes of Genghis Khan. What the US did to North Korea in the early
1950's is one of the great war crimes of history and though largely unknown and
ignored today you cannot understand the totalitarian Kim regime apart from
it.... from the total and absolute destruction of a society.
Given the longevity of the US Empire and its projects the
list is becoming fairly impressive and the magnitude of the horror and evil at
times leaves me stunned.... all the more when I step outside and am assaulted
by the propaganda and the overwhelming idolatry surrounding the Empire, its
symbols and its rituals. From the endless bumper stickers and clothing items
proclaiming pride in veteran status, to the ubiquitous homage to the 'troops'
and the 'flag' and the propaganda regarding the wars... it's pretty oppressive.
I won't even talk about what's going on inside the Churches.
These are multi-generational crimes. Iraq and Afghanistan
will be dealing with the effects of DU for decades. Societies are destroyed and
the pain lives on. Just look at Vietnam and the legacy of Agent Orange and the
massive chemical warfare campaign conducted by the United States from the
mid-1960's to the end of the war. To this very day over forty years after the
fighting ended children are being born with deformities. The crimes of the
United States in Indochina remain largely unknown and are in other cases actively
suppressed by the Establishment. They can't contain all the revelations and so
they spin them. Hollywood and documentary makers all play their part in this.
And yet the true story is one of absolute darkness, of lies
and murder. The more one looks, the more one is convinced that the crimes of
the Third Reich are not all that different from what the US has done. The only
difference is perhaps the crimes of the Nazis were compressed into a twelve
year period while the US has been at this for more than a century. It's a
question of quantity and intensity... not quality. The US has committed
numerous atrocities and has supported dozens of regimes that have committed
them with abandon.
There is growing pressure on the US to dispense with DU
weaponry and yet at the same time the US (and Israel) make regular use of
phosphorus weapons and there's a growing call in some circles to 'nuclearise'
with the creation of tactical low-grade nuclear armaments.... these would make
DU-tipped armour piercing weapons look like child's play.
The Establishment is necessarily comprised of evil people and
yet even among the evil there are those with a hint of conscience, those with
hints of sanity that realise such destructive policies are in the end
counter-productive to the goals and aspirations of the power they represent.
Their calls to dispense with DU are not expressions of contrition nor do they
represent a turn or re-thinking of the overall policy. They are at best
tactical moves meant to placate the growing activist community and return them
to the mainstream fold as it were. They see a scandal brewing that if left
unaddressed will eventually explode and has the potential to do a lot of
damage.
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