World
Of Terror, Sidr
And The US 'Help'
By
Anu Muhammad
02 December,
2007
Countercurrents.org
"We
leveled it. There was nobody left, just dirt and dust."
US
General in an occupied land after destruction of three villages, 2002
The
world has entered into a permanent system of war, militarization, destruction
and dehumanisation. After Second World War, for different reasons, the
US has emerged as the centre of this global system. The survival of
the US as a super power, expansion of its hegemony and the function
of global capitalism now mostly depend upon war machine and militarism.
That gives birth to a new phase of imperialism and becomes a threat
not only people and nations in the periphery but for whole human civilization.
In fact,
global military and business tyrants led by the US terrorist power now
occupy our world. As a result of this irrational barbarian system, deprivation
and insecurity has been increased with growing resources. While global
defense budget crossed US $900 billion, share of the US is more than
half, only US$10 billion is needed to solve drinking water problem for
whole global population. While official development 'aid' figures to
less than US $60 billion for the third world countries, their debt service
raised to nearly US$500 billion. Five hundred million people were going
hungry every night 25 years ago, today more than 800 million are going
hungry while 125 million children are underweight and 325 million children
do not attend school. Moreover, 32 thousand children, 10 times more
than the people died in twin tower attack, die every day in the third
world of curable illness; 2 million girls are forced in prostitution
every year.
The countries
representing the centre of this system have 20 per cent of global population,
control 83 per cent of the world's income, use 70 per cent of its energy,
75 per cent of its metals, 85 per cent of its wood and 60 per cent of
its food. These countries contribute 75 per cent of global pollution
that raises global warming, changes global climate and makes the nature
erratic. Suffering befalls the people who are not responsible for that.
Cyclone and tidal bore like Sidr that hit Bangladesh on November 15
night was an expression of that. People in coastal area in Bangladesh
have become a victim of tyranny of this global and local system that,
in favour of profit, is hostile to nature and people.
World
without Imperialism, World without Occupation
Although
Bangladesh did not ask for it, US Navy war ships, USS Essex and USS
Kearsarge, started moving towards Bangladesh immediately after Sidr
hit the Bangladesh coast with devastating affects, killing more than
3 thousand people, hundreds of thousands of cattles and other animals,
destroyed crops, forests and houses. USS Kearsarge arrived Bangladesh
water 'to help' these cyclone affected people in the early morning on
November 24. These ships, each carry 20 or more helicopters. The US
Department of Defense is supervising their activities. According to
their version of the story, US embassy in Bangladesh asked for their
help.
Report on
November 25 says, ` The 22nd MEU (SOC) consists of aviation combat element,
a Marine medium helicopter squadron, ground combat element, battalion
landing team, 3rd battalion, 8th Marine regiment, logistics combat element
and Combat Logistics Battalion 22. Elements of the unit remain afloat
on USS Gunston Hall and USS Ponce in US central command's area of responsibility.
The unit is on a scheduled six-month deployment'.
On November
21, when the ships were on the move towards Bangladesh, Mainul Hosein
the law and information adviser of the interim government 'dismissed
any ulterior motive behind the United States' sending two amphibian
assault ships to Bangladesh'. Report further stated that 'the adviser
made the remarks when he was asked whether the government was aware
of what the Bangladesh-bound US navy vessels were equipped with, and
how long they would stay here.' His understanding of the present world
was expressed in his utterences on the occasion. He said, 'Imperialism
is an outdated concept and it does not exist anywhere on earth'. The
gentleman did not stop with this theoretical discovery rather continued
to assert on practicality, he concluded, 'it is impractical to think
in the present day world that a country will occupy another.' (New Age,
November 22, 2007)
I do not
know how to react to this practicality and extraordinary capacity to
see day as night or night as day in 'practical' way. We know these things
happen with the US, whenever they say peace we need to read that as
war, whenever they say about democracy we need to think of repression.
History shows us again and again, whenever the US extended 'help', that
ended with new chains, occupation and human suffering.
Today no
two US army personnel can meet in Iraq without there lying between them
a corpse. What happened there? Does Iraq exist in the world map anymore?
Does Afghanistan exist? What is happening there? Peace rally by the
US forces after occupying the countries and killing innocent people
everyday?
If we look
at status of the peripheral countries in determining their own destiny
we may conclude that not only Iraq most of the world is now under imperialist
occupation. Iraq has come under occupation by military invasion because
that did not go with instructions coming from the US.
Whole
world is at war and threat
William Blum,
a US researcher and author investigated and has written thousands of
pages and concluded that, the US is the biggest terrorist in the present
day world, provided biggest occupying force in the world and has become
the biggest threat for humanity. He said, 'From 1945 to 2003, the United
States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments, and
to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements fighting against
intolerable regimes. In the process, the US bombed some 25 countries,
caused the end of life for several million people, and condemned many
millions more to a life of agony and despair.' And in 2003 the US invaded
Iraq, occupied it, and started killing people naming them terrorists.
War is also
a private business. In occupied Iraq the second to the US army is the
private companies. After occupation of Iraq, writer-activist Naomi Klein
said, 'after all, negotiations with sovereign nations can be hard. Far
easier to just tear up the country, occupy it, then rebuild it the way
you want'. She also looked into the issues like 'how long before they
meld into long-term contracts for privatized water services, transit
systems, roads, schools and phones? When does reconstruction turn into
privatization in disguise?'
Since 1945,
to ensure global supremacy the US has used atomic bombs on the people
of Japan; carried out carpet-bombing on Korea to take back it to the
stone age; had the Vietnamese engulfed by napalm and pesticides; provided
three decades of Latin Americans with the tools and methods of torture,
and so far dropped '177 million pounds of bombs on the people of Iraq
in the most concentrated aerial onslaught in the history of the world'.
This is the real face of US power that comes in Bangladesh 'to help'
people with blood in their hands.
There is
a United Nation, supposed to play a role of global institution that
has virtually been transformed into an extension of the US administration.
Nevertheless, Jesse Helms (Chairman, US senate Foreign Relations Committee)
does not accept even its formal role. He categorically stated: 'The
American people will never accept the Secretary General's claim that
the United Nations is the ''sole source of legitimacy on the use of
force'' in the world. True the US Senate ratified the UN charter fifty
years ago, yet in so doing, America did not cede one syllable of it's
sovereignty to the United Nations'. And 'The Court's (UN International
Criminal Court) supporters argue that Americans shall be willing to
sacrifice some of their sovereignty for the noble cause of international
justice. This, frankly, is laughable.' He continued, 'No UN institution....
is competent to judge the foreign policy and national security decisions
of the United States.' That arrogance is typical of a colonial power.
Who
rules Bangladesh?
When US army
personnel are in Bangladesh we need to note that there are number of
agreements signed between Bangladesh and the US governments that are
still not fully disclosed to the people. In March 2003 an agreement
was signed that gave US blanc check to bring anything necessary for
the development of 'science and technology', it also allowed to bring
anything for 'security purpose'. In August 2003 an agreement was signed
in Washington DC which made Bangladesh bound to allow US military and
civilian officials to commit any crime they wish in this country. Detail
of the agreement is still secret. According to press report, 'under
this agreement no U.S. soldier or officer charged with criminal offences
can be tried in Bangladesh or be extradited to the International Criminal
Court for prosecution'. 'The agreement stipulates that if any American
soldier or officer is charged with criminal offence in Bangladesh, or
is prosecuted in another country and takes shelter here, he cannot be
handed over to the International Criminal Court.' On 19 May 2004, an
agreement was signed that would make 'binding on the government to take
care of every single US interest including protection of US citizens
and installations' and, according to report, to protect American interests
in the country and extend full cooperation to the US in identifying
individuals or groups suspected of working against US interests. It
is important to note that the draft agreement, like other ones, was
not prepared by Bangladesh Government but US administration in Dhaka.
I don't know,
in this context, what does independence or sovereignty mean? Or what
does occupation mean? 'Advisers' like Moinul may be in a better position
to explain this with their extraordinary 'practical' sense.
I can only
say, a slave is really slave when s/he does not realize the enslavement;
people become really defeated when they forget their defeats.
email: [email protected]
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