Robert C Miller, United Press correspondent during the Korean War.
The USA Senate publishes a report called Is Military Research Hazardous to Veterans' Health?. The report covers the period between 1940 and 1994. The report begins:
"Approximately 60,000 military personnel were used as human subjects in the 1940s to test two chemical agents, mustard gas and lewisite (blister gas). Most of the subjects were not informed of the nature of the experiments and never received medical follow up after their participation in the research. Additionally, some of these human subjects were threatened with imprisonment at Fort Leavenworth if they discussed these experiments with anyone, including their wives, parents and family doctors. For decades, the Pentagon denied that the research had taken place, resulting in decades of suffering for many veterans who became ill after the secret testing."
Other examples include:
- 330,000 soldiers infected with Hepatitis B after being forced to take yellow fever vaccine during World War II.
- Tens of thousands of ground troops exposed to dioxin in Agent Orange in Korea and Vietnam.
- Soldiers marched close to atomic bomb tests for experimental purposes.
- 100,000 soldiers exposed to serin in the Gulf War in Iraq. Soldiers were forced to take unapproved anthrax vaccine.
The USA writer, William Blum, draws the following conclusion:
"If the United States government does not care about the health and welfare of its own soldiers, if our leaders are not moved by the prolonged pain and suffering of the wretched warriors enlisted to fight the empire's wars, how can it be argued, how can it be believed, that they care about foreign peoples?"
KryssTal Reply: Analogies have to be precise to make a point. In 1939, Germany used the presence of a minority of Germans to invade Czechoslovakia. This is equivalent to Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974 "to protect the Turkish minority". Turkey is giving several reasons for placing troops on Iraq's northern borders at present (2003): one of them is the protection of the Turkoman minority in northern Iraq. All these are excuses that we can discount.
Germany's invasion of Austria is harder to critisice though. Austria is made up of German speaking people. The country was created after the First World War by the winning allies in an attempt to keep Germany weak. Many, if not all, Austrians welcomed the Germans. This is more like north and south Vietnam or north and south Korea, both countries divided by the West after World War 2.
1910-1945 Koreans have been slaved, killed, abused, tortured
for 35 years by Japs before being treated equally
as harsh by 1945 US Military Occupation of Korean Peninsula;
There was NO Liberation of KOREANS
upon US Occupation of Korean Peninsula; Jap establishment
of War-Crimes continued from Jap to US on
unarmed Koreans.
USA Defence Secretary William Cohen in remarks to reporters prior to his speech at Microsoft Corporation in Seattle as reported by Associated Press:
"[T]he prosperity that companies like Microsoft now enjoy could not occur without having the strong military that we have. ... conflicts in faraway lands such as Bosnia, Korea and Iraq have a direct effect on the U.S. economy. The billions it costs to keep 100,000 American troops in South Korea and Japan, for example, makes Asia more stable--and thus better markets for U.S. goods. The military's success in holding Iraq in check ensures a continued flow of oil from the Persian Gulf."
From 2330BC to 1945; Korean Peninsula and Manchu was
Korean One Party State.
as of 2001; NIKE uses S.Korea as one of its many Overseas Cheap Labor;
Abuse of cheap labour. Use of child labour.
From 1953; Oregon-native Holt Couple started International Adoption-Korean
baby selling-for-profit making its headquarters in Kyonggi Providence
of S.Korea.
The lake filled crater of Mount Halla (1950m) on Cheju Island.
Mount Halla on Cheju Island is an extinct volcano. At 1950m it is the country's highest peak.
1945
South Korea
Between 100,000 and 800,000 people are killed on Cheju Island (South Korea) by the USA backed government of Syngman Rhee(Rhee was scapegoat used by US-Truman; Rhee was deceived by US-Truman; Rhee requested Unification of KOREA and weapons for Koreans during 1950 June attack- both ignored by US-Truman until enough Koreansdied/enough napalm destructions were carried out before Jap-based McArthur
entered as an Aide to Korea-later fired by US-Truman ; Prez Rhee was Pro-KOrea
but was used as a scapegoat guilty of all US-Truman caused war-crimes; Prez Rhee
requested US-Truman for Korea to join in the San Francisco Treaty convention - to which
Prez Rhee was purposedly excluded ; San Francisco Treaty attended among UN Allies
of US included UK, Russia, Jap Without Korea.)
. The purge of "communists" is aided by forces supplied by two other USA occupied countries: Japan and Taiwan.
1945 to 1949
End of World War II, France in Algeria and Vietnam, South Korea massacres, The Jewish Agency and Palestine, Tokyo war trials, UK deports Chinese, Nurenberg war trials, USA and elections in France and Italy, USA involved in Greece and Philippines, India's independence, The United Nations partition plan for Palestine, The State of Israel, coup in Peru, France in Vietnam and Madegascar, Netherlands in Indonesia, Nicaragua under the Samozas, civil war in China, oil companies in Saudi Arabia, Apartheid in South Africa, independence of Laos and Cambodia, coup in Syria, coup in Greece....1950
USA and Korea
During the war in Korea, USA forces kill hundreds of civilians after receiving orders not to let refugees cross the front lines. Many are strafed from aircraft, attacked by artillery from ships, have bridges blown up from under them while they cross, and are shot at.
The world now has two Germanys, two Chinas, two Koreas and two Vietnams each backed by one of the power blocks!
1950
Vietnam (North and South)
The USA and UK recognise the government of South Vietnam (set up against the wishes of the Vietnamese people by France). The USSR andChina recognise the government in North Vietnam (set up by the Vietnamese themselves in areas liberated from French rule).1952
War in Korea
During the war in Korea, USA aircraft drop a number of diseased objects (feathers, bacteria, decaying animals, fish parts) in Korea and China. Many people die from plague, anthrax and encephalitis.
A 600 page report by the International Scientific Comittee (involving scientists from Sweden, France, UK, Italy, Brazil and the USSR) states that: "The peoples of Korea and China have indeed been the objectives of bacteriological weapons. These have been employed by units of the USA armed forces, using a great variety of different methods for the purpose."
The USA drops 70,000 gallons (265m3) of napalm per day on Korea. This is a substance made from benzene, polystyrene and gasoline that catches fire and sticks to flesh. The victim is either burned to death or suffocated by lack of oxygen.
1950 to 1954
Political discrimination in USA, two Vietnams formed, Tibet invaded, wheat for Colombia, the status of Jerusalem, biological testing in the Bahamas, USA massacres in Korea, Puerto Rico, USA tests hydrogen bomb in the Pacific, coups in Bolivia and Thailand, UK seizes canal in Egypt, Israel attacks Jordan, CIA plots assassination in North Korea, military coup in Cuba, UK in Malaysia and Kenya, France in Algeria and Morocco, UK tests atom bomb in Australia, Belgium in Berundi, the pass laws in South Africa, biological warfare in Korea, UK in Sudan, Israel massacres Palestinians, UK and USA back coup in Iran, France in Laos, UK in Uganda, exile of Moroccan king, coup in Guyana, chemical tests in Canada, UK and USA attempt coup in Albania, CIA actions in West Germany and Philippines, UK forms federation of Nigeria, dictatorship in Paraguay, USA backed coup in Guatemala, USA replace French rule in Vietnam, France in Algeria, USA nuclear testing in Pacific, racial segregation in USA, corrupt election in Iran....1955 to 1959
Racial killings in the USA, France in Algeria, South Africa leaves UN, civil war in Vietnam, UK in Cyprus and Sudan, Portugal in Goa, coup in Argentina, Greeks killed in Turkey, CIA plots assassination in India and coup in Costa Rica, USA funds political parties in Europe, the Suez Crisis (Egypt), resistance to UK rule in Kenya, Israel massacres Palestinians, oppression in Nicaragua, autocracy in Jordan, Oman, racism in USA, oppression in Haiti, CIA in Iran, CIA plots assassination in Egypt, USA nuclear missiles and testing, France in North Africa, Saudi Arabia in Syria, UK in Yemen, USA troops in Lebanon, coup in Pakistan, USA and elections in Indonesia and Japan, coup in Iraq, CIA in Laos, uprising in Cuba, Belgium in Congo, UK in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Kenya, independence in Cyprus, CIA in Cambodia, Dalai Lama flees Tibet, USA actions in Haiti, Laos and Nepal....1960 to 1964
Race riots in USA, Aboriginies in Australia, oppression in Zimbabwe, Sharpville massacre in South Africa, France tests atom bomb in Sahara, rigged elections in South Korea, assassination in Congo, coup in Turkey, USA embargo against Cuba, independence in Madagascar, USA in Iraq, Kashmir, USA backed coups in Laos and Ecuador, UN condemns South Africa, USA backed invasion of Cuba fails, independence for Burkina Fasso, independent Kuwait set up by UK, assassination in Dominican Republic, USA in Vietnam, independence in Algeria, harassment of Cuba by USA, coup in Burma, CIA in Indonesia, USA and elections in Brazil and Dominican Republic, coup in Dominican Republic, USA race riots, assassination of Kennedy in USA, USA backed coup and assassination in South Vietnam, coup in Honduras, UK embargo on Indonesia, USA backed coup in Iraq, death squads set up in El Salvador, USA backed coup in Guatemala, Nelson Mandela imprisoned in South Africa, Europe in Congo, PLO founded, coup in Brazil, USA attacks North Vietnam, oppression in South Vietnam, political oppression in Zimbabwe, royal coup in Saudi Arabia, Greeks deported from Turkey, Rupert Murdoch, CIA in Bolivia, Panama dissidents shot by USA troops....1965 to 1969
Buildup of USA military in Vietnam, USA in Dominican Republic, race riots in USA, Israel attacks Palestinians, Coup and massacres in Indonesia, white independence in Rhodesia, elections in Nigeria, France in Guinea, language in India, coup in Zaire, USA military in Laos, Thailand and Peru, USA bomb Vietnam and Laos, Israel attacks Syria and Jordan, apartheid in Namibia, coups in Nigeria and Central Africa, France in Djibouti, Aborigine rights in Australia, USA backed coup in Ghana, CIA in Bolivia, rigged elections in Nicaragua, Vietnam, UK in Aden and Yemen, assassination of Che Guevara, war between Israel and Egypt and Syria, Biafra breaks away from Nigeria, coup in Greece, My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Rhodesia, Israel bombs Jordan, civil rights movement in USA, violence in Northern Ireland, USA in Marshall Islands, secret bombing of Cambodia, Israel in Suez, the Vietnam-USA war, military rule in Brazil, Indonesia annexes West Papua, chemical warfare by the USA....Between 1967 to 1969
Chemical Warfare (USA)
Between 1967 and 1969 the USA sprays Agent Orange over 23,607 acres (95km2) in the border region between North Korea and South Korea.Agent Orange is a defoliant and contains dioxin, a chemical producing cancer and genetic defects in babies.1970 to 1974
USA in Cambodia and South Vietnam, USA bombing of North Vietnam, biological warfare in Laos, dissidents shot in USA, death squads in Guatemala, Israel attacks Palestinians, coup in Bolivia, USA in Uruguay, Oman, Bangladesh breaks away from Pakistan, votes in Switzerland, UK in Northern Ireland, Israel in Gaza, coup in Thailand, elections in Indonesia, USA trades with China, USA in Laos, dictatorship in Uganda, dictatorship in Haiti, massacres in Vietnam, biological warfare in Cuba, "bloody Sunday" in Northern Ireland, dictatorship in Philippines, Cambodia, USA bombs North Vietnam, USA troops in Nicaragua, coup in El Salvador, civil war (Hutus and Tutsis) in Berundi, Israel bombs Lebanon, USA interferes in Australia, USA in Iraq, UK support for racist Rhodesia, coup in Chile, Palestinians, coup in Greece, Ilois expelled from Diego Garcia, USA bombs Cambodia, USA and Arab oil, Israel and the Palestinians, Turkey in Cyprus, embargo on Vietnam, military aid to Zaire, end of Halie Selassie's rule in Ethiopia, USA in Portugal....1975 to 1979
End of USA-Vietnam war, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, assassination in Saudi Arabia, race riots in USA, Indonesia in East Timor, dissidents arrested in India, coup in Bangladesh, Zaire, Israel in Lebanon, CIA actions in Iraq, Henry Kissinger and Chile, end of Franco's rule in Spain, Morocco invades Western Sahara, UK removes Australian government, coup in Argentina, massacres in Nicaragua, CIA in Jamaica and Cuba, repression in South Africa, Lebanon, coup in Thailand, Indonesia, terror in Philippines, Vietnam, coup in Pakistan, Chile, Steven Biko, Panama, aid to Egypt, military aid to Indonesia and Zaire, Israel in Lebanon, terror in Rhodesia, coup in Guatemala, South Africa in Angola, development, uprisings in Iran and Nicaragua, Rhodesia in Zambia, terror in Central Africa, USSR in Afghanistan, settlements in Palestine, Greeks in Turkey, coup in South Korea, USA and UK blockade of Vietnam, end of Pol Pot's rule in Cambodia, USA, France and UK vetos in UN, USA in Yemen....
After the 1979 Assasination of Korean Prez Park;
1979
Coup in South Korea
General Chun Doo-Hwan takes power in a coup in South Korea. His regime is armed and supported by the USA. One year later, the general orders the killing of hundreds of civilians in Kwangju.1980
South Korea
US-elected Korean Prez of 1980-1987 used military to Suppress Korean civilian opposition to pro-USA government.
Chun Doo Hwan, the USA backed leader of South Korea, uses military force to crush a demonstration by students and workers in Kwangju. The people were protesting against martial law, arrests of dissidents and their families, fraudulent elections and torture. The death toll is estimated in the thousands.
A spokesman from the USA State Department says: "Our situation, for better or worse, is that Korea is a treaty ally, and the USA has a very strong security interest in that part of the world". A year later, USA president, Ronald Reagan, would toast Chun with the words: "You've done much to strengthen the tradition of 5000 years' commitment to freedom". In 1996, a Korean court would convict Chun for the massacres in Kwangju.
1980 to 1984
South Africa in Angola, land rights in Brazil, terror killings in El Salvador, USA in Honduras, Israel raids Lebanon, Israeli settlements in Palestine, repression in South Africa, independence for New Hebrides, coup in Turkey, Iraq-Iran war begins, elections in Chile, coup in Liberia, USA aid to Haiti and Khmer Rouge, USA, France and UK vetoes, biological attack on Cuba, CIA in Italy, repression in South Korea, economic pressure on Tanzania, UK and USA vetoes, South Africa destabilises southern African states, South Africa in Seychelles, Israel in Lebanon, massacres in El Salvador, elections in Philippines, USA in Libya, assassination in Egypt, terror in Guatemala, USA blocks aid to South East Asia, massacres of Palestinians in Lebanon (Sabra and Chatilla), Palestine, dictatorship in Guatemala, white rule in Rhodesia, South Africa in Mozambique and Lesotho, USA aid to South Africa, CIA in Afghanistan, CIA in Iran and Chad, USA UN vetos, Israel, USA in Lebanon, USA destabilises Nicaragua, USA invades Granada, USA cuts aid to Zimbabwe, coups in Nigeria and Guatemala, massacre in East Timor, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, USA UN vetos, founding of NED, USA and UK in southern Africa, Israel in Lebanon, massacres of Kurds in Turkey, explosion in India, School of Americas, Argentina's dirty war, USA UN vetos, CIA in Suriname....
1985 to 1989
Human rights violations in South Africa, Israel in Tunisia and Lebanon, France tests nuclear bombs in the Pacific, terror in USA and Chad, USA in Honduras, USA vetoes, elected authority abolished in UK, France and ecology, USA destabilises Nicaragua, terror in South Africa, South Africa in southern Africa, Israel in Lebanon, USA attacks Libya, elections in Guatemala, end of Duvalier rule in Haiti, more USA vetoes in the UN, oppression in South Korea, Saudi Arabia shoots demonstrators, USA provokes Iran, Intifada in Palestine, Israel bombs Palestinians in Lebanon, coup in Fiji, USA, France and UK vetos in UN, USA bombs Iran, Kurds gassed in Iraq, terror in Burma, Palestine declares independence, Colombia, El Salvador and Turkey, the World Bank and Jamaica, Western companies in Asia, UK violates human rights in Hong Kong, end of dictatorship in Paraguay, El Salvador death squads, USA invades Panama, USA in Cambodia, Burma, USA provokes Libya, terror in Guatemala, trade with China, poverty and the "Free Market", USA vetos in UN, economy in Dominican Republic, Philippine elections, world poverty....
1989-In 1989 the tobacco industry in the USA asked their government to impose sanctions on Thailand unless the country removed restrictions on import of USA grown tobacco. They declared that the restrictions were a bar on free trade. Thailand had seen a decline in tobacco smoking after a fifteen year campaign. During the hearing, the USA declared that their tobacco was the best in the world. Thailand responded that "in the Golden Triangle we have some of the best products, but we never ask the principle of free trade to govern such products. In fact we supressed them".
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan had already been coerced in a similar way. Taiwan had managed to cut smoking until the threat of sanctions. The smoking rate went up by 10% after American tobacco was imported.
1990 to 1994
Release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Israel in Palestine, elections in Nicaragua, tribes in the Philippines, annulled elections in Burma, terror in El Salvador, human rights violations in Guatemala, USA military installations, USA and elections in Bulgaria, CIA in Germany, body part farms in Honduras, ethnic cleansing in Thailand, civil war in Yugoslavia, coup in Thailand, USA and UK and others attack Iraq, Yemenis in Saudi Arabia, Kurdish repression in Turkey, coup in Haiti, Aung San Suu Kyi, Indonesian massacres in East Timor, World Bank recommendations, USA bases in Philippines, civil war in Bosnia, USA in Somalia, expulsion of Palestinians by Israel, religious riots in India, terror in Turkey and Colombia, end of civil war in El Salvador, USA and elections in Albania and Angola, USA foreign policy, USA bombs Iraq, USA blockade of Cuba, massacres in Brazil, coup in Nigeria, end of apartheid in South Africa, torture in Israel, sexual attacks in Turkey, Thailand and Burma, Aboriginal land rights in Australia, terror in Bosnia, genocide in Rwanda, Russia in Chechnya, USA in Haiti, self rule for Palestine, rights of Palestinian refugees, export of electric shock instruments, terror in Turkey and Nigeria, debt repayments, UK aid and arms to Malaysia, dams financed by the World Bank, chemical and biological testing, USA aid to Colombia, Iran bribes Argentina, Burma...
1980's started Korean City Redevelopment
projects benefiting US Military
occupied territories in Korea lead to
Forced Koreans left homeless
and unable to afford expensive
High Rise Apartment Constructions;
1997-1998-1999 Massive Abuse
Mob Attacks of Korean Mob paid
to Force evacuate
Koreans in Yongsan-Itaewon
Neighborhoods criminalize
Korean civilians without any
intervention;
1995 to 1999
Repression of Kurds in Turkey, France explodes nuclear bombs in the Pacific, cultural vandalism and terror in Bosnia, settlements in Palestine, terror in Nigeria, discrimination in the UAE, World Trade Organisation founded, Taliban take power in Afghanistan, sanctions on Iraq, human rights violations in Indonesia, Indian terror in Kashmir, repression in Mexico, USA sanctions against Iran, Israel in Lebanon, repression of Palestinians by Israel, USA bombs Iraq, annulled elections in Serbia, land rights in Brazil, repression in Bahrain, setting up of Global Climate Coalition, terror and torture in Turkey, activities of the School of the Americas (USA), USA in space, child labour for Western companies, link between UK aid and arms sales, cheap labour in Haiti, tax avoidance by large corporations, slave labour in Burma, Australia and Indonesia in East Timor, terror in Kashmir, biological warfare in Cuba, USA and elections in Russia and Mongolia, Project for the New American Century, the USA avoids treaty obligations, Israel builds settlements in Palestine, killing in Rwanda, IMF in Haiti, Indonesia in East Timor, UK companies in Indonesia, South Africa and Colombia, repression in Turkey, sanction in Iraq, child labour in China for USA companies, treatment of native peoples in Australia, Massacres in Afganistan, massacres of Albanians in Kosovo, terror in Nigeria, WTO rules against Canada, Iraq bombed, USA bombing of Sudan, repression of Kurds in Turkey, religious persecution in Saudi Arabia, ecology, biopiracy, biological warfare in South Africa, terror in Indonesia and Guatemala, debt repayment, the arms trade, trade monopolies, terror and slave labour in Burma, USA and Vietnam, USA backed economic blockade of Cuba, coup in Pakistan, economic pressure by USA on Europe, Russia in Chechnya, USA and Central Asia, terror in Kosovo, UK and USA bombing of Iraq, Kuwait, terror in East Timor, Israel in Lebanon, IMF in Brazil, USA in Europe, discrimination against Roma in Czech Republic, death squads in Guatemala, USA departs from Panama....
1997 Korean Stock Crash makes Korea dependent on IMF
International Monetary Fund;
Much poverty in poorer countries is caused by import tariffs imposed on their manufactured or processed goods. The poorer countries are forced to sell just the raw materials to the richer countries rather than processed goods. In addition, many countries have enormous debts incurred by unelected dictators supported by the West and unelected by the populations who are now having to pay off the debt.
The president of France, Jacques Chirac, proposes that subsidies on goods sold to Africa should be suspended. The USA refuses.
A report in the UK newspaper The Guardian, states that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is causing increased hardship and inequality amongst poorer countries. Loans are made to countries under an average of 114 conditions. Countries are forced to remove trade barriers, sell national assets to foreign investors, slash social spending and crush trade unions.
The IMF favours large, expensive projects regardless of their appropriateness to local conditions. The IMF pays little heed to the social and environmental impact of the projects it finances, and that it often works through unelected dictatorships that channel benefits to themselves rather than those who need them, leaving their populations to foot the bill later.
The IMF lends money to countries on the condition that they implement a Structural Adjustment Program (SAP - also known as an Austerity Plan). Typically, a government is told to eliminate price controls or subsidies, devalue its currency or eliminate labour regulations like minimum wage laws. These are all actions whose costs are born by the poorer sections of a population whose usable incomes are cut.
Senegal's farmers used to get free fertiliser but this was stopped after pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Only 4% of the country's rice land is being used because of the loss of local subsidies. The price of groundnut oil used to be fixed and guaranteed by the state. After pressure from the World Bank, the industry was privatised and cheaper imports from France undercut the local producers. Tomato growers are being forced out of business by imports from Italy which receive subsidies of $400 million per year. Good quality local onions are being flooded by cheaper imports from the Netherlands which are often rejects from European supermarkets.
According to Oxfam, for every $1 in aid given to Senegal, $2 are lost from unfair trade. Flooding countries with cheap subsidised goods while denying these same countries the right to subsidise their own goods is a cause of much of the poverty in Africa.
In an apparent attempt to help, the USA has set up a series of trade preferences for countries in Africa. However, these are often tied with conditions like having to import yarn from the USA and enforcing USA business laws. These arrangements have been described by the International Monetary Fund as "unequal" and cost Africa up to $500 million per year.
"American taxpayers are financing the destruction of the livelihoods of millions of cotton farmers in Africa. The cotton barons of Texas and Alabama are getting huge subsidies and driving more efficient African farmers out of business".
In the poorer countries, 30,000 children die every day from HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria. Tuberculosis is a curable disease but kills 2 million children every year. Malaria (which can be prevented by the use of bed netting costing a few dollars) kills 1 million children every year.
Multinational companies (mainly from the G8 Nations) that make anti-AIDS drugs keep the prices artificially high, making it too expensive for the peoples of the poorer countries. The use of cheaper generic drugs is discouraged by threats of sanctions, especially from the USA. In 2001, the rich countries agreed that a waiver could be obtained to use generic drugs to fight medical emergencies. The USA insists that the waiver must be applied for to the World Trade Organisation for each case. Most poorer countries cannot afford to fight the might of the multi-national companies (likeUSA company GlaxoSmith Kline). In 2001 when there was an anthrax scare in the USA, the USA government forced the German company Bayerto half its prices for anthrax antidote. In contrast, the USA ignores the plight of 28 million Africans who are HIV positive to protect the profits of its own companies.
1998
Trade Monopolies
The USA pays a farming subsidy (from tax payers) of $15,000 million a year to large food producing companies. This results in overproduction of food which is used for economic and political purposes.
Food is given to South Korea under a Food For Peace program that has undermined its own agricultural base. South Korea (an extremely fertile country) now imports 90% of its food from the USA.
American companies (like the Cargill Corporation) control 70% of the world's trade in grain. In spite of this overproduction of food, 40,000 children under the age of five die of malnutrition every day in the world.
1998-To destroy the country's agricultural industry and make it dependenton imported food (from the USA). USA-dumping subsidized food.A Subsidy is money given by a population to large companies to help them stay in business or produce goods at a low cost. Subsidies are given names to obscure what they really are:
- Government subsidy,
- tax credit,
- export credits,
- tax holiday,
- tax incentive,
- tax concession
- bail-out to save jobs,
- business incentive,
- research grants in the case of arms and pharmaceutical.
Surplusses of these goods can then be used politically. They are often sold cheaply to the poorer countries. This has the effect of putting the local produces or growers of these goods out of business. This is called dumping.
No Western country is ever accused of "hindering free trade" in the Western media even though they impose tariffs on goods from poorer countries and subsidise their own industries.
2001-
Nike uses subcontractors in Vietnam so that it can legally evade responsibility for local conditions. However, the company dictates the price of shoes and also the cost of operation to its subcontractors. This forces them to set high quotas for their workers and to pay low wages. It has been estimated that the labour cost involved in making one pair of Nike shoes is only $3. These may then sell for over $100 in the USA and Europe.
Other plants utilising cheap labour are in China, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea. Nike, admits to its shareholders that it has used child labour in Vietnam as well as in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Cambodia.
Philip Knight, the founder of Nike, is reputed to be worth $5,400 million. The 1992 promotional fee to basketball player, Michael Jordan was $20 million, more than was paid to the workforce in Indonesia making Nike products.
2002
The USA and the "Axis of Evil"
The USA threatens to attack countries it considers part of an "axis of evil". These countries include Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Cuba andSudan. These countries are accused of sponsoring terrorism and amassing weapons of mass destruction.
The USA military budget for 2001 was $ 343,000 million. This is 69% greater than that of the next five highest nations combined. Russia, which has the second largest military budget, spends less than one sixth of the USA budget. The above named "axis of evil" states spend $ 14,400 million combined (4% of the USA budget) with more than half of this amount accounted for by Iran.
None of the "axis" countries is under USA political control.
Ignacio Ramonet, writing for the French newspaper, La Monde states that USA "military domination is now absolute. And the punishment it has inflicted on Afghanistan warns all other countries: anyone opposing the USA will be isolated, devoid of allies, and exposed to the real danger of being bombed back to the stone age. A list of the likely targets has now been publicly announced in the USA press: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, North Korea."
In a speech at West Point on 1 June the USA president said there were 60 countries that were potential targets for regime change
2000 to 2005
Israeli occupation of Palestine, Israel withdraws from Lebanon, suspicious election in USA and Kirgizistan, discrimination against Roma, terror in Honduras, violence in Indonesia, violence in Zimbabwe, cultural violence in Afghanistan, human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, UK conflicts of interest, drug deaths in UK and worldwide, Pollution in India, oppression in Afghanistan, terror in Colombia, discrimination in Saudi Arabia, USA provocation of China, Israeli occupation of Palestine, unreported oppression in China, USA use of UN veto, sanctions in Iraq, USA treaties, USA and Israel boycotts, International Criminal Court, oil and Afghanistan, terror in USA and its aftermath, war in Afghanistan, terror in Palestine, terror in Nigeria, exploitation in Sudan, exploited labour for USA companies, WTO activities, European discrimination against Roma, UK arms trade, elections in Chad, Western companies in Asia and Africa, Peru, USA and international treaties, International Monetary Fund, India in Kashmir, USA in Afganistan, Israel in Palestine, Botswana's Kalahari Bushmen, spying on China, Vatican City ethics, pollution in China, assassination in Angola, Western companies and Human Rights, Swiss company and scientific information, health for rich and poor countries, European fishing near Africa, USA nuclear waste, Turkish dam, UK bank and ecology, attempted coup in Venezuela, Italian media, USA trade barriers, International Criminal Court, human rights in Bahrain and Burma, USA plans for Iraq, East Timor independence, Sudan, UK arms trade, nuclear lobby, the USA and the "Axis of Evil", coffee trade in Africa, Pakistan elections, Nazi publisher, Russia and Chechnya, Yemen, Lebanese water, USA in South Korea, Buildup to war in Iraq, Palestine / Israel, Rachel Corrie, Algeria, Afghanistan, nuclear energy, non-ethical products, USA foreign policy, USA nuclear weapons, North Korea, Romanys in Slovakia, International Criminal Court, USA-UK war in Iraq, human rights around the world, dam in Belize, Congo, Australia, UK and Northern Ireland, Zimbabwe, free speech in USA, tobacco use, the occupation of Iraq, Spain, companies in apartheid South Africa, Aceh (Indonesia), genetically modified crops, Palestinian mission in Iraq, the war on terror, economy in Africa, Burma, pharmaceutical companies, Kurds in Turkey, India and Kashmir, Kenya, Russia and Chechnya, pipeline in Peru, Morocco, Idi Amin, Colombia, UK arms trade, Serbia, world trade, Uzbekistan, Iran, USA and European safety laws, Bolivia, Kuwait, Regime change in Haiti, Afghanistan under occupation, undemocratic Saudi Arabia, Spain and its media, economic coersion against Syria, the UK and climate, destabilisation of Venezuela, repression in Chechnya, Equatorial Guinea and the West, Kurdistan, Turkey and the EU, USA foreign policy, The USA-UK occupation of Iraq; nuclear dumping in Kyrgyzstan; Palestine; effects of pollution; USA detention of foreigners; Western companies in Sudan, women in Aghanistan, the arms trade, Haiti, Nigeria, Jews and Chechens in Russia, partial elections in Saudi Arabia, Kurds in Turkey, human rights in UK, Gana and Gwi in Botswana...
2006 to 2009
Iraq under USA-UK occupation, Pakistan bombed, Syria bombed, USA and human rights, UK and human rights, Palestine under siege and attack, war in Congo, Somalia, occupation of Afghanistan, Lebanon, water, Cuba, Chechnya, Haiti...
........
Kyongbok Palace dates from 1392.The palace was founded by King Taejo who invented the rain gauge and the Korean alphabet.
Hyangwonjeong Pavilion was built in 1873.
Jagyeongjeon Hall is the last queen's apartments.
-----------------
Changdok Palace
The main hall of Changdok Palace was built in 1405 and was used for coronations.
The entrance to the conference halls.
Conference halls with blue tiles signifying royalty. The roof animals are for protection.
Ondol chimney for traditional Korean underfloor heating.
The command post of the 2000 year old fortress of Namhansansong was built in 1624.
The Namhansansong walls of the fortress are 16km long and date from 1626.
*city of Kongju is also the hometown of Baseball Legend; Park Chahn-Hoeh
who was unnecessarily-hard-tagged
during LA Dodgers Game; to which Baseball Legend Park
asked, "Why" to the "opposing teammate who unnecessarily
hard-tagged his chest"; Baseball Legend Park Chahn-Hoeh
Taekwondo Side Kicked the opposing teammate
who replied in "Discriminative Slurs" to which Baseball Legend Park
took offense.
City of Kongju; Shilla Kingdom site;
Lotus bricks lining the tomb of King Munyong (d 523 AD) in Kongju.
Chomsongdae is Asia's oldest observatory (646 AD) Kyongju. There are 12 stones along the base; 30 layers and a total of 366 stones.
One of the 20 tombs at Tumuli Park in Kyongju. Rulers of the Silla Dynasty were buried here with their treasures.
Jewellry found in the tomb of Chonma (5th century AD) in Tumuli Park, Kyongju.
Punhwangsa Temple in Kyongju.
The tomb of Kim Yu Shin (who united Korea in 7th century) has the signs of the Zodiac carved along its base.
The 3m high Tripple Buddha dates from the 7th century (Kyongju).
The gardens of the Pulguk Sa Temple (founded 528 AD), Kyongju.
The Pulguk Sa Temple in Kyongju.
The Paekje style pagoda at the Pulguk Sa Temple (Kyongju).
Baekje Kingdom remainder in city, Kyongju (aka gohng-Jew; hometown
of Baseball Legend Park Chahn-Hoeh)
The 18m high Kwan Juk Buddha is made from three pieces of granite (968 AD) and is near city Taejon.
Crimes against Koreans from 1910-1953 to modern day 2013 keeps hushed;
on the other hand, the same fate of Koreans faced by
1937Nanking massacre victims
and
this 1968 MyLai,Vietnam Massacre
is publicized.
Keep in mind that same War-Crimes-
of both 1937Nanking Massacre in China and 1968 MyLai Massacre in Vietnam
were done to Koreans from 1910-1953 leaving many haunted generations
of Koreans feeling 'unworthy' due to crimes on generations of Koreans.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/my_lai_massacre.htm
Quote; Continuing the abuse on enslaved Koreans from 1910-1945 by Jap;
US Military 1945-1953 used Korean Peninsula as a military
Napalm-Genocide-practice-training-territory for US's
entry into Vietnam War.
In contrast to Fire-Arm-Equipped-Vietnamese-during Vietnam War Photographs of injured US Military personnel, one notes the leisure-US Military photos during US Military occupation of unarmed- KOREA from 1945-1953 and present time 2013.
Note that 1910-1945 Jap establishments in Korea during enslavement of Koreans were
continued by US Military from 1945 to present 2013 US Military occupation of KOREA.
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai massacre is probably one of the most infamous events of the Vietnam War. The My Lai massacre took place on March 16th 1968.
My Lai was a village of about 700 inhabitants some 100 miles to the southeast of the US base of Danang. Shortly after dawn on March 16th, three platoons of US troops from C Company, 11th Brigade, arrived in the Son My area having been dropped off by helicopters. 1 Platoon was commanded by Lieutenant William Calley and was ordered to My Lai village. They were part of Task Force Barker – the codename for a search and destroy mission. They had been told to expect to find members of theNLF (called Vietcong or VC by the US soldiers) in the vicinity as the village was in an area where the NLF had been very active.
When the troops from 1 Platoon moved through the village they started to fire at the villagers. These were women, children and the elderly as the young men had gone to the paddy fields to work. Sergeant Michael Bernhardt, who was at My Lai, was quoted in 1973 as stating that he saw no one who could have been considered to be of military age. He also stated that the US troops in My Lai met no resistance. An army photographer, Ronald Haeberie, witnessed a US soldier shoot two young boys who he believed were no more than five years of age. Other photos taken at the scene of the massacre show bodies of what can only be very young children.
Those who returned to the village claimed that it took three days to bury the bodies. They were later to report that some of the children had their throats cut and that some of the bodies had not just been shot but had also been mutilated.
What happened at My Lai only came to public light in November 1969 when a US soldier, Paul Meadlo, was interviewed on television and admitted killing “ten of fifteen men, women and children” at My Lai. His admission caused much shock and a great deal of pressure was put on the US military to launch an investigation. In fact, the US military was already aware of the allegations and had launched an investigation in April 1969, some six months before the public was made aware of what had gone on. It soon became clear that many hundreds of villagers had been killed. The actual number killed was never established but it was officially put as no less than 175 while it could have been as high as 504. The two most common figures put on casualties are 347 and 504. The memorial at My Lai itself lists 504 names with ages that range from one to eighty-two years. An official US army investigation came out with the figure of 347.
Though a number of US soldiers were charged, all with the exception of Lieutenant William Calley, were acquitted. Calley was sentenced to life in prison with hard labour. He served three years before he was released. However, Calley had his supporters and many believed that he was simply following orders. His defence, which was initially rejected, was that he was there in My Lai to hunt out communists and to destroy communism and that he was only carrying out his orders that were to hunt out the NLF. ‘The Battle Hymn of William Calley’, a record in support of Calley, sold over 200,000 copies.
Seymour Hersh, a journalist who was one of the first men to report the massacre to the public believed that Calley was “as much a victim as the people he shot.”
Calley himself commented about the reactions of his men in 1 Platoon at My Lai:
“When my troops were getting massacred and mauled by an enemy I couldn’t see, an enemy I couldn’t feel, I couldn’t touch…………nobody in the military system ever described them anything other than Communist.”
Why did the soldiers in My Lai react as they did?
After three years in Vietnam, the US Army knew that anyone could be a NLF fighter or sympathiser – regardless or age or gender. Invariably everyone in the villages of South Vietnam wore the same style clothing, so no one could be sure who was who in terms of the enemy. All US soldiers knew that any patrol they were sent on could be their last or that they might suffer horrendous injuries as a result of the NLF booby traps that littered South Vietnam. The stress of simply doing what they had to do may well have become too much for the troops who were in My Lai on March 16th 1968. In their first few weeks in Vietnam the men in ‘Charlie Company’ had not experienced many problems with regards to fighting. However, after this settling period had ended, they, along with thousands of other US troops, began to experience life as a fighting soldier in South Vietnam. Within days of going on patrol, ‘Charlie Company’ had lost five men killed to booby traps and in the lead up to the massacre at My Lai others had been wounded by these unseen weapons.
One soldier who was at My Lai, Varnado Simpson, stated in December 1969:
“Everyone who went into the village had in mind to kill. We had lost a lot of buddies and it was a VC stronghold. We considered them either VC or helping the VC.”
Sergeant Isaiah Cowen stated in December 1969 that the men who arrived by helicopter in Son My had been told that everyone there was ‘VC’:
“He (a captain) stated that everything that was there was VC or VC sympathisers. There was no doubt in my men’s mind that they (the people in My Lai) were VC.”
Philip Caputo, a US Marine, also accused of murdering innocent Vietnamese civilians, wrote later that it was the nature of the war being fought in Vietnam that was to blame for so many civilians being killed:
“In a guerrilla war, the line between legitimate and illegitimate killing is blurred. The policies of free-fire zones, in which a soldier is permitted to shoot at any human target, armed or unarmed, further confuse the fighting man’s moral senses.”
1969 TIME Magazine Article.
1969 TIME Magazine Article.
Quote:
IT passed without notice when it occurred in mid-March 1968, at a time when the war news was still dominated by the siege of Khe Sanh. Yet the brief action at My Lai, a hamlet in Viet Cong-infested territory 335 miles northeast of Saigon, may yet have an impact on the war. According to accounts that suddenly appeared on TV and in the world press last week, a company of 60 or 70 U.S. infantrymen had entered My Lai early one morning and destroyed its houses, its livestock and all the inhabitants that they could find in a brutal operation that took less than 20 minutes. When it was over, the Vietnamese dead totaled at least 100 men, women and children, and perhaps many more. Only 25 or so escaped, because they lay hidden under the fallen bodies of their relatives and neighbors.
So far, the tale of My Lai has only been told by a few Vietnamese survivors—all of them pro-V.C.—and half a dozen American veterans of the incident. Yet military men privately concede that stories of what happened at My Lai are essentially correct. If so, the incident ranks as the most serious atrocity yet attributed to American troops in a war that is already well known for its particular savagery. Rather Dark and Bloody. The My Lai incident might never have come to light. The only people who reported it at the time were the Viet Cong, who passed out leaflets publicizing the slaughter. To counter the V.C. accusation, regarded as standard propaganda, the U.S. Army launched a cursory field investigation, which "did not support" the charges. What put My Lai on the front pages after 20 months was the conscience of Richard Ridenhour, 23, a former SP4 who is now a student at Claremont Men's College in Claremont, Calif. A Viet Nam veteran, Ridenhour had known many of the men in the outfit involved at My Lai. It was C Company of the Americal Division's 11 th Infantry Brigade. Ridenhour did not witness the incident himself, but he kept hearing about it from friends who were there. He was at first disbelieving, then deeply disturbed. Last March—a year after the slaughter—he sent the information he had pieced together in 30 letters, addressed them to the President, several Congressmen and other Washington officials. Ridenhour's letter led to a new probe—and to formal charges. Last month, just two days before he was to be released from the Army, charges of murdering "approximately 100" civilians at My Lai were preferred against one of C Company's platoon leaders, 1st Lieut. William Laws Calley Jr., a 26-year-old Miamian now stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. Last week Staff Sergeant David Mitchell, a 29-year-old career man from St. Francisville, La., became the second My Lai veteran to be charged (with assault with intent to commit murder). The Army has another 24 men (15 of whom are now civilians) under investigation. If the accounts of others who have spoken out publicly stand up, C Company, as Ridenhour wrote, is indeed involved in "something rather dark and bloody" at My Lai. Before the massacre, My Lai was a poor hamlet in Quang Ngai province, whose low, marshy coastal plains had been—and still are—a base for the Viet Cong 48th Battalion. My Lai was a "fortified" hamlet whose bricked-up houses served as bunkers for marauding V.C. cadres, and was known to the G.I.s in the area as "Pinkville." Company arrived in Viet Nam in February 1968, and was assigned to Task Force Barker, a three-company search-and-destroy unit located a few miles from the hamlet at a firebase on Viet Nam Highway No. 1. Almost from the moment it arrived, C Company suffered daily casualties. Most of the mayhem was caused by mines and booby traps, and they were particularly plentiful in and around My Lai. By mid-March, the company, had lost a third of its original strength of more than 100 men. One day, a 155 mm. shell rigged as a booby trap killed one and injured four or five others. As Sergeant Michael B. Terry, 22, recalled it last week, "that really bothered the guys." Evidently so. Some of the men in the unit later beat up an innocent woman whom they spotted in a field. The beating ended, said Terry, when "one kid just walked up to her and shot her." The next morning, on orders whose origin is still unclear, C Company took on a special assignment. It was described last week by Sergeant Michael A. Bernhardt, another C Company veteran. At Fort Dix, N.J., he went before TV cameras accompanied by a base press officer. As Bernhardt told it, the company commander (Captain Ernest Medina, now stationed at Fort Benning) assembled hk men and announced that the Task Force was to destroy My Lai and its inhabitants. The Kid Just Couldn't. According to the survivors, who spoke to newsmen last week at their shabby refugee camp at nearby Son My, the operation was grimly efficient. The inhabitants, who had a long record of sheltering Viet Cong, scrambled for cover around 6 a.m. when an hour-long mortar and artillery barrage began. When it stopped, helicopters swooped in, disgorging C Company's three platoons. One platoon tore into the hamlet, while the other two threw a cordon around the place. "My family was eating breakfast, when the Americans came," said Do Chuc, a 48-year-old peasant who claims to have lost a son and a daughter in the shooting that followed. "Nothing was said to us," he said. "No explanation was given." The first G.I.s to enter the hamlet were led by Lieut. Calley, a slight, 5-ft. 3-in. dropout (with four Fs) from Palm Beach Junior College who enlisted in the Army in 1966 and was commissioned in 1967. Some of Calley's men raced from house to house, setting the wooden ones ablaze and dynamiting the brick structures. Others routed the inhabitants out of their bunkers and herded them into groups. Some of them tried to run, said Bernhardt, but "the rest couldn't quite understand what was going on." Sergeant Terry saw a young C Company soldier train an M-60 on the first group of huddled villagers, "but the kid just couldn't do it. He threw the machine gun down." Another man picked it up. As Ridenhour described it, one of his C Company friends was stunned by the fate of a small wounded boy who had been standing by the hamlet trail. "The boy was clutching his wounded arm with his other hand, while blood trickled between his fingers," Ridenhour wrote. "He just stood there with big eyes staring around like he didn't understand. Then the captain's RTO [radio operator] put a burst of 16 [M16 rifle] fire into him." Lunch Break. Few were spared. Stragglers were shot down as they fled from their burning huts. One soldier fired his M-79 grenade launcher into a clump of bodies in which some Vietnamese were still alive. One chilling incident was observed by Ronald L. Haeberle, 28, the Army combat photographer who had been assigned to C Company.* He saw "two small children, maybe four or five years old. A guy with an M-16 fired at the first boy, and the older boy fell over to protect the smaller one. Then they fired six more shots. It was done very businesslike." Most of the shooting had died down by the time the men of the other two platoons filed into the hamlet. Sergeant Terry told newsmen that he and his squad were settling down for some chow when they noticed that some Vietnamese in a pile of bodies in a nearby ditch "were still breathing." Continued Terry: "They were pretty badly shot up. They weren't going to get any medical help, and so we shot them, shot maybe five of them." Then they broke for lunch. Not all of C Company took part in the madness. At My Lai, Ridenhour reported, one soldier shot himself in the foot so that he would be Medevacked out of the area. A few others, himself included, says Bernhardt, refused to fire. That evening, he said, his company commander told him "not to do anything like write my Congressman." Many questions about My Lai remain unanswered. Who had ordered the attack on the hamlet, which was apparently designated as a "free-fire" zone? What exactly were the orders? The answers may come out in a court-martial; Fort Benning Commander Major General Orwin Talbott is expected to announce a decision this week on whether Lieut. Galley is to be tried. Even so, time has already erased much of the evidence. Outrage Again. There have been other American atrocities in Viet Nam. Ten Marines were prosecuted in 1967 after a nighttime rampage in Xuan Ngoc in which two women were raped and a family of five killed. Daniel Lang's Casualties of War describes the kidnap-rape-murder of a young girl by four G.I.s in 1966. Yet such incidents are only a small part of the mosaic of brutality for which both sides are responsible. Terror is a principal Viet Cong tactic. So far this year, by actual count, the Communists have killed 5,754 civilians, wounded 14,520 others and kidnaped 5,887. The allies have taken to such tactics too, though on a more limited scale. Under the so-called Phoenix program, the U.S. and South Viet Nam last year began a struggle to break the Viet Cong infrastructure of tax collectors and other officials. In its first year, according to the Pentagon, Phoenix "neutralized" more than 14,000 Communist civilians—meaning captured them, converted them to the allied side—or killed them as they tried to escape capture. Some antiwar partisans in the U.S. seized on the event to support their theme. Senator George McGovern suggested that the massacre was the result of "the futility and uselessness of this war." But Americans and others have committed brutal acts in other wars as well, wars with a deeper outline and purpose. Some critics abroad glibly started making comparisons with Nazi atrocities. Such comparisons are obviously spurious, if only because Lidice and Babi Yar were caused by a deliberate national policy of terror, not by the aberrations of soldiers under stress. Still, it will not be easy for Americans to come to terms with Pinkville. It sears the generous and humane image, more often deserved than not, of the U.S. as a people. Whatever else may come to light about Pinkville in the weeks ahead, the tragedy shows that the American soldier carries no immunity against the cruelty and inhumanity of prolonged combat. |
