Oscar Jr. Was Here

Fun with Google: Alleged American War Crimes

Tonight, we meet teacher of cultural history at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore and North American Coordinator for Women for Mutual Security Lenora Foerstel and International ANSWER "Coalition Co-Signer":

Ms. Foerstel's alternative version of the U.S.'s military history since WWII, published January 26, 2002, is here:

Excerpts:

The royal family in Kuwait was used by the United States government to justify a massive assault on Iraq in order to establish permanent dominion over the Gulf. The Gulf War was begun not to protect Kuwait but to establish US power over the region and its oil.6 In 1990, General Schwarzkopf had testified before the Senate that it was essential for the U.S. to increase its military presence in the Gulf in order to protect Saudi Arabia. However, satellite photos showed no Iraqi troops near the Saudi Border.

and

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, the U.S. has waged a merciless war against the Afghan people, using chemical, biological and depleted uranium (DU) weapons. The use of DU continues to spread radiation throughout large parts of Afghanistan and will affect tens of thousands of people in generations to come, causing lung cancer, leukemia and birth defects. DU was also used against Iraq and Yugoslavia, where the frequency of cancer has tripled.

The bombing of the Afghan population has forced thousands of civilians to flee to Pakistan and Iran, and seven to eight million civilians are facing starvation. UNICEF spokesman Eric Larlcke has stated, "As many as 100,000 more children will die in Afghanistan this winter unless food reaches them in sufficient quantities in the next six weeks."10

The racist underpinnings of the American world-view allows the American press and its political leaders to be silent on the mass killing of Third World children. Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, has stated that the U.S. is not looking to negotiate peace with the Taliban and Al-Quida in Afghanistan.

I've found no retraction or correction of the above post.

Here's an early description of the refugee situation:

REFUGEE RETURNS TO AFGHANISTAN LARGEST IN 30 YEARS, UN AGENCY SAYS Source: UN News, 03.09.02

The more than 1.6 million Afghans who have returned home since March constitute the largest single refugee repatriation in 30 years, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.

According to a spokesman for the UN agency, more than 1.63 million people have returned to Afghanistan over the past six months. By adding the estimates of spontaneous returns since late 2001, more than 1.9 million Afghans have repatriated to the war-torn country.
[...]
Thousands of Afghan refugees continue to repatriate daily, although the pace from Pakistan has been rapidly declining, the spokesman said. "There has, however, been an increase in returns from Iran," Mr. Redmond said. "Considering the state of Afghanistan's infrastructure and the security problems that still affect many areas, this is an astonishing number."

August saw the lowest number of refugees going back under the joint UNHCR-Afghan Transitional Authority repatriation operation that began in March. Over 196,000 returned home last month - less than half the more than 412,000 refugees who went back in May when the repatriation reached its peak.

In all, more than 1.44 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan, according to Mr. Redmond, while the total number of assisted returns from Iran stood at over 180,000 plus an additional 55,000 spontaneous returnees since April. Meanwhile, some 10,000 Afghans have gone back from the Central Asian states with UNHCR assistance.

UNHCR estimates that 2 million Afghans will return home this year, although the number of refugees and other Afghans still outside the country is difficult to assess because of the large number of migrant workers in countries like Pakistan and Iran, Mr. Redmond said.

One might think that the North American Coordinator for Women for Mutual Security would appreciate seeing this:

I do. Do you think they, too, find America racist?

Posted by oscarjr at February 21, 2003 12:31 AM | TrackBack