There was no commemoration on 9/11 of two other anniversaries on that date.
Most of us didn't realize or forgot that former Chilean President Salvatore Allende died on this date in 1973. We also failed to remember an important milestone in the life of Mahatma Gandhi. On September 11, 1906, Ghandi's philosophy of passive resistance-- later used so famously in the fight for India's independence-- was first employed in Johannasberg against an apartheid ordinance. The unvarnished truth about the importance of 9/11, I think, is the prescient analysis of that date and its aftermath written by the late Susan Sontag.
Ghandi's WMD was the Weapon of Mass Disobedience. Remembering his attempt to mediate the fractiousness within the international community by the use of his WMD might help dissipate the rancor felt by all. We live in world where the social pathology described with apt symbolism in Camus' The Plague, or Saramago's Blindness is truth rather than fiction.
In another time, the Pope would worked diplomatically to encourage a dialogue among the factions. Yet after his recent remarks at Regensburg University, he all but kamikazed the Vatican's role in international affairs.
The bromide "Might Makes Right" doesn't intimidate in the age of suicide bombers. It infuriates. President Bush's position of no bilateral negotiation with North Korea, Iran and Syria absent impossible conditions precedent means no negotiation at all.
John Wayne and the "mine is bigger than yours" mentality and swagger lost its panache with the Gipper.
Salvatore Allende was the duly elected President of Chile. In 1973, he was overthrow by a coup instigated by the CIA during the presidency of Richard Nixon. The reason for his overthrow was quite simple. Allende was a Social Democrat.
Allende's aim was to implement a moderate policy of wealth redistribution. The Chilean oligarchy didn't agree and with the help of the military, Allende was toppled. He died during the coup on September 11, 1973.
The American government thought it would have the same egg worn on its face when Fidel rose to power and allied with the Soviet bloc. However, from what I've studied, Allende wasn't moving in that direction. As it turned out, his successor was a Military Council led by the infamous strong-man General Augusto Pinochet.
Pinochet's military regime is now known for human rights abuses, both at home and abroad. Pinochet mimicked the veniality of his American benefactors by engaging in public corruption for personal enrichment. He was the love child of economic conservatives, dubbed by Milton Friedman the "Miracle Worker of Latin America".
The American government turned a blind eye to the measures Pinochet used to remain in power. It isn't known exactly how many people were killed by government and military forces during the 17 years he was in power, but it has been estimated at 2,100 deaths and 1,100 "disappearances." The vast majority of victims came from the opposition to Pinochet, and was carried out at the hands of the state security apparatus.
Torture was commonly used against dissidents. Thousands of Chileans were expelled from and fled the country to escape the regime. In 2004, the National Commission on Political Prisoners and Torture, after interviewing an estimated 35,000 people alleged to be victims of abuse, concluded approximately 28,000 of those allegations were legitimate. The Commission also found more than half of the arrests occurred in the months immediately following the coup.
Pinochet was indicted by the Spanish government, arrested and released by the British government due to failing health. Finally, he was arrested and prosecuted by Chilean authorities but his poor health led to the abandonment of his further prosecution.
Thugs like Pinochet,other human right violators, and remaining Nazi war criminals should be tried in absentia so those living victims can receive some degree of closure. There are those who think President Bush may, in the not so distance future, be included among them.
Allende and Pinochet both have comtemporary relevance. Hugo Chavez could meet the same fate as Allende. The CIA may right now be working to overthrow or help set the stage for a military coup of his regime.
Nearly pushed out of office in 2002, Chavez's "crime" was an attempt to nationalize the world's fifth largest oil industry. His overthrow, however, was stopped by "the people out of doors." As a response to the attempted coup millions of poor Venezuleans took to the streets in a show of solidarity and support for their President.
On the other hand, our "democratization" of Iraq has left 130,00 dead civilians. The Bush Administration said the Geneva Accord prohibitions against torture didn't apply. The Supreme Cout said it does apply. The Senate now agrees the Accord is applicable in cases of mulitalion, rape, or death. Shame on former-POW Senator John McCain and those other senators who have rescinded the right of habeas corpus--the right to security in our homes and againist arbitrary arrest.
The 2006 Commission approved by the House of Representatives was met by criticism by USA International Director Larry Cox. " Without further clarification the legislation leaves loopholes big enough to drive a Humvee through...." Without additional clarity, the proposed agreement betrays American values of justice and long-held agreements and obligations on basic humane treatment. There can be no compromise for torture.
The so-called compromise bill signed by the President permits "court-stripping" provisions that prevent detainees in U.S. custody anywhere around the world from challenging the legality of their detention or their treatment, i.e. a denial of habeas corpus. The non-combatant language also applies to American civilians in the United States. Moreover, innocent detainees can be locked up forever, without ever having a chance to have their case reviewed by an independent court. The provisions of this law sends a message to Iraq and other terrorist states that our democracy is a sham. We are no better than our terrorist enemies since the very abusive practices we accuse them of committing are the very same abuses we utilize by for the very same means--torture. This
Ghandi's WMD was the Weapon of Mass Disobedience. Remembering his attempt to mediate the fractiousness within the international community by the use of his WMD might help dissipate the rancor felt by all. We live in world where the social pathology described with apt symbolism in Camus' The Plague, or Saramago's Blindness is truth rather than fiction.
In another time, the Pope would worked diplomatically to encourage a dialogue among the factions. Yet after his recent remarks at Regensburg University, he all but kamikazed the Vatican's role in international affairs.
The bromide "Might Makes Right" doesn't intimidate in the age of suicide bombers. It infuriates. President Bush's position of no bilateral negotiation with North Korea, Iran and Syria absent impossible conditions precedent means no negotiation at all.
John Wayne and the "mine is bigger than yours" mentality and swagger lost its panache with the Gipper.
Salvatore Allende was the duly elected President of Chile. In 1973, he was overthrow by a coup instigated by the CIA during the presidency of Richard Nixon. The reason for his overthrow was quite simple. Allende was a Social Democrat.
Allende's aim was to implement a moderate policy of wealth redistribution. The Chilean oligarchy didn't agree and with the help of the military, Allende was toppled. He died during the coup on September 11, 1973.
The American government thought it would have the same egg worn on its face when Fidel rose to power and allied with the Soviet bloc. However, from what I've studied, Allende wasn't moving in that direction. As it turned out, his successor was a Military Council led by the infamous strong-man General Augusto Pinochet.
Pinochet's military regime is now known for human rights abuses, both at home and abroad. Pinochet mimicked the veniality of his American benefactors by engaging in public corruption for personal enrichment. He was the love child of economic conservatives, dubbed by Milton Friedman the "Miracle Worker of Latin America".
The American government turned a blind eye to the measures Pinochet used to remain in power. It isn't known exactly how many people were killed by government and military forces during the 17 years he was in power, but it has been estimated at 2,100 deaths and 1,100 "disappearances." The vast majority of victims came from the opposition to Pinochet, and was carried out at the hands of the state security apparatus.
Torture was commonly used against dissidents. Thousands of Chileans were expelled from and fled the country to escape the regime. In 2004, the National Commission on Political Prisoners and Torture, after interviewing an estimated 35,000 people alleged to be victims of abuse, concluded approximately 28,000 of those allegations were legitimate. The Commission also found more than half of the arrests occurred in the months immediately following the coup.
Pinochet was indicted by the Spanish government, arrested and released by the British government due to failing health. Finally, he was arrested and prosecuted by Chilean authorities but his poor health led to the abandonment of his further prosecution.
Thugs like Pinochet,other human right violators, and remaining Nazi war criminals should be tried in absentia so those living victims can receive some degree of closure. There are those who think President Bush may, in the not so distance future, be included among them.
Allende and Pinochet both have comtemporary relevance. Hugo Chavez could meet the same fate as Allende. The CIA may right now be working to overthrow or help set the stage for a military coup of his regime.
Nearly pushed out of office in 2002, Chavez's "crime" was an attempt to nationalize the world's fifth largest oil industry. His overthrow, however, was stopped by "the people out of doors." As a response to the attempted coup millions of poor Venezuleans took to the streets in a show of solidarity and support for their President.
On the other hand, our "democratization" of Iraq has left 130,00 dead civilians. The Bush Administration said the Geneva Accord prohibitions against torture didn't apply. The Supreme Cout said it does apply. The Senate now agrees the Accord is applicable in cases of mulitalion, rape, or death. Shame on former-POW Senator John McCain and those other senators who have rescinded the right of habeas corpus--the right to security in our homes and againist arbitrary arrest.
The 2006 Commission approved by the House of Representatives was met by criticism by USA International Director Larry Cox. " Without further clarification the legislation leaves loopholes big enough to drive a Humvee through...." Without additional clarity, the proposed agreement betrays American values of justice and long-held agreements and obligations on basic humane treatment. There can be no compromise for torture.
The so-called compromise bill signed by the President permits "court-stripping" provisions that prevent detainees in U.S. custody anywhere around the world from challenging the legality of their detention or their treatment, i.e. a denial of habeas corpus. The non-combatant language also applies to American civilians in the United States. Moreover, innocent detainees can be locked up forever, without ever having a chance to have their case reviewed by an independent court. The provisions of this law sends a message to Iraq and other terrorist states that our democracy is a sham. We are no better than our terrorist enemies since the very abusive practices we accuse them of committing are the very same abuses we utilize by for the very same means--torture. This is not surrealistic. This is reality, the "Times they a are Changing," but not in the way members of our generation had hoped. We protested, were jailed,fell victim to police bruality, and died fighting an unjust war in the battlefields of Vietnam and the streets of our own country.
We were heros then. There are many more heroes Bush's torture policy has spit upon. They include our Founding Father's whose enlightenment brought about the Bill of Rights, and the dedicated men and women who fought and died for a just cause--to preserve our freedom and liberty.