Lessons of History

Lasting Pain, Minimal Punishment:

"It became as dark as night. My tears overflowed in both eyes," said Huynh, now 77. "I rushed back and informed the community here. I was running back, crying all the way. My eyes were full of tears, so I could not see my way."

A Tortured Past:

"If they'd really taken action about the bad apples and been honest about it … then they wouldn't be arguing about Abu Ghraib and different places today."

"Why do they hate us?"

Hiroshima?
Nagasaki?
Overthrow of Iran's Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1952?
The installation of the murderous Shah of Iran, 'King of Kings' and 'Light of the Aryans'?
The brutishly savage 'SAVAK' secret police, American trained?
The 'School of the Americas' Coup and Torture College?
Vietnam?
Cambodia?
Laos?
Operation Phoenix (25000-50000 murdered)?
Nixon/Kissinger coup against democratically elected government of Chile?
Nixon/Kissinger assistance to Greek junta?
Invasion of Grenada?
Invasion of Panama?
Iran-Contra fiasco? Dirty war against Guatemala?
Dirty war against Nicaragua?
Reagan's nun-butchering 'Freedom Fighters' of Nicaragua?
Dirty war in El Salvador?
Reagan's good friendship with the likes of President 'Blowtorch Bob' of El Salvador? Gulf War I?
Depleted Uranium?
George H.W. Bush's 'Highway of Death'?
Invasion of Afghanistan?
Destruction of infrastructure in Afghanistan?
Bagram?
Gulf War II?
The vilification of Islam? Shock and Awe?
The destruction of infrastructure in Iraq?
The use of cluster bombs?
500 pound bombs?
The use of white phosphorus?
The bombing of ambulances and hospitals?
50-100,000 dead Iraqi civilians?
Abu Ghraib?
Secret prisons?
Extraordinary renditions?
Torture?
Virtual suspension of the American Constitution?
The imposition of American economic policies on third-world countries?
Abrogation of international treaties governing nuclear non-proliferation, first strike use, etc.?
Rampant American triumphalism, racism, ignorance and arrogance?
Blatant hypocrisy regarding non-existent American 'values' of freedom and democracy ?