In the present case the King is an emperor, and Japanese death will provide the collateral. Shock and awe. A massacre determined by an algorithm. It came at eight o’clock on August 6th 1945. Nobody was expecting it. They were pawns in a sordid game. Killing at a distance had just taken on a new meaning. No explanation required, no cries tolerated. No pity. ibid.
The Myth of Pristine Wilderness: a land with no people does not exist. The idea that America was virgin land, a wilderness inhabited by non-people called savages, is a myth. Only through killing and displacement does it become uninhabited. Before the arrival of the British, north America was a continent of villages, of nations, of confederations of nations. Exterminate All the Brutes IV: The Bright Colours of Fascism
The Navy seal team members who carried out the assassination of Osama bin Laden on May 2nd 2011 were reporting in real time to President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other officials in the sealed Situation Room. Following the operation, the New York Daily News commented, ‘Along with the unseen pictures of Osama bin Laden’s corpse and questions about what Pakistan knew, intelligence officials’ reasons for dubbing the Al Qaeda boss ‘Geronimo’ remain one of the biggest mysteries of the Black Ops mission’. ibid.
Kill anything that moves. Take no prisoners. In California, hunting Indians was both legal and profitable. $5 a head, 50 cents a scalp. In 1849 the American government paid more than a million dollars to Indian hunters. ibid.
Make America Great Again, he said. When exactly was it great? I mean really great? And for whom? ibid.
In the beginning, the slaves had to clean the cotton with their bare hands. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney would change everything. But Cotton also destroyed the soil, while using slaves’ bodies like a commodity became the most lucrative enterprise around. More profitable than all lands, banks, railroads, factories and gold products put together. Slaves were used as collateral for mortgages, a newly developed tool of commerce. ibid.
By 1890, disarmed, held in concentration camps, their children taken away half-starved, the Lakota and Dakota survivors found a new resistance: ghost dancing. ibid.
Wounded Knee Massacre: East Indians killed: 300; Survivors: 51 (4 men, 47 women), Army casualties: 25 dead. ibid.
Frank Baum: The pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends on the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries we had better in order to protect our civilisation follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the Earth. The fact is, the Native Americans are still here, and this is still their home … The real fight remains the fight for self-determination and restitution. ibid.
As writer James Baldwin says, ‘There is scarcely any hope for the American dream. Because people who are denied participation in it, by their very presence will wreck it.’ ibid.
Lost souls on a pile of human confusion. The absence of any trace of empathy and genuine humanity is unbearable. The nightmare is buried deep in our consciousness. So deep that we do not recognise its ghosts. ibid.
The limits of superiority: privilege makes you vulnerable, and panic blended with ignorance and bigotry creates anger. Limitless and blinding anger. Everyone else becomes the enemy. The fortress becomes a prison. Everyone else looking in at you. ibid.
So educated Europeans today know how children die when the whip of debt and bombs whistle over poor countries. It is not knowledge that is lacking … Imperialism is a biologically necessary process that according to the laws of nature leads to the inevitable destruction of the lower races. ibid.
This knowledge is a fundamental prerequisite. That is why the narrator can tell his story as he does in Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness. He has no need to count the crimes Kurt committed. He has no need to describe them. He has no need to produce evidence. For no-one doubted it. ibid.
24
Six months before the bombing of the La Moneda Palace the Chilean people are voting to renew parliament. The Battle of Chile I: The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie, 1975
‘The civil war is inevitable and fundamental … One one side the bourgeoisie and on the other the proletariat.’ ibid. worker
After two years of an economic boycott imposed by Washington and internal opposition. ibid.
Popular Unity [Allende] increases to 43.4% of the votes and increase their numbers in parliament. ibid.
‘It’s all rationed: coffee, milk, everything.’ ibid. shopper
‘We can’t work with the bosses.’ ibid. worker
‘It is also necessary to provoke violence and social chaos. That is the main aim of this organisation. ibid. right-wing Homeland Freedom
The opposition finds a pretext to continue the social agitation. ibid.
‘It’s a bourgeois state which we have to overthrow.’ ibid. frustrated worker
‘In April, 108 managers mainly from the transport sector receive training in the United States.’ ibid.
‘I will resolutely carry through the programme of Popular Unity.’ ibid. Allende
On 28th May retired officers of the high command sent a public letter to president Allende stating that the armed forces will consider themselves autonomous should the government violate the constitution. ibid.
Since 1950 more than 4,000 officers have been on training courses in the US and in the Panama Canal area. ibid.
They decide to move on the capital … The opposition calls out its troublemakers. ibid.
‘How long are those mummies going to fuck us up?’ ibid. worker
‘Allende! Allende! The people will defend you!’ ibid. popular support against agitators
‘We can’t put up with fascism any more.’ ibid.
Santiago de Chile 29th June 1973: unable to remove President Allende constitutionally the US government and the Chilean opposition opt for the strategy of a coup. The Battle of Chile II: The Coup D’Etat *****
The tanks exchange fire with the presidential guard. ibid.
Loyal troops begin the counter-attack to break the siege. ibid.
From the morning of 29th June left wing workers take control of factories, companies, mine and agricultural centres throughout Chile. ibid.
Some officers start to act against factory employees and workers. ibid.
The entire opposition joins the anti-government escalade. ibid.
Command of the army falls meanwhile on General Pinochet. ibid.
More than 800,000 people file past the president of the republic. ibid.
‘The time for reconciliation is over! It’s time to fight!’ ibid. workers’ demonstration
On September 11 the Navy unleashes the coup in the port of Valparaiso. At the same time four North American destroyers move close to the Chilean coast. ibid.
‘I shall repay the loyalty of the people with my life.’ ibid. Allende
At 2.15 p.m. President Allende dies in La Moneda. ibid.
‘The Junta will maintain political power.’ ibid. Pinochet
From 11th September all the army’s resources are used to repress the popular movement with the compliance of the US government. ibid.
Thousands of people lose their lives and the main sports stadiums are turned into concentration camps. ibid.
The Battle of Chile is not yet over. ibid.
Santiago de Chile 1972: In only 18 months Salvador Allende’s socialist government has carried out a large part of its social reform programme. Over a year and a half it has nationalized the big copper, iron, coal, nitrate and cement mines … It has also expropriated six million hectares of arable land and nationalized almost all national and foreign banks. The Battle of Chile III: The Power of the People
‘The mummies have never respected the present government. It’s the people who respect the government. They follow the government’s orders. But those rich guys, the moneybag men, the men who are losing their interests, they’re the ones who are complaining.’ ibid. worker
‘The fascist groups attacked the students and workers who were showing support for the government.’ ibid.
‘Let’s Create Popular Power!’ ibid. slogan
‘We’ve earned huge fortunes for those guys, the bosses. But the won’t do anything for the welfare of the workers. And now they want to destroy us. There’s a great persecution of trade union leaders.’ ibid. worker
In 1973 the people’s stores are feeding some 300,000 families in Santiago, more than half its total population. ibid.