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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Petraeus Oversaw The Slaughter Of Thousands And He Will Face Trial

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By Jay Janson

November 12, 2012 "Information Clearing House" -  After America comes to prosecute its war criminals as Noam Chomsky has said it must, psychologists will be seeking to understand the unmanly behavior of so much of its military.
Headline News, November 9, 2012, Gen. David Petraeus resigns as Director of CIA for "showing extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair"

Petraeus saw combat for the first time as a Major General commanding the 101st Airborne Division during V Corps's drive to Baghdad. Yours truly, was at the time in India, where 50% of the coverage in newspapers and on TV was of the horrific toll of civilian casualties during that American invasion of Iraq. Every day of my three week stay in Calcutta, I viewed videos of piles of bodies, including many children's corpses with limbs, even heads torn away,  women screaming, men crying.

The following year Petraeus, by then back in the States, seems to have sat out the citywide massacres in Fallujah, during April-May, but  during the worse Fallujah massacres in November, he was back in Iraq, training, equipping, and mentoring Iraq's growing army, police, and other security forces.

Meanwhile In Fallujah, "Lockheed AC-130 gunships attacked with their Gatling guns and howitzers. Scout Snipers became a core element of the Marines' strategy, averaging 31 kills apiece in the battle, while PSYOP Tactical Psychological Operations Teams from Tactical Psychological Operations Detachment tried to lure Iraqis out into the open for the Scout Snipers by reading scripts that were aimed at angering insurgent fighters and by blaring ACDC along with Metallica and other rock music over their loud speakers. Skin penetrating White Phosphorus and Napalm were used. From within the Iraqi Governing Council, came, "these operations by the Americans are unacceptable and illegal." [Wikipedia, "Fallujah 2nd War']

"In January 2007, Petraeus was made commanding General of all U.S. troops in Iraq. In August,The Washington Post stated  that the Pentagon had lost track of approximately 30% of weapons supplied to the Iraqi security forces. The General Accounting Office said that the weapons distribution was haphazard, rushed, and did not follow established procedures--particularly from 2004 to 2005, when security training was led by Petraeus.  Over a hundred thousand AK-47 assault rifles and pistols were delivered to Iraqi forces without full documentation, and some of the missing weapons may have been abducted by Iraqi insurgents."

(But just as the mafia protects its own...)

"On September 20, the Senate passed an amendment by Republican John Cornyn III of Texas designed to "strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus". and the House of Representatives followed suit.

"On October 31, 2008, Petraeus assumed command of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Petraeus was responsible for U.S. operations in 20 countries spreading from Egypt to Pakistan--including Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom."[Wikipedia, "James Petraeus']

Twenty-counties! Just note a few: the by then long term torturing of Somalia by backing war lords, as in Afghanistan; supporting and arming the military in Pakistan and Yemen against citizens revolting; and of course, following through on the plan to knock over seven Middle Eastern nations that Gen. Wesley Clark exposed to the public, which included Libya, Syria and Iran.[1]

"In late June 23, 2010, Petraeus was made  commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, technically a positional step down from his position as commander of Central Command, and  Petraeus made a "rare apology" following a NATO helicopter airstrip under his command which resulted in the deaths of nine Afghan boys and the wounding of a 10th, as they gathered firewood in Eastern Afghanistan. In a statement, Petraeus apologized to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan and the surviving family members, and said: "These deaths should have never happened.""[Wikipedia]

The internationally recognized as corrupt President Karzai of Afghanistan, installed in elections run according to US-NATO occupation dictates, has for years every month or so 'demanded' US-NATO air strikes in countryside and towns be halted, as did the Afghan National Assembly in formal declaration calling for negotiations five years ago. So, on the contrary, Gen. Petraeus, the nine deaths of little boys you saw fit to excuse with "should not of happened" by all logic and expectation were intended to happen, for this, and worse atrocities, had been happening repeatedly, for ten years.

Petraeus was nominated CIA Head on April 28, 2010, while his predecessor Leon Panetta would have already long begun taking wealthy Libya down.  protests, and immediate armed attacks  had been called for and  coordinated from a CIA funded organization in London began in earnest on 15 February 2011 as well reported. On the evening of 15 February, between 500 and 600 demonstrators protested in front of Benghazi's police headquarters ... Crowds were armed with petrol bombs and threw stones. Marchers hurled Molotov cocktails in a downtown square in Benghazi, damaging cars, blocking roads, and hurling rocks. Police responded to crowds with tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets, people were injured, among them ten security personnel." [ Wikpedia "Libyan Civil War']

In late April, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice alleged that soldiers loyal to Gaddafi were given Viagra and encouraged to commit rapes in rebel-held or disputed areas.(?)

The month after Obama nominated Petraeus as CIA Head, military operations were under way, with US forces and one British submarine firing cruise missiles, the French Air Force, United States Air Force and British Royal Air Force.

Stretching our emotions, Obama, in his speech explaining how fine  America was, bombing a well kept African nation of only six million inhabitants (and a lot of oil well and $44 billion in gold) saw it worthwhile to go on about some woman complaining to Western reporters in Tripoli hotel of being raped  on "brutal dictator Gadaffi's orders. Insurgent-conquered Benghazi, from which Western reporters were not reporting, was, according to CNN and Obama, about to suffer massacres, but in cities and towns insurgents had been expelled from, no known retribution had taken place and indeed Obama or CIA directors had not one single video or photo of any peaceful demonstrations of any substantial size nor evidence of their having been fired upon.[2][3]

Two weeks before Petraeus was confirmed as CIA Head, on June 30th, nearly one million of a population of only six, had demonstrated wildly in favor of their government and Gadaffi, even while US  (Panetta and Petraeus's Successor at Central Command) was having the French and British bomb the hell out of their country

MainStreamMedia ignored this one Big Time : Mass pro-Gaddafi, anti Nato-Rebels Demonstration in Tripoli, June 17, 2011
saw more than one million gathered.click here

HUGE PRO GADDAFI RALLY in Tripoli - Raw Footage
http://www.blacklistednews.com/?news_id=145

 Startseite  EnthÃ??llungen  Terror / Krieg / Dienste
Pro-Gaddafi-Massendemonstration restlos ignoriert, 22. 06. 2011 | Von: Konrad Hausner 
click here

Petraeus, nominated months before, was  certainly involved in this massive, Western, investors-super-profiable, crime against humanity.

By September 6th, when  sworn in a CIA Director, he is overseeing the last ghastly and deadly final destruction of what UN statistics held as the 53 highest human developed nation in the world.

As of September 2011, Sirte and Bani Walid, were the last cities unconquered by the combined attack of NATO-US planes and helicopters and Western i.e. CIA backed insurgents.

Not just CIA Directors, as in the case of the Church Committee investigations of 1974, but President Obama and many public, secret and corporate officials of the former colonial empires of Europe will be indicted and prosecuted for crimes against humanity in Libya and elsewhere.

Could fear of this future possibly have had something to do with Petraeus wanting to resign, or insurpressable news that "within a week after the fall of the last city, evidence emerged of mass killings of loyalist prisoners of war and other civilian supporters of Gaddafi's government. The victims killed included men, women, and children, while there were also reports of the rebels harassing and stealing from the locals. According to one resident, "The rebels are worse than rats. Nato is the same as Osama bin Laden." According to another local woman, "We lived in democracy under Muammer Gaddafi, he was not a dictator. I lived in freedom, Libyan women had full human rights. It isn't that we need Muammar Gaddafi again, but we want to live just as we did before." A local elderly woman stated "They are killing our children. Why are they doing this? For what? Life was good before!"
On 24 October, Human Rights Watch reported that 53 pro-Gaddafi fighters were seemingly executed by NTC fighters after they had discovered the remains of the 53 men at the Mahari hotel in Sirte that had been under control of the rebel fighters. Peter Bouckaert, the rights group's emergencies director, said the badly decomposed bodies were found by local residents three days before on 21 October. Some had their hands bound behind their backs. "The evidence suggests that some of the victims were shot while being held as prisoners, when that part of Sirte was controlled by anti-Gaddafi brigades who appear to act outside the control of the National Transitional Council," Mr. Bouckaert said. "If the NTC fails to investigate this crime it will signal that those who fought against Gaddafi can do anything without fear of prosecution." By 26 October, it was reported that the bodies of 267 executed loyalists had been found across the city. The nearly 300 bodies were all buried in several mass graves around Sirte. Another 572 loyalists, who were killed during the fighting, were reportedly buried in a local cemetery. [Wikipedia, "Libyan Civil War']

Whew! Any half-intelligent person must realize that this is what war crimes tribunal testimony sounds like.

Of course imperialist war promoting corporate owned media is already putting some spin on Petraeus' resignation. Criminal media, by emphasizing CIA failure to protect its own in Benghazi, is telling its audience to forget what is now becoming no longer concealable, namely what the CIA led Western powers did to Libya, now in murderous chaos - (something, according to Martin Luther King Jr. that divide-and-conquer investors, always find favorable).

We have no way of knowing what crimes Petraeus might have ordered secretly committed as Head of the CIA during the last year and two months, but some CIA files will probably be eventually forced open by successful filings under the Freedom of Information Act. According to the Nuremberg Principles, that are part of the US Constitution,[4] Petraeus can and must be indicted for the illegal taking of lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, both when he commanded troops operating unconstitutionally and criminally in these US invaded countries and also while planning and overseeing massive crimes from his position in the Joint Chiefs of Command in Washington.

Of the twenty-four war criminals indicted at Nuremberg in 1945, seven were generals. Four were hanged and three received life sentences. As we have watched, on television, the bodies of Afghans and Iraqis pile up in their own beloved countries while General Petraeus was in various commands we remembered similar piles of men women and children resulting from past illegal military invasions and bombing,  Koreans, Guatemalans, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodians, Lebanese, Dominicans, Panamanians, Iranians, Indonesians, Salvadorans, Grenadians, Cubans, Chileans, and last year Libyans and now Syrians, Pakistanis, Yemeni and Somalians.

I have little doubt of the coming trials of US generals and CIA heads and operatives, US presidents and their investor backers, both those alive and the rest posthumously for what Ron Paul calls merciless unconstitutional and undeclared wars[5] which Martin Luther King Jr. taught were all meant to maintain unjust predatory overseas investments.[4]

Did some inkling of possible future ignominy and retribution cross James Petraeus' mind?  He never looked like a man without a conscience, or a man clever enough to set conscience aside.

When I was twelve years old, I remember my sense of pride in each new Boy Scout Merit Badge I qualified for.

But Petraeus' long list of colorful ribbons for having efficiently brought death to people in their own county and  of establishment generated awards boggle the mind. He doesn't come across as very swift, but is praised in the empire's ubiquitous propaganda machine as a "top public intellectual," a kind of Einstein and Mohammed Ali rolled into one. [6] [see list in color]

Especially like 'A Clockwork Orange' worldwide are the university Honorary Laws degrees for a general who, by following presidential orders is exercising a right to obliterate any man, woman or child on the planet.

... but no right to cheat on his wife.

 
[1]
I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11. About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, "Sir, you've got to come in and talk to me a second." I said, "Well, you're too busy." He said, "No, no." He says, "We've made the decision we're going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the 20th of September. I said, "We're going to war with Iraq? Why?" He said, "I don't know." He said, "I guess they don't know what else to do." So I said, "Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?" He said, "No, no." He says, "There's nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq." He said, "I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists, but we've got a good military and we can take down governments." And he said, "I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail."
So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, "Are we still going to war with Iraq?" And he said, "Oh, it's worse than that." He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, "I just got this down from upstairs" -- meaning the Secretary of Defense's office -- "today." And he said, "This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran." I said, "Is it classified?" He said, "Yes, sir." I said, "Well, don't show it to me." And I saw him a year or so ago, and I said, "You remember that?" He said, "Sir, I didn't show you that memo! I didn't show it to you!"click here
[2]
Friday, April 22, 2011      Add this Page to Facebook!   Submit to Twitter   Submit to Reddit   Submit to Stumble Upon   Pin It!   Fark It!   Tell A Friend
Capitalism's Warplanes: CIA & al Qaeda Destroy Socialist Libya's 53rd Highest Living Standard
An imperative more basic than keeping US backed dictators in power and eliminating non-capitalist regimes is at work in Libya and the Middle East. An imperative that has created all wars. It is imperative for private investment financial capital to accumulate, and to accumulate at an ever increasing rate, pushing the wealthy owners of capital into ever new variations of same ancient conspiracy of the rich against the poor. click here

 [3]
By Jay Janson
16 June, 2011
Countercurrents.org
Nic Robertson and Anderson Cooper are surely aware of their achievement in promoting the human carnage of civil war and the destruction of a beautifully well-kept and prosperous nation, the 53rd highest developed country in the world with free health care and education. A standard of living that was higher than nine European nations, including Russia, is no more, thanks to their having daily led our entertainment with their war mongering of purposely distorted reporting, misreporting, disinformation, and blacking out of information that would have made this massive loss of human life impossible. They'll not be able to wash this off their conscience.
1. There were no peaceful protests!
2. CNN, covering the Danish Cartoons anniversary demons
[4]
 
[5]
[6]
 
Petraeus' decorations and badges include the following: [ 176 ]      [Wekipedia, 'James Patraeus']
 
U.S. military decorations
Distinguished Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Defense Superior Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster)
Legion of Merit (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (with 2 Service Stars)
Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with 3 Service Stars)
NATO Meritorious Service Medal Iraq & Afghanistan with bronze service star
NATO Medal for Yugoslavia, NTM-I, Afghanistan with 2 bronze service stars Foreign state decorations Order of Australia (Military) ribbon.png Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia, Military Division Meritorious Service Cross (Canada) Meritorious Service Cross, Military Division (Canada) CZE Cross of Merit Min-of-Def 1st BAR.svg Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic, 1st Grade Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg Commander of the Legion of Honour (France) Ribbon of the French commemorative Medal French Military Campaign Medal GER Bundesverdienstkreuz 5 GrVK Stern.svg Grand Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Gold Award of the Iraqi Order of the Date Palm Ribbon.png Gold Award of the Iraqi Order of the Date Palm Croce al merito dei carabinieri gold medal BAR.svg Gold Cross of Merit of the Carabinieri (Italy) Tong-il Security Medel Ribbon.png Order of National Security Merit, Tong-il Security Medal (Korea) NLD Order of Orange-Nassau - Knight Grand Cross BAR.png Knight Grand Cross with Swords of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) POL Order Zaslugi RP kl3 BAR.png Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Polish Iraq Star Polish Iraq Star Polish Army Medal (Gold) Polish Army Medal, Gold Romanian Emblem of Honor Romanian Chief of Defense Honor Emblem Military Merit Order First Class Ribbon.png Military Merit Order, First Class (United Arab Emirates) U.S. badges, patches and tabs Expert Infantry Badge.svg Expert Infantryman Badge Combat Action Badge.svg Combat Action Badge US Army Airborne master parachutist badge.gif Master Parachutist Badge (United States) AirAssault.gif Air Assault Badge GeneralStaffID.gif Army Staff Identification Badge Joint Chiefs of Staff seal.svg Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge Ranger Tab.png Ranger tab 101AirborneDivCSIB.jpg 101st Airborne Division Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
101AirborneDivDUI.jpg 101st Airborne Division Distinctive Unit Insignia ArmyOSB.jpg 11 Overseas Service Bars Foreign badges Wings badge.JPG British Army Parachutist Badge (Junior level) Brevet Parachutiste.jpg Basic French Parachutist Badge
(French: Brevet de Parachutisme militaire )
(German: Fallschirmspringerabzeichen )
In 2007, Time named Petraeus one of the 100 most influential leaders and revolutionaries of the year as well as one of its four runners up for Time Person of the Year ; The Daily Telegraph' s 2007 Man of the Year ; In 2005; America's top leaders by US News and World Report.
In 2008,  Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines: one of the world's top 100 public intellectuals.   Static Line Association 2008 Airborne Man of the Year, and Der Spiegel named him "America's most respected soldier." Newsweek - 16th most powerful person in the world; Prospect magazine"Public Intellectual of the Year". "75 Best People in the World" in 2009 Esquire ; OSS Society Donovan Award; The National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) George F. Kennan Award for Distinguished Public Service. American Legion Distinguished Service Meda l;
 2010,  Princeton University's Madison Medal; Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Freedom Award ;   American Political Science Association (APSA)  Hubert H. Humphrey Award for notable public service by a political scientist ; Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating Person of 2010; Time magazine's 50 "People Who Mattered;" 12 of 50 in 2010 by the New Statesmen magazin e; number 8 of 100 Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinkers;  2011 Time 100 ; Institute for the Study of War National Security Leadership Award; New Statesman annual survey most influential people; number 2 of the 50 for 2011 ; Association of Special Operations Professionals  2011 Man of the Year; 2012, 50 Most Powerful People in Washington" by GQ magazine ; Reserve Officers Association's Minuteman Hall of Fame; 2012 ROA National Security Symposium ; German Order of Merit; knighted at the Hague with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange Nassau with swords;
Command and General Staff College Foundation's 2012 Distinguished Leadership Award; 2012 Jefferson Award for Public Service; Daughters of the American Revolution  Patriot Award; International Relations Council Distinguished Service Award for International Statesmanship;  New York Stock  ring The Opening Bell to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the CIA ; Soldiers', Sailors', Marines', Coast Guard and Airmans' Club Service to the Nation Award .
Honorary degrees
Eckerd College: May 23, 2010, honorary doctorate in laws
University of Pennsylvania: May 14, 2012, honorary doctorate of laws
Dickinson College: May 20, 2012, honorary doctorate of public service
Jay Janson is an archival research peoples historian activist, musician and writer; has lived and worked on all continents; articles on media published in China, Italy, UK, India and the US; now resides in NYC.
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