The Face Of War

Israeli Decadence

2006-07-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Now this is fucked up!!

The General Public As Disinformation Agents

2006-06-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Back in the days of COINTELPRO and Operation Mockingbird the United States Government went to what I’ll call “extreme measures” to influence public opinion and world events. When I say “extreme measures” I mean a covert action which if exposed to the American public would not be approved of. Don't get me wrong, they still go to "extreme measures" but that's not the point of this article.

I think the United States has reached a new level of disinformation mechanisms : the American public. The American public, woefully uneducated on history, philosophy and logic can be rather quick to “suck up” what has been fed to them. Large numbers of people lacking the mental mechanisms to separate fiction from fact create a new “fact”, the “public opinion fact”. “Public opinion” is that Iraq has WMD. It doesn’t matter that they don’t it only matters that the public thinks they do. In this sense Average American Citizen becomes an agent of disinformation. Taking up debate against these disinformation agents is a daunting task. They are self assured that they are correct even in light of not having researched an issue or knowing much about it in general. They don’t know logic therefore the logic you use against them is a foreign body and as such they quickly reject it.

Here’s one for you : ask someone what percentage of the brain people use. A lot of people will respond “10%”. Now ask them how they know this. “I just heard it” or “I forget where” or “I saw it on TV”. Chances are most will be unable to recount how they “learned” this “fact”. The problem is it’s not a fact, it’s a myth that’s been repeated over and over and people just come to believe it. They don’t bother to “fact check” it, that’s a thing of the old days. The American public doesn’t need to fact check, that’s what TV is for.

There are two things which have helped created John Q Public as a disinformation agent : the public education system and mass media. The public education system dumbs them down, teaches them to obey, teaches to the lowest common denominator. There are international test out there that show American students, students “learning in the greatest nation on earth” who score below students from countries I’ve never even heard of. It’s important to an aggressive war machine that the public not be well educated. They need people to be dumb so the state (read: the elite) can go about doing however they wish on our dime using our citizens as cannon fodder.

I received both public and private education up till the 12th grade. After this I attended one year at a community college. I was never taught logic, I was never taught philosophy, I was never taught critical thinking. With the help of others on the internet and by my own initiative I taught myself these things. But in the throws of a capitalist war machine society it’s not a good idea that John Q Public is well versed in fallacies, philosophy or other types of critical thinking. Most ads on TV are full of fallacies. “Political debate” is an embarrassment to the word debate. If John Q. were aware of such things he might *gasp* not buy that new car, not vote for candidate X, not allow his country to do all the dirty things it does in the international arena.

It could be said that the mass media is the disinformation agent but I disagree. Without John Q Publics mental consent of outright lies the mass media could not function the way it does. It could be said that public education is responsible for all this but again, I disagree. I’m a product of the public education system as many of you are. Yet you and I know of logic, fallacies and ponder on philosophy and history. In the end in my humble opinion it is John Q. Public who chooses to be an agent of disinformation, outright lies. At some point they chose to not know, to not want to know and they continue to make this choice. My brother is not my keeper, the media is not my keeper, the government is not my keeper. John Q. Citizen is responsible for the contents of his mind just like I am.
It is true the education system, mass media and our capitalist society sing us lullabies which encourage us to not think or to use illogical means of thinking but in the end we are all individually responsible.

And there are more factors than just the public education system and the media influencing this.

The major thing that pops into mind is groupthink - I don't think that most people choose not to know - most people think that they do know, because everyone around them, and all or most of their sources of information agree with them.

From the time the "average American" is born, they are surrounded with quite a bit of social engineering -

Their parents - their parents have most likely followed the "plan" for living - went to school, maybe college, got a job, a suburban house etc. They work, watch TV, and are concerned with their immediate blood relations. They associate with a small group of people, a clique for lack of better terms, and rarely participate in any form of intensive critical analysis of any topic, if they do at all. Humans are pretty impressionable when they are young - a baby's mind is more or less a blank slate. The mind gets filled with their parent's (or whoever they're around really) priorities, opinions, and skills. Breaking through what you are told and forming your own opinions on things takes critical thought, and if someone isn't encouraged to excersize this when they are young, they very well might not develop it later - especially if they don't need to.

Then the average american goes to school. The public education system, as I'm sure everyone here is well aware, doesn't really do much for kids in the way of education in the academic sense. What I learned in school was that sucking up to the people in a higher position of power than myself, and not questioning what I was told would get me ahead, and I think that that is the education system's main purpose.

In addition to the school system itself, a child is surrounded by. . . well . . .other children. There is certainly more variance in the personalities and mindsets of the children in the school than the average American child had been exposed to up until that point. However, since most of the kids will be from average American families, most of them will have similar mindsets. The ones that don't generally end up being social outcasts, or changing their mindset, conciously or not, for desire of acceptance or whatever.

For most people, average americans or not, the ability and tendency to apply critical thought (or rather to be and adult mentally) comes somewhere in the ages 13-18. Middle and high school. However, since most kids are at that age attending a middle or high school, social pressures - peers forming cliques - and the system itself encourages conformity and groupthink and discourage critical thinking.

If people don't by this time figure out for themselves that they should be analyzing what they are told, more often than not, they never do.

Go back to sleep.

America's Wars.. The Full List

2006-05-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

* American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Rich property owners enlist the lives of the lower class to fight to defend economic interests in the New World.
* Quasi-War (1798-1801)
Leadership (the successful rich property owners of the previous war) refuse to pay debts to the French leadership, who then fight. Over money. For rich people.
* First Barbary War (1801-1805)
The leadership send their navy (mostly impressed [enslaved] young men) to defend profitable trade routes from pirates on the north coast of Africa.
* War of 1812 (1812-1815)
"American" (United States) national leaders (yes, the same rich people, with a few new heads) declare war on Britain (again) to get more land to exploit for economic interests.
* Second Barbary War (1815)
The United States (hereafter to denote the leaders and their rich successors, their wealth and status ensured before office via a system instituted after the "revolution" that gives the most votes to the one who can bribe, buy-out, advertise, and propagandize the most with their inordinate amount of riches) again makes war on the pirates to protect bountiful trade routes in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic.
* Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
The United States invades Mexican territory in order to gain even more land to exploit for economic interests (economic interests, by the way, is a phrase by which I mean the furtherance of the accruing of wealth of the already-rich).
o Bear Flag Revolt (1846)
Soldiers of the United States mutiny, invade Sonoma, and declare California an independent nation. Then United States officers arrive to claim the prize for the United States.
* Nicaragua Naval Battles (1854-1858)
The United States fights Nicaragua and Britain for control of Nicaraguan waterways to fuel the North American gold rush.
* Utah War (1857-1858)
The United States fights Mormons for control of the Utah Territory for its' large woodlands and un-tapped mines.
* American Civil War (1861-1865)
A Confederation of states secedes from the United States to build its' own economic empire apart from the United States, which badly needs the territories of the Confederation for economic interests.
* Occupation of Nicaragua (1867, 1894-1933)
The United States repeatedly occupies Nicaragua (now its' after defeating rival British) to oversee use and development of its' waterways for United States economic interests.
* Shinmiyangyo Battle in Korea (1871)
United States attempts to force Korean leadership to accept a trade treaty for United States economic interests, they fail and a treaty is not instituted until manipulation by United States economic ally Japan achieves "cooperation."
* Hawaiian Coup (1893)
United States and European bussiness-owners and investors, backed with funds from their nations -especially the United States - overthrow Hawaii'an Kingdom and declare a Republic, which is annexed to the United States five years later.
* Spanish-American War (1898)
The United States declares war on Spain and takes control of several particulary profitable colonies, the Phillipenes, Puerto Rico [Rich Port, named by Spanish conquistadors], and Cuba.
* Samoan Civil War (1898-1899)
United States, Britain, and Germany fight each other and use "puppet" leaders in Samoa to defend their respective (economic) interests.
* Philippine-American War (1899-1913)
Filipinos declared independence with United States' defeat of Spain, but then the United States represses the Filipinos to ensure control of the new colony and reap the bounty.
o Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902)
Filipinos get really pissed off and keep fighting the United States. The United States keeps killing them.
o Moro Rebellion (1901-1913)
Same shit, different day.
* Boxer Rebellion (1900)
Chinese citizens rebel against foreign governments for forcing China into extremely exploitative economic treaties, and also against their own government for capitulating to the foreigners (largely Europeans and the United States). Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States jointly invade and secure China, repressing the dissent and ensuring the continuance of the exploitative wealth-generating treaties.
* Panamanian Revolution (1903)
I don't really understand what happened here. I think the gist, though, may be that the United States utilized internal Colombian/Panamanian politics to seize control of the Panama territory to build the canal to benefit United States economic interests.
* Tampico Affair & Occupation of Veracruz, Mexico (1914)
United States Navy protects the lucrative oil industry in Tampico from revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. The United States gets indignant about an irrelevant mistake by Mexican officers and decides to blockade Veracruz and then occupy it for months with no apparent practical purpose other than to "flex" to combatants.
* Invasion of Haiti (1915-1934)
The United States invades and occupies Haiti during the Haitian revolution to secure Haitian repayment of debts to United States banks and to hijack economic development. A puppet government is installed by the United States until a military coup occurs a decade or so later, wresting power from the United States.
* Occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1924)
The United States invades and occupies the Dominican Republic after failed diplomatic intervention to protect financial assets and economic interests. Looks almost exactly like United States-Iraq War.
* Pancho Villa Expedition (1916-1917)
The United States invades Mexico to stifle revolutionary activity threatening property and security north of the border.
* World War I (1917-1918)
The United States enters World War I to protect their lucrative arms exports to Allied Powers from the Central Powers' navies, and to re-gain economic stability and Western capital's dominance.
o Polar Bear Expedition (Russian Civil War) (1918-1919)
The United States joins the "Allied Intervention" in Russia's recent Communist revolution to attempt to restore the Russian monarchy and their participation in World War 1, and therefore to defend Western economic interests and political power.
* Spanish Civil War (1936-1938)
United States stays neutral (no perceived financial benefit, apparently), a few of its' corporations give aid to the fascists, and many of its' citizens join the International Brigades to fight along-side the socialist, communist, and anarchist coalition against the fascist revolutionaries.
* World War II (1941-1945)
United States corporations profit from trade deals. The United States enters the war from neutrality (it was busy re-building the economy...) With full knowledge of a coming attack on a Hawaiian military base, the United States uses the attack by expanding Japanese forces to get into the war. Shortly after, the United States "island hops" all the way back to Japan, taking hold of several economically and militarily useful island chains. A powerful economy (rebuilt by socialist programs which are subverted by "war economy" capitalism), vast colonies and military bases ensure United States world dominance.
* Cold War (1946-1991)
The United States fights Russia, which is now a super-power due to its' own war economy and giant military. Or, more specifically, the United States fights Russia's ideology of Communism, which promises to subvert traditional power-wealth roles that United States elite benefit from.
* Korean War (1950-1953)
The United States and South Korea fight for capitalism against attacking North Korean Communism.
* Indonesian Civil War (1965-1969)
Extreme political instability in Indonesia presents itself as an opportunity for greater economic influence to the United States (angry about the recent Communist revolution and the following nationalization of United States corporations' property), who then utilize right-wing military rebels through a military coup d'etat to regain stability and the presence of capitalism & United States/European economic dominance.
* Vietnam War (1964-1975)
The United States and South Vietnam fight for capitalism against communism, popular support and, later, North Vietnamese armies.
* Invasion of Dominican Republic (1965)
The United States invades the Dominican Republic to prevent the perceived potential of a Communist revolution, and to protect US citizens and property. The need for counter-revolution never appears and the Americans leave.
* Invasion of Cambodia (1970)
The United States expands it's war against communism from Vietnam and Laos into Cambodia.
* Mayagüez Incident (1975)
The United States, ending its' war in Indochina (two weeks after the end of the fighting in the Vietnam theater), rescues a captured boat crew from the Cambodian coast in an apparent attempt to assert its' military prowess and sense of "justice" against the backdrop of its' failure in Vietnam.
* Operation Eagle Claw (1980)
The United States infiltrates Iran in order to rescue US Embassy staff being held hostage by Iranian soldiers disguised as students, in an attempt to brighten and strengthen the public image of the United States.
* First Gulf of Sidra Incident (1981)
Libya, in contempt of international standards for seaboard territory, attacks US patrol fighter jets hanging out inside a supposed (but not recognized) border. The US jets fight both attacking jets down. No biggie, the kids got out safe and sound.
* Lebanon Peacekeeping (1982-1984)
The United States invades Lebanon after an Israeli invasion, along-side a few other western countries under UN mandate, in order to keep the peace that Israel - backed by the US against UN wishes - secured in its' invasion. (Of course, Israel invaded in the first place to attack PLO fighters who were attacking Israel from across the border, in violation of UN-mandated cease-fire...causality goes all the way back to state and hierarchy, of course.)
* Invasion of Grenada (1983)
The United States invades Grenada after a Marxist coup d'etat, supposedly to evacuate US university students. Forces don't leave until the onset of winter, when a new government is selected which does not threaten US economic and political interests.
* Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986)
The United States utilizes terrorism to discourage (terrify) Libya from funding and harboring international terrorists. Essentially, then, terrorists fighting supporters of rival terrorists.
* Operation Earnest Will (1987-1988)
The United States launches a Navy detachment to defend shipping lanes - and actually escort oil tankers - in the Persian Gulf, during the Iran-Iraq war, in an attempt to protect economic interests.
o Operation Prime Chance (1987-1988)
The United States – in a sister operation to Earnest Will – secretly protects Iranian shipping as well.
o Operation Praying Mantis (1988)
After a US Navy ship escorting a Kuwaiti tanker runs into a mine laid by hostile Iranian ships, the United States attacks several Iranian warships - and speedboats - and two oil platforms, apparently just to demonstrate United States military might.
* Operation Golden Pheasant (1988)
The United States invades Honduras in order, apparently, to intimidate Nicaragua into complicity with US political interests in the region.
* Invasion of Panama, "Operation Just Cause" (1989)
The United States invades Panama and deposes Noriega - a CIA operative put in to power and encouraged to engage in drug trafficking by the US - after Noriega begins to criticize United States foreign policy. Conveniently, Noriega's government was highly corrupt and brutal, offering a chance to the United States to look good while doing its' dirty work.
* Second Gulf of Sidra Incident (1989)
Libya, in contempt of international standards for seaboard territory, attacks US patrol fighter jets hanging out inside a supposed (but not recognized) border. The US jets fight both attacking jets down. Again.
* Gulf War (1991)
The United States invades Iraq and Kuwait to protect the oil industry by maintaining political security in the region.
o Iraqi No-Fly Zones (1991-2003)
The United States and its' allies institute "No-Fly Zones" covering most of Iraq, where only NATO forces are allowed to fly, in order (supposedly, and appparently, anyway) to protect Kurdish populations.
o Operation Provide Comfort (1991-1996)
Utilizing No-Fly Zones, the United States and other NATO and western states roam Iraq, escorting Kurds to protect them from hostile Iraqi military units. Feeling a little alstruistic, are we? A nice change...
* Battle of Mogadishu (1993)
The United States invades Somalia, using a humanitarian façade to justify an attempt to stabilize the economy and protect corporate assets in the region.

* Operation Uphold Democracy (Haiti) (1994)
* Bosnia and Herzegovina (as member of IFOR and SFOR peacekeeping forces, 1995—)
* Operation Infinite Reach (strikes on Sudan and Afghanistan, 1998)
* Kosovo War (1999)
* War on Terrorism (2001—)
o Invasion of Afghanistan (2001—)
* Iraq War (2003-)
* Haiti Rebellion (2004)

Native American conflicts, wars, battles, expeditions and campaigns
* American Revolutionary War (western theater)
o Wyoming Valley Massacre (1778)
o Cherry Valley Massacre (1778)
o Sullivan Expedition (1779)
* Northwest Indian War (1785-1795)
o Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794)
* Nickajack Expedition (1794)
* Sabine Expedition (1806)
* Tecumseh's War (1811)
o Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)
* Little Belt Affair (1811)
* War of 1812 (western theater)
* Peoria War (1813)
* Creek War (1813-1814)
o Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814)
* Seminole Wars (1817-1818, 1835-1842, 1855-1858)
* Arikara War (1823)
* Fever River War (1827)
* Le Fevre Indian War (1827)
* Sac and Fox War (1831)
* Black Hawk War (1832)
* Sabine-Southwestern War (1836-1837)
* Osage Indian War (1837)
* Navajo Wars (1849-1861)
o Long Walk of the Navajo (1863-1868)
* Cayuse War (1848-1855)
* Pitt River Expedition (1850)
* Mariposa War (1850-1851)
* Yuma Expedition (1851-1852)
* Walker War (1853)
* Grattan Massacre (1855)
* Yakima War (1855)
* Snake River War (1855)
* Klickitat War (1855)
* Puget Sound War (1855-1856)
* Rogue River Wars (1855-1856)
* Klamath and Salmon Indian Wars (1855)
* Tintic War (1856)
* Gila Expedition (1857)
* Mendocino War (1858)
* Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War (1858)
* Pecos Expedition (1859)
* Antelope Hills Expedition (1859)
* Bear River Expedition (1859)
* Paiute War (1860)
* Kiowa-Comanche War (1860)
* Cheyenne Campaign (1861-1864)
* Sioux Uprising (1862)
* Cheyenne-Arapaho-Kiowa-Comanche Wars (1863-1869)
o Sand Creek Massacre (1864)
* Snake War (1864-1868)
* Red Cloud's War (1866-1868)
* Comanche Wars (1867-1875)
* Battle of Washita River (1868)
* Marias Massacre (1870)
* Modoc War (1872-1873)
* Red River War (1874)
* Apache Wars (1873, 1885-1886)
* Black Hills War (1876-1877)
o Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876)
* Nez Perce Wars (1877)
* Bannock War (1878)
* Cheyenne War (1878-1879)
* Sheepeater Indian War (1879)
* White River War (1879)
* Ute War (1879-1880)
* Ghost Dance War (1890-1891)
* Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
* AIM Takeovers (~1969-~1974)

Ethnic cleansing and control
* Indian Removal (1830s)
o Trail of Tears (1838-1839)
* WWII-Era Japanese American Internment (1942-1946)

Armed insurrections and slave revolts
* Shays' Rebellion (1786)
* Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
* John Fries' Rebellion (1799)
* Gabriel Prosser's Rebellion (1800)
* Louisiana Territory Slave Rebellion (1811)
* Fort Blount Revolt (1816)
* Patriot War (1837-1838)
* Denmark Vesey's Uprising (1822)
* Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)
* Amistad Seizure (1839)
* Anti-Rent War (1839-~1844)
* Creole Incident (1841)
* Dorr Rebellion (1841-1842)
* John Brown's Raid on Federal Armory at Harper's Ferry (1859)

Range wars
* Franklin County War (Idaho, 1866-1872)
* Mason County War (Texas, 1874-1877)
* Colfax County War (New Mexico, 1875)
* Lincoln County War (New Mexico, 1877-1878)
* Johnson County War (Wyoming, 1892)
* Pleasant Valley War (Arizona, 1886)
* Sheep Wars (Texas-New Mexico borderlands, ~1879-1900)
* Posey War (Utah, 1923)

Terror, paramilitary groups and guerrilla warfare
* Green Mountain Boys (pre-U.S. through Revolution)
* Francis Marion (1780-1782)
* Bleeding Kansas (~1854-~1860)
* Cortina Troubles (1859-1861)
* Kansas Jayhawkers (1861-1863)
* Quantrill's Raiders (1861-1863)
* Ku Klux Klan (1877-present)
* Knights of the White Camelia
* White League (1874-)
o Coushatta Massacre (1874)
o Colfax Riot (1874)
* Black Patch Tobacco Wars (1904-1914?)
* Wall Street Bombing (1920)
* Capitol Attack (1954)
* Weather Underground (1969-1976)
* Symbionese Liberation Army (1970s)
* Marine Barracks Bombing (1983)
* U.S. Embassy Bombing (1983)
* World Trade Center Bombing (1993)
* Oklahoma City Bombing (1994)
* U.S. Embassy Bombings (1998)
* USS Cole Bombing (2000)
* 9/11 (2001)

Covert operations, U.S.-supported coups, etc.
* Baltimore Crisis (Chile, 1891)
* Operation Ajax (Iran, 1951-1953)
* Operation PBSUCCESS (Guatemala, 1954)
* Bay of Pigs Invasion (Cuba, 1961)
* Operation Mongoose (Cuba, 1961-1963)
* Brazilian Military Coup (Brazil 1964)
* Secret War (Cambodia-Laos, 1962-1975)
* Chilean Coup (Chile, 1973)
* Argentine Military Coup (Argentina, 1976)
* Operation Condor (Latin America, 1960s-1970s)
* Mujahideen vs. USSR (Afghanistan, 1979-1989)
* Contras (Nicaragua, 1980s)

Miscellaneous
* Yankee-Pennamite Wars (1769-1784)
* Chesapeake Affair (1807)
* Railroad War (1853-1855)
* Hatfields and McCoys (1860-1891)
* Sinking of the General Sherman (1866)
* Fenian Invasion of Canada (1866)
* Brooks-Baxter War (1873)
* Virginius Affair (1873)
* Haymarket Massacre (May 1, 1886)
* Canal Zone Riots (1964)
* USS Liberty incident (1967)
* Kent State Shootings (1970)
* War on Drugs (~1972—)
* Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981)
* Iraqi Attack on USS Stark (1987)
* Vincennes Incident (1988)
* USBATF Raid on Branch Davidians (1993)

1984 - War is Peace

2006-05-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

Successes

As to be expected, SOS has been quite successful. Since the events of 11 September, we have been able to convince a number of figures in national and local politics to help forward our aims. How could they do otherwise?

Our successes can be shown to fit into the three major ideals of Ingsoc as expressed by Orwell:

War Is Peace

Oceania (commonly called the US and Britain) is at war with Afghanistan Iraq. Oceania has always been at war with Afghanistan Iraq.
Eurasia (commonly called Russia, Pakistan, etc.) is allied with Oceania in war against Afghanistan. Eurasia has always been allied with Oceania.
US Congressman Charlie Rangel has been arguing for a return of military conscription (“The Draft”) as—so he tells the public— a way of reducing war.
It's not easy to capture someone killed the year before—until you harness the power of Ingsoc. When you've got Ingsoc on your side, though, it's so easy that the US did it again.
Three cheers for Homeland Security drone patrols!
In order to fight terrorism, we must cause it, says Donald Rumsfeld.
It's okay that there were no “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq; that's not why we went to war. It's equally okay that there are so many of them in Oceania.
The Nobel prize committee has been considering nominating George Bush and Tony Blair for their prestigious Peace prize.
Just like in 1984's Room 101, the Miniluv operations in Guantánamo Bay were authorized to “exploit[] a prisoner's phobias, sometimes using muzzled dogs in interrogations.” Doubleplusgood!
According to the Bush administration, the Duelfer report which conclusively showed that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq actually justifies the war in Iraq.
“I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.” — George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
“Protecting [an] Islamic cultural center” involves fighting a war inside it, as the New York Times on the Web shows.

From:

Ingsoc / SOS