Students at the University of Sheffield have donated four tonnes of goods to city charities. As...
page
Why Recent Graduates Should Join Code for America
page
Sympathy for the dodgy salesmen of Australian politics
page
Babel Rising
page
T.C. Boyle: Incorporating Environmentalism in Art
page
The Stone Roses confirm all planned shows to go ahead after Ian Brown calls Reni a 'c**t' onstage
The Assassins of Langley
Last Friday President Barack Obama visited the CIA’s headquarters to attend a memorial service for seven of its operatives blown up in Afghanistan. Over 1000 CIA officers and family members were present, as well as staff from the White House, the Pentagon and members of Congress. In his address, Obama referred to the dead agents as “seven heroes”- by Richard Neville

This is bunk. Yet, everyone present at this memorial is likely to have endorsed Obama’s verdict. “Everything you instilled in them” the President told the families, “the virtues of service and decency and duty were on display that December day. And our nation will be forever in your debt.” While one can feel sympathy for the families of the bereaved and acknowledge the dedication of the agents, it is absurd to see them as heroes.

They were paid assassins.

Backed by the weaponry of the world’s most belligerent nation and quarantined from legal consequences, the role of the agents was to eliminate “suspected militants”, usually with drone strikes. According to Pakistani estimates, for every terrorist killed by drones, about 140 innocent civilians are slaughtered. This is not fair, it’s not smart, it’s not legal.  

The first CIA air strikes of the Obama Administration took place in January last year - the President’s third day in office. According to the New Yorker, one strike targeted the wrong house, hitting the residence of a pro west, pro-government tribal leader. The blast killed the patriarch’s entire family, including three children, one of them five years old. In keeping with US policy, the strike was not acknowledged. Perhaps this is because in 1976 President Gerald R. Ford, signed an executive order banning American intelligence forces from engaging in assassination. 

Such edicts are ineffectual, as the CIA is beyond the reach of the law. It operates in countries where US troops are not based, including Australia, where it uses the facilities of Pine Gap to blast away “bad guys”. Since the loss of their agents, the CIA has switched to deep revenge, unleashing squadrons of drones on “suspects” and their families in remote tribal areas. This will recruit new militants, as will the ramped up torture, renditions, secret incarcerations.  

Considering its blood-drenched history and the multiplicity of its brutal and indiscriminate operations, it is stupid to pretend the CIA is an engine of freedom. It is a blot on America, a curse on humanity and it is the world’s biggest terrorist cell. Surely its time to freeze its funds and put the assassins out to grass.  
Share |
blog comments powered by Disqus

Tags

 

Related Articles

U.S in Libya: Get shot by your own bullets
22 mar  |  By Sean Maguire

There are few people in this world who would defend Gaddafi as a sane and viable leader of Libya; but I think there would be even less that would see the logic in the U.S selling guns to someone as psychotic as him and then parading about as world police.

It's the equivalent of a sheriff giving an outlaw a six-shooter and then acting surprised when he starts popping off the town folk. 

The second one U.S plane gets shot down by one U.S surface-to-air missile, all the military big wigs should get together and make a decision once and for all - "we have to stop shooting at tyrants we've given guns to".

What do you think about Libya? What do you think about the obvious contradictions in U.S foreign policy and how do you think they should be addressed? Tell us and remember...Disqus!  . . read more

U.S. Leading The Terror In Afghanistan
13 aug  |  U.S. Leading The Terror In Afghanistan . . read more
US Legitimacy: Mexican drones and blood money
17 mar  |  By Stephen Myles (UNSW, Sydney)

U.S Legitimacy has long been on the wane; whether it's been CIA organised coups, backing Middle-East dictators or fighting fake wars - who seriously wants to sit on Uncle Sam's lap?

Believe it or not, the stocks have slipped even lower.

Today it's been announced that Raymond Davis; a CIA contractor in Pakistan accused of murder, has been released after the U.S paid $2million for his freedom.

It's also been announced that they've been flying drones over Mexican airspace to search for leading lights in the drug cartels. 

The complete disregard for sovereignty, justice and life makes me wonder whether the U.S looks out at the world says "these rights aren't for them, they're exclusively for US". 

What do you think about the behaivour of the U.S? Do they have any legitimacy in world affairs or are they just a self-centered joke?

 

  . . read more

Bombs for peace? 'UN completely disgraced in Libya'
22 mar  |  Political writer Diane Johnstone gives her perspective on the ongoing Libyan conflict and the real reason NATO and the U.S are behaving as they are. An interesting analysis but occassionally she just states the obvious like when she says this war is for "regime change".

What do you think about her thoughts? Should the West be fighting such a war? Tell us and remember...Disqus!   . . read more

So...what are we doing again?
11 oct  |  It has now been 8 years since the invasion of Afghanistan. President Barack Obama has been given an “informal request” by General Stanley McChrystal for an additional 40,000 troops to be deployed. The timing isn’t so sharp. It seems the pivotal moment has come for Obama where he will have to decide the direction this “war” will take-  Sumer Dayal looks at the 'options'  . . read more
The Killer Nature of Healthcare
17 mar  |  Like it or not, America loves a war and it especially loves a culture of bipartisanship, whether within its borders or overseas. The country thirsts for something to fight for. And now their obsessive politicians - who see themselves as leaders for, well, whatever type of supporter they can find - are slowly sucking the life out of everyone, including the world, who are just sick and tired of nothing being done but everything being said.

The U.S Healthcare Bill has done more than occupy time and energy. It has demonstrated the difficulty of causing any real change outside the status quo within the democratic system.

Sumer Dayal, HPD's International Politics Editor looks into a very sick system  . . read more

Man achieves astounding backflips without spine - By Simon Moore
28 jan  |  Man achieves astounding backflips without spine - By Simon Moore
 . . read more
Tuscon: a time for reflection- by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon
27 jan  |  Tuscon: a time for reflection- by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon . . read more
Could Bankers Turn the Tables on Obama in 2012?
16 feb  |  For all the talk about Obama's grassroots fundraising prowess, it may have been Wall Street funds that gave him the edge in 2008. There are now signs that those funds may not be there for him in 2012- by Charles Gasparino  . . read more
President Obama Attempts to Bridge the "Enthusiasm Gap"
11 sep  |  President Obama Attempts to Bridge the "Enthusiasm Gap" . . read more
blogs   100words
student
student
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -- Ronald Reagan (1986)