July 4 in the US is hot dogs, parades, flag waving and baseball. Glory and the pride of empire. Not so around the world.
In Northern England, up in Yorkshire, is the US Menwith Hill spy base run by the National Security Agency (NSA). The golf ball looking radomes are used to cover huge satellite receiving devices that are intercepting all phone-fax-email traffic from Europe. The US does industrial espionage from this base. And in addition, upgrades are being made at this base to allow for its participation in the US Star Wars program.
The British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament says, "US Missile Defence bases at Menwith Hill and Fylingdales in Yorkshire make Britain a front line target in future US wars. And they operate outside British law and Parliamentary scrutiny. By allowing these bases to be crucial components of the system the UK is complicit in the US military agenda and has put Britain in the front line in any future US war. It has already sparked controversy and provoked a new nuclear arms race, with an increased danger of nuclear weapons use. A potential aggressor could seek to destroy US Missile Defence facilities in Europe in the context of an imminent war with the US."
On July 4 our friends in North Yorkshire will hold their annual "Independence from America Day." We send them our best wishes.
I've written before about Vincenza, Italy where the US is expanding its military base to create a larger hub for expected American military actions in Africa in the coming years to control their resources. Residents in Vincenza have been organizing a vigorous campaign to oppose the base and on July 4 they too will be calling for independence from America.
According to an organization called US Citizens for Peace & Justice, based in Rome, Italy, "On July 4th, just days before Obama arrives in Italy for the G8 summit, Vicenza will celebrate its own 'Independence Day,' that is, independence from the U.S. military! After three years of determined opposition to the construction of a new base in their city, the people of Vicenza show no signs of letting up. They have called for a national demonstration with a protest march that will literally surround the site of the new base."
For years the citizens in many countries saw the US military as protectors. But now there is growing awareness that the US bases in their communities are part of the aggressive endless war plan of the US for control and domination of the resources and people of the world. There are few illusions about US troops being used to promote democracy and freedom.
Here in the US we must raise our voices in unity with our peaceful friends around the world. No more empire. No more war. Bring all the troops home and close the bases. Use our tax monies to fund human needs and to deal with climate change.
Perhaps one of those countries will declare war on the U.S. in the name of bringing democracy to the oppressed people of America !
ReplyDeleteThen maybe I could go back to celebrating the 4th of July :)
This does give a faint, or perhaps 'feint' sense of hope. Vincenza is fighting very hard. These good people deserve all of our support and encouragement. Folks in Yorkshire (not what I would call 'northern England' btw, not from a Geordie's vantagepoint) should be fighting just as hard. Take it from one who knows first hand, once you let them in, they're usually in for good. They will NOT prtect you and their installations will grow like a cancer. That was a jab at my good friends in Polska and Česká. These are really good peoples AND neighbors, but if they continue to sell out to the US, they too will come to know that cancer, just as the Germans did. Germany, on the other hand, didn't ask for the "Amis" to come rushing in, but at the time, das Volk was very pleased to see the GIs risding into town on their Shermans and Deuce and a halfs. GIs passed out Hershey Bars, Lucky Strikes and Condoms, which the kids thought were balloons. LOL. For the first time in her life, my mother-in-law saw a black man as the troops rolled into town. She had heard of their existence but couldn't imagine how looked. This kind of describes how Germany welcomed the GIs with open arms, how they felt about the occupation which by the way, has yet to officially end or be declared as over. Yes, Virginia, Germany is still occupied. Or do you have a copy of a peace treaty?
ReplyDeleteI was stationed in Building 2, Pioneer Kaserne, Hanau Wolfgang in Hesse, the Fulda Gap just down the road. 3rd Armored Division. The place was literally crawling with GIs, like me. The Black Market was a common place thing. The local economy DEPENDED on us. It THRIVED thanks to us. We spent ALL our money off base. You know, fun and games. Don't wanna go into detail on that but the point being, one could not imagine the place without us GIs. And we were EVERYWHERE. We even went where we weren't supposed to go! They discouraged our infiltrating with the locals but we did it anyhow. We learned the lingo and mixed well with the local population. So it came to be that one summer day, a few years later, I found myself marching with a group of two, maybe three thousand locals as we passed by the old Kaserne, a relict from the Kaiserszeit, the mob chanting "AMI GO HOME!" "AMI GO HOME!" "AMI GO HOME!" "AMI GO HOME!" Inwardly, I was saying to myself, US ARMY GO HOME. Like, let the good ones stay. I was also thinking what would happen if the US Army really did pack up and go home. I never expected to witness the event, but it's happening. Bases are closing, housing areas left unattended, grass growing up out of the parking lots where the Chevys, the Toyotas, the Ford Mustangs used to park. Gone forever. Unfuckingbelievable.
Local economie tanked as if hit in the gut by a two-by-four. But they recovered. At least I hope they are on the way to recovery. Hell, I dunno. I ride through Wolfgang on my Harley every once in a while. The Harley Dealership is there, straight across from the old Kaserne. That was a real smart move. Set up a Harley Dealership and watch the GIs pull out. But guess what. They're still there and business is booming. How's that, you might maybe be asking yourself. Well, to put it blutly and cut this rant short, Germany has been americanized. It has been absorbed, economically, politically and militarily. No need to continue the military occupation. Germans are now occupying themselves as we walk in step, in lock step with the fascists we so lovingly call our "Amis". Ami is French, btw. It means "friend".
Bon chance, mon amis in Yorkshire and around the globe. Bon chance.
We Aussies have protested loud and long, but the mongrels are still here.
ReplyDeleteWe have a harder time as they located it far from easy civillian access at Pine Gap Nth Territory.
Makes us such a dandy handy target for some Fwits like N Korea to get at USA without sending something to hawaii....