Searching For The Real America- If This Is Not America, What Is?
Presenter: Dr. Joan Russow
January, 2021
After Trump’s incited insurrection, so many proclaimed “This is not America.”, or “America is a country of law and order.” But is it not America? What do Americans know about America? Do Americans not really know what America really is or does?
Is it that usually America only incites coups in other countries such as 1954 coup in Guatemala, 1973, coup in Chile and 2002, a recent coop attempt in Venezuela. What is not American is America inciting an attempted coup on itself.
I was in Europe in November 2008, when Obama won the election, and I wrote the following (I will be updating for Biden):
“Throughout his campaign, Barack Obama declared that he would ‘chart a new course for America’, and in his victory speech he said: ‘This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make this change. And this cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.’ The global community watching his appointments must wonder if he is not perpetuating the way things were. President-elect Obama had the opportunity to move the United States of America away from its years of militarism, competitiveness and fundamentalism. But will with this team? One is left with the question: are individuals in positions of power just mouth pieces for current administrations, and thus when administration change, they change their views? How many times have we seen the ‘retired general syndrome’ when generals after years of war-making, in full epiphany, don the robes of peace.”
Here is a series of suggestions to assist Biden in not going back to the way things were:
(1) to reduce the US military budget by reallocating military expenses and transferring the savings into global social justice as undertaken through numerous UN Conference Action Plans and UN General Assembly Resolutions.
2. To abandon the pre-emptive/preventive attack policy that has resulted in aggressive attacks on sovereign states and that has been in violation of the UN Charter article 2 and international law as being the ‘supreme’ international crime of a war of aggression
3. To withdraw immediately from any military involvement and occupation of sovereign states including Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. To end the practice of mollifying public opposition by couching aggressive acts in euphemistic “operations” such as “operation just cause”, Operation Iraqi freedom, “Operation Enduring Freedom” etc
5. To undertake to sign and ratify all Geneva Protocols, including Protocol V, which requires the removal of remnants of war
6. To no longer perceive justice in terms of revenge through military intervention and to instead seek justice through the International Court of Justice.
7. To no longer misconstrue Art 51 (self defence) of the Charter of the United Nations to justify premeditated non provoked military aggression, or to use various such pretexts for invading other sovereign states.
8. To not engage in and to oppose any attempt to undermine the international resolve to prevent the scourge of war; this would include not engaging in intimidation or in offering economic incentives in exchange for support for military interventions.
9. To be willing to be judged by an international tribunal for any actions that might be deemed to violate international law, to be crimes against the peace, to be war crimes, or to involve genocide.
10. To not misuse UN “peace keeping” forces to clean up aggressive acts of destruction and occupation of other states.
11. To close and convert to peaceful purposes all US foreign military bases in sovereign states around the world.
12. To undertake to respect the mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice ,and to abide by its decisions.
13. To end the circulation and berthing of nuclear powered or nuclear arms capable vessels throughout the world.
14. To no longer engaged in “War Games” or “Military exercises” such as Exercise Trident Fury.
15. To discontinue propping up and financing military dictators.
16. To abandon the practice of targeting or assisting in the assassination of leaders of other sovereign states, and of engaging in “regime change” or covert destabilization of democratically elected leaders of or any leader of a sovereign state; to end the interference in the democratic process through US government funded Non governmental organizations..
17, To invoke Chapter VI – the peaceful resolutions of disputes- and be prepared to be judged by the International Court of Justice.