God Bless America?

God Bless America(n weapons)? On U.S. Collusion with Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians (a cover note to a “poem”)

 

“The day will come when history will speak. But it will not be the history which will be taught in Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations.

It will be the history which will be taught in the countries which have won freedom from colonialism and its puppets.” Patrice Lumumba (1961)

 

“They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they kept but one — They promised to take our land … and they took it.” (Red Cloud, Leader of the Ogala Lakota, 1822 – December 10, 1909)

 

Along with the lengthy list of its other crimes, history will surely come to add the recent blind support of the US for this extremist-right-wing-genocidal Israeli regime that has already taken the lives of 19,667 Palestinians (December, 19 figures) in a mere two months, the majority of them not Hamas fighters nor combatants, not suicide bombers, not even stone-throwers, but innocent women, infants, children, men, the sick, the elderly…

 

If there is any good that will be seen to come from this ongoing slaughter (in a history of slaughter and massacre on a grand scale befitting an Empire and its “children”) at least the crimes of the “settler-colonist” Israelis and their open intention to dispossess and destroy a people – many of whom accepted their presence as a guest in the land all their forefathers passed through centuries ago – have now hopefully, been given the widespread attention they have both needed and deserved since 1947.

 

The old-colonial practice of terrorising the native population as a means to steal their land and resources is now, painfully, an activity watched (and responded to), daily, via world media… though the arguments, like all arguments, appear irreconcilable…if increasingly superficial…as befits a catastrophe like this…

 

It would be a miracle now if those who have prospered for so long from so much suffering will ever get to go back to “business as usual”? Where we will go, though, still remains a difficult question…despite the overwhelming cry of the majority of the people of the world for peace with justice and an equitable solution to these never-ending crises the earlier colonial powers gave birth to and still now, in their blindness and arrogance, are willing to conceal, perpetuate, or excuse…

 

When it comes to the US, maybe it is a bit premature to suggest that what we are witnessing is the bloody end of another savage Empire, with, at least, a fair majority of its own citizens probably prepared to deliver the coup-de-grace in less than a year, compliments of the narrow-minded and wisdom-less stupidity of empires and emperors as the twilight comes to haunt them.

 

Before they go, unfortunately, the crises build, the rivers start to flow with the blood of their innocent victims, the profits are all syphoned off (instead of being distributed where much needed) and wisdom, if ever there was any, has long been laughed out the door and exiled: with reference to current US President Biden, (and his disturbed predecessor, don’t forget) this would seem to be the case…

 

But now to the crime of weapons and power

 Immediately after October 7^th,  we heard of the significant movement of US military ships and aircraft closer to Israel…

Now it is becoming clear that, alongside the outspoken (im)moral support for slaughter, massacre,  out-right murder and the now-obvious ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the savagery would not be possible without the financial and hard military aid of the American Empire..

The Obama administration had already, in 2016, announced “the biggest security assistance package to the country, pledging $38 billion for Israel over the next decade”.

“US support has ensured that Israel maintains its qualitative military edge over neighboring Arab countries by having more advanced weapons systems, something Congress wrote into law in 2008.”

 

Now

“Israel would not be able to conduct this war without the US, which over time has provided Israel with about 80 percent of the country’s weapons imports.” Jonathan Guyer, writes  in a VOX article.

In addition and disturbingly,  the Biden administration quickly bypasses the limited control of Congress to approve an “emergency” sale of over $100 million of tank ammunition to Israel. Congress being notified “just hours after the United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire.”

Not food desperately needed for a starving people, not the water supply needed to sustain life, not the electricity nor fuel needed to power the hospitals that struggled, (now past tense) despite all, to save the lives of the sick and the injured, no! Instead: tank shells and other munitions: to destroy the infrastructure (homes, hospitals, schoolhouses, churches), the buildings and the people sheltering within – all in the name of fighting the so-called  “terrorists”…

Let it be repeated, President Biden, not the crucial necessities to save lives but more shells, bullets, rockets and missiles – more death and destruction – more profit for your arms industries: “The State Department has announced that the White House has approved a $106 million in emergency arms sales of nearly 14,000 tank shells to Israel and bypassing the standard Congressional approval process.”

An internal Pentagon document that Bloomberg released showed that the along with the  57,000 of the 155mm shells the US is sending Israel, there are also 2,000 Hellfire missiles that can be launched from Apache helicopters,  1,800 “bunker buster” rockets, 3,500 night-vision devices, along with mortars, rifles, ammunition, army vehicles, etc. etc.

And though Israel “also imports significant weapons from the UK, Italy, Canada, and Germany… 92 percent of what Israel gets comes from the United States.”

 Does this – and 20,000 victims to date – and rising – not makes the world’s current Superpower – a war criminal and these exports and funding: war crimes?

Finally: as if to put 2 fingers up to the international community, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin this week also stressed the United States will provide MORE arms and munitions to Israel, no matter what criticism, local or international,  it results in…

“Fuck you”, America tells an increasingly-shocked World!

 

“US Will ‘Continue’ To Provide Arms To Israel: Pentagon Chief” | Dawn News English

 “We’ll continue to provide Israel with the equipment that you need to defend your country… including critical munitions, tactical vehicles and air defence systems,” the US defence secretary said, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office.

Confronted now (December 22) with the nightmare of these 20,000 dead, with an estimated 60,000 injured and with only destroyed hospitals to help them, with “up to 1.9 million people (or over 85 per cent of the population)” displaced, confronted with the planned and forced starvation of a people and an intensification (ironically Netanyahu’s response to the majority of the world community demanding ceasefire!) of Israel’s assault

 

…and as our world stands by each day now to witness…

…let it be time for Us-All (on behalf of the countless Dead) to rise up from our sleep and to speak truth to the powerful (but obviously declining) United States and its disgraceful allies, to tell it:

…your own crimes and criminal history will come to haunt you…

…for far too long, far too many victims, too many lies;

all of which:

…we do NOT forget!

 

And Lest We Do Forget, here (below), (as the Christian holiday of Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All Men is being celebrated in the USA), is a partial inventory of some of the other crimes of Empire, we do well to keep in mind as we struggle to find our way into a future where all beings may live in peace and safety…

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