February 15, 2004

Some Skull and Bones Men

William Howard Taft

As President of the United States (1909-1913), Taft described his attitude towards Latin America: AThe day is not far distant (when) the whole hemisphere will be ours in fact as, by virtue of our superiority of race, it already is ours morally.@

Henry L. Stimson

In 1931, when Marine General Smedley Butler made some critical comments about Mussolini, Stimson brought court-martial proceedings against him. After World War II, Stimson recalled how he (then Secretary of State) and President Hoover, had found Mussolini to be a Asound and useful leader.@

In May 1945, while explaining that all regional systems must be dismantled apart from our own (which were to be extended Aas part of our obligation to the security of the world@), Secretary of War Stimson described the Western Hemisphere as, AOur little region over here which never has bothered anybody.@

In July 1945, Secretary of War Stimson wrote to the State Department, ATo argue that it is necessary to preserve a unilateral military control by the U.S. or Britain over Panama or Gibraltar, and yet deny a similar control to Russia at the Dardanelles, may seem open to the criticism of being illogical (but the U.S. design is) a logical illogicality... By no stretch of the imagination (can the U.S. and Britain be thought to have) expansionist or aggressive ambition.@

Stimson, the high government official in closest touch with the development and destructive power of the atomic bomb, variously referred to it in his diary as Athe thing,= Athe gadget,@ Athe dire,@ Athe dreadful,@ Athe terrible,@ Athe awful,@ Athe diabolical,@ and Athe secret.@ Stimson and his cohorts succeeded in quelling suspicions about the A-bomb and exaggerated the number of American lives likely to be lost in an all-out invasion of Japan.

Henry Luce

In the 1930's, Henry Luce, editor of Time, Life and Fortune, was influential in promoting intervention against Hitler as a way to continue the dominance of the leading capitalist powers, in his words, making this century Aan American Century.@

McGeorge Bundy

In August 1962, McGeorge Bundy, National Security Adviser to President John F. Kennedy, issued NSAM 181 stating that, at the President=s directive, Operation Mongoose=s APlan B plus, should be developed with all possible speed.@ APlan B plus@ aimed at an internal revolt in Cuba.

In January 1967, writing in Foreign Affairs, McGeorge Bundy described Vietnam war protestors as, Athe wild men in the wings (who are questioning) the first team (which is running the war and questioning even the justice of the U.S. cause).@

George Herbert Walker Bush

In January 1991, while bombs and missiles were falling over Baghdad, George H. W. Bush announced the basic principle of the New World Order, AWhat we say goes.@

John Forbes Kerry

In 1989, Senator Kerry (D-MA) declared his support for the invasion of Panama.

In February 1998, responding to the United Nations Security Council=s unanimous endorsement of Secretary-General Kofi Annan=s rejection of the U.S./U.K. demands for authorization of the use of force in the event of Iraqi non-compliance, Senator Kerry declared, A(It would be) legitimate (for the U. S. to invade Iraq outright if Saddam Hussein) remains obdurate and in violation of the United Nations resolutions, and in a position of threat to the world community (whether the Security Council so determines or not).@ Such unilateral U.S. action would be Awithin the framework of international law,@ he said. Kerry explained that his current stand was consistent with his earlier views, as Vietnam had taught him that force should be used only if the objective is Aachievable and it meets the needs of your country.@

George Walker Bush

Bush has a Avision@ of a Palestinian state B somewhere, some time, with unknown characteristics.

After September 11, 2001, Bush asked, AWhy do they hate us, when we=re so good?@

On October 7, 2001, Bush launched the U.S.-led Afghanistan campaign, AOperation Enduring Freedom.@

On January 29, 2002, in his State of the Union address to Congress, Bush stated, AStates like these (North Korea, Iran and Iraq) and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world... I will not wait on events.@

On June 1, 2002, in his graduation speech to the West Point U.S. Military Academy in New York, Bush for the first time, embraced the idea of preemptive wars against other nations: AOur security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives.@

On January 28, 2003, in his State of the Union address to Congress, Bush stated, AFrom intelligence sources, we know thousands of Iraqi security personnel are hiding documents and materials, sanitizing inspection sites, and monitoring inspectors themselves... The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium in Africa... In the Middle East, we will continue to seek peace between a secure Israel and a democratic Palestine.@

On February 14, 2003, Bush stated, AWhen I talk about the war on terror, I am not just talking about Al Qaida, I am (also) talking about Iraq.@

On March 20, 2003, Bush launched the U.S.-led Iraqi campaign, AOperation Iraqi Freedom.@

References

William Howard Taft

Chomsky, Noam, Turning the Tide B U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace (South End), 1985, p. 59.

Henry Stimson

Chomsky, Deterring Democracy (Hill and Wang), 1991, p. 40.

Chomsky, Noam, Year 501 B The Conquest Continues (South End), 1993, pp. 42 and 69.

Chomsky, Noam, Powers & Prospects B Reflections on Human Nature and the Social Order (South End), 1996, p. 96.

Lifton, Robert and Greg Mitchell, Hiroshima in America B A Half Century of Denial (Avon/Hearst, N.Y.) 1995, pp. 119, 213 and 274.

Henry Luce

Gross, Bertram, Friendly Fascism B The New Face of Power in America (South End), 1980, p. 19.

McGeorge Bundy

Chomsky, Noam, For Reasons of State (The New Press, New York., N.Y.), 1970, 1971,1973/2003, p. 74.

Chomsky, Noam, Year 501 B The Conquest Continues (South End), 1993, p. 267.

Franklin, Jane, Cuba and the United States B A Chronological History (Ocean), 1997, pp. 53-54.

George Herbert Walker Bush

Chomsky, Noam, Middle East Illusions B Including Peace in the Middle East? Reflections on Justice and Nationhood (Rowman & Littlefield, New York., N.Y.), 2003, p. 188.

John Forbes Kerry

Chomsky, Noam, Rogue States B The Rule of Force in World Affairs (South End, Cambridge, MA), 2000, pp. 14-15.

Zinn, Howard, A People=s History of the United States, 1942-Present (Harper), 1995, p. 582.

George Walker Bush

Bonifaz, John, Warrior-King B The Case for impeaching George W. Bush (Nation Books, New York, N.Y.), 2003, p. 90.

Chomsky, Noam, Middle East Illusions B Including Peace in the Middle East? Reflections on Justice and Nationhood (Rowman & Littlefield, New York., N.Y.), 2003, p. xi.

Chomsky, Noam, Power and Terror B Post-9/11 Talks and Interviews, edited by John Junkerman and Takei Masakazu (Seven Stories, New York, N.Y.), 2003, p. 83.

Hiro, Dilip, Secrets and Lies: Operation AIraqi Freedom and After B A Prelude to the Fall of U.S. Power in the Middle East? (Nation Books, New York, N.Y.) 2004, pp. 11, 26, 122, 139, 151, 183 and 212.

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