My
Favourite Uncle, Sam…
by Morley Leonard Evans © July 2004
v. 1.2.2
NEW CONTENT, since 12 August 2005: SCROLL DOWN
I have been wrestling
of late with a re-assessment of my favourite uncle, Sam.
Sam has always been kind to me and from him I have learned much about
kindness, love and charity. I am a student of his history and until now
I have always given him the benefit of the doubt in every matter. Sadly,
and with regret, I have been forced to conclude that my uncle Sam does
have a hard dark side, a very dark side indeed.
The highlights of uncle Sam’s history:
Revolutionary War (1775-1783); the Louisiana Purchase (1803); the War
of 1812; the War of Texas Independence (1836); the Mexican War (1846-1848);
the opening of the West (1849-1899) including some of the Indian Wars;
the Commodore Perry Expeditions to Japan (1853 and 1854); the Civil War
(1861-1865); purchase of Alaska (1867); the Spanish-American War (1898);
annexation of Hawaii (1898); the Open Door to China (1899); construction
and annexation of the Panama Canal (1903-1914); the First World War (1914-1918);
the Second World War (1939-1945); the Cold War (1945-1991) including the
Korean War (1950-1953) and the War in Vietnam (1954-1975); then the Gulf
War (1991). Now, to end the peace which followed the Cold War that lasted
46 years, we have been given the War on Afghanistan / on Terror / on Iraq
/ and on whatnot (2001 to who knows when).
Combined with an on-going war on American Indians and slavery — both
of which began during the two hundred odd years when the 13 colonies were
part of the British Empire, and a general maltreatment of people from
the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, what uncle Sam has done doesn’t
appear to favour the notion that he has been particularly peaceful or
neighbourly. Rather, in the hard light of day, Sam appears to have been
extremely aggressive and dangerous. Yet, of course, he believes himself
to be quite the opposite, a friend to all and an enemy of none, someone
who has sacrificed much for the benefit of many, the font of goodness
and mankind’s last best hope, sob . . .
I, myself, have been very well treated by uncle Sam, even considering
the War of 1812, which he lost to my forebears while he settled the matter
of his independence from Great Britain, once and for all.
Standing back to view the entire stand of trees from the vantage of an
open field, we can say that the 19th century was the zenith of the British
Empire, despite the loss of the 13 colonies, and that the 20th century
was the zenith of the American Empire, even before it was trumpeted by
some as “the world’s only remaining superpower.” The 19th
century, unfolding after Napoleon’s defeat and the Congress of
Vienna in 1814, was generally peaceful — despite being the height
of colonialism — and much of the progress we take for granted today
actually began then. Queen Victoria lends her name to an age of propriety
and gentility. On the other hand, the 20th century, which began to unfold
with the First World War in 1914, was the most bloody epoch in mankind’s
bloody history.
And the 21st century has started very badly, sad to say.
We see a long list of evil-doers who have forced Sam, over vociferous
American protests, and against his own wishes and better judgement, reluctantly
to wage war: the British; the French; the Mexicans; the American South;
the American Indians; the Spanish; the Filipinos; the Central Americans;
the Haitians; the South Americans; the Germans; the Japanese; the Communists
including the Russians, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Cubans, the Vietnamese,
the Laotians, and the Cambodians; the Iranians, the Libyans, the Afghans,
and the Iraqis — a never ending list of evil-doers dating back to
the very beginning, and before. Could there be something wrong with this
picture? We see too that there has always been a peculiar marriage between
some of Sam’s more favoured businesses and the State and that much
of his “free enterprise system” resembles the corporatist arrangements
advocated by Mussolini. It seems that the fix was in for much of corporate
America at home and abroad.
Sam has always also maintained a menagerie of desperadoes who cooperated
with him while they kept their own people in line, exploiting them for
fun and profit: Batista (Cuba); Samosa (Nicaragua); Palavi (Iran); Saddam
(Iraq); Duvalié (Haiti); Diem (S. Vietnam); Chiang Kai Chek (China);
Singman Rhee (S. Korea); Noriega (Panama); Marcos (Philippines); Pinochet
(Chile); Mobuto (Zaire); Suharto (Indonesia) and many many more, including
the junta which founded and runs “Israel”, the Zionist State.
These were the men through whom the American Empire operated while it
extolled the Declaration
of Independence at home and abroad: and practised “foreign
aid” which transferred American taxpayer dollars to favoured American
businesses, while indigenous businesses in recipient countries were starved
out. Dictators kept their jobs as long as they pleased their Master; when
they failed to be useful, they were removed. That’s Empire by anyone’s
definition.
Oh, let’s not forget troops and matériel permanently stationed
in army, navy, air force and marine bases around the globe today, the
proposed weaponization of space tomorrow, and the permanent marriage of
the State with the war industry, the university system, and the media
at home. I think that covers it. We are all safe now, right?
Many see a new enemy today — a billion Muslims. Others see Jews.
In fact Zionists who are calling themselves “neoconservatives”
these days, actually do appear to have hijacked Sam’s foreign policy
and his military to fight their battles — le coup d’état
extraordinaire! Should Muslims or should Jews be added to the
list of evil-doers? Both?
A Zionist coup does seem to be what is happening currently but this wouldn’t
be the first time this would have happened. It has been suggested that
the British may have similarly hijacked Sam’s foreign policy and
his military to come to Great Britain’s aide in both World War I
and World War II. Poor Sam. Is he merely the innocent, hapless victim
of evil intrigue? (Can Wilson — or Roosevelt — seriously be
compared to Bush? Hard to believe…)
Are there defects in Sam’s character that make him a willing participant
in — perhaps even the instigator of — evil-doing? I conclude
that there are. If we want world peace — And who doesn’t? Some
do not! — we must start with Sam himself and stop pointing the finger
at bad people everywhere else.
“Give it back? Why, it’s ours; we stole it fair and square.” - S.J. Hayakawa, U.S. Senator
Addendum:
The history of its armed forces tells the tale: The military has never stopped growing in peacetime and in war, for over two hundred years. The United States has never disarmed and it has continually been at war with someone for centuries. It enjoys its peaceful reputation as a result of skillful, subtle, yet pervasive, propaganda (public relations) that shapes its image at home and abroad. Some may not, but most Americans believe it.
America's claim to virtuous hegemony is contradicted by the disasters inflicted on the world by America's arrogant and blundering leaders. - Paul Craig Roberts
The Great War and the Century of American Empire - Morley Evans
"You
can get more with a kind word and a gun
than you can get with a kind word alone." - Al Capone
Food for thought:
-
C.I.A. It's Greatest Hits!
-
Garrisoning the Planet: we are all safe now, right?
-
Victory Culture and American Triumphalism: or, War is Peace
-
Slavery and the Making of America: or, Slavery is Freedom
-
Québec: the American Empire began before there was a United States
-
George Washington: The dark side: the 20th century began in May 1754
-
His Mighty Blow: Henry Gallagher Fields knocks the cover off
-
1914: the key to the past and to the future
-
Jefferson: and the American Way
-
The American Empire: God help us all.
-
Noam Chomsky: read, learn, think
-
Cashing in on the Bush Doctrine (Oh, sorry, this opportunity is not for you.)
-
The Good War: celebrations endorse warmongering
-
TruthOut It's what real Americans are doing!
-
Blazing Saddles Cleavon Little (The True West)
-
Mars Attacks! Jack Nicholson (More real than Al Qaeda)
-
Dr. Strangelove Peter Sellers (How I Learned to Love the Bomb)
-
Charles Joseph Bonaparte the Emperor lives on in Washington
-
The Other War: FDR's Battle Against Churchill and the British Empire
-
Abraham Lincoln: A new look
-
Goose Creek, S.C. today!
-
Private Warriors Want to earn $1,000 a day?
-
American "idealism": remodeling the world (pdf)
-
Webster Tarpley, Chapter 6 (pdf)
-
The War in the Pacific (1942-45)
This
should close the case! -
Indian Wars
Boys
will be boys.
U.S.A.F. Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper
"Armed to the teeth: We are all safe now, right?"
-
America's Army: online fun from the DoD
-
Budget of the United States Government fiscal year 2006
-
Federal Budget Pie Chart: TWO TRILLION DOLLARS it's half military!
-
Society of the Cincinnati: (the Continental Army of 1775 lives on)
-
The Pentagon (Arlington, VA)
-
West Point (USMA • Army)
-
Annapolis (USNA • Navy)
-
Annapolis (USNA • Marines)
-
Colorado Springs (USAFA • Air Force)
-
Kings Point (USMMA • Merchant Marine)
-
New London (USCGA • Coast Guard)
-
Naval War College (Newport, RI)
-
The Center for Information Dominance (Pensacola, FL)
-
Army War College (Carlisle, PA)
-
Air War College (Maxwell, AL)
-
National War College (Washington, DC)
-
Industrial College of the Armed Forces (Washington, DC)
-
Information Resources Management College (Washington, DC)
-
Joint Forces Staff College (Norfolk, VA)
-
School for National Security Executive Education (Washington, DC)
-
Strategic Air Command: "Peace Is Our Profession"
-
NORAD: "Deter, Detect, Defend"
-
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
-
Cheyenne Mountain: Operations Center
-
Space Warfare Center: "In Your Face From Outer Space"
-
DARPA: father of the Internet
-
Area 51: "Curing Paranoiacs Since Y2K"
-
Groom Lake, NV (Area 51) overhead from Russian spy satellite
-
Ex-FBI Official Accuses: (Don't listen to him, listen to us!)
-
United States Army Seal (adopted in 1778)
-
U.S. Navy SeeBees "We Build, We Fight"
-
Battleships (history)
-
Aircraft Carriers (history)
-
B-52 Stratofortress (history)
-
Subic Bay (history)
-
Davis-Monthan (history)
- Military Bases Continental U.S.A. NEW 1July 2006
military contractors, media, academe and even more . . .
- The Sands of Iwo Jima John Wayne
- The Green Berets John Wayne
- Sergeant York Gary Cooper
- From Here to Eternity Burt Lancaster
- U.S. Cavalry in the movies
- Top Gun Tom Cruise
- Sergeant Bilko Phil Silvers
- Mrs. Miniver Greer Garson
- Hogan's Heroes Bob Crane
- The Great Escape Steve McQueen
- The Sand Pebbles Steve McQueen
- 55 Days at Peking Charlton Heston
- The Dirty Dozen Lee Marvin
- Where Eagles Dare Richard Burton
- Guns of Navarone Gregory Peck
- Patton George C. Scott
- The Longest Day Eddie Albert
- Kelly's Heroes Clint Eastwood
- White Christmas Bing Crosby
- Mr. Roberts Henry Fonda
- The Caine Mutiny Humphry Bogart
- It's a Wonderful Life Jimmy Stewart
- I Dream of Jeanie Barbara Eden
- Exodus Paul Newman
- Gomer Pyle , U.S.M.C. Jim Nabors
- Rat Patrol Christopher George
- The F.B.I. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
- Bond, James Bond Sean Connery
- COMBAT! Vic Morrow
- Twelve O'Clock High Gregory Peck
- M.A.S.H. Donald Sutherland
- Twelve O'Clock High Paul Burke
- M.A.S.H. Alan Alda
- Baa Baa Black Sheep Robert Conrad
- Star Trek William Shatner
- AirWolf Jan-Michael Vincent
- RAMBO Sylvester Stallone
- Cult Sirens various
- J.A.G. David James Elliott
- G.I. Jane Demi Moore
- G.I. Joe Hasbro
- A Few Good Men Jack Nicholson
- The American President Michael Douglas
- The West Wing Martin Sheen
and on and on and on . . .
"They're just adorable. If it wasn't that way, it shouldda been . . ."
"Gee-Willikers!
Even the Hollywood version
of Nazi Germany had nothing like this!"
“I
just want you to know that, when we talk about war,
we're really
talking about peace.”
– George W. Bush, Commander in Chief