Allegations of state terrorism by United States of America

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The United States of America has been accused of sponsoring state terrorism and maintaining a hypocritical stance on terrorism by various governments and by various individuals, including funding or harboring terrorists and even conducting operations which can be considered terroristic according to international and even US definitions.^[1][2]

[edit] Definition of the term terrorism

Main article: State terrorism

Terrorism is a term used to describe violence or other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians by groups or persons for political, nationalist, or religious goals. State terrorism is a term which generally means violence against civilians perpetrated by a national government or proxy state, and which is considered an illegitimate (and therefore illegal) usage of force. The definition of terrorism is inherently controversial - for more information, visit Definition of terrorism.

[edit] Allegations

[edit] Latin America

[edit] Cuba

Further information: Church Committee

Further information: Operation Northwoods

Cuban government officials have accused the United States Government of being an accomplice and protector of terrorism against Cuba on many occasions.^{[3][4] [5]} According to Ricardo Alarcón, President of Cuba’s national assembly "Terrorism and violence, crimes against Cuba, have been part and parcel of U.S. policy for almost half a century.”^[6] The claims formed part of Cuba's $181.1 billion lawsuit in 1999 against the United States on behalf of the Cuban people which alleged that for over 40 years, "terrorism has been permanently used by the U.S. as an instrument of its foreign policy against Cuba," and it "became more systematic as a result of the covert action program."^[7] The lawsuit detailed a history of terrorism allegedly supported by the United States. The United States has long denied any involvement in the acts named in the lawsuit.^[8]

Gathering of Operation 40 operatives including Guillermo Novo Sampol, (Left-4th from camera) wanted in Venezuela for extradition in connection with terrorist acts,[1] Mexico City 22 January 1963

The claims centre around allegations of CIA knowledge and involvement in operations against Cuba from the early Sixties to mid-Seventies, notably the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 in 1976 which killed all 73 people aboard and a series of attacks on tourist sites in the 1990s.^[9] The allegations also claim U.S. involvement in the paramilitary group Omega 7, the CIA undercover operation known as Operation 40, and the umbrella group the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations. Cuban Counterterrorism investigator Roberto Hernández testified in a Miami court that the bomb attacks were "part of a campaign of terror designed to scare civilians and foreign tourists, harming Cuba's single largest industry."^[10] In 2001 Cuban Ambassador to the UN Bruno Rodriguez Pauuilla called for UN General Assembly to address all forms and manifestations of terrorism in every corner of the world, including - without exception - State terrorism. He alleged to the UN General Assembly that 3,478 Cubans have died as a result of aggressions and terrorist acts.^[11] The Cuban government also asserted that in the 1990s, a total of 68 acts of terrorism were perpetrated against Cuba.^[11]

The Cuban Government, its supporters and some outside observers believe that the group Alpha 66, whose former secretary general Andres Nazario acknowledged terrorist attacks on Cuban tourist spots in the 1990s^[12] and conducted training sessions at a secluded camp near the Florida Everglades,^[13] have been supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the US International Development Agency and, more directly, the CIA.^[14]

The Cubans also cite the admission by Luis Posada Carriles that he was recruited by the CIA becoming a trainer of other paramilitary forces in the mid 1960s.^[15] Posada, alongside Orlando Bosch, is accused by Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Cuba and Venezuela of organising the terrorist bombing of the aircraft Cubana 455,^[16] and according to Peter Kornbluh of the U.S. National Security Archive, "is a terrorist, but he’s our terrorist", referring to Posada's relationship with the U.S. government. In 2006, the U.S. Justice Department described Posada as “an unrepentant criminal and admitted mastermind of terrorist plots and attacks on tourist sites.” Though the Bush administration has yet to prosecute Posada for the admitted crimes.^[17] The Cubans also cite the involvement of FBI attaché Joseph Leo, who admitted multiple contacts with one of the convicted bombers of Cubana 455, Hernan Ricardo, before the attack.^[18]

On May 18, 2005 The U.S. National Security Archive posted additional documents that claim to show that the CIA had concrete advance intelligence, as early as June 1976, on plans by Posada to bomb the airliner. The archive also alleges that he remained in contact with the CIA until June 1976.^[9] When questioned on the matter Posada stated "The FBI and the CIA don't bother me, and I am neutral with them," he said. "Whenever I can help them, I do."^[19] The Cuban ambassador to the U.N. claimed that Posada had been "doubly employed by the Government of the U.S." both before and after the bombing of the Cubana aircraft.^[11] After escaping from prison in Venezuela, Posada, who boasted of his attack on the plane, went to work alongside CIA operative Felix Rodriguez under Richard Secord supplying the Contras.^[20]

Luis Posada at Fort Benning, Georgia, 1962

After serving 10 years for his role in the Cubana bombing and other terrorist attacks, Orlando Bosch was released from jail in Venezuela and given permission to reside in the United States with the assistance of Otto Reich, then US ambassador to Venezuela. On his arrival in Miami in 1988, Bosch was honored with an "Orlando Bosch Day" celebration, organized by Florida congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Despite decisions made by the justice department and FBI to deport Bosch, they were overruled by President George H. W. Bush and he was allowed permanent residency.^[21]

In a series of interviews with the New York Times, Posada claimed responsibility for the bombings at hotels and nightclubs in Cuba in 1997 in which an Italian tourist died and scores more were injured. Posada said his activities were directly supported by Jorge Mas Canosa, founder of the Cuban-American National Foundation.^[19] In 1998 the Cuban government charged The Cuban American National Foundation, which was founded in 1981 at the initiative of the Reagan administration and receives U.S. government funding ^[22] with the continued financing of anti-Cuban terrorist activities ^[23] They also claim that U.S. senator Mel Martinez was meeting with Cuban American terrorists and sponsoring them via CANF.^[24] In 2006 a former board member of CANF, Jose Antonio Llama testified that leaders of the foundation had created a paramilitary group to carry out destabilizing acts in Cuba.^[25]

The Cuban government have also condemned the U.S. for actions which they describe as "protecting terrorists". These allegations follow a decision in the U.S. to refuse to put on trial or to extradite Luis Posada Carriles, Guillermo Novo Sampol, Pedro Remon, and Gaspar Jimenez to Cuba or Venezuela, although they are accused of having perpetrated terrorist acts. ^[26] In an interview in 2001, Ricardo Alarcón stated:"The most quoted phrase by President Bush or ever repeated by him refers to the same idea every time he speaks. "Those who harbor a terrorist are as guilty as the terrorist himself"^[27]

[edit] Nicaragua

Further information: Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare

Following the rise to power of the left-wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua, the Reagan administration ordered the CIA to organize and train the right wing guerilla group "Contras". Florida State University professor, Frederick H. Gareau, has written that the Contras "attacked bridges, electric generators, but also state-owned agricultural cooperatives, rural health clinics, villages and non-combatants." US agents were directly involved in the fighting. "CIA commandos launched a series of sabotage raids on Nicaraguan port facilities. They mined the country's major ports and set fire to its largest oil storage facilities." In 1984 the US Congress ordered this intervention to be stopped, however it was later shown that the CIA illegally continued (See Iran-Contra affair). Professor Gareau has characterised these acts as "wholesale terrorism" by the United States.^[28]

In 1984 a CIA manual for training the Nicaraguan contras in psychological operations was leaked to the media, entitled "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla War".^{[29] [30]}

The manual recommended “selective use of violence for propagandistic effects” and to “neutralize” government officials. Nicaraguan Contras were taught to lead:

The Guardian newspaper quoted a survivor of a Contra attack on Jinotega provence:

Former State Department official William Blum has written that "American pilots were flying diverse kinds of combat missions against Nicaraguan troops and carrying supplies to contras inside Nicaraguan territory. Several were shot down and killed. Some flew in civilian clothes, after having been told that they would be disavowed by the Pentagon if captured. Some contras told American congressmen that they were ordered to claim responsibility for a bombing raid organized by the CIA and flown by Agency mercenaries." ^[33]

William Blum claims the Pentagon considered US policy in Nicaragua to be a "blueprint for successful US intervention in the Third World" and it would go "right into the textbooks".^[34]

[edit] Nicaragua vs. United States

Main article: Nicaragua vs. United States

The Republic of Nicaragua vs. The United States of America^[35] was a case heard in 1986 by the International Court of Justice which found that the United States had violated international law by supporting Contra guerrillas in their war against the Nicaraguan government and by mining Nicaragua's harbors. The Court ruled in Nicaragua's favor, but the United States refused to abide by the Court's decision, on the basis that the court erred in finding that it had jurisdiction to hear the case.^[36] The court stated that the United States had been involved in the "unlawful use of force".^[37] Author Noam Chomsky describes that in:

The ICJ used the Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare CIA manual as evidence in the case.

[edit] Guatemala

Further information: State terrorism by Guatemala, History of Guatemala, Operation PBSUCCESS, CIA sponsored regime change, Church Committee

US Government funding and training of Guatemalan "Death Squads" was brought to light in 1990-91 when US citizen and nun, Sister Diana Ortiz, took a US civil court case against General Hector Gramajo Morales, who was then teaching in the School of the Americas. Sister Ortiz stated that she was abducted by police officers under Morales' command and taken to a secret prison where she was tortured and raped repeatedly. A 1992 report to the United Nations General Assembly recounts her testemony,

Professor Gareau argues that the School of the Americas, a US Army institution, where Morales trained as a young officer and taught in later life, is a terrorist training ground. He notes a UN report which states the school has "graduated 500 of the worst human rights abusers in the hemisphere." He further argues that people protesting against the school are frequently beaten and arrested, "By the year 2002, 71 demonstrators had served a total of 40 years of jail time for protesting in front of the School of the Americas". This includes an 88 year old nun. Gareau claims that by funding, training and supervising Guatemalan 'Death Squads' Washington was complicit in state terrorism.^[40]

[edit] Middle East

[edit] Afghanistan and the "Green Belt"

The US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski under President Carter developed the concept of the Green-belt theory which involved a plan to use Saudi Arabian money and CIA logistical support to train and arm Islamic radicals within the Soviet Union and in neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of Operation Cyclone.^[41][42] These CIA-supported Islamic extremists fought against the Soviet Union in its Afghanistan war, and spurred a similar Muslim-world program which attracted Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan. According to Robert Dreyfus, the CIA also provided training and money to the Chechans during the Cold War to use them as guerrilla fighters in case of a Soviet invasion of Europe. This concept was modeled on Operation Gladio which involved training paramilitary organizations in Europe to serve as guerrilla units in case of a Soviet invasion ^[43].

Once the Soviet Union dissolved, these Chechen terrorists were to destabilize and weaken the post-Soviet Russia. ^[44][45]

[edit] Iran

Stephen Kinzer has written that in 1953 agent Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. oversaw Operation Ajax, which involved organised riots and the training of right-wing terrorist groups in a successful effort to overthrow the democratically-elected Iranian government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, and reverse the nationalization of Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (later renamed BP). Kinzer says that following the coup, Iran became a US client state under the dictatorship of the Shah until the Iranian Revolution of 1979, when Iran again became a target.^[46]

According to the Asia Times, sponsoring terrorist activities inside Iran has been a consistent feature of U.S. regional policy over the past quarter-century. The paper cites The New Yorker Magazine's investigative reports which states that as of at least 1996 the United States has military commando units operating inside Iran. ^[47]

[edit] Iraq

The New York Times reported that according to former U.S. intelligence officials, the CIA orchestrated a bomb and sabotage campaign via some of the many Iraqi resistance groups funded by the United States, including Allawi's group. The bombing campaign against Baghdad included government and civilian targets between 1992 and 1995. No public records of the secret bombing campaign are known to exist, and the former U.S. officials said their recollections were in many cases sketchy, and in some cases contradictory. The civilian targets included a movie theater and a school bus. According to at least one former CIA official, children were killed in the bombing of the schoolbus. ^[48]

[edit] Western Europe

Main article: Operation Gladio

On October 24, 1990 Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti told the Italian Parliament that NATO had long held a covert policy of training partisan in the event of a Soviet Invasion of Western Europe.^[49][50][51] Under Operation Gladio the CIA, British MI6 and NATO trained and armed partisan groups in NATO states to fight a guerrilla war if they were captured during a future Soviet invasion. It has been alleged that these groups and individuals in they were responsible for the strategy of tension in Italy which aimed at impeding the "historic compromise" between the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party (PCI), which would have allowed the Christian Democrats to invite PCI members of parliament to serve as members of the governing coalition. This strategy of tension allegedly included the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing and the Bologna massacre (1980) ^{[52][53] [54]} political assassinations in Belgium^[55], military coups in Greece (1967) and Turkey (1980)^[56] and an attempted coup in France (1961)^[57]. The supposed aim of this group was to prevent Communist movements in Western Europe gaining power.

In 2000, a report from the Italian Left Democrat party, "Gruppo Democratici di Sinistra l'Ulivo", concluded that the strategy of tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI (Communist Party), and to a certain degree also the PSI (Italian Socialist Party), from reaching executive power in the country". A report, stated that "Those massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organised or promoted or supported by men inside Italian state institutions and, as has been discovered more recently, by men linked to the structures of United States intelligence."^[58][59]

On November 5, 1990 NATO's spokesman denied any knowledge or involvement with Gladio^[60] and has since refused to comment.^[54] The US State Department has admitted the existence of Gladio, but denied it has been involved in terrorism.^[61]

[edit] "False flag" allegations within the United States

There are many allegations, of differing levels of provability and credibility, of the US government planning or conducting false flag attacks within the United States itself.

• Operation Northwoods - a documented and now declassified plan by the U.S. Department of Defense to launch attacks against civilian targets in the U.S., which attacks were to be used by the U.S. government as a pretext and rallying cry for war against Cuba during the Kennedy administration; similar proposed projects to provoke war with Cuba all fell under Operation Mongoose, also called the "Cuban Project," such as Operation Dirty Trick, Operation Bingo, and so on.
• Controlled demolition hypothesis for the collapse of the World Trade Center
• Pentagon damaged not by Flight 77 but a cruise missile

[edit] Application of United States Government's own definitions

Professor Noam Chomsky of the Institute for Policy Studies has referred to the tactics used by agents of the US government and their proxies in their execution of US foreign policy in such countries as Nicaragua, Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Argentina, Colombia, Turkey, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as a form of terrorism from which the term "American terrorism" has been drawn.^[62] Chomsky has also described the U.S as "a leading terrorist state." After President Bush began using the term "War on Terrorism," Chomsky stated:

Similarly Daniele Ganser, a military and security studies academic,^{[64][65][66][67]} has written^[68] that "the covert action department of the CIA" is, "according to the definition of the FBI...a terrorist organistation." Dr. Ganser explains that this is because "`Terrorism', according to the FBI, `is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objective'," and as Dr. Ganser goes on to point out this is precisely the objective given to the covert operations section of the CIA. (when the US Government chose if the CIA or US military would continue to handle psychological operations in response to the Soviet Union's "psychological warfare.")^[69] The relevant document -- also quoted by Ganser -- is the 1948 U.S. National Security Council directive, 10/2, where the activity of the CIA covert (psychological) operations bureau is defined as follows:

[edit] Quotes

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Gareau, Frederick H. (March 2004). State Terrorism and the United States : From Counterinsurgency to the War on Terrorism. Clarity Press. ISBN 0-932863-39-6. 

[edit] See also

• Allegations of war crimes against U.S. officials
• American terrorism
• Command responsibility
• List of acts labelled as state terrorism sorted by state
• List of terrorist incidents
• Overseas expansion of the United States
• U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism
• Torture manuals

[edit] External links

• Understanding Terrorism
• Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq
• The Massacre of the Branch Davidians
• An account of American terrorism in Vietnam
• Terrorism In Early America
• Bush nominee linked to Latin American terrorism
• Bush Terror Elite Wanted 9/11 to Happen
• America's list of terrorism
• DIY terrorism, compliments of the CIA