Overthrow: 100 Years of U.S. Meddling and Regime Change, From Iran to Nicaragua to Hawaii to Cuba
NEWS & POLITICS
America committed a variety of human rights abuses, all under cover of "spreading democracy."
By Amy Goodman, Juan González / Democracy Now! March 13, 2018, 10:19 AM GMT
As special counsel Robert Mueller continues his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, we take a look back at Washingtons record of meddling in elections across the globe. By one count, the United States has interfered in more than 80 foreign elections between 1946 and 2000. And that doesnt count U.S.-backed coups and invasions. We speak to former New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow: Americas Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq.
Video and transcript at link:
https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/100-years-us-meddling-regime-change
emulatorloo
(44,116 posts)If everyone is guilty of something, is no one guilty of anything?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/whataboutism-origin-meaning
Some of the terms we use to describe political rhetoric are as old as politics itself (see ad hominem attacks, or such devices as synecdoche, metonymy, or zeugma). Others are more recent additions, driven by the evolution of the news cycle (like fake news and dog whistles).
But hey, arent we ignoring a bigger subject here? How can we talk about rhetorical devices and not mention whataboutism?
Essentially a reversal of accusation, arguing that an opponent is guilty of an offense just as egregious or worse
Whataboutism gives a clue to its meaning in its name. It is not merely the changing of a subject ("What about the economy?" ) to deflect away from an earlier subject as a political strategy; its essentially a reversal of accusation, arguing that an opponent is guilty of an offense just as egregious or worse than what the original party was accused of doing, however unconnected the offenses may be.
<snip>
The association of whataboutism with the Soviet Union began during the Cold War. As the regimes of Josef Stalin and his successors were criticized by the West for human rights atrocities, the Soviet propaganda machine would be ready with a comeback alleging atrocities of equal reprehensibility for which the West was guilty.
Michael Bernard, The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 17 Jun. 1978
<snip>
Before the 2016 presidential election, more instances of whataboutism applied to criticism among regimes than between individual politicians:
<snip>
Max Seddon, Buzzfeed, 25 Nov. 2014
<snip>
The term is seeing a bit of a renaissance in our current political climate. Philip Bump writes in The Washington Post that President Donald Trump has utilized whataboutism frequently as a way of deflecting criticism for his actions, such as his pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio.
<snip>
Time will tell if whataboutism can persuade its way into the language, but its recent upswing in usage suggests it may have staying power. At least until someone changes the subject.
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Much more at link.
FreepFryer
(7,077 posts)Duppers
(28,120 posts)We should be ashamed of so many horrible things our country has done.
Thanks for posting this.
spin
(17,493 posts)of this possibility.
The Washington Post
December 22, 1963 - page A11
Harry Truman Writes:
Limit CIA Role
To Intelligence
By Harry S Truman
Copyright, 1963, by Harry S Truman
INDEPENDENCE, MO., Dec. 21 I think it has become necessary to take another look at the purpose and operations of our Central Intelligence AgencyCIA. At least, I would like to submit here the original reason why I thought it necessary to organize this Agency during my Administration, what I expected it to do and how it was to operate as an arm of the President.
***snip***
For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment. It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government. This has led to trouble and may have compounded our difficulties in several explosive areas.
I never had any thought that when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak and dagger operations. Some of the complications and embarrassment I think we have experienced are in part attributable to the fact that this quiet intelligence arm of the President has been so removed from its intended role that it is being interpreted as a symbol of sinister and mysterious foreign intrigueand a subject for cold war enemy propaganda.
With all the nonsense put out by Communist propaganda about "Yankee imperialism," "exploitive capitalism," "war-mongering," "monopolists," in their name-calling assault on the West, the last thing we needed was for the CIA to be seized upon as something akin to a subverting influence in the affairs of other people.
***snip***
But there are now some searching questions that need to be answered. I, therefore, would like to see the CIA be restored to its original assignment as the intelligence arm of the President, and that whatever else it can properly perform in that special fieldand that its operational duties be terminated or properly used elsewhere.
We have grown up as a nation, respected for our free institutions and for our ability to maintain a free and open society. There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position and I feel that we need to correct it.
http://www.maebrussell.com/Prouty/Harry%20Truman%27s%20CIA%20article.html