E. Ferrari = OpEdNews: History to Obama: Yes, we have made war on democracies

[L. Coyote]

DU's own EFerrari

====================
History to Obama: Yes, we have made war on democracies
By Elizabeth Ferrari - December 12, 2009 at 07:45 - http://www.opednews.com/articles/History-to-Obama--Yes-we-by-Elizabeth-Ferrari-091210-969.html


"America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens." --- President Barack Obama, December 10, 2009

I set out to listen to the president's speech .... Obama talking to History. The occasion requires careful attention.

Clearly, Americans listen to Obama differently than the rest of the world listens. But for the people of Latin America, this claim of his is a stomach punch. The window of hope and goodwill and support Barack Obama inspired among progressive Latin American leaders and even among the peoples of Latin America during his campaign just slammed shut.

.....

The United States has waged war against democracy in Latin America by other means relentlessly from the 1954 overthrow in Guatemala to the latest crime against the Honduran people -- a president's kidnapping fueled at our base, the coupster's mouthpiece a Clinton veteran, Negroponte advising both the coup and the Secretary of State. ....

Our "closest friend" in Latin America is Uribe's murderous regime in Colombia -- one that kills civilians with impunity and dresses the bodies in FARC uniforms to cover their murders, that builds crematoria in the jungle to dispose of the evidence, that at last count has killed over 150 school teachers just this year and that leads the world in the murder of union organizers.

I am stunned that an American president could make such a claim ..... Barack Obama is certainly not responsible for the war on Latin American democracy that the United States has waged for decades, I hold him responsible for giving a truthful accounting of that history and I hold him accountable for what is today happening under his governance.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Excellent in all respects. From one of my favorite posters. K&R

[H2O Man]

2. Way, way recommended!

I take great pride in being on the same team with her.

[malaise]

3. She is 100% correct

Congrats EF :yourock:

[Octafish]

4. EFerrari is Tops!

Congratulations on publication. Thank you for chronicling the reality of the situation.

[omega minimo]

25. +++++++++++++++

:yourock:

[mod mom]

54. Absolutely!

:woohoo:

[Mudoria]

5. I guess some sites will publish anything

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

9. I'll be looking for your piece.

[L. Coyote]

58. I guess some Presidents don't LIE. Can't wait until we have one. Meanwhile we have E.F.

I am thankful that some people have the good sense to make sure that Presidents who LIE are called to the matt!

[chill_wind]

6. K & R for EF!

:applause: :applause:

[StarfarerBill]

7. Excellent, Elizabeth (nice name; my mother's middle name :))!

Terrific points; well-played.

:yourock:

[Joe Chi Minh]

18. And my grandmother's.

[Gregorian]

8. Sharp and clear.

I'll forever be indebted to those here who contributed to my political growth.

This is one fine example of that. Cutting through and shining on the truth.

Come on, Obama.

[JVS]

10. Way to go Eferrari!

[DemReadingDU]

11. K&R +100

Excellent, Thanks for writing.

[whatchamacallit]

12. ! K&R !

[bluesmail]

13. K&R

:thumbsup:

[Vidar]

14. Highly recommended.

[bleever]

15. I'm very glad to see this spread beyond DU.

It's a great piece, Beth.

:toast:

[stevedeshazer]

16. Way to go, E

knr

[bvar22]

17. K,R...AND Kudos

:patriot:

[Swamp Rat]

19. k&r

:applause:

[leftstreet]

20. K&R

Congratulations!

[Forkboy]

21. Fuckin A!

:thumbsup:

[Agony]

22. Kick

[Irishonly]

23. K&R

[freddie mertz]

24. Congratulations and K & R (again).

History matters.

[varelse]

26. Like E.Ferrari, I was stunned to see our President make that claim

Unlike her, and in spite of decades spent reading about our bloody history of interference in Latin American politics (it was a topic of interest to me from high school years onward), I was unable to present an eloquent and fact-based criticism of that insupportable statement.

Recommended

[Chulanowa]

30. I wasn't. "Democracies don't go to war with each other" is an embedded cliche

And, to a degree, it's true. Democracies engage in covert action and "liberation efforts" against each other. Declared wars are a no-no.

[Jeanette in FL]

27. Excellent Beth, Perfect

Sadly though, most of our American citizens wouldn't have any idea about our involvement in Latin America.

You nailed it with this piece.

:toast:

[Ignis]

28. K&R for a clear voice speaking truth to power.

:patriot:

[DissedByBush]

29. You mean a president's arrest

On orders from the Supreme Court of the country.

On the other hand, having legally arrested Zelaya, allowing the succession to the presidency by Micheletti according to Honduran law, the Honduran government minus Zelaya didn't exactly do a great job itself protecting civil liberties.

Imagine if Bush had illegally put an item on ballots and had them printed for an election. The courts, including the Supreme Court, declared that item illegal and ordered the confiscation of the ballots. Then Bush's goons break in to where the ballots are stored, steal them and hold them at the White House for the upcoming election. He plans to have that item on the ballots no matter what Congress or the Supreme Court says.

Would anybody be defending Bush? Hell no, we'd have impeached him.

Unfortunately, Honduras doesn't have a mechanism for impeachment so the Supreme Court ordered his arrest.

[G_j]

31. right on!

that was an awesome piece!

[mdmc]

32. nice find

thanks for posting

[truedelphi]

33. Wish this could be rec'ed a dozen times from each of us who understand

Exactly what you are saying.

[Downwinder]

34. Recommended for the third time.

Given the opportunity I'll recommend it again.

[walldude]

35. LMAO.. I thought she was a dude...

WTF EF! K&R

[FarLeftRage]

36. A big K & R for Elizabeth!

Love reading her posts... usually both informative and historically enlightening.

[flyarm]

37. THANKS BETH !! Excellent!!..HEY OBAMA..what about our citizens rights?

How is that FISA working for you Obama?

How about those Nuremberg Protocols Obama?

How about Health care reform for the people President Obama..instead of secret deals with those who fuck us over with our health care??

And about that escalation of war in Afghanistan Mr. Obama..it is immoral, and it will cripple our nation, as well as continue the deaths of our troops as well as crippling many of them for life, and don't forget the citizens of that nation dying for no damn reason other than greed by a few of your elite friends Mr Obama.

[Hardrada]

51. Right! Exactly what to ask him.

[HughMoran]

38. Congrats!!

The article itself is filled with exaggerations and partial truths, but congrats all the same!

[Bozita]

39. Outstanding. ... Recommended!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. You tell 'em!

:yourock:

[Solly Mack]

41. k/r

[Offred]

42. war on democracy

The CIA sets up a coup to remove a democratically elected leader and replace him with the brutal Shah of Iran. I'd call that waging war.

"The 1953 Iranian coup d’état deposed the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq.<1><2><3>

The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) overthrew the government of the popular Prime Minister Mosaddeq at the request of, and with support from the British government. In what the CIA called Operation Ajax, the U.S. enabled Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to become an authoritarian monarch<4>, who went on to rule Iran for 26 years until he was overthrown in 1979.<5>"

[BunkerHill24]

43. Brava!

:thumbsup: K&R

[Kermitt Gribble]

44. K&R! For one of the best on DU! n/t

[Duende azul]

45. Yep. K&R

[enigmatic]

46. Great column

Elizabeth is one of the 2 or 3 best writers on DU. Well done.

[laststeamtrain]

47. K & R - n/t.

[slipslidingaway]

48. Great job!!! knr. nt

[Time for change]

49. Great to see this

This is something that really really needed to be said -- and heard.

[Wilms]

50. .

[IndianaGreen]

52. K&R n/t

:kick:

[Call Me Wesley]

53. K&R. (nt)

[chimpymustgo]

55. K & R.

[boppers]

56. Latin america needs more democracies.

Sadly, the socialists do not agree.

[ChiciB1]

57. Another KICK & REC! Thank You So Much Elizabeth... And I Too Thought

you were a male. I rarely check profiles, but as a WOMAN, accept my apologies for even "thinking" you were a male! I fell into a stupid track thinking that a woman wouldn't be as assertive, when I KNOW the we most certainly can be VERY ASSERTIVE!!

Thanks again! I see more and more here at DU getting the message that many others have called names for being "leftist socialist" and names of that sort! WE once were THE DEMOCRATIC Party so perhaps more people are actually WAKING UP to what the Executive Branch and THE Democratic Congress have been doing to this country!

I say, let's keep UNITING as a once great Party of diverse opinions, the big tent, but one that agrees in the end of the best possible direction to go!!

That's how I see it, or what I usually end with most my posts...JMHO!!

[Neecy]

59. Very happy to kick and rec!

Way to go!!!

[Echo In Light]

60. K&R

[L. Coyote]

61. NEXT READ: A Brief History of the United States’ War Against (Other People’s) Democracy

A Brief History of the United States’ War Against (Other People’s) Democracy
by McCamy Taylor - Fri Dec-11-09 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7204902