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OMNI US WAR CRIMES ANTHOLOGY #7, Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture
of Peace, Justice, and Ecology. (#1 Oct. 8, 2011; #2 Nov. 25, 2011; #3
March 7, 2012; #4 Oct. 4, 2012; #5 June 8, 2013; #6, May 5, 2016). WAR CRIMES NEWSLETTER #6, May 5, 2016. http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/05/war-crimes-newsletter-6.html Contents: US
War Crimes Newsletter #7
THE SUPREME WAR CRIME
"To initiate a war of aggression,
therefore, is not only an international crime, it is the supreme
international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains
within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." - Robert H. Jackson, U.S. Prosecutor,
Nuremberg Military Tribunal. See OMNI’s newsletters on US imperialism.
WAR CRIMES IN YEMEN,
Google Search, August 23, 2016 www.theguardian.com
› Opinion › US foreign policy The Guardian 5 days ago - The humanitarian disaster there is, by
some measures, greater than that in Syria. Why is Obama continuing to enable
the Saudi bombing ... In
the Why Is the United States Abetting Saudi War Crimes in
Yemen? The Nation. - 3
hours ago On August 9, the State Department approved the latest major US weapons sale to Saudi Arabia, mainly to
replace tanks that the kingdom has ... US Guilty of 'Basically Unconditional Support' for
Saudi War Crimes in Yemen Common Dreams - 1
day ago A Congressman Campaigns to “Stop the Madness” of U.S.
Support for Saudi Bombing in Yemen The Intercept - 1
day ago More news for US WAR CRIMES IN YEMEN Yemen: The forgotten war | Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/.../yemen-the-forgotten-... 1. 2. Amnesty
International Horrific human rights abuses, as well
as war crimes, are being committed throughout ...
My son was 14 hours old when he died… the doctors told us he needed ... Saudi Arabia Is Committing War Crimes in Yemen |
Foreign Policy foreignpolicy.com/.../civilian-casualties-war-crimes-saudi-... Foreign Policy Mar 25, 2016 - Saudi Arabia Is Committing War Crimes in Yemen. How can the United States, Britain, and France keep shipping
Riyadh arms when its pilots ... NPR, Yemen & The Downplaying of U.S. War Crimes -
Huffington Post www.huffingtonpost.com/.../npr-yemen--the-downp... The Huffington Post May 25, 2016 - Liberals and left-leaning individuals
in the U.S. trust NPR more than any other
news outlet. And, I certainly consume NPR news more than any ... Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen - Wikipedia,
the free ... https://en.wikipedia.org/.../Saudi_Arabian-led_intervention_in... Wikipedia Jump to Reports of war crimes - Airstrikes in Yemen apparently violating the laws ofwar ... U.S. Representative Ted Lieu has criticized the Saudi-led ... US Government Reaffirms Total Support for Saudi War
Crimes in Yemen www.blacklistednews.com/U...War_Crimes_in_Yemen/.../M.html 8 hours ago - In the span of four days earlier this
month, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition inYemen bombed a Doctors Without Borders-supported hospital, ... US Guilty of 'Basically Unconditional Support' for
Saudi War Crimes in ... www.commondreams.org/.../us-guilty-basically-uncon... Common Dreams 1 day ago - "Every day, we are seeing the
devastating impact of the sale of arms and ammunition for use on civilians
in Yemen." by. Lauren McCauley,
staff ... “Look like war crimes to me”: Congressman raises
concerns over U.S. ... www.salon.com/.../look_like_war_crimes_to_me_congressman_rai... Salon Mar 17, 2016 - Rep. Ted Lieu wants the government to
stop backing the Saudi-led coalition's brutal bombing of Yemeni civilians. A Congressman Campaigns to “Stop the Madness” of U.S.
Support for ... https://theintercept.com/.../a-congressman-campaigns-to-stop-the-madnes... 1 day ago - The brutal bombing of civilian areas
with U.S.-supplied planes and ... and abetting
what appears to be war crimes in Yemen,” Lieu added. Searches
related to US WAR CRIMES IN YEMEN saudi arabian-led intervention in yemen amnesty international yemen report A |
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COMMON DREAMS News & Views |
07.06.16
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From Japan to
Vietnam, Radiation and Agent Orange Survivors Deserve Justice From the U.S.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/from_japan_to_vietnam_radiation_and_agent_orange_survivors_20150819/ (Also published in Peace in Our Times)
Posted on Aug 19, 2015
By Marjorie Cohn
A helicopter of the U.S. Army 336th Aviation Company sprays Agent
Orange on a dense jungle area in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. (Everett
Historical / Shutterstock)
Editor’s
note: This article was originally published on Truthout.
We
have just marked anniversaries of the war crimes and crimes against humanity
committed by the U.S. government against the people of Japan and Vietnam.
Seventy years ago, on August 6, 1945, the U.S. military unleashed an atomic
bomb on Hiroshima, killing at least 140,000 people. Three days later, the
United States dropped a second bomb, on Nagasaki, which killed 70,000. And 54
years ago, on August 10, 1961, the U.S. military began spraying Agent Orange in
Vietnam. It contained the deadly chemical dioxin, which has poisoned an
estimated 3 million people throughout that country.
Devastating
Effects of Radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On
the day of the first atomic bombing, 19-year-old Shinji Mikamo was on the roof
of his house in Hiroshima helping his father prepare it for demolition when he
saw a huge fireball coming at him. Then he heard a deafening explosion and felt
a searing pain throughout his body. He said he felt as if boiling water had
been poured over him. Shinji was three-quarters of a mile from the epicenter of
the bomb. His chest and right arm were totally burned. Pieces of his flesh fell
from his body like ragged clothing. The pain was unbearable. Shinji survived
but most of his family perished.
Shinji’s
daughter, Dr. Akiko Mikamo, told her father’s story at the Veterans for Peace
convention in San Diego on August 7. She wrote the book “Rising From the Ashes:
A True Story of Survival and Forgiveness From Hiroshima.” Akiko’s mother
Miyoko, who was indoors about a half-mile from the epicenter, was also severely
injured in the bombing, but she too survived.
Akiko
said 99 percent of those who were outdoors at the time of the blast died
immediately or within 48 hours. A week after the bombing, thousands of people
had experienced a unique combination of symptoms, Susan Southard wrote in the
Los Angeles Times:
“Their
hair fell out in large clumps, their wounds secreted extreme amounts of pus,
and their gums swelled and bled. Purple spots appeared on their bodies, signs
of hemorrhaging beneath the skin. Infections ravaged their internal organs.
Within a few days of the onset of symptoms, many people lost consciousness,
mumbled deliriously and died in extreme pain; others languished for weeks
before either dying or slowly recovering.”
Southard notes that the U.S. government censored Japanese news reports,
photographs, testimonies and scientific research about the condition of the
survivors.
Gen.
Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, which created the atom bombs,
testified before Congress that death resulting from exposure to large amounts
of radiation takes place “without undue suffering.” He added it is “a very
pleasant way to die.”
Thirty
years after the end of World War II, numerous cases of leukemia, stomach cancer
and colon cancer were documented.
The
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were criminal because at the time Japan was
already defeated and had taken steps to surrender. With these atomic bombings,
the United States launched the Cold War, marking the beginning of its nuclear
threat.
The
Continuing Legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam
Sixteen
years after the United States’ nuclear attacks on Japan, the U.S. military
began spraying Vietnam with Agent Orange-dioxin. In addition to the more than 3
million Vietnamese people killed during the Vietnam War, an equivalent number
of people suffer serious diseases and children continue to be born with defects
from Agent Orange. U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War and their children suffer
as well.
Agent
Orange caused direct damage to those exposed to dioxin, including cancers, skin
disorders, liver damage, pulmonary and heart diseases, defects to reproductive
capacity and nervous disorders. It resulted in indirect damage to the children
of those exposed to dioxin, including severe physical deformities, mental and
physical disabilities, diseases and shortened life spans.
Dan
Shea joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 at the age of 19. He served in
Vietnam a little more than two months. But he was in Quang Tri, one of the
areas where much of the Agent Orange was sprayed. When Shea saw barrels “all
over” with orange stripes on them, he had no idea the dioxin they contained
would change his life forever. When they ran out of water, he and his fellow
Marines would drink out of the river.
In
1977, Shea’s son Casey was born with congenital heart disease and a cleft
palate. Before his third birthday, Casey underwent heart surgery for the hole
in his heart. Ten hours after surgery, Casey went into a coma and died seven
weeks later.
Just
as the U.S. censored information about the effects of radiation after the
atomic bombings, the U.S. government and the chemical companies that
manufactured Agent Orange - including Dow and Monsanto - also suppressed the
1965 Bionetics study that demonstrated dioxin caused many birth defects in
experimental animals. The spraying of Agent Orange finally stopped when that
study was made public.
Shea,
who also addressed the Veterans for Peace convention, works with me on the
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign. We seek to obtain
relief for the Vietnamese, Vietnamese-American and U.S. victims of Agent Orange
through the recently introduced H.R. 2114. U.S. vets have received some
compensation, but not nearly enough. Vietnamese people and Vietnamese-Americans
have received nothing for their suffering.
This
bill would assist with the cleanup of dioxin still present in Vietnam. It would
also provide assistance to the public health system in Vietnam directed at the
3 million Vietnamese people affected by Agent Orange. It would extend
assistance to the affected children of male U.S. veterans who suffer the same
set of birth defects covered for the children of female veterans. It would also
lead to research on the extent of Agent Orange-related diseases in the
Vietnamese-American community, and provide them with assistance. Finally, it
would lead to laboratory and epidemiological research on the effects of Agent
Orange.
Agent
Orange in Japan
The
U.S. government has also denied that Agent Orange is present on Okinawa, the
Pentagon’s main support base during the Vietnam War. In February 2013, the
Pentagon issued a report denying that there is Agent Orange on Okinawa, but it
did not order environmental tests or interview veterans who claimed exposure to
Agent Orange there. “The usage of Agent Orange and military defoliants in
Okinawa is one of the best kept secrets of the Cold War,” according to Jon
Mitchell, a journalist based in Tokyo.
“The
U.S. government has been lying about Agent Orange on Okinawa for more than 50
years,” Mitchell said. An investigation by Okinawa City and the Okinawa Defense
Bureau found dioxin and other components of Agent Orange in several barrels
found on Okinawa. Many bore markings of Dow Chemical, one of the manufacturers
of Agent Orange. The Japan Times cited reports of military veterans who said
that burying surplus chemicals, including Agent Orange, “was standard operating
procedure for the U.S. military on Okinawa.”
Two
hundred and fifty U.S. service members are claiming damages from exposure to
Agent Orange on Okinawa during the Vietnam War, but very few have received
compensation from their government. In spite of the Pentagon report, the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs granted relief in October 2013 to a retired
Marine Corps driver who has prostate cancer. The judge ruled that his cancer
was triggered by his transport and use of Agent Orange.
Abolish
Nuclear Weapons and Compensate Victims of Agent Orange
Besides
being criminal, the United States’ use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, and poisoning of Vietnam and Okinawa with Agent Orange, are a
shameful legacy. The denial and cover-up of each of these crimes adds insult to
injury.
As we
work toward a nuclear deal with Iran, the U.S. government should abide by its
commitment to nuclear disarmament in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It is
also time to fully compensate the victims of Agent Orange and fund a total
cleanup of the areas in Vietnam that remain contaminated by the toxic chemical.
Urge your congressional representative to cosponsor H.R. 2114, the Victims of
Agent Orange Relief Act of 2015.
Finally,
we must hold our leaders accountable for their crimes in Japan and Vietnam, and
ensure that such atrocities never happen again.
Copyright
Truthout. Reprinted with permission.
New Pentagon War Manual Could Have Been Written By Nazis (also Published in Peace in Our Times)
http://worldbeyondwar.org/new-pentagon-war-manual-could-have-been-written-by-nazis/
By Sherwood Ross
The Pentagon’s new
Law of War Manual(LOWM) sanctioning nuclear attacks and the killing of
civilians, “reads like it was written by Hitler’s Ministry of War,” says
international law authority Francis Boyle of the University of Illinois at
Champaign.
“Historically,
this is a terrible development,” he added in an exclusive interview with this
reporter. “We are reducing ourselves to the level of the Nazis.”
The grim,
1,165-page-long document, issued in June by the Defense Department’s Office of
the General Counsel, also sanctions the use of napalm, herbicides, depleted
uranium, and drone missile strikes, among other barbarities.
Boyle points out
the new manual is designed to supplant the 1956 U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10
written by Richard Baxter, the world’s leading authority on the Laws of War.
Baxter was the Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a
Judge on the International Court of Justice. Boyle was his top student.
Boyle is the
leading professor, practitioner and advocate of international law in America.
He drafted the U.S. implementing legislation for the 1972 Biological Weapons
Convention known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989.
“Over the years,
27-10 has proven to be a total embarrassment to the Pentagon because it sets
forth a fair and accurate statement of the Laws of War both as of 1956 and as
of today,” Boyle says. He termed the new manual a “warmongering” document.
The new document
seeks to distinguish between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” acts of military
violence against civilian targets, using the criterion of military necessity,”
points out Peter Martin of the World Socialist Website. “Thus, acts of mass
slaughter of civilians could be justified if sufficient military advantages
were gained by the operations.”
The bulk of the
document, Martin continues, “amounts to a green light for military atrocities,
including mass killings.”
Martin said the
most comprehensive previous such document, the 1956 Pentagon field manual, did
not state that civilians, unlike military personnel, should be spared
“unnecessary suffering” because it assumed… “that any deliberate targeting of
civilians was illegal and a war crime.”
Among the flagrant
violations of international law sanctioned by the Pentagon’s new LOWM, Martin
writes, are:
# Legitimizing the
use of nuclear weapons. LOWM states, “There is no general prohibition in treaty
or customary international law on the use of nuclear weapons.” This flies in
the face of a number of existing international covenants. Under the UN Charter
as interpreted by the World Court in its Advisory Opinion on the Legality of
the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, even threatening to use nuclear weapons,
as the U.S. and Israel have threatened Iran, is illegal and thus a war
crime.
# Authorizing the
use of banned incendiary weapons such as napalm, herbicides (as Agent Orange in
Viet Nam), depleted uranium munitions (as used in Iraq). Napalm, for example,
is banned under Protocol III of the 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional
Weapons.
# Authorizing the
use of cluster munitions, mines and booby-traps, the LOWM rationalizes that
“the United States is not a Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”
(That’s a disgrace, of course, when the overwhelming majority of nations have
signed it.)
# Defends drone
missile attacks, both by the Pentagon and intelligence outfits such as the
Central Intelligence Agency, declaring flatly: “There is no prohibition in the
law of war on the use of remotely piloted aircraft…” To the contrary, targeted
killing off the battlefield is prohibited.
# Authorizes the
use of exploding hollow-point bullets, stating the U.S. is not a party to the
1868 St. Petersburg declaration banning their use. (At this writing, the U.S.
is only 147 years late.)
In sum, the move
by the Pentagon to supplant the 1956 manual with the LOWM represents an
effort to justify the excesses of its trillion dollar-a-year war machine, one
that is as large as the next dozen nations combined.
The Pentagon today
operates some 900 military bases globally, allegedly for “defense,” and engages
in warfare in a dozen countries. The new Pentagon manual illuminates in bold
print the downward drift of the U.S. from a democratic to a totalitarian
society.
LOWM has received
no play in a media “following orders to conceal from the American people…the
Pentagon’s preparations for new and more massive war crimes, along with the
destruction of democratic rights spelled out in the U.S. Constitution,” Martin
says.
Indeed, it seems
TV “news” stations beam more commercials than news stories, and news reports of
carnage inflicted by the Pentagon, are virtually non-existent. War? What war?
#
(Sherwood Ross is
an award-winning free-lance journalist who formerly reported for The New York
Herald-Tribune, The Chicago Daily News, and major wire services. Reach him at sherwoodross@gmail.com)
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[See International Justice Day/ICC, War on Terror, all indiv. Wars, victims, US Lawlessness, ]
ABOVEFOR NEW MATERIALS
BELOW THE ENDING
See: International Justice Day/ICC
Newsletter, War on/of Terror,
Victims, individual wars, UN Torture Awareness Month, UN International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture, and other newsletters.
Nos.
2-5 at end.
Finding
OMNI’s Newsletters, Blog, Index
Contents War
Crimes Newsletter #6,
May 5, 2016
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/05/war-crimes-newsletter-6.html
United
States
Gordon, American Nuremberg
Commentary from TomDispatch via Tikkun
Chomsky, Invasion of Iraq
Textbook Example of War Crimes
Cohen, From Hiroshima to Vietnam
Davies, “From Ohlendorf to Obama”
Ashtari on Clarke: Bush Committed
War Crimes
Benjamin Ferencz Nuremberg
Prosecutor, Google Search
Pierce: Cheney: Zombie War
Criminal
Kissinger Won the Truman Award?
and Some Commentary
Goodman, War Profiteers
World
See
newsletters on wars—Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Drones, more.
South Sudan War Crimes
See Sam Totten (recent recipient
of a Giraffe Award)
END
WAR CRIMES NEWSLETTER #7
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