Gentlemen, (to former Colonels in US Army, Joe Cafasso and Dave Hackworth)

Of the articles I have sent you two, I can not recommend more highly the attached piece on Kosovo by Prof. Zinn, one of America’s most experienced, erudite, intelligent and honest men. He has always been a man of integrity, that quality our country sees so rarely these days, whatever sector of society; most assuredly rare in those branches that legislate and govern us. Nor, tragically for both America and its many ‘enemies’, is integrity found much among that class of leadership now waging transnational Corporate America’s latest technological air war, against the Balkan peoples. For humanitarian reasons : to rescue our long-term friends of China, Albanian Muslims.

It all makes one wonder if any heroic American ever remembers, nonetheless heeds, General Eisenhower’s "beware" warning, on the dangers inherent to a democracy from the unrelenting power of the Military Industrial Complex. Colonel Hackworth, specifically about your newsletter "Defending America" : I read every issue and you make some wise points. But I am sad to note that although I have sent you a number of commentaries relevant to the National Security of our country you have never seen fit to publish anything. Nor, except for a two word response on one occasion, have you seen fit either to acknowledge, or critique, what sent you. One can get the impression you simply ignore what extends outside your ascertained parameters; although, of course, as you noted one time, you have an editor filtering information.

All of which reminds me of General Westmoreland’s orders to subordinates on dealing with disagreeable reports, and people, both with their information and intelligence. Right along side his favorite aversion, personal insecurity : filtering out all the bad news from the good, so that at the bottom line only appeared ‘all that was fit to print’. He sincerely believed that was good for America, didn’t he? (just as papers like the NY Times ‘prints all that is fit’, for their advertisers). Yet that filtering was the direct cause of so many unnecessary dead Americans, plus a few Vietnamese civilians. Caused so much of a moral syndrome, still reverberating at home today, that even our Great Moral Helmsman, Bush, can’t smart bomb at away.

That brings up a question often occurring to me. Why does Defending America so rarely contain hard information, not to speak of intelligence, on that one enemy most aggressively misusing our government’s powers while debasing the very ethos and institutions of America : the Corporations which macro manage their White House and Congressional servants, and who have micro managed most of the Pentagon’s post World War II aggressive deployments??

If a man notes heroic actions, complaining of the lack of same from his leaders, and waves the flag of patriotism while doing so, his subsequent writings and complaints about dishonest or lying or cowardly leadership must be inclusive, should take to task ALL his country’s violent enemies, and their greedy cowards. Not just the ones against whom he feels resentful. This is specially cogent when the enemy he excludes from criticism has the most power and influence over the very military heroes he champions; is the enemy who, protected under cover, actually manipulates those targets our man has selectively chosen for his attacks.

Target selectivity is usually be directed at the enemy offering the most immediate and/or greatest danger to one’s cause and his fellow. Otherwise acts of patriotism take on the scent of that old adage, a mere refuge for personal motivations or feelings or security.

Attacking the enemies of one’s country only selectively endears him to those other enemies he chooses to ignore, while it can also ensure that his country will succumb to the most insidious and malignant of those ignored enemies : those with the power and influence to remake their image into a friend. Who, by doing so, make themselves over into a target only spied by that most rare of patriots, the one who is not only heroic and intelligent but also acts with integrity.

respectfully,

richard manning

Dear Messrs. Hackworth and Cafasso,

EMASCULATION OF A FREE PRESS : the primary step - along with "The Dumbing of US" and "Closing of the American Mind" and "Culture of Contentment" - which must be successful for Corporate Statism to win total control of America’s unusual experiment in democracy. Total control, which is getting close to where it’s at right now - as sophisticated and hidden as their Offshore electronic bribery accounts and their command reins may be.

Virtually the last time our media showed any sort of independence, investigatory prowess or true integrity was in exposing, once JFK’s pseudo liberalism was dead, the hypocrisies, lies and greedy criminality behind our Indochina experiment in taking over three countries from the decrepit rule of French colonialism.

richard manning

 An aside written to someone who questioned me about the US helping Europe rape the Congo :

The richest pieces of Real Estate are probably Brazil and Indonesia, not the Congo at all. But, whatever, the US has been robbing, raping, murdering and oppressing other peoples from its founding as a ‘democracy’ - - wherein almost 85 % of the residents, composed of Natives peoples, women and Blacks, had NO rights whatsoever. Since the 19^th century we have sent our armed forces into other countries over 210 times. Need we say more?

America is a confirmed Plutocracy, where the citizen is fed material trinkets and propaganda to the point that he thinks he has the ‘best’ paradise on earth, preparing him the best for his next step into heaven. Most believe that, as well as angels, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection, etc. So what can one expect of such an electorate?

That’s is exactly why I am a malcontent expatriate.

richard

06 Apr 1999

OF COURSE America would care if the Muslim Albanians were being pushed around in Africa. My country has always cared dearly for Muslims, particularly the Albanian kind who come from such long, profound, rich cultural traditions, even stretching all the way to abiding Cold War friendships with Mao’s China, rather than Moscow. America cares about people like that, just as they sincerely do about another idealistic, moral loving tribe called the Kuwaiti. AND, after all, they are Muslims so should have petrol hidden away some where.

AND America and UK do CARE about Africa as well. Just look at our support for stalwart Central African leaders like Mobuto Seko, every Nigerian Junta, Moi, Idi Amin and Milton Obote until their tastes were publicized, Angolan and Mozambique ‘Freedom Fighters’, etc. Not to speak of long term cooperation with such successful asset strippers like Oppenheimer and Botha, et. al. But let’s not head up North where are record is even more exciting, but complicated.

European ‘standards’ were best described in their actions accomplished by Noam Chomsky in his sardonic and heavily footnoted book, "Year 501: The Conquest Continues" And my country is carrying that standard higher and more glaringly sophisticated than ANY previous conquistador, even Ferbella’s and Isadinand’s Spain.

Still we love Albanians, in all their gross ignorance, as we and the Germans cleanse Serbian anti-fascist pride closer and closer to Russia’s borders. Bonaparte and Adolph failed to win their days but the Anglo-American conspiracy is more patient, commercially moving pieces as well as arms to higher levels of infiltration of the vast mother land.

r.........

02 Apr 1999 15:52:00 -0500

The greatest service any of us can do our country…

- as Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler (how’s that for a real WASP who rose up to stand tall for people rather than personal security?) did about his and the US Marine Corps' continuously inhumane misuse against the countries in The Americas,

- and Gen. Vinegar Joe Stilwell (the only command to beat the Japanese on the Asian mainland in W.W.II) did about the vast corruption and cowardice of Chiang kai-shek and his generals,

…is to stop the flagrant use by our government of military force anywhere there’s an eventual dollar to be schemed and bloodied away from the indigenous resources or people of the world.

Gentlemen, your newsletters, "Broken Arrow" and "Defending America", can help wake up the individual military and government conscience to the fact that all orders given them do not necessarily represent the ‘good’ of their country, and may, in fact, be representing the debasement of same.

richard manning