{"article":{"id":85208,"heading":"Imperialist Excuses for War","author":"Gary Sudborough","created":"2003-09-28 16:58:01","modified":"2003-09-29 10:25:52","last_modified":"Mon, 29 Sep 2003 17:25:52","article":"

I believe it is informative to compare the excuses for wars of aggression used by the United States with those of Nazi Germany. Hitler was very methodical in how he conquered most of Europe, usually obtaining his objectives one country or a few countries at a time. He first invaded the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland, then annexed Austria and after that Czechoslovakia. Hitler took Czechoslovakia in small steps. He got the Sudetenland from the Munich Agreement. Then, he was able to establish a fascist puppet government in Slovakia and finally invaded Bohemia and Moravia to complete the conquest of Czechoslovakia. He used a couple of different excuses for the invasions. A fabricated telegram asking for German intervention from the government of Austria was used in that case. The Nazis repeated this fabricated telegram excuse for Slovakia also. Terrorism against Germans living in Czechoslovakia was another excuse supposedly justifying intervention and for Austria, Goebbels employed the excuse of communist terrorism and riots. In 1939 the Nazis invaded Poland and a fabricated incident was created there, as well as Nazi propaganda claiming terrorism by Poles against Germans. German SS troops were dressed in Polish uniforms and attacked a German radio station at Gleiwitz on the border. Some concentration camp inmates were killed and left as supposed casualties near the radio station. Then, of course, Germany insisted that they had been attacked by Poland and were only responding defensively.

I was very impressed by all the trouble a brutal dictator like Hitler would go through to create fictitious justifications for invasions. It illustrates that even in a fascist state, where people are under repressive control, those in power are still very concerned about public opinion. In a country like the United States with many democratic institutions, one would think that the leaders would be even more worried about public opinion and create even more elaborate excuses than the Nazis. Here are some of the excuses for wars used by the United States: eliminating weapons of mass destruction, stopping ethnic cleansing, liberating people from oppression, bringing them democracy and free markets, stopping communism, protecting American lives in foreign countries and fighting terrorism. Ostensibly, Panama was invaded to catch a drug dealer. Sometimes, the United States, like the Nazis, uses fabricated incidents like the fictitious Gulf of Tonkin attack by the North Vietnamese, which was concocted to enrage the American public and allow the US to invade South Vietnam. The truth is only permitted to come to light years later, when it no longer matters. Another fabrication was the report of Iraqi troops throwing babies from their incubators during the invasion of Kuwait.

Why would the leaders of capitalist countries lie continuously and prolifically and fabricate incidents to justify wars of aggression? The answer is that they simply cannot tell common people that the real reason for all these wars is to make the world safe for the Fortune 500 and enable corporate control over natural resources and cheap labor. Most people are not willing to have their sons or daughters die or come home disabled for such a goal. Therefore, capitalist governments must use all their imaginative powers to fool the ordinary people into thinking that the war is actually defensive in nature or for some noble purpose like preserving democracy and freedom.

<\/p>\n","contact":"IconoclastGS@aol.com","link":"http:\/\/www.theblackflag.org","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"A comparison of the excuses for wars of aggression used by Nazi Germany with those used by the United States.","numcomment":10,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/09\/85208.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":85285,"heading":"Hitler was the best thing that ever happened to the Left.","article":"Because without him, you would have nothing to say.","author":"nonanarchist","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 01:43:02","modified":"2003-09-29 01:43:02","fileurl":""},{"id":85295,"heading":"anaologys","article":"since the little brother of fascism is capitalism and the Bush family enterprises have been so close to the funding of fascism, what else do you want?","author":"non insane","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 02:03:30","modified":"2003-09-29 02:03:30","fileurl":""},{"id":85298,"heading":"nice try","article":"^^^^^^^the previous two posts came from the same IP address...\r\nBoth are "nonanarchist"\/"daveman" logs numbers.\r\n\r\nWhy are you commenting on yourself?\r\nIs this what your argument has come down to?","author":"I.M.C. I.P. checker","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 02:09:15","modified":"2003-09-29 02:09:15","fileurl":""},{"id":85300,"heading":"Well, that's the problem, then.","article":""since the little brother of fascism is capitalism..."\r\n\r\nCapitalsim is good.\r\n\r\nI see the glass as half full.\r\n\r\nYou see the glass as half empty...and full of sulphuric acid.\r\n\r\nBottoms up!","author":"nonanarchist","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 02:11:30","modified":"2003-09-29 02:11:30","fileurl":""},{"id":85301,"heading":"you're insane","article":"get your reading glasses on. please.","author":"non insane","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 02:13:45","modified":"2003-09-29 02:13:45","fileurl":""},{"id":85302,"heading":"IP Checker","article":"From http:\/\/la.indymedia.org\/process\/privacy.php:\r\n\r\n"The LA-IMC web server does not track the domains or IP addresses from which people visit and\/or post to the sf.indymedia.org web site."\r\n\r\nSomebody's lying, then.\r\n\r\nWho is it, Checker? You, or la-imc?\r\n\r\nI'll tell you: it's you.\r\n\r\nI don't use different handles. I don't immediately post to articles I've put on the newswire.\r\n\r\nYou're not fooling anyone.\r\n\r\nExcept yourself.","author":"nonanarchist","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 02:17:52","modified":"2003-09-29 02:17:52","fileurl":""},{"id":85303,"heading":"non insane","article":""you're insane"\r\n\r\nAhhh. \r\n\r\nWell, I'm suddenly rethinking my whole outlook on life. It's amazing! \r\n\r\nCheck with any mental health professional, though, and you'll find that "disagreeing with some yo-yo on the internet" is not a sound basis for diagnosis of mental illness.","author":"nonanarchist","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 02:22:05","modified":"2003-09-29 02:22:05","fileurl":""},{"id":85317,"heading":""i dont use different handles"","article":"i dont understand\r\ndoes or doesent \r\ndaveman = nonanarchist?\r\n\r\nNow if you say "Yes" then you are a liar\r\n(see above quote)\r\n\r\nIf you say "No" then you were lying on your other quotes\r\n\r\nWHICH IS IT?","author":"daveman=nonanarchist","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 03:33:08","modified":"2003-09-29 03:33:08","fileurl":""},{"id":85318,"heading":"who wrote this?","article":"Yes.\r\nby nonanarchist Wednesday September 24, 2003 11:53 AM\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBut I had a good reason: \r\n\r\nI WAS daveman. \r\n\r\nI wasn't impersonating anyone. \r\n\r\nHow many handles do you use, "dr evil"? \r\n\r\nWhy can't you use the same one two posts in a row?\r\n","author":"is this a troll or nonanarchist or daveman?","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 03:35:34","modified":"2003-09-29 03:35:34","fileurl":""},{"id":85334,"heading":"Yes, I wrote that.","article":"And your point is...?\r\n\r\nI meant I don't use different handles simultaneously.\r\n\r\nYou know, like YOU'RE doing.\r\n\r\nHypocrite.","author":"nonanarchist","parent_id":85208,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-29 10:25:52","modified":"2003-09-29 10:25:52","fileurl":""}]}