God Bless America & it’s Bombs?
God Bless America And its Bombs?
When they bombed Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, El Salvador and Nicaragua I said nothing because I wasn’t a communist.
When they bombed China, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cuba, and the Congo I said nothing because I didn’t know about it.
When they bombed Lebanon and Grenada I said nothing because I didn’t understand it.
When they bombed Panama I said nothing because I wasn’t a drug dealer.
When they bombed Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen I said nothing because I wasn’t a terrorist.
When they bombed Yugoslavia and Libya for “humanitarian” reasons I said nothing because it sounded so honorable.
Then they bombed my house and there was no one left to speak out for me. But it didn’t really matter. I was dead.
The above is a modern poetic interpretation by William Blum of the famous quote below by German Pastor Martin Niemoeller following WW II about the failure of Germans to speak out against the Nazis. Niemoeller spent seven years in a Nazi concentration camp.
“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist; then they came for the Socialists,
and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew; then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
The U.S. bombing list since World War II:
Korea and China 1950-53 (Korean War), Guatemala 1954, Indonesia 1958, Cuba 1959-1961, Guatemala 1960, Congo 1964, Laos 1964-73, Vietnam 1961-73, Cambodia 1969-70, Guatemala 1967-69, Grenada 1983, Lebanon 1983, 1984 (both Lebanese and Syrian targets), Libya 1986, El Salvador 1980s, Nicaragua 1980s, Iran 1987, Panama 1989, Iraq 1991 (Persian Gulf War), Kuwait 1991, Somalia 1993, Bosnia 1994, 1995, Sudan 1998, Afghanistan 1998, Yugoslavia 1999, Yemen 2002, Iraq 1991-2003 (US/UK on regular basis), Iraq 2003-present, Afghanistan 2001-present, Pakistan 2007-present, Somalia 2007-8, Yemen 2009, Libya 2011 ( Is a terrorist only someone who has a bomb but doesn’t have an Air Force?)
See http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer94.html The Anti-Empire Report by William Blum www.killinghope.org
When Will We Speak Out Against U.S. Bombing?
Bring the Troops &
War Dollars Home NOW!
1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc. 5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@interpac.net http://www.malu-aina.org
Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (June 10, 2011, – 508th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office
