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diff --git a/texts/text-america-wars.html b/texts/text-america-wars.html deleted file mode 100644 index 46c4b09..0000000 --- a/texts/text-america-wars.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,385 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="" xml:lang=""> -<head> - <meta charset="utf-8" /> - <meta name="generator" content="pandoc" /> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" /> - <meta name="author" content="-" /> - <title>Why America is involved in every major war</title> - <style> - code{white-space: pre-wrap;} - span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;} - div.columns{display: flex; gap: min(4vw, 1.5em);} - div.column{flex: auto; overflow-x: auto;} - div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;} - ul.task-list{list-style: none;} - ul.task-list li input[type="checkbox"] { - width: 0.8em; - margin: 0 0.8em 0.2em -1.6em; - vertical-align: middle; - } - .display.math{display: block; text-align: center; margin: 0.5rem auto;} - </style> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="./latex.css" /> - <!--[if lt IE 9]> - <script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/html5shiv/3.7.3/html5shiv-printshiv.min.js"></script> - <![endif]--> -</head> -<body> -<header id="title-block-header"> -<h1 class="title">Why America is involved in every major war</h1> -<p class="author">axtlos (axtlos@tar.black)</p> -</header> -<h1 id="introduction">Introduction</h1> -<blockquote> -<p>“War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes -think they are going to profit from it.”<br /> -― George Orwell <span class="citation" -data-cites="orwell-quote"></span></p> -</blockquote> -<h2 id="the-purpose-of-this-term-paper">The purpose of this Term -Paper</h2> -<p>At the time of writing this, war is starting to become a more -important topic again, with the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 <span -class="citation" data-cites="bbc-invasion-ukraine"></span>, increasing -complications between China and Taiwan <span class="citation" -data-cites="bbc-china-taiwan"></span>, as well as the US withdrawal from -Afghanistan and the following takeover from the Taliban <span -class="citation" data-cites="cfr-afghanistan"></span>.</p> -<p>In the western world, people usually take a side with the US or other -western countries and see them as the "good guys", however people often -fail to see the background of wars and completely ignore the fact that -wars are not for the "Liberation of a country" <span class="citation" -data-cites="george-bush-liberation-iraq"></span>, but for the profit of -those, who win the war. Which, due to the NATO mainly consisting of -Western countries and being <em>the</em> strongest Military force, is -guaranteed to be them <span class="citation" -data-cites="nato-strongest-force"></span>. With this Term paper I want -to show that there are no "good guys" in a war, only "better guys" at -best.</p> -<p>The reason I chose the United States for this is simple, they are the -strongest force in the NATO <span class="citation" -data-cites="statista-nato-aircraft-strength"></span>, which results in -them having the most influence in NATO decisions. If I want to show the -reasons for wars, then America will be the best example since other NATO -countries follow America in a lot of military decisions.</p> -<p>But it should also be noted that America is not the only country -guilty of starting wars because of money, every war is in some way -caused by money, no matter if the war was started by America, Russia, -China or any other country. Every war is a crime on humanity and an -example as to why Capitalism is a horrible economic structure.</p> -<h2 id="list-of-wars-america-was-involved-with">List of wars America was -involved with</h2> -<p>Since the second World War, America has been involved in four War -operations <span class="citation" -data-cites="va-gov-american-wars"></span>. The Korean war, Vietnam war, -Operation Desert Storm, which is also known as the Gulf War <span -class="citation" data-cites="defense-gov-gulf"></span>, and the Global -War on Terror <span class="citation" -data-cites="va-gov-american-wars"></span>.</p> -<p>In these four wars the US committed a bunch of war crimes, the -most common one being massacres of unarmed civilians. The -US made no efforts in cooperating with human rights organizations or the -International Criminal Court, effectively commending any war crimes US -soldiers committed <span class="citation" -data-cites="globaltimes-us-evade-warcrimes"></span>.</p> -<h2 id="vietnam-war">Vietnam War</h2> -<p>The Vietnam War is most likely one of the most well-known wars -America was involved with. The origins of this war date back to the end -of the second world war in 1945, where Japan withdrew its soldiers from -Vietnam, which then was split up into the Democratic Republic of -Vietnam, under control of Ho Chi Minh, who strove to create a country -following Chinese and Soviet Communism <span class="citation" -data-cites="vietnam-war-history"></span> and the state of Vietnam under -control of the French emperor Bao Dai, who wanted a Vietnam which had -close cultural and economic ties to the West <span class="citation" -data-cites="vietnam-war-history"></span>.</p> -<p>Both sides of Vietnam had signed a treaty in the year 1945 during the -Geneva Convention, which split Vietnam along the 17 degrees North -Latitude, also known as 17th Parallel and set Minh in control of the -North and Dai in control of the South.<br /> -This lasted until 1955, where Ngo Dinh Diem, a "strongly anti communist -politician" <span class="citation" -data-cites="vietnam-war-history"></span>, became President of the -Southern part of Vietnam. Due to the cold war and the US hardening -policies against any Communist states, the currently acting US President -Eisenhower pledged "firm support to Diem and South Vietnam" <span -class="citation" data-cites="vietnam-war-history"></span>.</p> -<p>With the formation of the National Liberation Front in 1960, which -was meant to be a resistance against Diem at the request of a US report -team, John F. Kennedy started increasing US Military Aid in South -Vietnam based on the Domino Theory <span class="citation" -data-cites="vietnam-war-history"></span>, which assumed that once a -country falls to communism, many other countries would follow, like a -chain of dominoes <span class="citation" -data-cites="cold-war-domino-theory"></span>.</p> -<p>The situation escalated in 1965 when Lyndon B. Johnson sent US Combat -Troops to Vietnam.</p> -<h2 id="the-global-war-on-terror">The Global War on Terror</h2> -<p>The Global War on Terror began after the Terrorist attack on the -World Trade Center on the 11th September 2001, George W. Bush, who was -the acting President at this time, announced that the US was creating a -plan to locate and stop Terrorists all around the world <span -class="citation" data-cites="gowt-bushlibrary"></span>. In connection to -these announcements the US first started a war in 2001 with Afghanistan -and then in 2003 in Iraq <span class="citation" -data-cites="gowt-bushlibrary"></span>, these wars are part of the Global -War on Terror, however the Global War on Terror also describes -non-violent actions taken against the financing of Terrorist groups. The -invasion of Iraq began on the 20th March 2003 <span class="citation" -data-cites="cfr-iraq-war"></span> with US air strikes, the invasion was -justified with the Global War on Terror and Iraq’s ownership of nuclear, -biological and chemical weapons. <span class="citation" -data-cites="britannica-iraq-war"></span>. The first stage of the war -ended a month after the first air strikes with the downfall of Saddam -Hussein’s regime on the 1st May 2003 <span class="citation" -data-cites="cfr-iraq-war"></span>.</p> -<p>The war however continues with the hunt for Saddam Hussein, who was -captured on the 14th December 2003 and executed 3 years later on the -30th December 2006 <span class="citation" -data-cites="cfr-iraq-war"></span>. During this time the battle in Iraq -continues after Shiites won the 2005 election <span class="citation" -data-cites="cfr-iraq-war"></span>. Even though the war went on until -2011, the Bush Administration admitted on the 24th January 2004 that no -biological, chemical or nuclear weapons were found in Iraq, as the -former US weapons inspector David Kay told the congress: "we were almost -all wrong" <span class="citation" -data-cites="cnn-david-kay-senate-hearing"></span>.</p> -<p>This then begs the question, if it was already known that Iraq had no -weapons of mass destruction in 2004, why did the US continue the war -until 2011, what are the real reasons for the war?</p> -<h1 id="the-real-reasons-for-the-wars-and-how-america-hides-them">The -real reasons for the wars and how America hides them</h1> -<p>As shown in the first paragraph, the US is not always fully honest -about their reasons for invading a country or starting wars. So in this -paragraph I am going to show the multiple reasons America, and other -countries, go to war or start Invasions.</p> -<h2 id="big--oil">(Big-) Oil</h2> -<p>Big Oil is a term that describes the biggest Oil Companies under -public ownership, these include BP plc, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Exxon -Mobile Corporation, Chevron Corporation, ENI SpA and Total SA <span -class="citation" data-cites="financial-dictionary-big-oil"></span>. Due -to these companies being Government controlled, the Government will set -regulations or even start Wars, just to benefit their Oil Companies.</p> -<p>The Wars which are started for the acquirement of Oil are usually -called "resource wars" <span class="citation" -data-cites="belfercenter-oil-conflict"></span>, these however are not -the only wars started due to oil. There is the petro-aggression, which -is not a war directly started because of oil, but due to the domestic -isolation which oil can cause, making a country more likely to try out -potentially controversial foreign policies <span class="citation" -data-cites="belfercenter-oil-conflict"></span>. Another type is the -financing of other groups with profits made from oil, like Iran -financing the Hezbollah through oil profits <span class="citation" -data-cites="ny-times-lebanon-hezbollah-fuel"></span> and wars started -over oil market domination, as seen in the US war with Iraq over -Kuwait <span class="citation" -data-cites="britannica-persian-gulf-war"></span>.</p> -<p>However, the existence of oil wars are a very controversial, there -are people who claim that oil has no cause in wars, while others claim -that oil is a very important factor in wars. Often these discussions are -made on the example of the wars in Kuwait, to which the US Secretary of -Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that it’s "nonsense to suggest that the -US invasion of Iraq involved oil in any way" <span class="citation" -data-cites="stokes_blood_for_oil"></span>. Even among political -Scientists oil, or even energy in general, is rarely mentioned, the few -scientists who do focus on the involvement of oil in wars also disagree -about the importance of oil, one group argues that resource wars play a -major role in wars, while the other group rejects this claim due to the -lack of systematic evidence <span class="citation" -data-cites="fueling-fire-jeff-d"></span>. The main issue with these -discussions is that people often fail to check the influence of oil in -the country before the war started, as oil may not be the direct cause -of the war, but start a chain reaction of other events which eventually -lead to a war. It is also noteworthy that oil is a very important -resource and simply cannot be ignored when analyzing international -security. This can also be seen in the aforementioned discussions about -the involvement of oil in the Iraq wars, as scientists argue about -involvement of oil in the war, rather than the preconditions caused by -oil <span class="citation" data-cites="fueling-fire-jeff-d"></span>.</p> -<h3 id="resource-wars">Resource Wars</h3> -<p>A major example of resource wars is the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in -1990 and the following US Military operation Desert Shield, in which -Iraq successfully annexed Kuwait and gained control of 20 percent of oil -reserves <span class="citation" -data-cites="history-iraq-kuwait"></span>. This is more proof that oil is -not always the cause of a war, but rather a precondition of war.</p> -<p>Although the goals of Oil Resource Wars are not always only the -ownership of more oil, but also the gain of more Control over the -Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, also known as OPEC, -which would allow a country to have more control over the worldwide oil -price, and as a result of this power also cut countries out of oil -trade.</p> -<h3 id="oil-market-domination">Oil Market Domination</h3> -<p>Wars about Oil Market Domination are similar to Resource Wars, -however they differ in one main point, the wars aren’t for personal gain -of oil, but rather to make sure that the opposing force has less oil -Power <span class="citation" data-cites="fueling-fire-jeff-d"></span>. -The US fears that countries with a big oil power could artificially -raise the Oil price, which OPEC would have to follow with, allowing the -country to enrich itself on oil profits.</p> -<p>Oil Market Domination wars are often a cause of Resource wars, a good -example is the US operation Desert Shield, which itself started due to a -fear of Oil Market Domination from Iraq, but was caused by the Iraqi -invasion of Kuwait, which, as already mentioned, was a Resource War.</p> -<h2 id="communism">Communism</h2> -<p>Communism as a cause of war is an interesting topic, the US did not -start any wars against communism ever since the cold war, yet Communism -and Socialism are still an important topic in modern foreign policies -and even internal policies, with the rise of Communism and Socialism -among Millenials and Gen-Z <span class="citation" -data-cites="theguardian-genz-capitalism"></span>, it becomes a more -broadly discussed topic in politics, with the majority of politicians -not being very happy, as they are a prime target of Communist and -Anarchist movements.</p> -<p>As a reaction to this, the US tries to silence any Communist -politicians or countries, be it through direct wars, secret CIA -operations or the influence of media to spread false information <span -class="citation" data-cites="theguardian-anti-communist-usa"></span>. -Secret CIA operations include assassinations of Communist leaders, like -the Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, who survived over 600 murder -attempts from the CIA and ended up dying naturally at the age of 90 in -Havana on the 25th November 2016 <span class="citation" -data-cites="cnn-fidel-castro-assassination"></span>.</p> -<p>The war against communism however is not always violent. During the -cold war and the Red Scare, the US also made a huge effort to keep -people away from Communistic believes through state propaganda. This -propaganda was usually spread through movies, literature, music, -television and art. It would usually mock the soviet union and communism -through misinformation. The US Government however did not display it as -propaganda and insisted that everything shown was factually correct. <a -href="#section.4">An example of this propaganda can be seen in the -attachments.</a></p> -<h2 id="power-in-other-countries">Power in other countries</h2> -<p>Most wars which involve gaining power in other countries are not -military wars, but economic wars. The US in this case often sets -embargoes on countries that do not follow them in their decisions, like -with Cuba, Venezuela or a lot of countries in the Middle East <span -class="citation" data-cites="us-treasury-embargoes"></span>.</p> -<h3 id="cuba">Cuba</h3> -<p>The US embargo against Cuba started with the Cuban Revolution in -which Fidel Castro took over the Cuban Government, even though the -currently acting US President Dwight D. Eisenhower officially recognized -the new Cuban Government as legitimate, relations rapidly started to -deteriorate after Fidel Castro began nationalizing more companies and -started the agrarian reforms, in which the Government broke up large -landholding and redistributed them to the people who work on that land -and the state. With each state take-over of privately owned land the US -embargo rose in strength, up to the point where any trade with Cuba was -prohibited for US Companies. This embargo also got extended to the point -where the US threatened any non-US based company with sanctions if they -were doing trade with Cuba <span class="citation" -data-cites="cfr-us-cuba-relations"></span>. The US opposition to the -Cuban government under Fidel Castro even went as far as the CIA -attempting to assassinate Fidel Castro over 600 times <span -class="citation" -data-cites="cnn-fidel-castro-assassination"></span>.</p> -<h3 id="israel">Israel</h3> -<p>Israel is a very controversial topic in international politics, which -also makes it a prime reason for wars. The controversy stems from the -fact that Israel lies on land stolen from the Palestinian -population <span class="citation" -data-cites="aljazeera-israel-illegal-settlement"></span>. During the -second world war, Palestine was controlled by the British, due to the -holocaust in Europe a lot of Jewish people immigrated into Palestine, -under supervision by the British. They formed their own villages, also -called kibbutzim, and were not interested in forming any Jewish State. -After the British retreated from Palestine, Zionist groups started -attacking Palestinians with the goal of starting a Jewish State. The UN -tried to settle these attacks with the 1947 Partition Plan, which would -split Palestine into two parts and assign one half to the Zionists. -Palestine openly expressed their dissatisfaction this plan as it would -illegally steal part of their country, while the Zionists seemingly -agreed with it <span class="citation" -data-cites="aljazeera-israel-illegal-settlement"></span>. After the -Partition Plan was completed and Palestine was split into Palestine and -Israel, Zionists started attacking the Palestinian land and claimed it -for themselves, causing Palestinians to flee into other Arabic countries -like Jordan or Lebanon <span class="citation" -data-cites="aljazeera-israel-illegal-settlement"></span>. Even though -Palestine is an occupied territory, Israel continues to send their -population into these territories and apply Israeli law, which directly -violates the fourth Geneva Convention. Despite this, countries still -acknowledged the new Israeli territory as a legitimate part of -Israel <span class="citation" -data-cites="aljazeera-israel-illegal-settlement"></span>.</p> -<p>With Israel being a country with western ties in the middle east, the -US had an interest in forming good ties with Israel in order to have a -proxy in the middle east. This has been the case with the Iran-Israeli -Proxy conflict, in which Iran threatened to dissolve Israel and give the -land back to the Palestinian people. And now is a proxy war involving -Syria, Lebanon, Russia, the United States, the United kingdom and Saudi -Arabia <span class="citation" -data-cites="aljazeera-israel-iran-shadow"></span> <span class="citation" -data-cites="smh-shadow-war-israel-iran"></span> <span class="citation" -data-cites="lemonde-shadow-war-israel-iran"></span> <span -class="citation" data-cites="time-shadow-war-israel-iran"></span>.</p> -<h1 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h1> -<h2 id="what-to-take-from-this-term-paper">What to take from this Term -Paper</h2> -<p>In the end, what to take from this Term Paper is up to the Reader, -however I hope that this Term Paper cleared up that there are no good -reasons for War. Even if countries tell us that their War is for the -"removal of Nazis" or for the "liberation" of a country, it is never the -truth. Every War always boils down to the gain of power or money, -although nowadays these things are the same.</p> -<p>The war for Oil results in a shift of power in OPEC, which allows the -most powerful country to influence the international Oil price. Due to -this easy way of gaining a monopoly, any state can abuse their position -in OPEC very easily.</p> -<p>The war against Communism has the goal of defeating an idea that goes -against everything the US stands for. Communism tries to abolish the -entire concept of a class based society, which would result in the -Government any rich people would loose their power. It is clear why the -US government tries everything they can to avoid any Communist movement -in any country, since they seemingly still believe in the Domino Theory, -and fear that any communist country that gains a lot of power could -cause other countries to move towards communism.</p> -<p>And finally, the attempts of gaining power in countries. This is not -always very easy, as seen with the example of Cuba, getting power over -countries can also mean completely blocking any cooperation with -specific states, in this case setting an embargo on Cuba and threatening -non US companies to sanction them if they decide to trade with Cuba. -This gives the US control over every company that is interested in -having the US as a partner, which usually every company wants. Based on -this example it becomes clear that wars with the objective of directly -gaining power in countries does not always mean getting power over the -country in which the war is happening, but to gain power over other -countries through this war.</p> -<h2 id="what-i-learned-from-this-term-paper">What I learned from this -Term Paper</h2> -<p>The core information of this was nothing new to me, however the -extend of what the US does to justify their wars and war crimes was very -shocking and only increased my critical attitude towards US politics. -This Term Paper showed me, that countries are able to ignore war crimes -through and lie to the population in order to make them seem better to -retract a statement, which also is the reason why I want to retract a -statement I made in the beginning of this Term Paper, I said that there -are only "better guys" in wars, not "good" guys, after writing this -Paper it has become clear to me that even "better guys" do not exist in -wars. Everyone who participates in any war is a horrible person and it -does not matter what their political opinion is. They all commit -genocide towards groups of people and point at the others saying that -they are the ones violating human rights, while leading a genocide -against transgender people in their own country and secretly murdering -children in a state based on stolen land. I have also noticed that -Imperialism is not dead, as many assume. Imperialism never ended, except -that now the government knows how to hide their Imperialism and sell it -to the population as a "Liberation", "removal of Nazis" or "fighting -terrorist groups". Due to this system of gaining power through money and -gaining money through power it is only a matter of time until every -country turns into some sort of fascist, imperialist state.</p> -<h1 id="attachments">Attachments</h1> -<h2 id="sec:Propaganda">Anti-Communist propaganda</h2> -<p><img src="Propaganda/is-this-tomorrow.jpg" alt="image" /> <img -src="Propaganda/colleges-hire-red-professors.jpg" alt="image" /></p> -<img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png" /> -This Term paper is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0<br /> -<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" -class="uri">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/</a><br /> -The source, including LaTeX and bibliography files can be found at<br /> -<a -href="https://github.com/axtloss/Term-Paper-America-Involvement-In-Wars" -class="uri">https://github.com/axtloss/Term-Paper-America-Involvement-In-Wars</a></p> -</body> -</html> |