| ||||||||||||||
COMMENTARY:James Bamford's Body of Secrets Is Fact, Not Fiction
Deep within the bowels of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Department and the US intelligence community a plan was devised. There was an evil dictator who was oppressing his people. His regime and his nation were seen as threats to the whole region. The instability had worldwide implications; there was a "clear and present danger" to the security of the United States of America. What was the remedy? Attempts at political assassination of this dictator had already failed several times. By law that option was no longer available to American operatives--shades of "Operation Mongoose." American sentiment would not sanction a preemptive invasion of the nation and the seizure of the dictator. The US had never attacked so pre-emptily in its entire history. World opinion would be clearly against a unilateral action by the US. Behind the scenes American support for a native ex-patriate uprising had already been shown to fail. (Think back to the example of the April 1961 disaster of the Bay of Pigs.) Both American public and world opinion needed a rallying point to war and/or invasion, much like what had occurred after the explosion of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor and the attack on Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii. The Joint Chiefs drafted a memorandum for submission to the President. "The suggested courses of action? are based on the premise that US military intervention will result from a period of heightened ? tensions which place the United States in a position of suffering justifiable grievances. World opinion, and the United Nations forum, should be favorably affected by developing the international image of the ? government as rash and irresponsible, and as an alarming and unpredictable threat to the peace." It continues, "This plan? should be developed to focus all efforts ? which would provide adequate justification for US military intervention." A series of coordinated incidents would use/accuse foreign nationals of the attack and destruction of US-based homeland targets. American casualties could be heavy, but the end would justify the means. The follow-up media coverage of these catastrophic events would turn both US and worldwide opinion to favor the ultimate objectives of invasion and coup d'état. Each of the Joint Chiefs of Staff signed off on this plan. The Secretary of Defense submitted the memorandum scenario for the approval of, and authorization by, the President shortly after March 13th. The President, however, wisely chose to reject the entire plan. He fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he subsequently replaced the head of the NSA. You see this described scenario is not a work of fiction, but a story of fact. Author James Bamford was an investigative journalist for ABC News. John Kennedy was the President, Robert McNamara was the Secretary of Defense, Fidel Castro was the dictator and Cuba was the site of the regional instability. It took over 40 years for the relevant Top Secret documents of "Operation Northwoods" to be declassified and made public. (See NSA Archive of George Washington University.) We can only hope and pray that in 40 more years the American public doesn't learn of a so-called "Operation Free Oasis" from 2001.
I'm Fred Cederholm and I've been thinking. You should be thinking, too.
©2004 Fred W. Cederholm. All rights reserved. Fred Cederholm is a CPA/CFE, a forensic accountant, and writer who contributes the column "TH*NK*NG" to The Weekly Observer in Creston, (Ogle County) Illinois. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.A., M.A. and M.A.S.) He can be reached at asklet@rochelle.net.
Copyright © 2004 The Baltimore Chronicle.
All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent. This story was published on June 21, 2004. |
Local News & Opinion
Travel
Books, Arts & Education
08.05 "American Teen": A Winning Documentary about Real-Life High Schoolers 07.31 Francis Boyle's "Palestine Palestinians and International Law" Letters
Ref. : Letters to the editor Open Letters: 08.16 Out Damn Blot: A Letter to Colin Powell Health & Environment
08.14 The End of Cheap Oil: The Future is Now 08.05 Obama is Right: It's Easy to Reduce the Nation's (and Your Own) Fuel Bill Dramatically Media Watching
08.21 Mixed Truth of the Russia-Georgia War 08.16 John McCain's Party of Hate 08.15 Corporate Media Bashes New Chavez Enabling Law Decrees 08.15 Georgia/Russia Conflict Forced Into Cold War Frame 08.13 WPost and the Great Disconnect 08.12 WPost Admits Bungling Obama Quote 08.06 Why McCain May Well Win 08.06 Media Fall for 'Race Card' Spin 08.01 Wall Street Journalomics: The Case of the Missing Tax Facts 07.31 CNN Scoffs at White House Critics 07.31 WPost Calls Out 'Uppity' Obama US Politics, Policy & Culture
08.21 McCain's Ties to Neocon Hard Lines 08.21 Peace Mom v. Guardian of Power 08.20 Are You Ready For Nuclear War? 08.19 A Book Written to Defeat Obama 08.19 McCain's 'Cone of Silence' Caper 08.14 Is Perpetual War Our Future? 08.12 5 Years After Blackout, Power Grid Still in 'Dire Straits' 08.12 Olympic Shame 08.12 Thinking About Intermissions 08.11 ‘Medaling’ With Free Speech at the Olympics 08.11 Targeting Immigrants - The Largest Ever US ICE Raid 08.09 A Novel Approach to Politics 08.07 The Hamdan Principle and You 08.07 McCain Adopts Cheney's Energy Plan 08.06 The Serpent's Egg: Solzhenitsyn and the Origins of America's Gulag 08.05 Mining Racism and Murder in a Northeastern Pennsylvania Coal Town 08.04 The Other Presidential Candidates 08.03 McCain, Anthrax & the Afghan Blunder 08.01 Justice Probe Still Threatens Gonzales 07.31 Obama's Surge in Berlin 07.30 War Without End, Amen: Into the Afghan Abyss with Obama 07.30 McCain's Spin on the 'Surge' 07.30 Friday's House Judiciary Hearing on Impeachment: A Victory and a Challenge US High Crimes & Misdemeanors
08.20 Musharraf, Not Bush, Follows Nixon 08.18 Fear, Procurement, Profit: Permanent War and the American Way 08.17 This Time, the World Is Not Buying It 08.15 'Imminent' Threats Should Be a Belli Laugh 08.08 American Insouciance 08.07 Extra! Dog Bites Man! Read All About It! 08.05 Marching Off Into Tyranny 08.05 Follow This Dime 07.31 Wave of 'Capitol Crime' Continues 07.29 Bodyguard of Lies: The Truth Behind the 'Surge's' Smokescreen 07.28 Secret "Torture Memo" Gave Legal Cover to Interrogators Who Acted in "Good Faith" 07.28 The Bush Administration's Secret Biowarfare Agenda 07.26 The Endless Smearing of Joe Wilson Economics & Business
08.04 Thinking About Ponzi International
08.18 Blockades: Acts of War 08.17 Rice’s Recipe for Duck Soup 08.14 The Lawless Roads: Bluster in Georgia, Rank Tyranny at Home 08.14 Marching Through Georgia V: U.S. Forces Moving Into Putin's Powderkeg 08.14 Marching Through Georgia IV: The Butt Thumper and the Bear 08.13 Using Georgia to Target Russia 08.12 From Stupid to Moronic to Evil 08.11 Marching Through Georgia III: Reality's Rout and Cheney's Viagra 08.11 Marching Through Georgia II: The Kremlin Surge 08.08 Marching Through Georgia I: Cold War II Proxy Conflict Turns Hot 08.07 Living Death: The Eternal Now of Hiroshima 08.07 War with Iran - On, Off or Undecided? 08.04 Gaza Under Siege We are a non-profit Internet-only newspaper publication founded in 1973. Your donation is essential to our survival.
|
| ||||||||||||