David Swanson is Co-Founder, Executive Director, and a Board Member of World BEYOND War. He is based in Virginia in the United States. David is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk World Radio. He is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Longer bio and photos and videos here. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook. Sample videos.
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8 Responses
I read and enjoyed your recent article, “The CIA Never Lies”. Toward the end of your article you referred to several of the many countries that we, the US, have destroyed and I wish that you had included Yugoslavia in your list. It seems that nearly everyone omits that country when listing the scenes of our atrocities yet this year a man named Robert Bauer has publicly admitted that he had headed a CIA team that the US had sent into Yugoslavia for the purpose of breaking up the country by stirring up old griev ances among the component peoples by telling them, falsely, that Serbia was going to attack them! The name of the article in which he admitted this was something like “Wake Up Croatia and Bosnia, You’ve Been Hoodwinked!” In addition, this past summer the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia issued its verdict on Slobodan Milosevic, the supposed “Butcher of the Balkans,” who was the asserted reason for the aggression against Serbia, finding him NOT guilty! The tribunal said that not only had he not committed ethnic cleansing, he had tried to stop it! Where is the outrage about this? Where are the reparations to Serbia for the War Crimes we committed there? And for the lives destroyed? We deliberately destroyed that country and dropped bombs on Europe–the first since WWII. Sorry for the rant.
Hi Joan,
I would never dare attempt to list all wars or all US wars or all US attempts at overthrow or anything of the sort, and when I give a small sample list I do not mean it to diminish any of the others that I understandable tend to hear about 🙂 You are right and I’ve included that example in my books.
David
It is true that the US has intervened in many countries using covert operations such as the break up of Yugoslavia. However one should also keep in mind that although the US prodded them and even armed the Yugoslavs for many years, Serbia and Croatia were both just as responsible for the deaths of over 200,000 Muslims. In which the Serbs killed over 8,000 in Srebrenica in one day. I would like to make it a point that the Serbs and Croats are victims of civil war, but that the most injustice done was to the ethnic cleansing of Muslims by the Croats and Serbs which unspeakable atrocities were committed in the name of Orthodoxy and Catholicism.
I did not know of the serbia milosovic truth, but i am not surprised. I hope people outside the US don’t equate our govermental actions with me and my wife. I am ashamed to be a us citizen but don’t know where to go, so i fight on.
Would like specific citation of Robert Bauer’s comments on CIA efforts to break-up Yugoslavia. I also track CIA interference in the internal affairs of other nations.
any way to get Swanson words to Massachusetts zoom on 9/11- best along w Medea- I keep asking: David Eberhardt was a member of the Baltimore Four with Father Philip Berrigan, Tom Lewis and Rev. James Mengel. The group poured blood on draft files on October 27, 1967. They would be convicted and sentenced to prison. Dave has written a book “For All the Saints- a Protest Primer”- documenting the Baltimore Four action and many others up to and including the most recent Plowshares action – Kings Bay Plowshares 7. Phil Berrigan’s wife, Elizabeth McAlister, is a member of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7.
Dave just printed the 5th edition of the book which is available for $25 by sending him a check: Dave Eberhardt, 4 Hadley Square North, Baltimore, MD 21218. You can contact him at mozela9@comcast.net. He prefers that you DO NOT order the book from Amazon.
The people’s of the World need to rise up and remove the War Criminals in office, they’re must be no Dumb War with Russia the behavior of Politicians in the West during covid19 should be an inclination about these dollar store authoritarians and what they’re about
5TH DECEMBER 2022
DEAR CHIEF EDITOR,
PRESS STATEMENT
DEATH SENTENCE ON 7 PRO – DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST PROVE THE ONGOING ATROCITIES IN MYANMAR ON TOP OF ONGOING ROHINGYA GENOCIDE.
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization in Malaysia (MERHROM) is deeply saddened and heartbroken with the death sentences to 7 Dagon University students in Yangon who took part in anti-regime protests. The Myanmar junta on wednesday handed down death sentences to Ko Khant Zin Win, Ko Thura Maung Maung, Ko Zaw Lin Naing, Ko Thiha Htet Zaw, Ko Hein Htet, Ko Thet Paing Oo and Ko Khant Linn Maung Maung in closed trials by a military tribunal. This is indeed a great loss not only to the family members and friends but to the people of Myanmar.
We must emphasize that pro-democracy activists are not terrorist but the real terrorist is Myanmar junta who murdered its own people in barbaric ways. Myanmar junta has conducted long decades of genocide against the Rohingya where millions of Rohingya were killed as direct and indirect consequences of genocide. Since the military coup in 2021, more people of Myanmar have been persecuted, tortured and killed.
Myanmar military is a real terrorist. Ironically, Myanmar military executes its own people by accusing them of being terrorists. The people of Myanmar are the freedom fighters for the country. The military junta can kill our bodies, but the military junta can never kill our belief and what we stood for. The new generation of Myanmar will continue their struggles to fight for freedom, peace and justice.
Previously, 4 pro – democracy activists namely Kyaw Min Yu, Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were executed by the Myanmar junta in July 2022. MERHROM believes that the 7 activists who were executed on wednesday are part of the 113 persons under the Myanmar junta’s execution list. Meaning that there will be a lot more executions onwards. This must be stopped.
Therefore, we urge the United Nations, its agencies and member states as well as NGOs, CSOs, FBOs, CBOs, and the rest of the people on earth to commit to end genocide and atrocities in Myanmar. The United Nations must speed up the process at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the Rohingya Genocide case. Similarly, the Myanmar junta must be tried at the ICC and ICJ for the atrocities in Myanmar.
We strongly urge every UN member state to stop business and military deals with Myanmar as manifestation of their political will to save the life of the Myanmar people from the genocidal regime. We urge the United Nations and ASEAN to be more committed to end the Rohingya Genocide and persecutions of Myanmar people and to stop Myanmar from producing refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) indefinitely.
These are the real challenges for the United Nations leaderships as the mandated body to stop the Rohingya Genocide and Save People of Myanmar. We have been watching worldwide the impact of Rohingya Genocide but until now the Genocide continue. This meant we have not learnt anything from the Rwanda Genocide. The failure for the United Nations to stop Rohingya Genocide is the failure of the United Nations leaderships and the rest of world leaders in this 21st century to restore peace and humanity. The world will be watching who will take the challenge and make a difference to the world.
We urge United Nations all members states countries fully supporting Rohingya Genocide Gambia filed the case against Myanmar in International Court of Justice (ICJ) and also International Human Rights Organization filed the case in International Criminal Court (ICC) against Myanmar government.
The Rohingya continues to be the most prosecuted ethnic in the world and suffer ongoing Genocide. The international pressure to Myanmar is very crucial in order to stop the Rohingya Genocide and atrocities and to restore democracy in Myanmar in order to save the lives of civilian and to stop the people from fleeing the country.
MERHROM would like to reiterate the call by Mr. Thomas Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar that the U.N. Security Council should “pass a strong resolution of not only condemnation, but clear strategic plan, sanctions, economic sanctions and arms embargo”. (Reuters)
Thank you.
“JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED”.
Yours sincerely,
Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani
President
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization in Malaysia (MERHROM)
@ HRD at risk
Tel No: +6016-6827 287
Blog: http://www.merhrom.wordpress.com
Email: rights4rohingya@yahoo.co.uk
Email: rights4rohingyas@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/zafar.ahmad.
https://twitter.com/merhromZafar/
https:twitter.com/@ZAFARAHMADABDU2