By 1960, every treaty ever signed between the United States and the indigenous people had been violated by the United States except for the Pickering Treaty. The Pickering Treaty is named after Timothy Pickering, the leader of a delegation sent by George Washington to secure peace with the Iroquois nation. In the treaty, the US government gave its word to never disturb the small parcel of land it hadn't yet stolen from the indigenous people: Now the United States acknowledge all the land within the aforementioned boundaries, to be the property of the Seneca nation; and the United States shall never claim the same, nor disturb the Seneca nation, nor any of the Six Nations, or of their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof; but it shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States, who have the right to purchase. But in the early 1960's the US violated this treaty as well: the Seneca's were forced to sell the land so that a dam could be built, which flooded the area. In 1961 President Kennedy launched an invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. The goal was to depose communist leader Fidel Castro. It failed when the people of Cuba did not revolt as the US expected. It turned out that things were much better under Castro than under the man he had deposed (Fulgenco Batista) -- whose regime, according to Kennedy himself had been a "brutal, bloody and despotic dictatorship." But the Bay of Pigs was not the only attempt the US made on Castro's life. Declassified documents from that time have revealed that the CIA had been cooking up several bizarre plots against the Cuban leader. Some of these were designed not to kill him but to discredit him, such as:
-- Your tax dollars (and US intelligence) hard at work! In 1963, African American civil rights demonstrators were set upon by police dogs and fire hoses in Birmingham Alabama. The war in Vietnam consisted of one atrocity after another committed by both sides. The US had convinced itself that it was fighting communism. The Vietnamese, on the other hand were fighting colonialism. The majority of the US citizens could see through the hoax, and wanted their government to stop sending their children and husbands off to die in an unjustifiable war. But the US government held firm; we had to keep dying and killing in Vietnam, top government officials claimed, because of the need to "keep our commitments". But when had the US ever kept its commitments? Remember what Red Cloud said? US history has consisted mostly of broken promises, violated treaties, lies, corruption, and cover-ups. "Keep our commitments"? The indigenous people must've had themselves a good laugh over that one! On March 16, 1968, the Charlie Company of the US Army committed massacres in the Vietnamese towns of My Lai and My Khe. Innocent civilians were killed and mutilated. One young US soldier confessed: "I killed another 20 to 25, cut their throats, scalped 'em. I did it. A lot of people were doing it." At first the incident was viewed as a victory by the US. Medals were handed out, and the headline in Stars & Stripes proclaimed: "U.S. Troops Surround Reds, Kill 128". But eventually the truth became known, and a cover-up ensued. When the cover-up was revealed, a trial was held. William Calley, the chief instigator of the massacre was found guilty and sentenced to life at hard labor. Instead, on the order of President Nixon, Calley only served 3 years, and most of that under house arrest at Fort Benning. On May 4, 1970, the National Guard opened fire on college students engaged in a protest of the Vietnam war at Kent State University in Ohio. Several students, including some who weren't even participating in the protest, were killed. Shortly afterwards, Mississippi state police killed two protesting African Americans at Jackson State college, and wounded 11 others. In 1972, President Nixon's Committee for the Reelection of the President orchestrated an illegal break-in and wire-tapping of the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate office building in Washington, DC. Before the scandal was over, 30 officials in the Nixon administration and campaign staffs had pleaded guilty or were found guilty of breaking the law. During the investigation, Archibald Cox, the Special Prosecutor, subpoenaed Nixon's taped conversations. Nixon refused to turn the tapes over to the court, and in Oct. 1973 he ordered Elliot Richardson, the attorney general, to fire Archibald Cox. But Richardson chose to resign instead. Richardson's assistant, William Ruckelshaus, also refused to fire Cox and was himself fired. Finally, it was the solicitor general, Robert Bork, who fired Cox. Such heavy handed dealings made Nixon's culpability obvious, and the public clamored for his impeachment. The House Judiciary Committee issued three articles of impeachment on July 30, 1974. Nixon was indicted for illegal wiretapping, misuse of the CIA, perjury, bribery, obstruction of justice, and other abuses of executive power. Nixon resigned in disgrace. But, unbeknownst to the general public (at least at the time), these sorts of activities were common and virtually expected amongst politicians. Nixon just happened to be the one who got caught at a time when the media were not favorably disposed to him. For instance: years later Ronald Reagan's election committee was found with unreleased copies of Jimmy Carter's campaign commercials -- but the media loved Reagan (being a movie actor, he always played well for the camera), and merely yawned at the news. Several administration officials served time for the Watergate break-in. But Nixon never served any time; he was too adept at misusing his power as president. He appointed Gerald Ford to succeed him as president, and one month later Ford issued a full pardon for any crime Nixon "may have committed" while in office! |
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