Monday, May 18, 2009

More CIA

The more I read about the CIA's involvement in various portions of the world, the more I find that this involvement is primarily aimed at economic interests of large corporations and conglomerates. Usually the companies send requests for help to their contacts, either in the administration directly, through the US diplomat, or to their HQ in the US, which would subsequently contact the lobbyists or directly contact the administration, etc. From there, you would either have direct involvement of the military, or more likely, involvement by the CIA.
Take United Fruit Company for example. It was involved in the deaths of an unspecified number of it's workers who were protesting in Columbia in 1928, as its puppet dictatorship's assembled troops fired into the crowd. Later, the government gathered up the strike leaders and sent them to prison. The CIA's leaders were shareholders of United Fruit (Allen Dulles). The government troops had orders from our government, and the threat of invasion hanging over their heads.
Then in Guatemala, a democratically elected leader takes back land from United Fruit Company (it's had different names, but same company) and pays them what they say it's worth. The United Fruit Company begs the US government for help. We invade, topple the government, and put a dictatorship in place.
This scenario has played itself out too many times. We are responsible for many of the dictatorships in the world RIGHT NOW. If we let this organization and this culture continue their rampage, the ultimate result will be a dictatorship in this country, as exemplified by how close the last regime came. Even now, many of our basic rights and freedoms are threatened.
Why is this? We have a great system of economics where each person can purchase and sell anything for what he or she thinks it is worth. We've done better than most. Our business people travel the world in search of opportunities, purchasing land, starting businesses in many other countries.
First, I think we need to remember that we are guests in other countries. We never truly own that land. You may think of it as a lease. It is fair that the other government pay us for what the land is worth, however, a business interest is not the same as living there and being a citizen and subject to the host nation's laws. These tactics by the CIA to unfairly tip the scales in our favor result in massive deaths and wide-scale military based dictatorship.
Second, we have a problem with the lack of individual accountability in the legal construct of corporations. When the interests of the one outweigh the interests of the many, there is a problem. Normally, our system of economics combined with our legal system ensure that people are fairly compensated for their work and that resources are available. However, the same companies who are getting us into wars are also likely responsible for the underlying conflict.

Here are some questions I would like to know (note to self and to others for future reference):
1. What corporations have been most responsible for our government's intervention, CIA and otherwise, and what humanitarian considerations are in play that cause this to be the case? Most likely, they are mistreating their workers, deliberately causing a lack of resources to increase profits in some way, bribing local governments, installing local governments, paying for security who also happen to be terrorists or guerrillas against neighboring states, etc.
2. What exactly is taught in the School of the Americas?
3. What are the current financial holdings of the current CIA director? What businesses does he own stock in, and especially what businesses is he part-owner in?

The bottom line is that by providing our elite with a blank check to do whatever they like to protect their own bottom line, we sabotage our legal process. The CIA is that blank check. No other government organization is so fully stocked with the interests of the rich and powerful. The CIA's culture will be solely behind most of our future wars if we do not stop it.

No comments:

Post a Comment