IGNORE YOUR LYING EYES
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” “The people will believe what the media tells them they believe.” – – George Orwell
In 1961 the United States installed nuclear armed Jupiter missiles in Turkey near the Soviet Union’s border that were minutes from incinerating Moscow, St Petersburg, and other major Russian cities. The people of America were never told about this, but Russia certainly knew.
Returning the favor, in 1962 Russia installed nuclear armed missiles in Cuba that were minutes from leveling Washington DC, New York, and other American cities. Like Turkey, Cuba was a sovereign nation and by international law had every right to install missiles from Russia. Again, the people of America were never informed, before or after the Cuban Missile Crisis, that their own nation had placed Russia in grave danger before Russia elected to place America in the same state of peril.
As we know, Washington immediately went into “red alert” over the Russian missiles in Cuba. U.S. military leadership wanted to launch all-out war on Russia which, of course, would have gone quickly nuclear and likely would have brought about the end of most life on Earth.
History will never be able to exaggerate how lucky it was that John Kennedy was President of the United States, and Nikita Krushchev was Premier of the Soviet Union in 1962. Both men had the wisdom, courage, and morals to override their military advisors and put an end to the crisis. Russia removed its missiles from Cuba, and a few months later the U.S. secretly removed its missiles from Turkey.
Armageddon was averted, but because U.S. leadership was dishonest about the roll our government had played in creating the crisis in the first place, the cancerous cells of mistrust and hatred for the people of Russia were permanently planted in the minds of Americans. We live with disease today.
History is critically important in understanding where we are at present. But whether the subject is genocide in Gaza or war in Ukraine, history is methodically excluded from western mainstream media. A few minutes of research shows that the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel was not a “terrorist” act that came out of nowhere. It was the result of 70 years of vicious brutality imposed upon the Palestinian people by Israel. Similarly, Russia’s military action in Ukraine didn’t come out of nowhere. It was the result of the U.S. placement of missiles and military bases along Russia’s borders with the same arrogance and ignorance that led the U.S. to install nuclear armed missiles in Turkey creating the Cuban missile crisis 60 years ago.
If Russia were to once again “return the favor” by placing missiles in Cuba and armed forces along the Mexican/U.S. border, can anyone honestly believe America wouldn’t immediately declare war on Mexico and threaten nuclear holocaust over the missiles in Cuba? Perhaps Russian media could then begin screaming – America’s attack on Mexico is “unprovoked, unprovoked!”
It is a sign of hope that young people, community organizations, and Jewish groups in America are rising up against the slaughter in Gaza. But it is a mistake not to see Gaza and Ukraine in the same light. The U.S. supply of munitions for Israeli genocide in Gaza, and the U.S. surrounding of Russia (not to mention China in Taiwan) with missiles and military bases are part and parcel of the same hegemonic goals. Both are the outcome of a U.S. Empire attempting to maintain an illusory past of 20th century “exceptionalism” ordained to rule the world. Failure to recognize this is a failure to recognize the great harm our nation has inflicted upon the world since the war in Vietnam, and it prevents us from seeing the rest of humanity crying out for cooperation – – not domination.
Russia and China were not threatening the United States or anyone else. Orwell’s words are screaming at us – – – “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.” “The people will believe what the media tells them they believe.”
It is the United States that has surrounded Russia and China with missiles and military bases. Not the other way around. It is the United States that orchestrated the coup in Ukraine in 2014 that overthrew the democratically elected, pro-neutrality, President Victor Yanukovych, and installed the neo-Nazi regime that began using U.S. supplied arms to bombard the ethnically Russian Donbas region of Ukraine resulting in the death of 14,000 civilians. It is the U.S. that is placing arms on the internationally recognized Chinese island of Taiwan – the rough equivalent of China placing missiles on the U.S. Island of Puerto Rico. It is the U.S. that is the great threat to world peace and cooperation. But U.S. leadership told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It told you to believe what the corporate media tells you to believe.
The war In Ukraine, and the growing threat of nuclear holocaust, could end tomorrow. All it would take is a U.S. Administration wise, mature, humble, and moral enough to call Vladimir Putin and say:
“We were wrong to expand NATO to Russia’s borders after we promised not to when Russia agreed to dismantle the Berlin Wall. We were wrong to overthrow the democratically elected President of Ukraine. We were wrong to arm Ukraine and begin sacrificing the Ukrainian people to perpetuate the U.S. attempt to weaken and dominate Russia. We were wrong to install missiles in Poland and Romania that can destroy Moscow and St. Peterburg 7 minutes after launch. We were wrong to foment hatred of the people of Russia in the people of America. We were wrong to believe that America was “exceptional” and “ordained” to rule the world. We were wrong. We will return NATO to its promised 1990 borders or dissolve it altogether like Russia dissolved its counterpart, the Warsaw Pact, after the Berlin Wall agreement. We will remove the missiles from Poland and Romania. We will begin to cooperate with Russia to build a better world for all humanity.”
Immediately following the call to Putin, this same wise, mature, humble, and moral American Administration would call Xi Jinping of China to make a similar admission and apology regarding U.S. aggression in Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific. This wise Administration would then pledge to begin cooperating with China to build a better world for all humanity.
The final call would be made to Benjamin Netanyahu: “Bibi, there will be a Palestinian State based on the 1967 borders, nuclear arms will be removed from Israel, and Israel will live in peace and with respect for its neighbors.”
Our lonely Planet Earth no longer has time for American delusions of dominance. We are all members of the same human community.