Lies That Led to Wars
EDITORIAL, 1 Nov 2021
#717 | John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service
Hitler’s Lies
It very often happens that political leaders tell lies to gain public support before they start wars. For example, Adolf Hitler lied about the persecution of German minorities to justify his invasions of Poland and Czechoslovakia.
In the case of Poland, Hitler’s government also arranged several false flag attacks to justify the invasion. On August 2, 1939, Hitler told his generals,
“I will provide a propagandistic causus belli. Its credibility doesn’t matter. The victor will not be asked whether he told the truth.”
The Nazi invasion of Poland marked the start of World War II.
Approximately 75 million people were killed during World War II, including about 40 million civilians, many of whom died because of deliberate genocide, massacres, mass-bombings, disease, and starvation.
Lies before and during the Vietnam War
The Pentagon Papers, bravely published by Daniel Ellsberg, revealed that the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict was based on the fictitious Gulf of Tonkin incident. They also reveal the Johnson Administration systematically lied, not only to the public, but also to Congress. They also reveal that the war was secretly enlarged by bombing nearby Cambodia and Laos. The weight of the bombs dropped on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos was double the weight of all the bombs dropped on Europe and Asia during World War II. Daniel Ellsberg believed that when U.S. citizens discovered the Vietnam War was based on lies, it would end, but it continued for many more years.
Lies before the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
The George W. Bush administration justified their invasion by the false claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Some U.S. officials also falsely accused Sadam of harbouring and supporting Al Qaeda. The invasion was a part of the “War on Terror” which followed 9/11 attacks, although Iraq had nothing to do with them. When Bush was told of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, his first words were, “Now can I invade Iraq?”
Lies about the War in Afghanistan
The mainstream media, including the BBC, do not tell us the true story of how Afghanistan was invaded by the United States and its allies. Here is an article by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies about the invasion of Afghanistan:
As revealed in the article, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, in an undamaged part of the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld held a meeting with his colleagues in which he said, “best info fast. Judge whether good enough to hit S.H. [Sadam Hussein] at the same time – not only UBL [Usama Bin Laden]… Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not.”
So, only hours after the 9/11 attacks, military leaders were engaged in using the “Pearl Harbor moment” to justify wars on a global scale.
The Taliban Offered to Extradite Osama
The invasion of Afghanistan was not only criminal, but also completely unnecessary. The Taliban offered to give Osama Bin Laden to the United States, if proof of his involvement in the 9/11 attacks could be provided. However, this offer was ignored, and bombs began to fall on the Afghan people. Bush wanted to be a wartime president. This history of the Afghan war is kept from us by today’s mass media. Here we see lies not only preceding a war, but also following it.
The 9/11 Attacks and the “War on Terror”
The invasion of Afghanistan was part of the “War on Terror” that followed the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. But what is the truth about these attacks? This question is examined in the first chapter of my book entitled “Terrorism: A False Threat”. The book may be downloaded and circulated free of charge.
Links to Other Books on Global Problems
Other freely downloadable books and articles on global problems can be found on the following links:
Please circulate these links to your friends and contacts who might be interested.
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John Scales Avery, Ph.D., who was part of a group that shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize for their work in organizing the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, is a member of the TRANSCEND Network and Associate Professor Emeritus at the H.C. Ørsted Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is chairman of both the Danish National Pugwash Group and the Danish Peace Academy and received his training in theoretical physics and theoretical chemistry at M.I.T., the University of Chicago and the University of London. He is the author of numerous books and articles both on scientific topics and on broader social questions. His most recent books are Information Theory and Evolution and Civilization’s Crisis in the 21st Century (pdf). Website: https://www.johnavery.info/
Tags: Anti-war, Official Lies and Narratives, WWII, Warfare
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 1 Nov 2021.
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