Shame

Pyramid of Photos of the Disappeared in Buenos Aires, 2004

There is little attention paid to the shame which the U.S. has accrued in recent history. In the current American media discussion of the U.S.-Iran relationship, little is said about the American destruction of Iranian democracy in 1953 when the U.S. government assisted in deposing an elected government which had nationalized the oil industry. The Shah was a puppet of the West, installed shamelessly to give oil companies in the U.S. and Europe what they wanted when they wanted it. 

United Fruit's role in Central American history is very similar. This American corporation (now Chiquita Brands International) devastated lives, government and environments in its ruthless determination to supply the developed world with cheap bananas. Yes, countless examples of human suffering, supported by the U.S. government, over profits from bananas. 

Argentina is another example of shameless American self-interest. Through the entire presidency of Jimmy Carter and through most of Ronald Reagan's first term, 30,000 Argentinians were "disappeared". These individuals, mostly associated with pro-labor and pro-equality causes, were secretly abducted, tortured and murdered by government goon squads. The U.S. government stood by quietly. Later it distracted the U.S. public with the Iran hostage debacle. That debacle was simply American foreign policy coming home to roost. 

There is absolutely no reason for any U.S. citizen to be haughty about American generosity or a justifiable nationalist pride. This form of flag-waving is ignorant and hypocritical. From supporting mafia in mid-20th-Century Cuba to supporting the wrong side in the Chinese civil war prior to World War II, American foreign policy has brought us to this place in international affairs. We are looked to to be a military bully for the corporate interests of the developed world. Where those interests are most threatened (Israel, Central Europe, Afghanistan, Iraq) American response is vicious and lauded by the corporate-controlled media of the West. Where those interests are unlikely to be fostered by intervention (Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt), the corporate-controlled media rationalizes measured reflection and hesitation. 

The shame of U.S. foreign relations outweighs its honor, especially since the Second World War. Rabid anti-Communism was a cover for rabid corporate expansion and greed. The rise of the American automobile and other American technologies led to American superiority after Europe and much of Asia were devastated by war. The environmental deterioration of the entire planet is payback for that greed. The rise in international, anti-scientific, anti-capitalist terrorism is also payback for that brutal greed. 

If the U.S, spoke more of its shameful responsibility and less of its ordained superiority, perhaps any nationalist pride would be more rational. Instead, Americans have whined as victims when they have suffered attacks based on their country's bad causes. Those who have survived the horrors in Central America, Argentina, Cuba, Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other places where American foreign policy has been guided by selfishness and greed are less likely to share the opinion that the U.S. is a victim when attacked. This is just common sense.