All references to events in history and matters of fact are quoted here with authors and titles alongside the particular section in the contents in which they appear. The raw data is only from these following few books collated and presented in a systematic order, which may then reveal trends in history (as distinct from “one-off mishaps and accidents” as they are usually presented). From this data, itself a result of the tireless research efforts of the authors quoted, we may gain quite a different view of history.
If, like a publisher, you are rigourous about your sources, I would suggest that you read the book quoted before you read the section alongside which it is credited below. Ultimately, however exhaustive the referencing, it will always come down to whether the reader trusts the writer which is almost always a question of whether the writer has a vested interest in misleading the reader. In defence of the writer, it is also in their interest not to tell lies because if the writer is exposed, it casts doubt over the entirety of the work.
This is a book of only relatively few but ground-shaking revelations that may be easily gathered. In the endless and slavish pursuit of references for the facts, we should never lose sight of the implications of the fact, the consequences of the fact, the lessons to learn and the conclusions to be drawn from the fact. It’s the meaning that we’re after, from which we can proceed to conclusions and proposals.
However, the meaning must rest on a base of reasonable fact. I refer you to your sources…
All references in Part 1 are from Noam Chomsky’s Turning the Tide, Deterring Democracy, Power and Ideology and John Peck’s The Chomsky Reader as well as the Latin American Bureau’s Far from Paradise, and Cuba for Beginners by Eduardo del Rio, the latter two supplying additional information on the Caribbean.
Also Chomsky’s Rethinking Camelot: JFK, Vietnam and U.S. Political Culture (1993) for further information on Indo-China, to which I also quote from Distant Voices by John Pilger. Information on Burma is from Pilger’s TV Documentary “Inside Burma: Land of Fear”, broadcast in Britain in May 1996.
Information on Thailand, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil is from Chomsky’s The Political Economy of Human Rights. Much of Chomsky’s information on Thailand owes much in turn to the writings of Thadeus Flood.
The more contemporary perspective on Brazil is courtesy of David Munro’s documentary.
Information on Chile is straight from the horse’s mouth – Covert Action in Chile 1963-73, Staff Report of the Select Committee to study Governmental Operations with respect to Intelligence Activities, US Senate, published December 18th 1975 and drawing exclusively on the records of the perpetrators – CIA, State and Defence Departments and the National Security Council.
Further information on Nicaragua from Getting the Message (Glasgow University Media Group). Added details on early European settlement of the U.S. from the Book of the Hopi by Frank S Waters and 1491 by Charles A. Mann. Statistics on military and economic aid are from the US State department’s own records as transmitted by the above authors.
References to pre-Imperial history (i.e. Society without a State sitting on top of it) from The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels and, prior to him, Ancient Society by Lewis Morgan. The section on the Church draws historical material from A Short History of the World by H.G. Wells (within which there are no references whatsoever). All other references are quoted in the body of the text. It is possible to search online should you require further confirmation of stated facts and the opportunity to read more around the subject than there is space for here within the extremely broad scope of this work.
The authors on U.S. Imperial history quoted above draw their references in turn from both sides of the great Property divide. On the one side, the U.S. Government internal record together with personal testimonies of loyal servants and defectors from the noble U.S. cause (of military coercion and terror to steal resources from countries and peoples across the Globe). On the other side, the references derive from visiting foreign MPs, anthropologists, relief workers, but mostly from front-line witness statements that find their way from the peasants, priests, teachers, union workers in the killing fields to local Church and Self-Help groups and on to the reports of international aid organisations such as Oxfam and Amnesty and via authors to me to you.
There is a clear conflict in the interpretation of modern history between these references and those of the mainstream Media who loyally and addictively report the Press releases of Governments, Corporations and the Military. The discrepancy between these different interpretations is that one prioritises the view of the murderer and the other prioritises the view of the victim. One is a justification for privilege, the other is a defence of human rights. The conflict in view is simply due to this difference in priorities.
Bertrand Russell said in regard to arguments for imperialism, hierarchy and domination – “the reasons offered are counterfeit reasons, convincing only to those who have a selfish interest in being convinced”.
And to those who would try to discredit the following, whose word would you yourself take? The murderer’s or the victim’s?