A WEEKLY COMMENTARY
Year Twenty-Six ... Number Forty-Seven ... November 23, 1979
OIL DRUMS TO BECOME WAR DRUMS?
We believe we are justifiably apprehensive when some particularly appalling chapter of history seems about to repeat itself, always with some revisionist variations, of course. It was the mysterious sinking of the U.S.S. Maine that propelled us into a war with Spain -- a war which extended our borders far out into the Pacific to the Phillipines and the Marianas. It was the sinking of the British registry Lusitania which generated the anti-German sentiment that was to plunge the U.S. into World War One. It was the bombing of the battleship Arizona and eighteen other U.S. Navy vessels at Pearl Harbor which took us into World War Two. And, as we write this report, the U.S. aircraft carrier and an escort of five warships are on their way to the Indian Ocean while the carrier Midway and another five warships are already operating in the Arabian Sea, some 600 miles from Hormuz, which lies at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and whose waters lap the southwestern shores of Iran. And the bold, black, eight-column headline reads: "U.S. Hints at Military Action in Iran."
If defending America and Americans is involved, we still believe in "millions for defense but not one cent for tribute." A justifiable defensive war deserves the unqualified support of every American, whatever his or her contribution must be, remembering always that the sexes are not equal on the battlefront. But when a war is deliberately planned, when there is a scheming and provoking and the deliberate stage-managing of events to lead us into an unnecessary and unjustified war, when the money managers and power brokers decide to sacrifice the lives of millions for their own profit: then we must protest, as did Charles Lindberg and John T. Flynn, Archibald Roosevelt and Harry Elmer Barnes, General Robert E. Wood and Senators Taft, Byrd, Wheeler, Lodge, Nye and Clark, and the majority of Americans -- prior to Pearl Harbor, that is.
Hebert Hoover's name is not on our personal list of great American heroes. However, he did oppose America's entry into World War Two, he did remain loyal to General Douglas MacArthur, assisting him in every way possible when the latter was fired by Truman for trying to win a war in Korea and for insisting that in war there is no substitute for victory. And former President Hoover was certainly "on the ball" when, on his eightieth birthday he spoke to an admiring audience on August 11, 1954 in West Branch, Iowa, the town where he was born. He said in part:
"... I opposed and protested every step in the policies which led us into the Second World War. Especially in June, 1941, when Britain was safe from a German invasion due to Hitler's diversion to attack Stalin. I urged that the gargantuan jest of all history would be our giving aid to the Soviet Government. I urged that we should allow these two dictators to exhaust each other. I stated that the result of our assistance would be to spread Communism over the whole world. I urged that if we stood aside the time would come when we could bring lasting peace to the world. ... The progress of freedom is a never ending struggle to prevent the abuse of power whether by individuals, groups, or by government. Our Founding Fathers created unique restraints on power by the Bill of Rights and a structure of built-in cehcks and balances. Among those concepts was a division of powers between the three branches of government. I don't need to tell you that. But what I have tell you is that these three separations of power became seriously confused, corroded and weakened during the twenty years before this (Eisenhower) Administration. During the last war we witnessed a special encroachment of the Executive upon the Legislative branch. This has been through a new type of commitment of the United States to other nations. I am not going to argue legalisms, for they do not go to the center of the issue. The real issue is whether the President -- through declaration or implication or by acquiescence, or by joint statements with foreign officals -- can commit the American people to foreign nations without the specific consent of the elected representatives of the people ... There has been a grevious list of such commitments. Our tacit alliance with Soviet Russian spread Communism everywhere. Our acquiescence in the annexation by Russia of the Baltic States and the partition of Poland at Tehran extinguished the liberties of tens of millions of people. Worse still was the secret agreement with respect to China, which set in train the Communization of Mongolia, North Korea and all of China. These unrestrained Presidential actions have resulted in a shrinking of human freedom over the whole world. From these actions came the jeopardies of the 'Cold War' and, as a by-product, these actions have shrunk our own freedoms by crushing taxes, huge defense costs, and inflation. We must make such use of power forever impossible..."*
But the use of such power was not made impossible. The Invisible Government working through the Executive Branch, especially the State Department, collaborated with the Presidium of the Communist Party of the USSR, wrote the Charter of the United Nations which CFR operatives induced the U.S. Senate to accept; and the Power Brokers continued to help the International Communists in important ways. It aided them in developing a nuclear arsenal, aided them and shared technological secrets with them in the conquest of space. It introduced policies of containment and peaceful coexistence and detente, all of which policies helped the steady advance of Communism. The Power Brokers' insistence upon the decolonization of Asia and Africa made it possible for the Communists to take over where Western Nations once had governed. And more pertinent to our present dilemma, the Multinational Cabalists and Money Monopolists permitted the USSR to gain more and more control over the oil-producing Nations of North Africa and the Mid-East, and especially over the vital shipping lanes of that area.
During this time of development of Communism into a World Power, the "ship syndrome" came into use once again. To the sinkings of the Maine, the Lusitania, the Arizona and its complement of warships, now was added the alleged attack upon U.S. Navy Destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 4th, 1964. This led to America's formal entry into the shooting phase of the Vietnam War. This resulted, among other catastrophes, to surrender to the Communists of all that part of the world, with the ensuing real holocaust that has been forced upon the victimized peoples of South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
In this post-world-war-two period there was developed yet another shameful syndrome which had to do with the "using" of leaders of nations that were our friends and allies. It began with Chiang Kai-shek, whom the CFR aided, and helped to build up as a great leader after the pattern of George Washington... then later permitted their satellite organization, the Institute of Pacific Relations, to destroy. Then came Syngman Rhee, another Christian leader that the Invisible Government backed ... up to a certain point in time when he was destroyed. Later Korean President Park was to suffer the same fate, except that Park was assassinated while Rhee was merely sent into exile. After Rhee came Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, who was supported for a time, and then assassinated. We can add the names of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, the Christian leader Moise Tshombe of Katanga, Anastasio Somoza Debayle of Nicaragua, and others. Finally, we come to Muhammed Reza Shah Pahlevi. The Power Brokers, using the CIA as their tool, routed Premier Mussadegh of Iran to install the Shah as ruler and dictator. They supplied him with the finest of modern weapons, aided him in his resistance to Communist pressure, and the threatened occupation of Iran. They backed him in the expulsion of an extremist Shiite leader now known as the Ayatollah. Then, after he had served their purpose, the Power Brokers helped to drive him from the throne and into exile in any country that would accept him, except the United States. Then when it became convenient, Trilat leaders Rockefeller, Kissinger and Vance transferred him to a New York hospital. By means of which the Ayatollah Khomeini has used this as an excuse to strengthen his hold on a faltering leadership and stir up anti-American and pro-Communist sentiment among his followers. `
There is one part of this Iranian debacle that is not mentioned by the communications media: the relaxing of pressure against Israel through the splitup of Islam. Save for one slip of the tongue on the part of the Ayatollah or whoever is actually running the mobsters, there has been no mention of Israel in connection with Iran. The Ayatollah said the attack on the Moslem holy-of-holies at Mecca might have been the work of American Imperialists and Zionists, an impossibility since only the Islamic faithful can enter Mecca. Yet, the central political controversy in that part of the world has been, ever since its establishment by the United Nations and its certification as a Nation by Harry Truman, the battle between the so-called Jews and the Arabs. Now, however, the whole scene has shifted: the conflict between Jews and Arabs is downgraded, and the controversy between Arabs and Persians is highlighted. More specifically, the doctrinal split between Sunni Moslems (mostly Arabs) and Shiite Moslems (mostly Persians) becomes a point of controversy, thus downgrading the centuries old rivalry between Mohameddanism and Judaism.
Important to consider is the danger that this present atrocity, which is being egged on by Communism, might spread into a worldwide wave of uncontrollable violence, even war. A group of Shiite extremists seeking martyrdom invaded and held hostages in the holy shrine (Kaaba) at Mecca. Then word was spread that this was the act of "American Imperialists and International Zionists." There followed the burning of the American embassy at Islamabad and attacks on other American buildings in Pakistan. Hatred for America is being peddled wholesale to Moslems. There are said to be over 800 million Mohammedans in the world. An AP dispatch reads: "Islam is 1,400 years old. It is practiced in the jungles of Africa, the sands of the Sahara, the oil fields of the Middle East, the rugged mountains of Asia and the islands of the Pacific. Despite its heavy encumbrance of traditions, Islam is now the world's fastest growing religion ... Oil money pouring into the long-poor Middle East helps finance religious revival. Moslem armies bristle with sophisticated weaponry ... In black Africa, Islam is gaining 10 converts to every one gained by Christianity ... Islam is assuring itself as a counterpoint to capitalism..."
Here in the United States, in addition to an estimated 60,000 or more Iranian students, there are more than 100,000 American blacks who have become Moslems. This is easily understood when it is recalled that the headquarters of the international terrorist "Organization of Islam" is in San Francisco. The blacks are told that their ancestors worshipped Allah before being brought to the U.S. as slaves, and that in the spirit of "nationalism" and black brotherhood they should join their soul brothers and be converted to the faith of their fathers.
The danger lies in the fact that Islam, at least the Shiite branch thereof, is a religion of violence, which almost overran Europe in the 13th century. Theirs is a zeal that is said to be "intensified by Persian nationalism." This refers back to the time of the Medes and the Persians when Cyrus the Great was the monarch of "all the world", and who permitted a remnant of Israelites to return to Jerusalemm and rebuild the Temple (as recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah). Persian zeal plus Islamic passion for the conversion of unbelievers and martyrdom for believers, has led in history to such terrorist sects as the Ismaelis, the Karmathians, the Fatimads (who took Islam to Africa and Spain), and the Assassins who were murderers for hire.
At present, the Saudi Arabians are friendly toward the U.S. They are of the milder, more orthodox Sunni branch. The Holy City Mecca is in Saudi Arabia and is sacred to all Islam. While there are doctrinal differences between the Shiites and the Sunnis, all worship Allah whose prophet is Mohammed. If the Power Brokers behind this crusade can cause the two branches of Islam to get together, there could develop a religious war in which only Communism could be the winner.
We spoke of syndromes, of ships being sunk and leaders being used. There is yet another syndrome, one which involves the Soviet Union's using of surrogates to do their dirty work for them. As Herbert Hoover said, it was Americans and American policy that gave Eastern Europe and the Baltic Nations to Soviet Russia. In the Communization of China, the Soviet had little to do with it; Americans in our State Department and diplomatic corps, the OSS and the Institute of Pacific Relations planned for China to fall without it becoming apparent that she was pushed. When it came time for the Soviets to gain a foothold in Africa, Americans (Internationalists, really) demanded decolonization of the continent. When actual war became expedient North Koreans were used to kill Americans and destroy American prestige. Then the Vietnamese were used to kill more Americans, disgrace the United States, and extend Communism into more of the Asian continent. When the move to grab the rest of Asia began, surrogate Cubans and East Germans were used to encourage and command the natives, and even fight when necessary. When time came for converting the Carribean Sea into a Red Lake, Cuban surrogates led the natives who did the fighting and the dying. And now may have come the time when the Armand Hammers and the Monopoly Capitalists of the Soviet Union intend to use the native Persians and Arabs to take over the oil-rich remainder of Asia...
Our sons and daughters could become actively involved in such a scheme. Let us pray that the forces of evil can be halted without an Armageddon.
* Those desiring authentic documentation on how the U.S. was forced into World War II against the will of the majority of Americans should read a new book, "Roosevelt, Churchill and the World War II Opposition." It is the autobiography of George T. Eggleston, journalist and editor who, like Charles Lindberg, John T. Flynn and others, tried to prevent the U.S. from entering the war. As a result, Lindberg was called a Nazi and Copperhead, Flynn became anathema on the specific instructions of FDR, and Eggleston on the very day he received his commission in the U.S. Navy, was ordered to Washington to stand trial. This is an important addition to the revisionist history of our times, 272 pages, with illustrations, hardcover $12.95. Just published so better if you order directly from Devin-Adair, Old Greenwich, Conn. 06870.
Extra copies of this Newsletter: 1 copy: 25 cents, 10 copies: $1.50, 20 copies: $3.00, 30 copies: $4.50, 40 copies: $6.00, 50 copies: $7.50, 100 copies: $10.00. More than 100 copies: 10 cents each. Please include extra if 1st class postage is desired. Subscription rates: $24 per year. Foreign airmail: $30 per year. DON BELL REPORTS Weekly, emphasizing the Christian American point of view. Address all orders: DON BELL REPORTS, P.O. BOX 2223, PALM BEACH, FLORIDA 33480