U.S. Still Plans Assault on Latin America. Will We Stop this Madness?

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. Still Plans Assault on Latin America. Will We Stop this Madness?
Saturday November 28, 2009 15:25 by Eva Golinger and Friends
Original Government Document Altered

"In an explicit attempt to hide Washington’s military objectives in South America, a U.S. Air Force document submitted to Congress in May 2009 that provoked deep concerns in the region has been modified and re-published on November 16, 2009. The official U.S. Air Force document, revealed and denounced by this author on November 4th, explained the justification for a $46 million request to improve the military installations in one of the seven bases Washington will occupy under the military accord signed on October 30th between Colombia and the United States. The modified document has eliminated all mention of war and military operations in the region, as well as offensive language directed at Colombia’s neighbors, Venezuela and Ecuador."
U.S. Still Plans Assault on Latin America. Will We Stop this Madness?

Washington Alters U.S. Air Force Document to Hide Intentions Behind Military Accord with Colombia

November 27th 2009, by Eva Golinger

In an explicit attempt to hide Washington’s military objectives in South America, a U.S. Air Force document submitted to Congress in May 2009 that provoked deep concerns in the region has been modified and re-published on November 16, 2009. The official U.S. Air Force document, revealed and denounced by this author on November 4th, explained the justification for a $46 million request to improve the military installations in one of the seven bases Washington will occupy under the military accord signed on October 30th between Colombia and the United States. The modified document has eliminated all mention of war and military operations in the region, as well as offensive language directed at Colombia’s neighbors, Venezuela and Ecuador. Nevertheless, Washington’s intentions remain the same.
The original Air Force document dated May 2009 outlined the importance of the military base in Palanquero, Colombia to enable “full spectrum military operations” in South America. The original military document also detailed the necessity of investing $46 million to improve the airfield, ramps and other essential installations on the base, converting it into a Cooperative Security Location (CSL) for U.S. military missions in the region.

Original U.S. Air Force document, May 2009:
“Establishing a Cooperative Security Location (CSL) in Palanquero best supports the COCOM’s (Command Combatant’s) Theater Posture Strategy and demonstrates our commitment to this relationship. Development of this CSL provides a unique opportunity for full spectrum operations in a critical sub-region of our hemisphere where security and stability is under constant threat from narcotics funded terrorist insurgencies, anti-U.S. governments, endemic poverty and recurring natural disasters.”
The U.S. Air Force document dated November 16, 2009 and sent to the Congress under the title, “Addendum to reflect terms of the U.S.- Colombia Defense Cooperation Agreement signed on 30 October 2009,” alters the original controversial language, eliminating key terms and references that provoked grave concerns in the region. The November 16th Air Force document makes no mention of establishing a Cooperative Security Location (CSL) in Palanquero, Colombia, however it does consistently refer to Palanquero as a “location”, retaining the original intentions. Furthermore, the monetary request is reduced by a mere $3 million to $43 million, evidencing that the original project remains almost 100% in tact. Congress had previously approved the initial $46 million request made by the Pentagon last Spring, conditioning the funds on the final signing of the U.S.- Colombia military accord, which was solidified on October 30th. But the November 16th U.S. Air Force document makes a clear attempt to disguise the original intentions by eliminating the provocative language referring to “full spectrum military operations in a critical sub-region… where security and stability is under constant threat from… anti-US governments.” That language in particular sparked immediate concerns and accusations regarding Washington’s intentions to utilize Colombia as a launching pad to attack countries such as Venezuela, considered erroneously “anti-U.S.” by many.

The modified U.S. Air Force document of November 16, 2009:
“This project at Palanquero best supports the Combatant Command’s (COCOM) Theater Posture Strategy and demonstrates our commitment to this relationship . Development of this project provides a unique opportunity to support an important partner in a region of the western hemisphere where security and stability are under constant threat from narcotics funded terrorist insurgencies, endemic poverty and recurring natural disasters.”
The original U.S. Air Force document identified Palanquero as the perfect place to enable the implementation of the U.S. global mobility strategy because it “provides access to the entire South American continent.”

More:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/94934

[Downwinder]

1. $43 million and its not a US base. BS. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

2. Vietnam deja vu all over again. I swear. I lived through that one, and this has all...

the signs, including the attempt to deceive the American people on the real purposes of the military buildup. Back then, they said "just a few hundred military 'advisors'". They're saying nearly the exact same thing now. Another similarity--the attempt to disguise a US war by hiding behind a puppet government and proxy military (which we have funded with $6 BILLION in military aid). Another: This is a very, very, VERY bad government and military--with one of the worst human rights records on earth. Very similar to South Vietnam, in its excessive corruption, lack any concept of decent government or democracy, and violence against its own people.

And one more that I'll mention: The war that is being planned here, by the Pentagon (and I think designed initially by Rumsfeld) is not just a MANUFACTURED war--as we saw in Iraq--but a war AGAINST the LEGITIMATE aspirations for independence and self-rule of the oil-rich democracies neighboring Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. In Vietnam, first came the US nixing of UN sponsored elections in Vietnam, which Ho Chi Minh would have won, hands down. It would have been a democratic choice of a communist government (and one that, in fact, sought the US as an ally in maintaining its independence). Venezuela and Ecuador are mixed socialist/capitalist economies--much like many EU countries--with honest and transparent election systems (far, far more honest and transparent than our own). The crime is even greater here, because there is no "Cold War" to give even the faintest ghost of an excuse for inflicting the horrors of war on these countries.

The Bushwhacks, followed by the Obamites--and that on-going corpo-fascist choral group, the US 'news' media--have been working long and hard to overcome the PR problem to invading and toppling democratic governments and slaughtering masses of their people, with a non-stop campaign of utter lies, disinformation and psyops against Hugo Chavez in particular (and, more locally focused at present, against the Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador). There isn't even a scintilla of truth to these lies. It is a classic "Big Lie" campaign--asserting the exact opposite of the truth. (Venezuela has never had a more vibrant, healthy and participatory democracy, nor a better government--ever!) (Same for Ecuador.) That is one more of the 'signs and omens' pointing to a war plan. "The first victim of war is the truth," as Rudyard Kipling said. And that victim has already been shot, in Oil War-II: South America.

Eva Golinger got onto their document about "full spectrum military operations" in South America and targeting "anti-US governments." So they just ex that part out--leaving the war funding in place, and the war plan and its targets a bit harder to discern. Another thing to look for, besides the full funding (of this "full spectrum" war plan) are the escalation clauses and also the immunity clauses. I have read 600 US soldiers and 600 US 'contractors," all with full diplomatic immunity, and NO LIMIT on further US troops and 'contractors' being sent. That should be called the "Vietnam clause." Not that they can't just re-write it, any time they damn please. But there it is--Vietnam--right in the existing agreement, only waiting for a "Gulf of Tonkin"-type incident to be manufactured on the Colombia/Venezuela border (which Colombia/US psyops teams are hard at work on) to escalate to a "full spectrum" war.

[Downwinder]

3. Question: What do Iraq, Afghanistan, and Honduras have in common?

Other than regime changes orchestrated by the Empire.