Condor
Comes Full Circle
Guilty Of Torture and
Murder : – The Men Behind The Masks
A recent decision to
convict senior political and military figures still alive (including
a former President) is hailed by Human Rights groups worldwide as a
victory for equality and justice. But is it really this?
Yes there were excesses
during the years of the Argentine dictatorship years. Yes individuals were
tortured and murdered. Yes babies were taken from (political
prisoners, who, more often than not, were murdered) parents and given
up for adoption to 'good' Christian' families in Argentina and
elsewhere. But there were many excesses – on all sides – during a period of
what we now call the Cold War. It was a ruthless war worldwide,
often taking no prisoners, for control of the world by either
Communism or Capitalism. You were either on one side or the other.
There was no sitting on the fence. (Unless, of course, you were part of the 'Non-Aligned Movement' - a not insignificant number of countries choosing neither capitalism nor communism, but a 'Third Way'.) You did what you could to
further the objectives of what you believed in – and there was
little sympathy, on either side, for compromise.
This war transcended all
others and, in some shape or form, all others, had offshoot
connections (for the supply of intelligence or armaments) to one side
or the other. It was rare (but not exceptional) to find an astute
political leader receiving support from both the Communist and
Capitalist blocks to further his political or economic goals
somewhere in the world.
Back
Chat and It's Relevance To Today's Conflicts
Having said the above, it
was not unusual to find the servants of bitter foes sitting down to a
cup of coffee somewhere in the world to exchange possibilities - such
were one of numerous 'back channels' recognized and respected
throughout Christendom – and which is totally absent in dealing
with fanatical Islamic religious zealots like ISIL as such have no interest in 'Infidel' 'rules of conduct' .
So
Are The Most Recent Convictions Examples of Justice?
(Or
Is There Something Else Going On?)
Firstly the families of
the victims deserve justice as under Argentinian law. Truth and Reconciliation are the cornerstones of such a process – and the
lengthy prison sentences meted out to former Senior Officials are an
example of this. In my view, the legal
process involving the victims (whose cases and grievances I am not
in any way disputing nor questioning) in Argentina has been hijacked. Let me explain why:
Argentina is currently
embroiled in a very bitter dispute with the IMF and The United States
over the repayment of loans. This goes back to the
Argentinian Government's decision to default on it's debts in 2001. You can read about this
in the reference section below.
The most comprehensive
reference of the ones chosen below, if you only have the time to read
one, I suggest you choose 'The Market Oracle'. If you have a little more time, I refer you to 'Who Shot Argentina?' in The
Huffington Post.
So as not to appear too
biased, I have selected references which are, in the main,
sympathetic to the position of the Argentina Government in this dispute.
The
Sub-Plot
Now the key issues here
are, what the Argentine government calls U.S. 'vulture funds' which
it blames for it's 2001 crises. The Argentina government calls the
actions of certain (mainly U.S.) companies 'financial terrorism'. Despite well publicized
international rulings, the government of Argentina has been unable to
reach a compromise on it's outstanding debt – as litigated against
for settlement in U.S. Courts of Law - and is nearing a point where
such appeal channels (The U.S. Supreme Court) are exhausted.
The ruling today of the
Argentine Court leaves the door open for financial actions against,
yes, you guessed it, 'the vulture funds' (well some of them) or their
subsidiaries or merged or re-structured successor companies as prima facie for financial restitution as the (implicit) claims made in court case against the convicted torturers and assassins were
that certain multinationals were 'complicit' with the dictatorship regimes in kidnappings,
assassinations, torture and murder. That such were all enacted as a
process of financial-political right-wing 'terrorism' directed against the Argentinian
people but that all such corporate entities have escaped both the limelight and prosecution
for their heinous crimes. That such are the real terrorists and
'vultures' who fed on the blood of Argentinians for the furtherance
of economic gain and, thus, they too must now publicly and financially account for
their crimes against the people of Argentina
and against the State. So this is the real
objective of today's verdict in Argentina.
The victims and their
families are being shamelessly used as political pawns in a battle
between the government of Argentina and it's financial creditors as
'retaliation' for an adverse decision which has blocked it's ability
to reach a 'once and for all' financial settlement with it's
creditors – mainly in the United States (or U.S. owned or
controlled subsidiaries.)
They (the victims of murder and torture) will never see any
real financial recompense (unless articles like this highlight the hypocrisy and double-standards.) The next move will be to indict these
'vultures' and seek a ruling for (what is likely to be) billions (tens or hundreds, I have no access to this data) of
dollars as financial restitution both at home (in the Argentine) , in
the United States (through the Courts) and through the United Nations
and International Courts.
This will not be a 'chicken feed' claim but be assured crumbs will be given (perhaps after years of legal wrangling) to those victims (or their successors) in whose names compensation will be being sought by the government of Argentina. That's the strategy folks. The objective is to force the U.S. government to 'step in' to 'enforce' 'compliance' on those 'vultures' blocking a settlement of Argentina's debts with it's creditors. Are you now getting the picture? Don't say you didn't get the news here – before it was news.
This will not be a 'chicken feed' claim but be assured crumbs will be given (perhaps after years of legal wrangling) to those victims (or their successors) in whose names compensation will be being sought by the government of Argentina. That's the strategy folks. The objective is to force the U.S. government to 'step in' to 'enforce' 'compliance' on those 'vultures' blocking a settlement of Argentina's debts with it's creditors. Are you now getting the picture? Don't say you didn't get the news here – before it was news.
Does
The Government of Argentina Have A Valid Case?
In
my personal opinion it does, but to shamelessly use the victims of
injustice during the dictatorship years as pawns in this dispute, in
this manner, is not right. And for these so called international 'Human Rights' groups to crow or carp about victory for justice for human rights is laughable. In my opinion it only undermines their own credibility and shows how they 'cherry pick' cases for their own selfish financial and public relations (in terms of socially 'popular' 'Witch Hunts') agendas.
I
should also add that the innocent victims of Communist violence and
terror throughout the region during this period also have financial
cases – which will never (or are indeed rarely) be heard or recompensed as such as seen (sadly, by most)
as 'collateral' damage. As it's not a popular cause don't expect these 'impartial' human rights organizations to be eagerly jumping on the bandwagon to provide assistance in the highlighting of such injustices.
There
were many other ways the Argentinian Government could have chosen to
resolve this pressing issue but, with it's back against the wall,
this was seen as the most expeditious route.
For
myself, it's like an organization using Holocaust victims as pawns to
extract funds from, say, I.G. Farben
(or it's successors) solely to line the financial pockets of the litigating organization for it's activities (be they charitable, social, cultural etc.) and it's lawyers or attorneys with little recompense ever reaching the actual victims or their families or successors for the horrors of slave labor and the Nazi concentration camps experiments, tortures and mass murders. This to me, is the equivalent of the Argentinian government's intended actions with regard to the above.
(or it's successors) solely to line the financial pockets of the litigating organization for it's activities (be they charitable, social, cultural etc.) and it's lawyers or attorneys with little recompense ever reaching the actual victims or their families or successors for the horrors of slave labor and the Nazi concentration camps experiments, tortures and mass murders. This to me, is the equivalent of the Argentinian government's intended actions with regard to the above.
It
should also highlight the shortcomings in political systems where
nations, in desperation, have to resort to 'guerrilla warfare' and Talibanistic-style 'hostage' tactics to
obtain justice, in the absence of internationally respected individuals and institutions regarded as impartial and bona fide arbitrators by all parties to conduct informal mediation and compromise. In the absence of common sense
prevailing, the exercise of power, for it's own sake, by the powerful, appears to be the order of the day.
Patrick Emek
Patrick Emek
erratum:foreword
'Foreword' deleted, October 8, 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Condor
https://www.basf.com/group/corporate/en/about-basf/history/1945-1964/index
Standard Oil is mentioned in the reference below (and you may be interested to read about it's successor companies.) The reference below is controversial, but I am including it as there are aspects to it's (biased?;conspiracist?) analysis which will, in part, more likely than not, openly play out in the forthcoming corporate 'show trials' in Argentina:
http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ftr-411-the-bayer-facts-ig-farben-and-the-politics-of-murder/
and last but not least, The Ministry of Reconciliation:
http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/sacrament16.pdf
https://www.basf.com/group/corporate/en/about-basf/history/1945-1964/index
Standard Oil is mentioned in the reference below (and you may be interested to read about it's successor companies.) The reference below is controversial, but I am including it as there are aspects to it's (biased?;conspiracist?) analysis which will, in part, more likely than not, openly play out in the forthcoming corporate 'show trials' in Argentina:
http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ftr-411-the-bayer-facts-ig-farben-and-the-politics-of-murder/
and last but not least, The Ministry of Reconciliation:
http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/sacrament16.pdf