Tomorrow begins the eighth year after the Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, ‘01. If the bin
Laden family hadn’t been friends and business partners with the Bush family, Osama bin Laden might
have been brought to justice by now. The Republicans scoff at the law and order approach, preferring
illegal invasion and occupation. Apparently they did not learn the lessons of our last illegal war,
Vietnam.
Yes, the United States of America is guilty of war crimes there too. In the 1960s, General Westmoreland ordered that certain populated areas of Vietnam be considered “free fire zones.” That meant that any person found in those areas could be killed on sight, and they were, by the thousands, mostly innocent civilians. This policy went on for years in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. Anyone who did not refuse illegal orders is complicit in those war crimes, including me. The United States Air Force, under orders from President Nixon, targeted populated areas for indiscriminate (high altitude) bombing from B-52s. I helped to bomb Vietnam by maintaining ground-air radio equipment in Hawaii. I was not as aware as I should have been at the time, so I have the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians on my hands. Had I been fully moral at that time, I would have refused military orders. However, I had a wife and children at the time who depended on my Air Force pay, and I did not know then what I know now.
The current occupation of Iraq is clearly illegal, as described in former LA Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi’s book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. The information is out there. Those who fail to inform themselves and act morally may some day feel the guilt fully in 20-20 hindsight. Fair warning.