Suppressing the Truth

There are some scandals that refuse to die, either because they are never fully investigated or because those responsible for them never paid the price they should have. --Gideon Levy

Salem-News.com

(MANAMA, Bahrain) - Issues that should concern everyone, but especially in America, have been subverted, degraded, perverted, retracted, eradicated, expunged, obscured, obliterated, squashed or (simply) zapped!

Cover-ups have kept these issues under wraps for all but those whose concern for the truth provokes them to do serious research, primarily on the internet.

The mainline media rarely touch these topics; and when they are discussed in the alternative media, the discussions are limited to a few who have been following the issues closely.

Un-manned drones provide the one issue receiving major media coverage, because Anwar Awlaki, assassinated in Yemen, was an American citizen. A New York Times News Alert reported: 

Obscured issues that deserve more than a passing interest include:

• The USS Liberty cover-up      
• Israel's nuclear programme

• 9/11 truth seekers discoveries
• Big business corruption
• Bush administration crimes
• Plight of the Palestinians
• Murder by un-manned drones

"Earlier this year, the American military renewed its campaign of airstrikes in Yemen, using drone aircraft and fighter jets to attack Qaeda militants. One of the attacks was aimed at Mr. Awlaki, one of the most prominent members of the Qaeda affiliate group."

According to the Guardian, "Awlaki became the first American citizen to be placed on the CIA's list of individuals around the world who the agency aims to kill or capture. His killing was approved by Barack Obama in April 2010. The news provoked strong condemnation from civil rights groups."

Offering justification for Awlaki's murder, Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano claimed that Awlaki had taken on an operational role in attack planning.

Confirming Awlaki's death, Obama cited a link to the failed Christmas 2009 bombing of an airliner heading for Detroit and a bid to post bombs to synagogues in Chicago on cargo planes last year.

The same strike that assassinated Awlaki killed Samir Khan, an American editor of a glossy magazine used as a propaganda and recruitment tool by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. 

Writing in Truthout, Ramzy Baroud reported on the censored death of a Gaza boy killed in a drone attack by Israelis. The father told Baroud:

"Both of Ibrahim's arms were cut off. He had a hole in his lung. Parts of his legs were missing. His kidney was in a bad condition…we need people to stand with us..."

Baroud reported that "Ibrahim Zaza was merely a 12-year-old boy. He and his cousin Mohammed, 14, were hit by an Israeli missile in Gaza, fired from an un-manned drone as they played in front of their house."

According to Baroud, "Palestinians were punished for an attack at Israelis that reportedly accrued near the Israeli border with Egypt. There is no evidence linking Gaza to the attack, and Egyptian authorities are now disputing the Israeli account altogether."

Both the U.S. and Israel have apparently adopted a war machine of unmanned drones to eliminate any enemy--real or perceived.

With drones, the commanders fly their attack weapons into enemy territory with no risk to a flyer’s life. Nothing more than a remotely guided machine can be lost.

The deaths and destruction at the end of missions need not be seen by the attacker.  The controller of the destructive drone need not lose sleep or suffer pangs of guilt remembering his unseen victims.

The perfect exterminator is on display.

Throughout his life as an educator, Dr. Paul J. Balles, a retired American university professor and freelance writer, has lived and worked in the Middle East for 40 years - first as an English professor (Universities of Kuwait and Bahrain), and for the past ten years as a writer, editor and editorial consultant.

He’s a weekly Op-Ed columnist for the GULF DAILY NEWS . Dr. Balles is also Editorial Consultant for Red House Marketing and a regular contributor to Bahrain This Month. He writes a weekly op-ed column for Akbar Al Khaleej (Arabic). He has also edited seven websites, including bahrainthismonth.com, womenthismonth.com

Paul has had more than 350 articles published, focusing on companies, personality profiles, entrpreneurs, women achievers, journalists and the media, the Middle East, American politics, the Internet and the Web, consumer reports, Arabs, diplomats, dining out and travel. Paul's articles on Salem-News.com are frank and enlightening. We are very appreciative of the incredible writings Dr. Balles has generated for our readers over the years, and we are very pleased to list him among our most valued contributors.

Indulging the hard subjects that keep the world divided is our specialty at Salem-News.com, and with writers like Dr. Paul Balles on our team, we amplify our ability to meet challenges and someday, will see the effects of this exist in context with a more peaceful and generally successful world.

Special thanks to MyCatBirdSeat.com