John Pilger is a journalist who's been critical of US foreign policy since he covered the US invasion of South Vietnam. Today, he sees the US being prepared for its next great imperial adventure during a presidential election year, and he finds the silence deafening.
"Returning to the United States in an election year, I am struck by the silence.
"I have covered four presidential campaigns, starting with 1968; I was with Robert Kennedy when he was shot and I saw his assassin, preparing to kill him..."
"The first to be assassinated that year, Martin Luther King, had dared link the suffering of African-Americans and the people of Vietnam..."
"The 2016 election campaign is remarkable not only for the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders but also for the resilience of an enduring silence about a murderous self-bestowed divinity.
"A third of the members of the United Nations have felt Washington’s boot, overturning governments, subverting democracy, imposing blockades and boycotts. Most of the presidents responsible have been liberal – Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama."
Today, that "enduring silence" includes "the greatest military build up on the borders of Russia since WWII."
"On May 11, Romania went 'live' with a Nato 'missile defence' base that aims its first-strike American missiles at the heart of Russia, the world’s second nuclear power."
In the 2016 campaign so far, "...only Donald Trump has said anything meaningful and critical of US foreign policy."
Silencing America as It Prepares for War
"Returning to the United States in an election year, I am struck by the silence.
"I have covered four presidential campaigns, starting with 1968; I was with Robert Kennedy when he was shot and I saw his assassin, preparing to kill him..."
"The first to be assassinated that year, Martin Luther King, had dared link the suffering of African-Americans and the people of Vietnam..."
"The 2016 election campaign is remarkable not only for the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders but also for the resilience of an enduring silence about a murderous self-bestowed divinity.
"A third of the members of the United Nations have felt Washington’s boot, overturning governments, subverting democracy, imposing blockades and boycotts. Most of the presidents responsible have been liberal – Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama."
Today, that "enduring silence" includes "the greatest military build up on the borders of Russia since WWII."
"On May 11, Romania went 'live' with a Nato 'missile defence' base that aims its first-strike American missiles at the heart of Russia, the world’s second nuclear power."
In the 2016 campaign so far, "...only Donald Trump has said anything meaningful and critical of US foreign policy."
Silencing America as It Prepares for War
