On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: Refelctions of the Consequences of U.S Imperial Arrogance and Criminality by Ward Churchill & Statement

> Ward Churchill statement > http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2686093,00.html > Tuesday, February 01, 2005 > > Here is the text of a statement distributed to the media > Monday on behalf of University of Colorado professor Ward > Churchill. > > Press Release - Ward Churchill, January 31, 2005 > > In the last few days there has been widespread and grossly > inaccurate media coverage concerning my analysis of the > September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and > the Pentagon, coverage that has resulted in defamation of > my character and threats against my life. What I actually > said has been lost, indeed turned into the opposite of > itself, and I hope the following facts will be reported at > least to the same extent that the fabrications have been. > > * The piece circulating on the internet was developed into > a book, On the Justice of Roosting Chickens. Most of the > book is a detailed chronology of U.S. military interventions > since 1776 and U.S. violations of international law since > World War II. My point is that we cannot allow the U.S. > government, acting in our name, to engage in massive > violations of international law and fundamental human > rights and not expect to reap the consequences. > > * I am not a "defender"of the September 11 attacks, but > simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results > in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign > innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I > have never said that people "should" engage in armed > attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are > a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. > policy. As Martin Luther King, quoting Robert F. Kennedy, > said, "Those who make peaceful change impossible make > violent change inevitable." > > * This is not to say that I advocate violence; as a U.S. > soldier in Vietnam I witnessed and participated in more > violence than I ever wish to see. What I am saying is that > if we want an end to violence, especially that perpetrated > against civilians, we must take the responsibility for > halting the slaughter perpetrated by the United States > around the world. My feelings are reflected in Dr. King's > April 1967 Riverside speech, where, when asked about the > wave of urban rebellions in U.S. cities, he said, "I could > never again raise my voice against the violence of the > oppressed . . . without having first spoken clearly to the > greatest purveyor of violence in the world today - my own > government." > > * In 1996 Madeleine Albright, then Ambassador to the UN and > soon to be U.S. Secretary of State, did not dispute that > 500,000 Iraqi children had died as a result of economic > sanctions, but stated on national television that "we" had > decided it was "worth the cost." I mourn the victims of the > September 11 attacks, just as I mourn the deaths of those > Iraqi children, the more than 3 million people killed in > the war in Indochina, those who died in the U.S. invasions > of Grenada, Panama and elsewhere in Central America, the > victims of the transatlantic slave trade, and the indigenous > peoples still subjected to genocidal policies. If we respond > with callous disregard to the deaths of others, we can only > expect equal callousness to American deaths. > > * Finally, I have never characterized all the September 11 > victims as "Nazis." What I said was that the "technocrats > of empire" working in the World Trade Center were the > equivalent of "little Eichmanns." Adolf Eichmann was not > charged with direct killing but with ensuring the smooth > running of the infrastructure that enabled the Nazi genocide. > Similarly, German industrialists were legitimately targeted > by the Allies. > > * It is not disputed that the Pentagon was a military target, > or that a CIA office was situated in the World Trade Center. > Following the logic by which U.S. Defense Department > spokespersons have consistently sought to justify target > selection in places like Baghdad, this placement of an > element of the American "command and control infrastructure" > in an ostensibly civilian facility converted the Trade > Center itself into a "legitimate" target. Again following > U.S. military doctrine, as announced in briefing after > briefing, those who did not work for the CIA but were > nonetheless killed in the attack amounted to no more than > "collateral damage." If the U.S. public is prepared to > accept these "standards" when the are routinely applied > to other people, they should be not be surprised when the > same standards are applied to them. > > * It should be emphasized that I applied the "little Eichmanns" > characterization only to those described as "technicians." > Thus, it was obviously not directed to the children, janitors, > food service workers, firemen and random passers-by killed > in the 9-1-1 attack. According to Pentagon logic, were simply > part of the collateral damage. Ugly? Yes. Hurtful? Yes. And > that's my point. It's no less ugly, painful or dehumanizing > a description when applied to Iraqis, Palestinians, or anyone > else. If we ourselves do not want to be treated in this fashion, > we must refuse to allow others to be similarly devalued and > dehumanized in our name. > > * The bottom line of my argument is that the best and perhaps > only way to prevent 9-1-1-style attacks on the U.S. is for > American citizens to compel their government to comply with > the rule of law. The lesson of Nuremberg is that this is not > only our right, but our obligation. To the extent we shirk > this responsibility, we, like the "Good Germans" of the 1930s > and '40s, are complicit in its actions and have no legitimate > basis for complaint when we suffer the consequences. This, of > course, includes me, personally, as well as my family, no > less than anyone else. > > * These points are clearly stated and documented in my book, > On the Justice of Roosting Chickens, which recently won > Honorary Mention for the Gustavus Myer Human Rights Award > for best writing on human rights. Some people will, of course, > disagree with my analysis, but it presents questions that must > be addressed in academic and public debate if we are to find > a real solution to the violence that pervades today's world. > The gross distortions of what I actually said can only be > viewed as an attempt to distract the public from the real > issues at hand and to further stifle freedom of speech and > academic debate in this country. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > On the Justice of Roosting Chickens > Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. > Imperial Arrogance and Criminality > Price: $15.95 > Discount: 10% > > http://www.frontlist.com/detail/1902593790 > > by Ward Churchill > AK Press > Published November 2003, 320 pages, paper > ISBN 1902593790 > > The United States has long been considered a deadly foe by > the inhabitants of its ever-expanding "spheres of influence." > In Reflections on the Justice of Roosting Chickens, Churchill > examines the toll U.S. policies have taken on civilians around > the world and the role activists are (or aren't) playing to > stop the carnage. The Western world was stunned to wake up on > 9-11 to find that the Third World had "pushed back." By > ignoring the suffering and loss of life of their victims while > grieving over our own, Amercans have made themselves complicit > in their government's global slaughter. In recounting the past, > Churchill reminds us of the untold millions who have perished > as a result of U.S. military intervention (in either a physical, > diplomatic or economic sense) in Iraq, Cambodia, Palestine, > East Timor, the Americas . . . and the list goes on. > > To further illustrate his point, included are annotated > chronologies of U.S. military actions from 1776 to the present > and a compilation of International Laws either broken or ignored > by the United States. Comprehensive, yet remaining concise, this > book cannot be overlooked by those still asking: "Why do they > hate us?" > > "Ward Churchill has carved out a special place for himself in > defending the rights of oppressed people, and exposing the dark > side of past and current history, often marginalized or > suppressed. These are achievements of inestimable value." > --Noam Chomsky > > Ward Churchill is co-director of the American Indian Movement > of Colorado, a national spokesperson for the Leonard Peltier > Defense Committee, and an associate professor of American Indian > Studies and Communications at the University of Colorado, Boulder. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > For more information and commentary, search Google for: > "On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" > > ==========================================================