PROFILES IN POMPOUS PROFLIGACY

PROFILES IN

POMPOUS PROFLIGACY

1572 August 24	“Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre”. Catholic mob violence across France begins, lasting for several months, killing 5,000 Huguenots.
1724 December 7	“Blood Bath of Toruń” Polska authorities execute city's mayor and 9 other Lutheran officials following tensions between Catholics and Protestants.
1798 July 14	John Adams, 2nd president of United States, signs Sedition Act limiting free speech. 10 people are convicted.
1857 September 7-11	“Mountain Meadow Massacre”. Mormons give Arkansas farming families known as the Baker‑Fancher party, traveling from Arkansas to California, misguided directions that lead down a dead end meadow in Washington County, Utah, United States along the portion of the Old Spanish Trail that becomes the overland wagon road to California. Mormon militia attack party, force them to surrender their weapons and march in single file back up the meadow. Once the escort is underway, a call of “Do your duty!” is given, whereupon Mormon militia open fire, killing entire wagon train of 120 unarmed men, women and children. Two young girls, out picking flowers, are spared and raised by Mormon families.
1861 April 27	Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of United States, suspends habeas corpus, the right that safeguards the individual’s freedom from arbitrary government imprisonment without a trial.
1897 September 10	“Lattimer Massacre”. Sheriff’s posse fires upon peaceful labor demonstration near Hazleton, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, killing 19 unarmed immigrant miners.
1905 January 22	“Bloody Sunday”. Imperial guards open fire on peaceful demonstrators outside the Winter Palace at Saint Petersburg, Rossiya, killing 596, wounding 333 civilians.
1917 April 20	“Ludlow Massacre”. National Guard attacks tent colony of 1,200 unarmed striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado, United States, killing 6 miners, 2 women and 12 children.
World War I 1914 – 1918	Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, first lord of the admiralty. His plan causes 44,072 Allied soldiers to be killed at Gelibolu, Türkiye within a ten month interval.
1917 June 15	Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of United States, signs Espionage Act limiting free speech. Anyone could be and is arrested for speaking out against the war, conscription or Wilson’s policies.
1919 April 13	“Jallianwala Bagh Massacre” “Amritsar Massacre”. Britain and Gurkha troops (Dyer) open fire on peaceful political gathering at Amritsar, Punjab Province, killing 1000, wounding 1800 Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
1933 June	Catholic leadership of Deutschland votes 444 to 94 to support Nazis.
1935 June 18	Britain signs secret naval pact with Nazis.
1938 September 15	Arthur Neville Chamberlain, prime minister of Britain, meets with Adolph Hitler at Berchtesgaden, Deutschland and asks if Nazis would be satisfied by the cession to them of Sudetenland, Československá.
1938 September 18	Édouard Daladier, prime minister of France, and Georges‑Étienne Bonnet meet with Hitler at Berchtesgaden and agree to the cession to Nazis of Sudetenland, Československá.
1938 September 22	Chamberlain meets with Hitler at Godesberg to confirm agreement regarding the cession to Nazis of Sudetenland, Československá.
1938 September 26	Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd president of United States, appeals to Hitler to negotiate with Europeans regarding Sudetenland, Československá.
1938 September 29	Conference and Pact at München, Deutschland cedes Sudetenland, Československá to Nazis. Chamberlain signs for Britain. Daladier signs for France.
World War II 1939 – 1945	Britain deciphers Nippon Naval Code JN-25. Does not give to United States.
1940 September 25	United States cryptanalysts crack most secret code of Nippon that Tokyo uses to communicate with its embassies and consulates, including those in Washington DC and Honolulu, Hawai’i. The code, known as “Purple”, is so complex that it is enciphered and deciphered by machine. United States cryptanalysts devise facsimiles of the Nippon machines. Utilized by the intelligence sections of the United States War and Navy Departments, these swiftly reveal Tokyo's secret diplomatic messages. The deciphered texts are nicknamed “Magic”. Copies of Magic are always promptly delivered in locked pouches to Roosevelt, the Secretaries of State, War and Navy. They also are sent to Army Chief of Staff General George Catlett Marshall and the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark. A Purple decoding machine is sent to our military in the Philippines and three are allotted to Britain. None are sent to Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i. Intercepts of Nippon ciphered messages radioed between Tokyo and its Honolulu, Hawai’i consulate have to be sent to Washington DC for decrypting. The Hawai’i commanders, Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel and General Walter Campbell Short, are at the mercy of Washington DC for feedback. A request for their own decoding machine is rebuffed on the grounds that diplomatic traffic is not of sufficient interest to soldiers.
1941 January 27	United States ambassador to Nippon Joseph Grew sends message to Washington DC, “The Peru minister has informed a member of my staff that he has heard from many sources, including a Nippon source, that in the event of trouble breaking out between the United States and Nippon, Nippon intends to make a surprise attack against Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i with all of their strength.”
1941 July 26	United States freezes assets of Nippon.
1941 September 4	United States closes Panama Canal to Nippon shipping.
1941 October 16	After meeting with Roosevelt, United States Secretary of War Henry Lewis Stimson writes in his diary, “We face the delicate question of the diplomatic fencing to be done so as to be sure Nippon is put into the wrong and makes the first bad move – overt move.”
1941 November 5	Tokyo notifies its Washington DC ambassadors that November 25th will be the deadline for an agreement with United States.
1941 November 11	Tokyo notifies its Washington DC ambassadors, “They were warned, the situation is nearing a climax and time is getting short.”
1941 November 16	Tokyo notifies its Washington DC ambassadors that the deadline is moved ahead to November 29th. “This new deadline absolutely cannot be changed. After that, things are automatically going to happen.”
1941 November 25	Roosevelt confers with Stimson and other advisors. Stimson writes in his diary, “The question was how we should maneuver them [Nippon] into the position of firing the first shot.” “Roosevelt said that Nippon was notorious for making an attack without warning and stated that we might be attacked, say next Monday, for example.” Hawai’i is not warned. It did not require a genius to diagnose the situation. On three different occasions since 1894, Nippon had made surprise attacks coinciding with breaks in diplomatic relations. This history is not lost on Roosevelt. Nor was it lost on United States senior military officers, all of whom were War College graduates.
1941 November 26	United States and Nippon diplomats begin conferences. United States delivers ultimatum demanding, as prerequisites to resumed trade, that Nippon withdraw all troops from China and Indochina and abrogate its Tripartite Treaty with Deutschland and Italia.
1941 November 28	Tokyo notifies its Washington DC ambassadors that a rupture in negotiations is “inevitable”, but the leaders in Nippon “do not wish you to give the impression that negotiations are broken off.”
1941 November 30	Tokyo directs its Berlin embassy to inform the Nazis that “the breaking out of war may come quicker than anyone dreams.”
1941 December 1	Tokyo notifies its Washington DC ambassadors that the deadline is again moved ahead. “To prevent the United States from becoming unduly suspicious, we have been advising the press and others that the negotiations are continuing.”
1941 December 2	Tokyo directs its embassies in non-Axis nations around the world to dispose of their secret documents and all but one copy of their codes; and that, if a break in United States relations are forthcoming, Tokyo would issue a special radio warning. This would not be in the Purple code, as it was intended to reach consulates and lesser agencies of Nippon not equipped with the code or one of its machines. The message, to be repeated three times during a weather report, was “higashi no kaze ame”, meaning “east wind rain”; “east wind” signified the United States, “rain” signified a diplomatic split – in effect, war. The prospect of this message was deemed so significant that United States radio monitors were on constant watch for it and the United States Navy Department typed it up on special reminder cards.
1941 December 4	The message “higashi no kaze ame” is broadcast and picked up by Washington DC intelligence. Using the Purple code, Tokyo sends a formal statement to its Washington DC ambassadors. It is to be conveyed to the United States Secretary of State on Sunday, December 7th. The statement terminates relations and is tantamount to a declaration of war.
1941 December 6	Britain declares war against Suomi.
1941 December 6	The United States War and Navy departments have already decrypted the first 13 parts of this 14-part message. Although the final passage officially severing ties had not yet come through, the fiery wording made its meaning obvious. Later that day, when Roosevelt receives his copy of the intercept, he is heard to say to his advisor Harry Lloyd Hopkins, “This means war.”
1941 December 7	On the morning, the final portion of the Nippon lengthy message to the United States government is decoded. Tokyo adds two special directives to its ambassadors. The first directive, which the message calls “very important”, is to deliver the statement at 1:00 PM. The second directive orders that the last copy of the code and the machine that went with it be destroyed. The gravity of this is immediately recognized by the United States Navy Department. Nippon has a long history of synchronizing attacks with breaks in relations. Sunday is an abnormal day to deliver diplomatic messages, but the best one for trying to catch United States armed forces at low vigilance; and 1:00 PM in Washington DC is 7:00 AM in Hawai’i. Nippon naval strike force (Yamamoto) attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i and declares war on United States and Britain.
1942 November 8	“Operation Torch”. United States military forces invade at Algiers and Oran. United States does not notify Free France in advance and consequently are resisted.
1942 November 8	Instead of landing near Dar el Beida and proceeding overland, United States military forces should have landed near Tunis in order to cut off Nazi military forces.
1943 July 9-10	“Operation Husky”. United States military forces under command of George Smith Patton, Jr. and Britain military forces under command of Bernard Law Montgomery invade southern Sicilia. Should have landed near Messina in order to cut off Nazi military forces.
1944 June 4	Allied military forces liberate Roma, Italia. Should have cut off retreating Nazi military forces instead.
1944 June 6	“Operation Overlord” “D-Day”. Dwight David Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of Expeditionary Forces. Bernard Law Montgomery, commander of Britain Army Group with operational control of all Allied land military forces during initial phase of Overlord. Omar Nelson Bradley, commanding general of United States land military forces for invasion of Europe. Allied invasion of Normandy begins.
1944 June 6	“Operation Neptune”. All Allied naval ships should have been ordered to turn broadside and shell beaches for two hours prior to landing of military forces. Montgomery had made such an order for Britain military forces. When United States Navy determines status on beaches, they, without orders, fire shells over heads of United States military forces.
1944 June 30	United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Suomi.
1944 July	Bernard Law Montgomery, general of Britain, poses for portrait painting in France.
1944 December 5	Britain soldiers clash with local resistance at Athēnai, Ellas.
1945 June 1	“Peggetz Massacre”. Britain soldiers kill 700 Cossacks in Österreich in an attempt to force their repatriation to Sovyet zone. Britain says Cossacks were trampled or committed suicide.
1945 September 2	Việt Nam declares independence from France. Harry Shippe Truman, 33rd president of United States refuses to recognize.
1945 September 19	Britain and France military forces suppress Saigon, Việt Nam nationalists.
1945 September 29	Britain military forces suppress Java Isl, Indonesia nationalists.
1953 – 1961	Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th president of United States, sends military advisers to South Việt Nam.
1953 August 19	“Covert Operation Ajax”. Britain and United States intelligence agencies organize pro-monarchy coup to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran and Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and restore exiled dictator Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to the throne.
1954 June 18	“Covert Operation PBSUCCESS”. United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) organizes coup to overthrow the democratically elected government of Guatemala and President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.
1955 September 6-7	“Istanbul Pogrom (Riots)”. Allegedly orchestrated by Demokrat Parti-government of Türkiye Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, an overwhelming Türkiye mob, most of them are trucked into the city in advance, attacks ethnic Ellas (Greece) community at Istanbul for 9 hours, killing 13, wounding 30 civilians, damaging more than 5,000 ethnic Ellas owned homes and businesses.
1956 November 4	Sovyets send military forces into Magyarország. United States does nothing.
1960 March 21	Police at Sharpeville, South Africa open fire on group of unarmed black demonstrators protesting pass laws, killing 70, wounding 180 civilians.
1961 – 1963	John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th president of United States, sends soldiers to South Việt Nam against advice of Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle, president of France, and Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army of United States.
1968 August 20	Sovyets send military forces into Československá. United States does nothing.
1970 May 4	National Guard opens fire on students protesting Việt Nam War and U. S. invasion of Cambodia at Kent State University, Ohio, United States, killing 4, wounding 9.
1970 May 14	National Guard opens fire on students protesting Việt Nam War and U. S. invasion of Cambodia at Jackson State College, Mississippi, United States, killing 2, wounding 9.
1974 August 8	Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th president of United States, resigns after United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes to recommend articles of impeachment: obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of congress.
1977 – 1981	James Earl Carter, Jr., 39th president of United States, gives away the Panama Canal. Will not let athletes of United States participate at Moskva Olympics. Will not sell wheat to Rossiya, a market that is still lost to United States farmers. Asks Federal Reserve Board Chairperson Volcker to raise the discount rate which intern raises interest rates. The prime rate reaches 21.5%. Junk bonds come on the market, savings and loans go broke, foreign countries are impoverished trying to pay interest on their debts and the United States Federal debt skyrockets. As a preferential peanut farmer, he receives federal subsidies. Nonpreferential peanut farmers not only do not receive these subsidies, they must sell their peanuts outside of the United States.
1979 July 19	Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua overthrow the United States backed Somoza family dictatorship.
1981 – 1989	Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th president of United States, believes in a strong dollar, free trade and supply side economics. The importation of illegal drugs increases. United States Congress, in its final report on the Iran-Contra affair, states that United States President Ronald Wilson Reagan bore “ultimate responsibility” for wrongdoing by his aides; and his administration exhibited “secrecy, deception and disdain for the law.”
1981 December 11	“El Mozote Massacre”. El Salvador soldiers kill an estimated 900 civilians. In 1992, as part of the peace settlement established by the Chapultepec Peace Accords signed at Mexico City on January 16 of that year, a United Nations (UN) sanctioned Truth Commission investigating human rights abuses committed during the war, supervised the exhumations of the El Mozote remains by an Argentina team of forensic specialists on 1992 November 13-17. The Salvadoran Minister of Defense and the Chief of the Armed Forces Joint Staff informed the Truth Commission that they had no information that would make it possible to identify the units and officers who participated in Operación Rescate. They claimed that there were no records for the period.
The Truth Commission Stated in its final report:	There is full proof that on 1981 December 11 at El Mozote, units of the Atlacatl Battalion deliberately and systematically killed a group of more than 200 men, women and children, constituting the entire civilian population that they had found there the previous day and had since been holding prisoner.
It added:	There is [also] sufficient evidence that in the days preceding and following the El Mozote massacre, troops participating in “Operation Rescue” massacred the non-combatant civilian population at La Rancheria, Jocote Amatillo y Los Toriles, Cerro Pando Canton and La Joya Canton.
1982 July 18	“Plan de Sánchez Massacre”. Guatemala soldiers kill an estimated 250 Maya campesinos.
1983 September 1	Sovyet jet interceptors shoot down Korea Air Lines flight 007 from Anchorage to Seoul near Sakhalin Island in North Pacific Ocean, killing all 246 passengers, 23 crew members.
1985 July 10	France intelligence agents bomb and sink Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior I in New Zealand, killing 1 civilian.
1989 April 9	Sovyet Army (Rodionov, Lebed) quashes anti-Sovyet demonstration at Tbilisi, Georgia, killing 20, wounding 4,000 civilians.
1989 June 4	“Tienemen Square Massacre” in China.
Persian Gulf War 1991	H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., general of United States, says that illness of Gulf War Veterans is all in their minds.
Ruby Ridge, Idaho United States BACKGROUND	Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) agents use a confidential informant to solicit Randy Weaver to saw off the barrels of two shotguns. It is disputed between the BATF and Weaver as to who exactly shortened the barrels to below the minimum legal length of 18 inches. He fails to appear in court to answer the charges, due to being told an incorrect date for the hearing. It is not known why Weaver was given the wrong court date and it has been explained away as a typographical error. Even though they were both made aware of the date ‘mix-up’, Judge Harold Ryan agrees with United States Attorney Ron Howen and issues an arrest warrant for Weaver. However, the United States Marshals Service delays executing the warrant while, according to official accounts, attempting to negotiate Weaver’s surrender for more than a year, by sending messages through Weaver friend Alan Jeppeson. Convinced it is a government conspiracy against them, Weaver sends a letter to the Boundary County Sheriff stating that he refuses to leave his property. Vicki Weaver sends letters to various government agencies also stating they refuse to leave their property and making threatening statements such as, “The tyrant’s blood shall flow” and “Whether we live or die, we will not obey you…war is upon our land.”
1992 August 22	Several armed United States Marshals go to the Randy Weaver property near Ruby Ridge, Idaho to clandestinely survey it. The group has strict orders that they are to avoid all contact with the Weaver family. According to a Department of Justice report on the incident, the Marshals are detected by the Weavers’ dogs and begin to retreat. Randy Weaver, his 14-year-old son Sam and his house guest, family friend Kevin Harris, leave the house to investigate, all carrying firearms. The Department of Justice report corroborates this with a statement dictated by Randy Weaver to his daughter, in which he says that “Approximately 11:30 Friday morning...the dogs started barking like they always do when strangers walk up the driveway. Randy, Kevin [Harris] and Sam ran out to the rock with their weapons.” Eventually the Marshals stop retreating and take up defensive positions in the woods. During the ensuing exchange of gunfire, Sam is fatally shot in the back and Harris shoots and kills United States Marshal William Degan. The next day, while Weaver, Harris and Weaver’s 16-year-old daughter are outside, attempting to visit the dead body of Sam Weaver, which had been placed in a shed after being recovered the previous day, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shoots and wounds Weaver. As the three people run back to the house, Horiuchi fires again in an attempt to shoot Kevin Harris, but the shot goes through the open door of the cabin killing Weaver’s wife Vicki and only wounding Harris. Vicki Weaver is holding a baby in her hands when shot. Much controversy is later generated by the fact that, after the first day’s events, the FBI has changed the rules of engagement. Specifically, that “deadly force could be used against any armed adult male if the shot could be taken without a child being injured.” A stand-off ensues for 10 days as several hundred federal agents surround the house in which Weaver and his three surviving children remain with Harris and the dead body of Vicki Weaver. The FBI engages in psychological warfare, saying over a bullhorn such things as “Good morning Mrs. Weaver, we had pancakes this morning, what did you have for breakfast? Why don’t you send your children out for some pancakes, Mrs. Weaver?” The FBI later maintains that they were unaware that Vicki Weaver lay on the floor of the cabin, dead. The area is surrounded by protesters angered at the heavy-handed nature of the authorities' actions. James “Bo” Gritz, then a third-party presidential candidate who had formerly been Weaver’s commanding officer during the Vietnam War, serves as a mediator between Weaver and the government. Eventually, Weaver elects to abandon the stand-off and trust his case to the judicial system.
OUTCOME	At his trial in 1993, Weaver faces an array of charges, including the original weapons violations as well as murder. He is represented by noted trial lawyer Gerald L. Spence. Spence successfully argues that Weaver had acted in self-defense, winning Weaver's acquittal on all charges except missing his original court date, for which he is sentenced to 18 months and fined $10,000. He is credited with time served and spends an additional 3 months in prison. Harris is acquitted of all charges. At one point in the trial, the judge admonishes the FBI for withholding name-clearing evidence. Later investigations criticize the federal agents. The United States Department of Justice's report recommends criminal prosecution of federal agents, though nothing becomes of this. The surviving members of the Weaver family receive a $3.1 million settlement. The United States Senate in September 1995 holds hearings on the Ruby Ridge incident and, in December, releases a report criticizing the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies. Idaho State authorities indict Horiuchi for involuntary manslaughter, but the indictment is removed to federal jurisdiction based on the Supremacy Clause. The indictment is dismissed first by the Federal District Court. The dismissal is affirmed on appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit Court states in its ruling in State of Idaho v. Horiuchi (98-30149), “Horiuchi reasonably believed that shooting Harris was necessary and proper under the circumstances. Given the circumstances at the time, Horiuchi made an objectively reasonable decision and Horiuchi's testimony that he never saw Vicki Weaver and did not know she was behind the door was not disputed.”
Waco, Texas United States 1993 February 28	Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a rural area near Waco, Texas. The raid results in the deaths of 4 agents and 5 Davidians. The subsequent 51-day siege by the FBI ends on April 19 when fire completely consumes the complex, killing 26 people, including Davidian leader David Koresh. Helicopters have been obtained from the Texas National Guard on the false pretext that there is a drug lab at Mount Carmel. During the telephone calls between the FBI and David Koresh throughout the siege, the government admits armed agents are shooting at Davidians from the helicopters. During the raid, a Davidian calls 911 pleading for them to stop shooting. The resident asks for a cease-fire and audiotapes clearly catch him saying, “Here they come again!” in reference to the helicopters, and “That’s them shooting, that’s not us!” The sheriff, in audiotapes broadcast after the incident, says he was not apprised of the raid and did not know how to contact the BATF agents involved. The raid itself ends when the BATF runs out of ammunition and calls off their attack. At some point after they fail to rapidly secure the scene and retreat, government officials establish contact with Koresh and others inside the compound. The FBI takes command of the scene soon after the initial raid, placing FBI Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Jeff Jamar in charge of the siege. The tactical team is headed by Richard Rogers, whose actions at the Ruby Ridge incident had been criticized earlier.
1993 – 2001	William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd president of United States. When asked about sexual affairs, a gentleman is supposed to say “no”. His biggest mistake is admitting the affair. If he had ignored the grand jury subpoena, he would have been a hero to the citizens. If he cannot keep his sexual affairs a secret, how can he keep secrets of military and certain affairs of state? Gossip is also a sin, it is the Republican Party’s persecution that puts the incident before the world and its young citizens. The term fellatio is never used by the media.
1994 December 11	Rossiya military forces invade Chechen. United States does nothing.
1995 November 10	Nigeria military government executes by hanging playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro‑Wiwa and 8 others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People.
2001 October 26	George Walker Bush, 43rd president of United States, signs Patriot Act limiting free speech, human rights and right to privacy.
2005 September 12	Yisra’el military forces complete withdrawal from Gaza after 38 years of occupation that had been financed with $58 billion in United States foreign aid specifically designated for military purposes.
2006 September 25	United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld comes under siege from his own military as he faces a growing rebellion over his handling of the Iraq war. Retired United States Army chiefs break rank to demand Rumsfeld be fired, accusing him of bungling the invasion and sending troops into battle with sub-standard equipment and hiding facts from the public. One described Rumsfeld as “incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically.” In the clearest sign yet of a disturbing split between the White House and the military over the Iraq quagmire, the army’s top serving officer, General Peter Schoomaker, clashes with Rumsfeld over funding for the war. The army’s chief of staff refuses to present his 2007 budget to Pentagon leaders, claiming he needs at least an additional $15 billion to maintain the current troop levels in Iraq. It is an unprecedented move and comes just a day after United States spy chiefs turn on President Bush to claim the Iraq war has fueled Islamic terrorism around the world, rather than lessened the threat, as the administration has consistently claimed in recent months.
PROFILES IN POMPOUS PROFLIGACY by Robert A. Kroboth www.citizengadfly.com Please print and distribute copies of this publication and put this link on your web site. www.citizengadfly.com/DOCS/N/N-PROFILES.htm