Nagy on bombing civilian infrastructure etc.

[k hanly <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.pressaction.com/pablog/archives/000990.html

Spinoza: Have you uncovered or discovered any new documents?

Nagy: Yes. The most critical is "Strategic Attack Air Force Doctrine
Document 2-1.2," dated 20 May 1998. Evidently, this paper was never
classified. One can get it from the Maxwell Air Force Base. On the Web the
document has a dot "mil" address. That authenticates it because dot mil
address is reserved for the US government. The way that I read it, the
document says that bombing civilians infrastructure is the doctrine of the
US Air Force and has been for decades. And it is signed off by Major General
Ronald E. Keys (USAF Commander, Air Force Doctrine Center) for the Secretary
of the Air Force. The Secretary of the Air Force is the highest ranking
official of US Air Force. It is dated May 20, 1998. It horrifies me. It is
prima facie admission that war crime is the policy of the United States.
This is against Protocol Addition I Article 54 of Geneva Conventions. Under
no circumstances is it permitted to destroy and render useless objects
indispensable to civilians, including water treatment facilities. Another
document that came to my attention is "Bombing Dual-Use Targets: Legal,
Ethical, and Doctrinal Perspectives" written by Kenneth R. Rizer in Air &
Space Power Chronicle, which is the leading journal of US Air Force. Note
that this document has the standard disclaimer that the article expresses
the author's own view. Rizer observes that the Air Force by bombing
electrical power facilities indirectly killed perhaps as many as 100,000
civilians and led to the doubling of the infant mortality rate. He says that
this action is not only legal and ethical but also in conformity with the US
Air Force doctrine. He goes on to cite the wrong sections of Geneva
conventions to justify US actions!

Spinoza: What are your thoughts on the recent War on Iraq and the US
occupation of Iraq?

Nagy: I am horrified and so shamed that my fondest wish was to wash the
flag, not to burn it. If you are an Empire you lose "credibility" if you don
't commit regular acts of cruelty. It is commonplace among Empires: The
British were not unusually cruel. The good news is that for Americans the
USA can live without the Empire. All that they have to do is get out of the
Empire game and bring their troops home. They can set out to be loved rather
than be feared. That is easy. Stop exporting weapons, bring troops home, and
cut the military budget to make the military a defensive force. The US could
immediately spend $9 billion per year to provide to provide clean water for
kids around the world, wherever they are. That would be the sign that you
are really serious about being loved rather than being feared. I think we
could even make the military happy.