There you go. Just another incident that proves that socialism is an almighty (and predestined) failure, and that capitalism’s virtue is its own reward. Honestly, how would they have managed it if not for the CIA, that bastion of boy-scouting? By synchronistic, Jungian coincidence, I read yesterday in Gaeton Fonzi’s excellent account of CIA skulduggery, The Last Investigation, which treats specifically of the CIA/Cuban mafia aspect of the JFK assassination, that the CIA had its fingers in a number of pies where sabotaging Cuba was concerned. One example of just how deeply involved they managed to get was to convince a German manufacturer of ball bearings to ship Cuba a defective load–the bearings were all off-centre, a fault sure to damage any machinery in which they were installed. If said machinery had to do with any of Cuba’s chief export products (say, sugar or cigar tobacco), it could do real damage to the Cuban economy, which then as now was highly dependent on exports. The crapaganda value of things like that is not to be underestimated. If Cuba experienced economic failure, guess who would have been trumpeting the loudest about how Fidel Castro’s evil dictatorship was strangling the island, and how an open US military intervention (as opposed to a Nacht und Nebel attack like the Bay of Pigs) would be necessary, as nothing less could “free” it?So no, I’m not surprised that the CIA engaged in the plausibly deniable gambit of bribing a Japanese ship’s captain to ram and sink an East German vessel carrying British buses–vital to Cuban public transport–on its way down the Thames. Just another inevitable failure of socialism, eh?On a chilly October night in 1964, the shipping forecast warned of fog on the Thames. Just after midnight, an East German freighter, the MV Magdeburg, slipped out of her Dagenham dock and headed slowly down river. On deck were 42 Leyland buses bound for Cuba.Coming the other way was the Yamashiro Maru, a Japanese ship, sailing empty. The ships met at 1.52am. The Magdeburg was making the tight turn around Broadness Point when the Yamashiro Maru ploughed into her starboard side at more than 10 knots, holing her below the waterline and pushing her across the river.‘It was an accident, an act of God,’ insisted Keith Toms, a tug crewman on the Thames that night. And that was the conclusion. No one was killed, there was no inquiry, no one was accountable and only Leyland Motors, forced to replace the buses, suffered.Now a historian has found documents that add weight to the suspicions of academics that the ship was rammed at the behest of the CIA – as part of an effort to sabotage anyone breaking the US embargo on Fidel Castro’s Cuba.With the Americans threatening to blacklist any shipowner breaking the ‘transportation blockade’, Leyland Motors decided to use an East German ship. It was in the maritime archives of the former German Democratic Republic that John McGarry found evidence given by Gordon Greenfield, the British pilot of the Magdeburg, stating that the Japanese ship broke international law by navigating the wrong way and giving misleading signals. The captain and pilot of the Yamashiro Maru refused to speak.McGarry believes a crime was committed. ‘I felt that the question of CIA involvement might be resolved by an examination of the pilots’ logs which were supposed to be stored at Trinity House and in the Port of London Archives. They cannot be found. The East German papers show Greenfield was deceived by someone on the Yamashiro Maru who sounded a single siren blast before the collision, an intention to pass port to port,’ he said.[…]In 1975, Washington Post reporters Jack Anderson and Les Whitten cited sources who claimed that a British intelligence wiretap on Cuban offices in London gave the CIA the Magdeburg’s movements, despite two Prime Ministers, Alec Douglas-Home and Harold Wilson, backing the export deal engineered by Leyland’s famed salesman Donald [later Lord] Stokes.Anderson, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, is dead, but Whitten, 80, told The Observer that they had two sources. ‘Jack’s contacts were in the CIA and my contacts were in the National Security Agency. I don’t remember a lot but I do know our sources were pretty good, the best really.’Harold Elletson, director of the New Security Foundation in Berlin, said: ‘It would be naive to think that the CIA wouldn’t dare sink an East German ship in the vital estuary of a Nato ally. They were under pressure to get results and they had a huge budget for sabotage. In 1962 the British freighter Newlane was machine-gunned loading Cuban sugar. The CIA poisoned 14,135 bags of Cuban sugar on the British ship Streatham Hill in 1962 in Puerto Rico.’Douglas-Home backed Leyland and President Lyndon Johnson refused to speak to him. In April 1964, minister Rab Butler was called to see Johnson. ‘His reward was a tongue-lashing,’ wrote Anthony Howard in the Spectator, ‘during which the great, glowering figure behind the desk reached in his pocket to produce a wad of dollar bills which he flourished as he instructed Her Majesty’s Britannic Foreign Secretary to come to him in future if his country wanted a cash handout rather than go selling buses to Cuba.’Anthony Glees, professor of intelligence studies at Buckingham University, said: ‘That it was a deliberate sinking doesn’t sound entirely implausible. I’ve a very low estimation of the CIA and its work throughout the Cold War – it’s a history of failure. What would have been inconsistent is that they had an operation in the Thames they got away with.’
-
Fear doesn't travel well; just as it can warp judgment, its absence can diminish memory's truth. What terrifies one generation is likely to bring only a puzzled smile to the next. --Arthur Miller, "Why I Wrote 'The Crucible'", The New Yorker, October 21, 1996
All opinions here are the brain-wrackings of Sabina C. Becker, unless otherwise credited. If you cite them, please give credit where due.
-
-
Suck it, haters. Feminism rocks!
-
-
Blogophilia
- ¡Que País!
- 1337hax0r
- 21st Century Socialism
- A Creative Revolution
- A Gringa Diary
- Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy
- Abiding in Bolivia
- Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias
- Alan Beggerow
- Alex Himelfarb
- American Leftist
- Americas Program
- Anonymous Arabist
- Anti-Racist Canada
- Antonia Zerbisias Broadsides
- Arms Control Wonk
- Arthur Kent
- Awakening from hegemony
- Axis of Logic
- Bad Attitudes
- Baghdad Burning
- Bananama Republic
- Barbara Ehrenreich
- Bartcop
- Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion
- Belltower News
- Benjamin Solah
- BillySHEARS
- BitterGrace Notes
- BizarroBlog
- Black Agenda Report
- Blast Furnace
- BlatherWatch
- Blog from Bolivia
- Blogadder
- Bob Row’s Gloria Mundi
- Bolivia Action Solidarity Network
- Bolivia Changes
- Bolivia Matters
- Bolivia Rising
- Bolivia Transition Project
- Bolivia-UN Blog
- BoliviaSol
- BoRev.Net
- Brad DeLong
- Brain Spank
- Buckdog
- CAJA
- Calling All Wingnuts
- Cambios en Cuba
- CANADALAND
- Carlchucho
- Catpaw
- Cats Against Bush
- Cernovich Leaks
- Challenging the Commonplace
- Changing Up Pakistan
- Chris Floyd
- Chronically Clueless
- Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox
- Circles Robinson
- Clarissa Pinkola Estés
- Climate Progress
- Cold North Wind
- Colombia Reports
- Composite (Liz Henry)
- Counterspin Central
- Cowboys for Social Responsibility
- CPC Watch
- Crazy Bitches R Us
- Creative Commons
- Crooks and Liars
- Cuba Journal
- Cuba Reality Check
- Cyberwanderer’s Blog
- Da Timster
- Dahr Jamail
- Daily Howler
- DAMMIT JANET!
- Daniel Ellsberg
- Daniel Goldstein
- Daniel Suelo
- Dave Lindorff
- David Sirota
- Deck Deckert
- Denis DeKat
- Dennis Gruending
- DeSmogBlog
- Dignidad Nacional Perú
- Down South
- Dr. Dawg's Blawg
- Ecuador Rising
- EL CANADU
- El Espacio de Lubrio
- El Gaviero
- Enormous Thriving Plants
- Epic Win FTW
- Ethnos Boriquen
- Eva Golinger
- Evangelical Right
- Ex-Gay Watch
- Excited Delirium
- Factchecker
- FAIL Blog
- FAIR Blog
- Fanal Cubano
- Feminist Christian Socialist
- Fetus Bully
- FFIB NAMOL
- Fillibluster
- Force Planet
- Former Fundy
- Fotoglif
- Freedom Rider
- Friends of Irony
- From Floor 7
- Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle
- Fuck Conservatives
- Fuck the Tea Party
- G20 Inquiry
- Gaza Freedom March
- Geek Gaucho
- Género con Clase
- Ghost of Wellstone
- GochoGringo
- Gossip Boy
- Greg Mitchell
- Gringo in Venezuela
- Gringo Tambo Blog
- Gringos Against CAFTA
- Guerrilla Comunicacional
- Guevaristas
- Gun Guys
- Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Watch
- Haiti-Cuba-Venezuela Analysis
- Hasta Los Gatos Quieren Zapatos
- Hitchens Watch
- Honduran Campesino
- Honduras Coup 2009
- Honduras Frente al Golpe de Estado
- Honduras Morazánica
- Honduras Oye
- Huffington Post
- Hugo Chávez
- I Will Not Shut The Fuck Up
- In the Name of Democracy
- Inca Kola News
- Information Is Beautiful
- Institute for Southern Studies
- Item Not As Described
- James Petras
- Jane Fonda
- Janet McNeill
- Japan Nuclear Crisis
- JesseCo.
- Jesus' General
- Jewbonics
- Jews Sans Frontieres
- Jim Lobe
- JimBobby Sez
- Joe Bodolai
- John E. Jones
- John Gorenfeld
- John Pilger
- Juan Cole
- Justin Delacour
- Kevin Sites
- King Daevid
- La Vida Locavore
- Law is Cool
- Left Business Observer
- Lenin's Tomb
- Let Freedom Rain
- Libcom.org
- Liberal Talk Radio
- Life on the Left
- Lilian Nattel
- LobeLog
- Loonwatch
- Los Blogueros
- Lost Cosmonaut
- Lugares Comunes
- Lunatic Llama
- M. Bouffant
- Machetera
- Malmo Blue's Equal Radio
- Marc McDonald
- Margaret Cho
- Margarita del Norte
- Mary Cartledgehayes
- Matthias in Marburg
- Media Co-op
- Media Culpa
- Media Matters
- MediaCitizen
- Meeting Point
- Memory Blog
- Memory in Latin America
- Michael Moore
- Mike Malloy
- Mike Malloy Show
- Mike Watkins
- Milfuegos
- Missed the Epistle
- Mona Eltahawy
- Mondoweiss
- Montreal Simon
- Morons With Signs
- Mrs. Bitch
- Ms.Marx
- Murray Dobbin
- Murray Waas
- MuzzleWatch
- My Blahg
- My Fault, I'm Female
- Naked Capitalism
- Naomi Epel
- Nashua Advocate
- NewsHounds
- Nicolás Rivera
- Nieman Watchdog
- Noam Chomsky
- NobodyCouldHavePredicted
- Northern Reflections
- Notes from the Greenwood
- Nuclear Test Watch
- Ohh Shoot
- Oil Wars
- Oliver Willis
- One Good Move
- Or Perhaps…
- Orcinus
- Orwell's Bastard
- Pamelyn Casto
- Parliament Shill
- Peace, Order and Good Government, Eh?
- Peter Bogdanovich
- Philip Racuel
- Political Teen Tidbits
- Probably Bad News
- Progressive Economics Forum
- Progressive Proselytizing
- Propaganda Critic
- ProPublica
- Public Values
- Queer Thoughts
- Quotha
- Rabble.ca
- Racism Review
- Rack Jite
- Raed Jarrar
- Rage Against the Man-chine
- Rantdog
- RCMP Watch
- Reg Hartt
- Religious Right Alert
- Reprehensor
- Resettle THIS!
- Resistencia Morazán
- Rev. Day-Bu
- Reveille Radical
- Robert Greenwald
- Rock Around the Blockade
- Romenesko
- Rude Pundit
- Ruins of Empire
- Sadly, No!
- Save the Rich
- Science Blog
- Scott Rosenberg
- SeaLatin Blog
- Secrecy News
- Seeing Red in the Southwest
- Served And Protected
- Sharon Fraser
- Sherry Wolf
- Shmohawk
- Shockfront
- Sick of This Crap
- Sierra Maestra
- Silobreaker
- Sister Sage's Musings
- Slacktivist
- Small State
- Smudge Report
- Socialist Democracy
- Sociological Images
- Soldier Say No
- Solidarity With Six Nations
- Sources.com
- Stan Goff
- Steve Lendman
- Stinky Journalism
- Straight Goods
- Structurally Maladjusted
- Stuffed and Starved
- Sue Thomason
- Survival International
- T’anta Wawa Talks
- Tales of Zapata Street
- Talk Left
- Talking Points Memo
- Talking Radio
- Ten Percent
- The Abortioneers
- The Agonist
- The Anti-Social Socialist
- The AntiCraft!
- The Arabist
- The Black Commentator
- The CPC Watcher
- The Cracked Crystal Ball II
- The Crotchety Old Fan
- The Cynical Arab
- The Daily Sketch
- The End of Capitalism
- The Harper Index
- The Hasbara Buster
- The Havana Note
- The Homo Agenda
- The Largest Minority
- The Left Hand of Feminism
- The Mex Files
- The Oatmeal
- The Pagan Prattle
- The Poor Man
- The Prison Notebook of Maximón
- The Regina Mom
- The Revolution Is In The Classroom
- The Scarlet Pimpernel
- The Sixth Estate
- The Skinny
- The Unapologetic Mexican
- The Wild Hunt
- The Wingnuterer
- This is why you're fat.
- Thump and Whip
- Tikun Olam
- Tim's El Salvador Blog
- Tom Tomorrow
- Toronto Troll Gallery
- Tortilla Con Sal
- Toward Freedom
- Troubletown
- Truth Mafia
- Truthout Blog
- TVNewsLies
- Ukhampacha Bolivia
- Unapologetic Canadian
- UNREDACTED
- Uzza's Notes
- VeeeATCH!
- Ven Central
- Venezuela Solidarity
- Vile Tweets
- Wage Slave Journal
- Walter Lippmann
- Walter Mignolo
- War of the Waves
- Watching Stephen Harper Like A Hawk
- We Hunted the Mammoth
- we move to canada
- Whap! Whap!
- William Engdahl
- Window Into Palestine
- Women’s Space
- Wonkette
- wood s lot
- World O' Crap
- WTF Is It Now??
- Yohandry’s Weblog
- ΚΕΛΑΗΔΙΣΜΑΤΑ
-
Categories
- A Bit of a Brag…
- A Man, A Plan, A Canal
- A Passage to India
- All About Evo
- All the Tea in China
- Amazing Places
- Angry Pacifist Speaks Her Mind
- Arabian Nights
- Artsy-Fartsy Culture Stuff
- Audible Audacity
- Balkan Yogurt
- Banksters
- Barreling Right Along
- Belgian Waffles
- Bina's Band of Brigands
- Boycott This Toon!
- Brazil is the Bomb!
- Bullies
- BushCo Death Watch
- Buzz Me Now! Here's How!
- Canadian Counterpunch
- Chile Sin Queso
- Clip 'n' Save
- Compare and Contrast
- Confessions of a Bad German
- Cool Beans
- Cops Behaving Badly
- Cops Behaving Better
- Corruptos
- Crapagandarati
- Credit Where Due
- Cuba, Libre (de los Yanquis)
- CubanaBomber Death Watch
- Czech This Out
- Dawgs
- Deepest Darkest Africa
- Der Drumpf
- Do As I Say…
- Don't Cry For Argentina
- Drrrrruuuugs
- Dweebs
- Economics for Dummies
- Ecuadorable As Can Be
- El NarcoPresidente
- El Predicto Speaks…
- Environmentally Ill
- Epidumbics
- EuroPeons
- Facecrooks
- Farts
- Fascism WITH Swastikas
- Fascism Without Swastikas
- Festive Left Friday Blogging
- Fetus Fetishists
- Filthy Stinking Rich
- Fine Young Cannibals
- Found in Translation
- Free Trade, My Ass!
- Freeze Peach!
- Fun With Photoshop
- Gazing on Gaza
- Going Dutch
- Good to Know
- Greek Salad
- Grifters
- Guatemala, Guatebuena
- Guns, Guns, Guns
- Headline Howlers
- Heroes for Today
- Huguito Chavecito
- Human Rights FAIL
- Hungarian Goulash
- I Left My Hat in Haiti
- If You REALLY Care
- Inca Dink-a-Doo
- Irish Stew
- Isn't It Ironic?
- Isn't That Illegal?
- Isn't That Impeachable?
- Isn't That Racist?
- Isn't That Terrorism?
- Israelly Uncool
- Just Pissed Off
- Karma 1, Dogma 0
- Kittehs
- Kooks
- Korean Kimchi
- Law-Law Land
- Let Them Fight!
- Look, I Made a Poem!
- Madvertising
- Men Who Just Don't Get It
- Merry Old England
- Mexican Standoffs
- Mobsters
- Morticia! You Spoke French!
- Music for a Sunday
- Nepotism
- Newspeak is Nospeak
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
- Not Hiding in Honduras
- Not So Compassionate Conservatism
- Nukes
- Obamarama!
- Obits and 'bobs
- Oceania
- Paraguay, Uruguay
- Persian Cats
- Pissing Jesus Off
- Professional Phobes
- Puerto Rico, Gente Pobre
- Quacks
- Quotable Notables
- Rivers in Egypt
- Scandinavian Smorgasbord
- Scary Thoughts
- Schadenfreude
- She Blinded Me With Science
- Short 'n' Stubby
- Shysters
- Sick Frickin' Bastards
- Socialism is Good for Capitalism!
- Spooks
- Stupid Sex Tricks
- Technical Notes
- Teh Ghey
- Teh Heterostoopid
- Teh Injunz
- Teh Russkies
- The 'Stans
- The "Well, DUH!" Files
- The Bern
- The Bold and the Badass
- The Hardcore Stupid
- The Nausea
- The Salvador Option(s)
- The Trans
- The United States of Amnesia
- The War on Terra
- The WTF? Files
- True Scotsmen (and WOMEN!)
- Turkish Treats
- Turning Japanese
- Ukraine, Ikraine, WeAllKraine
- Uncategorized
- Under the Name of Spain
- Uppity Wimmin
- W is for Weak (and Stupid)
- Wankers of the Week
- Weather Whackjobbery
- Weebs
- Who Forgot Poland?
- Writer Lady Sings the Blues
- Yes, I Really Cook!
Meta
Making socialism a failure continues to be the retort of those who cling to “capitalism as the lesser of evils” syndrome.
Similarly, it is the same kind of political meme used that “the NDP will never be in power so don’t waste your vote.”
It’s propaganda based on manufactured consent.
Precisely. I gave up nose-holding a decade ago. Even in my conservative riding (which alternates between red and blue more or less regularly), there is no shortage of people who want a real change, not just the usual game of Duopoly. Some are discouraged from voting for precisely that reason, but I hope that discouragement won’t last much longer.