America needs to apologize to the world -- and to make amends

I am not an expert on world affairs. I am only an ordinary citizen. Yet even I know enough to realize that America needs to apologize to the world for its behavior in the last 50 years -- and then America needs to make amends.

What does America need to apologize for?

First off, America needs to apologize to China for funding the corrupt and tyrannical government of Chaing Ki Shek after World War II. Had we given China a Marshall Plan instead of a brutal dictator, odds are even that China would not have been saddled with Mao Tze Tung, six million Tibetans would not have died and we could have avoided both the Korean War and the war in Vietnam.

America needs to apologize to Cambodia. Had Kissinger not given the secret order to kill 600,000 civilians and de-stabilize the country, Cambodia would not have been vulnerable to the scourge of the Khmer Rouge.

America needs to apologize to Latin America for creating the "banana republics" that replaced democracy after democracy with military coups, death squads and dictators. El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, Cuba and Nicaragua come easily to mind but if we go down any list of Latin American countries, we will find buckets of American government/corporate money behind every bloody coup.

America needs to apologize to Africa. Eisenhower's thugs funded the overthrow of the democratic government of Patrice Lmumba in the Congo, setting off a domino effect of destabilization that is still playing out in Africa today -- resulting in thousands, possibly millions of deaths.

America needs to apologize to the Middle East. In Palestine, our government has funded 50 years of ethnic cleansing and the creation of the world's largest concentration camp; causing Israel to lose its moral compass by making gunships and F-16's all too handy. America has lured Israel into moral terpretude with the glittery promise of $8.5 million a day to go out and shop for guns.

America needs to apologize to the whole world for that matter -- for forcing guns down countries' throats at every turn and changing the diplomatic process into a world-wide version of Columbine High School.

America needs to apologize for funding the overthrow of democratic Iran in favor of the brutal Shah. America needs to apologize for funneling money through Pakistan to buy weapons for the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. America needs to apologize for supporting the repressive dictatorship of Saudi Arabia, home of Al Quaeda (America also needs to apologize to the families of the victims of 9-11 for helping to create the tyrannical environments where terrorists like Al Quaeda can grow and flourish.) And America needs to apologize to the people of Iraq for funding and empowering Saddam Hussain.

America needs to apologize to the people of Australia for putting them in harm's way when American government/corporations destabilized Southeast Asia by funding and encouraging the brutal dictatorship of Indonesia. Documents have just revealed that America gave weapons to Indonesia to massacre thousands of civilians in East Timor in cold blood and create the nation-wide repression resulting in the formation of the terrorist gangs who blew up Australian citizens in peaceful and idyllic Bali (Bali used to be to Australia what Hawaii is to us; a safe, affordable vacation paradise).

America needs to apologize to the world for creating "schools" like the School of the Americas in Georgia and its siblings in Africa, Asia and the Middle East -- American schools whose curriculum is "How to Torture".

America needs to apologize to the world for our government/corporate role in overtly and covertly funding so many dictators throughout the world that it is impossible to list them all or to even keep track of them. Documents recently discovered have revealed that American banks/corporations even funded the rise of Adolph Hitler. And I cannot begin to list here the millions -- perhaps billions -- of innocent people who have died because of American government/corporate influence and interference.

America needs to make apologies in every corner of the world.

But apologies are not enough. America also needs to make amends. And America also needs to become an idealistic, democratic example of freedom, courage and hope to the world once again. Let's let the Stars and Stripes stand for something wonderful for a change.