"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message
...

"John Mullen" wrote in message
...


Anybody else noticed how criticising the USA (proper name of country)
automatically makes one a troll on this medium? At least according to
some.


I would hope so as these newsgroups are for the discussion of
military aviation and naval issues, not the politics of 3 decades ago

Keith

Poor answer Keith.

Firstly, politics obviously have a very major impact on military aviation
and naval issues. Acquisition and deployment of ships and planes are and
have always been decided by politicians.

Secondly, ships and planes were of course used quite extensively in the CIA
coup in Chile, and in Pinochet's subsequent brutal military dictatorship.
(aside: is the CIA unique among intelligence communities in having deployed
military hardware, eg U2, A12 etc? I suspect not but can't off-hand think of
other examples. Did the former KGB have its own military assets or rely on
'mainstream' Soviet vehicles for its dirty work?)

Thirdly, events of the past have very interesting effects on events of the
future and present, particularly the US-led 'war on terror' which is of
course still unfolding in all its ramifications. Are you proposing these
groups should have a cut-off before which events cannot/should not be
discussed here? If so, I'll let you be the first to tell Art Kramer (of many
examples which spring to mind!)

Fourthly, in the modern era particularly, 'asymmetric warfare' brings
terrorism and politics right into the mainstream of military issues, if
anyone was ever in any doubt about this.

Incidentally, I wonder how many readers of this group are aware that
Pinochet's loathsome regime perpetrated murderous terrorism on US soil.

'One document, Kornbluh said, indicates that in 1991 the CIA destroyed a
file on Manuel Contreras, the former head of Chile's secret police now
serving a sentence for the 1976 car bombing in Washington that killed
Orlando Letelier, a prominent Chilean opposition leader. Letelier's American
assistant Ronni Moffitt also died in the blast'

http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americ.../cia.chile.02/

Best wishes

John