The Passive Voices

A coup d’état is considered to be hallmark of the nations which are far less developed, autocratic, failed and mostly of the type known as banana republic. A coup is normally staged by the powerful military against a government which has failed to deliver or which has become a threat to national security. A coup owes its success to public support which means that a coup becomes viable for the coup makers when general public becomes sick and tired of the policies and practices of self-serving, inefficient and corrupt politicians and looks towards the military for deliverance.

The US claims to be a democratic state founded on core human values. The US of yesteryears was known for these values and was always a champion of human rights for the humanity at large. With growing hegemonic ambitions post-cold war, the only super power started managing regime change in other countries in order to protect its global interests. The regime change was engineered through coup followed by bloodshed in cases where such coup was not supported by the people. This bred resentment and anti-Americanism the world over leading to terrorist attacks against US interests. The 9/11 not only changed the world, it changed the US which practically became a police state in the name of homeland security.

In spite of problems at home, the US continued to spark civil wars in other countries and attack some countries itself for installing the governments of its choice. Recent examples are Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and parts of Balochistan province in Pakistan.

But it now seems that the US had to taste its own bitter pills of regime change. Something unimaginable has taken place in the US where a handful of soldiers tried to stage a coup in the US. The soldiers have been arrested on murder charges, and a large arsenal of weapons discovered. According to Digital Journal, if you’re looking for proof of the irresponsibility and anti-democratic nature of hatemongering psychosis in US politics, this is a case in point. The so-called anarchist group, comprised of currently serving and former soldiers, was discovered when a couple were murdered “for knowing too much” about the group and/or took money and planned to leave the group.

Different sources have reported different versions of the story. According to CNN, the four men became part of a group that aimed “to give the government back to the people,” according to Burnett (alleged party to the murders), who admitted that revolution was its goal. They called it FEAR – Forever Enduring Always Ready, and spent thousands buying guns and bomb parts. The Sydney Morning Herald, relaying a UK Daily Telegraph article reported that prosecutors said its long-term goal was revolution; bringing down the US government and killing President Barack Obama. It is not known over what period of time this alleged plot would have taken place. They were said to have planned to blow up a dam and poison apple crops in Washington state, bomb a park in Savannah, Georgia, attack vehicles belonging to Department of Homeland Security employees, and take over an ammunition control point at the sprawling Fort Stewart army base in Georgia.

This coup plot is not the first of its type. There was a Business Plot back in 1933 under which wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans’ organization and use it in a coup d’état to overthrow  President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler as leader of that organization. In 1934, the coup leader named General Butler testified to the Special Committee on Un-American Activities Congressional committee (the “McCormack-Dickstein Committee“) on these claims. In the opinion of the committee, these allegations were credible. No one was prosecuted. While historians have questioned whether or not a coup was actually close to execution, most agree that some sort of “wild scheme” was contemplated and discussed. Contemporaneous media dismissed the plot, with a New York Times editorial characterizing it as a “gigantic hoax”. However, when the committee’s final report was released, the Times said the committee “purported to report that a two-month investigation had convinced it that General Butler’s story of a fascist march on Washington was alarmingly true” and “It also alleged that definite proof had been found that the much publicized Fascist march on Washington, which was to have been led by Major. Gen. Butler, according to testimony at a hearing, was actually contemplated.”

Does this indicate the frustration of a large number of soldiers against the policies of US politicians in general and President Obama in particular? Apparently, this may be an indication of the level of disappointment and frustration of the military rank and file. Even if it does not represent the general sentiment, it is alarming that a few people think to get rid of politicians through the means other than the electoral process. This also indicates their lack of confidence in the process of change of leadership.

According to Digital Journal, who looks at this development from a different angle, this mentality and these types of actions are the natural results of bipolar politics. The frenzied hatreds of US politics are usually rhetorical, verbose and eminently forgettable, but every so often someone decides to take them further. Hate crimes in the US have been continuous for the 16 years seen on Hate Watch. Racism and anti-Latino sentiments are never very far away from the headlines. There are so many stress fractures in the society, and politicians insist on making them worse. What, you may ask, is the big profit motive for a civil war, since there aren’t any rational motives? The short answer is power and greed. The Confederacy, in fact, created a group of semi-autonomous states with secessionists in charge. These guys lived very well while the rest of the South starved, and nearly drove Jefferson Davis mad with their states’ rights demands.

While the mainstream American media serves the establishment and security agencies and their interests, it also fuels hatred against different ethnic and faith groups with the result that use of illegal arms is on the rise and so is the number of mass murders. A recent massacre at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin is a case in point. The memories of other mass killings in the near past for certain motives are still fresh and the incidents themselves are very dangerous indicators. Along with this, the recent plot to overthrow the government, kill the president and establish a real democracy should compel the American leadership to introspect, postpone its global ambitions and address the real problems at hand. It is not the foreign terrorists which are a threat to American security, it is American policies which are now getting out of hand and breeding hatred against the government and each other.

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• Fed Up: US Military Coup Plan Before Elections to Oust Obama and Govt Cronies Revealed (thesantosrepublic.com)