Ronald Reagan page
"We have never interfered
in the internal government of a country and have no intention
of doing so, never have had any thought of that kind."
Ronald Reagan, 1982
Books
"The whole thing was
PR. This was a PR outfit that became President [Reagan] and took
over the country. And to the degree then to which the Constitution
forced them to do things like make a budget, run foreign policy
and all that, they sort of did. But their first, last, and overarching
activity was public relations."
Leslie Janka, a deputy White
House press secretary under Reagan
" Neoconservative Jeane
Kirkpatrick argued in 1979 that Third World revolutions are illegitimate,
the products of Soviet expansion rather than of local historical
forces opposed to repressive dictatorships (Dictatorships and
Double Standards). Kirkpatrick had solved the moral problem of
the rollbackers: why it is fine to overthrow left-wing governments
and make friends with rightist dictators. The Kirkpatrick Doctrine
held that right-wing dictatorships can evolve into democratic
governments while left-wing nations cannot. Under this Doctrine,
Marcos, Pinochet, and P.W. Botha were leading their countries
down the path of democracy. "
from the book Rollback by Thomas
Bodenheimer and Robert Gould
"It is a gross fabrication
to claim that the contras are composed of democratic groups"....
As I can attest, the 'contra', military force is directed and
controlled by officers of Somoza's National Guard.... During my
four years as a 'contra director, it was premeditated policy to
terrorize civilian noncombatants to prevent them from cooperating
with the Government. Hundreds of civilian murders, tortures and
rapes were committed in pursuit of this policy, of which the 'contra'
leaders and their CIA superiors were well aware."
Edgar Chamorro former member of
the directorate of the main contra organization, the Nicaraguan
Democratic Force (FDN), in a 1986 interview
from the book Rollback by Thomas Bodenheimer and Robert Gould
" By the later years of
the Reagan regime, a preferred nomenclature suited to U.S. interests
became standardized for the Third World. In the case of nations
to be rolled back (e.g., Nicaragua), governments were called terrorist
and the insurgents were labeled democratic. In the case of countries
to be supported against "communist" insurgencies (e.g.,
El Salvador and the Philippines), the governments were called
democratic and the insurgents were labeled terrorists. "
from the book Rollback by Thomas
Bodenheimer and Robert Gould
"If you want to know about
the world and understand and educate yourself, you have to dig;
dig up books and articles, read and find out for yourself."
John Stockwell, former CIA official
and author
"The pattern was set early
in his administration: leak a scare story about foreign enemies,
grab the headlines. If, much later, reporters poke holes in the
cover story, so what? The truth will receive far less attention
than the original lie, and by then another round of falsehoods
will be dominating the headlines."
Norman Solomon and Martin Lee
about Reagan-era propaganda strategies
Articles
"[Ronald] Reagan ... was
most definitely a global empire builder, a servant of the corporatocracy.
At the time of his election, I found it fitting that he was a
Hollywood actor, a man who had followed orders passed down from
moguls, who knew how to take direction. That would be his signature.
He would cater to the men who shuttled back and forth from corporate
CEO offices to bank boards and into the halls of government. He
would serve the men who appeared to serve him but who in fact
ran the government - men like Vice President George H. W. Bush,
Secretary of State George Shultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar
Weinberger, Richard Cheney, Richard Helms, and Robert McNamara.
He would advocate what those men wanted: an America that controlled
the world and all its resources, a world that answered to the
commands of that America, a U.S. military that would enforce the
rules as they were written by America, and an international trade
and banking system that supported America as CEO of the global
empire."
John Perkins
International War Crimes
Home Page
In the Name of Democracy - U.S.
Policy Toward Latin America in the Reagan Years