SOTT Exclusive: CIA torture report should not have shocked anyone (just ask the Native Americans)

© Andy Cross, The Denver Post

Solemn ceremony. A handful of people gather at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Kiowa County for a sunrise program on the chilly morning of Nov. 29, the 148th anniversary of the massacre. National Park Service Ranger Craig Moore, right, gave a speech honoring Chief White Antelope, who was killed along with an estimated 162 other Indians by Colorado soldiers Nov. 29, 1864.

Why has the release of the U.S. Senate's report on CIA torture caused such an outrage? After all, the use of torture is a longstanding U.S. policy that began with the founding of the 'great' nation. The torture of Native Americans is a documented fact. The narrative that the U.S. somehow 'strayed away from the right course' only recently shows how tight a grip the psychopathic 'reality creators' have on us and just how effective their revision of history has been.

As Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz noted in 'The Grid of History: Cowboys and Indians,' in the : "We didn't just stray from wonderful premises and values: those premises and values were profoundly flawed from the beginning."

Gilbert Mercier recently wrote that

the sad reality about the United States of America is that in a matter of a few hundreds years it managed to rewrite its own history into a mythological fantasy. The concepts of liberty, freedom and free enterprise in the "land of the free, home of the brave" are a mere spin. The US was founded and became prosperous based on two original sins: firstly, on the mass murder of Native Americans and theft of their land by European colonialists; secondly, on slavery. This grim reality is far removed from the fairytale version of a nation that views itself in its collective consciousness as a virtuous universal agent for good and progress. The most recent version of this mythology was expressed by Ronald Reagan when he said that

We have only to read the horrific eyewitness accounts of the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 to understand that the use of torture is nothing new for the U.S. government: such immorality is not a deviation from the norm. It is, and has always been, the norm...

"All manner of depredations were inflicted on their persons, they were scalped, their brains knocked out; the men used their knives, ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked them in the head with their guns, beat their brains out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of the word...worse mutilated than any I ever saw before, the women all cut to pieces.... [C]hildren two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors." ~ John S. Smith, interpreter

"I saw some Indians that had been scalped, and the ears were cut off of the body of White Antelope. One Indian who had been scalped had also his skull all smashed in, and I heard that the privates of White Antelope had been cut off to make a tobacco bag out of. I heard some men say that the privates of one of the squaws had been cut out and put on a stick." ~ Captain L. Wilson, First Colorado Cavalry

"In going over the battleground the next day I did not see a body of man, woman, or child but was scalped, and in many instances their bodies were mutilated in the most horrible manner - men, women, and children's privates cut out, etc... I also heard of numerous instances in which men had cut out the private parts of females and stretched them over saddle-bows and wore them over their hats while riding in the ranks." ~ Lieutenant James Conner

"There was one little child, probably three years old, just big-enough to walk through the sand. The Indians had gone ahead, and this little child was behind, following after them. The little fellow was perfectly naked, traveling in the sand. I saw one man get off his horse at a distance of about seventy-five yards and draw up his rifle and fire. He missed the child. Another man came up and said, let me try the son of a b-. I can hit him.' He got down off his horse, kneeled down, and fired at the little child, but he missed him. A third man came up, and made a similar remark, and fired, and the little fellow dropped." ~ Major Scott Anthony, 1st Colorado Cavalry

What is 'the norm' for the U.S.? A constant 'state of emergency' that justifies the most heinous crimes. In case of the U.S., we are told that the 'great beacon of justice and democracy' is under attack from some outside agent or that it has to bring freedom to the 'savages', therefore the use of 'exceptional' measures is justified, whether it be the use of torture or the perpetuation of war crimes. The outside enemy is entirely of their own creation, as is the case with the current terrorist boogeyman - ISIS. And in case of bringing freedom and democracy to the 'savages,' there were no outside savages to begin with - the savages are wearing the uniforms provided to them by the U.S. government. Before the terrorist threat, there was the communist threat. What this shows is that, while the threat morphs, one thing remains constant: a 'state of emergency' in which basic human morality is suspended and evil flourishes.

Ante Sarlija

Born and raised in Croatia, Ante joined the SOTT editorial team in 2014. He is also a part of the Croatian SOTT translation team. His area of interest includes, among other things, Philosophy and Politics. In his spare time he enjoys reading, researching, listening to music and smoking.