Thought this would be of interest, especially as it comes from one of the
world's leading genocide scholars.


From: Rudy Rummel <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 4 May 2003 07:56:13 -1000
To: H-NET List on the History and Theory of Genocide
<[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Three Cheers

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Presumably, all members of this genocide list want to prevent or eliminate
democide, and its component genocide, wherever they occur, and foster a long
run solution. Note then that there now is a force in this world
systematically doing what we all want done: eliminating democide and its
aggressive forces, while trying to supplant it with a way of preventing it
in the future.

In 1999, the United States and its NATO allies saved Kosovo from the
ongoing mass murder by the Milosevic regime. It had used its military and
paramilitary forces to slaughtered about 10,000 Kosovo Albanians and drive
out of the country perhaps a million of these poor people. The American
and allied intervention also paved the way for Slobodan Milosevic to be
indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The
Hague in June 2001 to stand trial. We should cheer this.

In 2002, United States anti-terrorist war has reduced the number of
terrorist attacks to 199, a 44 percent drop from the previous year; in
terms of murdered, from 3,300 in 2001 to 725. We should cheer this.

In the last nineteen months, The United States and its allies have swept
away two gangs of democidal thugs and prime supporters of terrorism.
Saddam Hussein's gang perhaps murdered a million in war and democide; the
Taliban gang murdered hundreds of thousands. About 50 million Iraqis and
Afghans that were suffering the tyranny, torture, imprisonment, and murder
of these thugs are now free and on the way to democracy. We should cheer
this. In the memory of many of us still, the United States and its allies
rid the world of the democidal fascist regimes of Japan (over 5 million
murdered), Germany (over 21 million), and Italy (over 220 thousand); saved
South Korea from the democidal prison-state of North Korea (so far many
millions murdered), unsuccessfully tried to save South Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia from murderous communist bloodbath (ultimately murdering many
millions), and saved the world from the democidal horror of Soviet
Communism (about 61 million murdered). We should cheer this.

Surely, those who hate democide and the lack of human rights will note
that the United States is the best possible ally in our cause. Indeed, we
could characterize the United States (its administrations, its congress,
and its people) as the swiftest and most effective democide and ruling
thug cleanser and human rights promoter we could have wished. And it is
doing so with a minimal loss of life. Qusay Ali Al-Mafraji, the head of
the International Red Crescent in Baghdad, claims the confirmed Iraqi
civilian and military dead in Baghdad as 150 so far. (He told this to
Andrew Sullivan, "The Weekly Dish," The Washington Times, 5/2/03). Hussein
must have had more than this number ordinarily murdered in the time it
took the US to capture Baghdad. We should cheer this.

And what historical regime but the United States would have Western Europe
and Asia prostrate under its military power in 1945, and yet work to
democratize its former enemies, democratize them, give them independence,
and pull out. By comparison, the Soviet Union, the only other world
competitor after it recovered from the war, subjected to its total
political control those nations it occupied militarily. Some wit put it in
these terms: the US is the only nation that tries to devise an exit
strategy even before military action takes place. We should cheer this.

What international organizations, international law, and the plethora of
intellectual and academic analyses and solutions have been unable to do,
the United States with one coalition or another has done. It has often
left in its wake democracy or the process of democratization-the only
solution to democide and war that we know of and has worked. We all are
better for it. We should cheer this.

Of course, the US has committed excesses. Of course, there is much to
criticize. Of course, its foreign policies have not been perfect or always
on the side of the angels. Of course, it has domestic problems. It is of
and by imperfect human beings. But no matter. As we should be proud and
happy over a fireman that has saved families from a burning home, no
matter his personal imperfections or that he was clumsy, misplaced his
axe, and forgot about the families' valuable antiques, we should cheer
over what the United States has done.

CHEERS for the United States and its allies.

R.J. Rummel
Professor Emeritus
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http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills