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Bertram Gross wrote an important book for all U.S. citizens in 1980. The title is simply "Friendly Fascism." Having read it twice, I see that characteristics described in the 30-year-old book emerge in the United States today.
The Rev. Peter Hinde is an 80-year-old U.S.-born Carmelite priest who now lives in Ciudad Juarez on the border across from El Paso, Texas. Peter is a World War II veteran whose eyes were opened by decades of missionary activity in Latin and Central America.
On the 50th anniversary as a priest, his invitation card read: "The first 24 years of his life, Peter was called to school and the defense of his country against Nazi-Fascism. It took him the next 20 years in the Carmelite priesthood to see the hidden face of fascism in his own country. Over the next 35 years, Peter has not stopped denouncing the same evil in U.S. foreign policy."
On the 12th anniversary of 9/11, U.S. citizens are slow to recall 9/11/73, when the CIA and at least two prominent US corporations overthrew the democratically elected government of President Salvador Allende. Gen. Augusto Pinochet then assumed a 17-year reign of terrorism/fascism in Chile. Thousands disappeared under his domination.
The Rev. Gerald Kelly, one of my missionary classmates, spent 30 years in Chile. He and a small group of Chileans once stood in silent vigil outside of a building in Santiago where opponents of Pinochet were tortured. First they were hit by water canons (that put out the candles) and knocked them down, then Kelly was shot in the back by Pinochet's officers. Now in his 70s, Kelly retains buckshot in his body as a reminder of how fascism frightens subjects.
Henry Kissinger, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was an architect of the U.S. war in Vietnam, the 9/11/73 coup in Chile and other illegal foreign policy ventures from Washington.
Kissinger wrote a 383-page thesis, titled "Fighting and Winning a Limited Nuclear War," while at Harvard University. He is advising the Obama officials on foreign affairs.
Pinochet was eventually charged by a Spanish judge and arrested in London. Kissinger bears the responsibility of having brought death and disappearance to Spanish citizens along with Chileans. Pinochet died at age 91 of congestive heart failure on Dec. 10, 2006, before being imprisoned.
Kissinger receives $25,000 to give a speech to curious audiences.
How much does the U.S. government pay Kissinger for advice on Syria or other matters of foreign policy?