War

[HempKat]

There is no good reason for the US to be involved in Ukraine. Forget NATO. Why should they be involved? And isn't Bidan telling the troops he's going with them when they go fight? Isn't NATO the proxy aggressor here? Isn't that the long term problem?

No the long term problem is Russia and it's Imperialistic tendencies. The American forces in the region aren't there as America they are there as America's contribution to NATO's article 5 which says an attack against one is an attack against all. They will only get involved directly if Russia crosses Ukraine's western borders into one of the NATO countries along that border. They hope however, that doesn't happen and the presence of American troops along with the troops of other NATO nations is intended to be a deterrence against expanding aggression from Russia. As long as Russia confines itself to Ukraine and doesn't seriously escalate things through the use of chemical or nuclear weapons then the US will remain where it is, prepared to defend it's fallow NATO countries. You seem just all too willing to overlook some very important historical facts that play a significant role here. The most important being that the primary reason NATO was created in the first place was to help protect against the threat of military aggression by the USSR (now for all intents and purposes Russia). This threat was very real and present at the time because the USSR took advantage of the distraction of WWII and it's non aggression pact with Hitler's Germany to invade and assimilate into the USSR many of the now Eastern European NATO countries on the border of Ukraine. These countries joined NATO the first chance they could when the USSR fell because of the threat Russia still represents as is proven by the current invasion of Ukraine, the previous invasion of Ukraine in 2014 where they took Crimea, the previous attempt to take back Czechoslovakia in 1968 where they maintained a direct military occupation for the next 25 years and Putin's very public and long standing self expressed desire to return Russia to what he considers the former glory of the USSR. These NATO countries where US forces have been sent have every right to feel threatened and to look to it's NATO Allies like the US, to defend against the threat that Russia and Putin represent. After all Russia as the USSR had once ignored their sovereignty, invaded and took control before. So if your wanting to find the cause of all this, the one thing most responsible to blame it's Putin's Russia. If the USSR wasn't they way it was after WWII and it's leaders weren't like Putin wanting to continue that aggression, NATO might never have been formed because with Hitler's Germany conquered and Japan bombed into submission there was no other global threat besides the USSR, creating a need for Europe to join with countries like the US to form a defense. Had Putin kept his wet dream of re-establishing the glory of Russia to that of the former USSR, to himself. NATO very likely would not have felt the need to build up defenses along Ukraine's border that Russia tries to use as it's lame excuse for attacking Ukraine. All Russia has ever had to do to completely eliminate the threat of NATO was to become a friendly nation willing to respect the rights of it's neighbors to exist as free Sovereign nations and work together to turn Europe into what might have been the greatest Super Power of all time. But no Russia couldn't do that and as a result you have the tensions that exist today the history of the previous cold war and now a new cold war forming where the world will have to live in constant fear again of a nuclear holocaust. Thanks Putin

 

[h.h.]

1934
My dad was 8, living on the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma. Anything more recent? If we want to dive into
history that’s long past , I’m sure we can find a lot of shit. It’s called progress.

 

[HempKat]

How come none of the pictures of the dead bodies have Maggots ?

Flies are not shy about laying their eggs.

Likely because while they are maggots they tend to burrow deep inside the host bodies and feed on internal organs until they are ready to become flies, perhaps if the bodies were completely naked and/or not covered up by blankets and such, you might see more evidence of the maggots.

 

[Montuno]

with panache

Primo, no nos delates, que ese es el barquichuelo que usamos para abastecer de cocaína Nueva York, je, je, je...

 

[Petrochemical]

1934
My dad was 8, living on the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma. Anything more recent? If we want to dive into
history that’s long past , I’m sure we can find a lot of shit. It’s called progress.

Wow your a pissy soul sometimes.
you called me a fuk boy which I'll overlook
I don't suppose u could come here and be from a place of help
trying to see the best
instead of the worst
never met a sober native that acts as u do
what a way Togo through life
don't bother trying to engage with me ever again
thx

 

[Petrochemical]

Cough
I see that last post as progress too

here u have earned this

 

[armedoldhippy]

How many won't?

Josh Hawley, Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, maybe Ted Cruz. a short list of those willing to die on the wrong hill...so long as they die, i don't care where... "birds gotta eat too..."

 

[HempKat]

You need help. US spends Trillions on war. Spreads regime change all around the world. Gets people like you to say we are innocent.

We have constantly been in military aggression all my life which started with the Korean War. Spreading freedom all over the world you know.

Being on the side of a country engaged in military aggression or in the case of a civil war on one side involved in military aggression is not the same as "The US is the worst when it comes to aggressive military behavior" the aggressive military behavior belongs to the ones who start the war. Picking the side that you might benefit from them winning or that you can most profit from by supplying is just being opportunistic and virtually every country in the world engages in that same type of behavior to one degree or another. Your example of the Korean war for example it grew out of the fact that until the end of WWII Korea was controlled and run by Japan, when Japan was defeated that left a power vacuum with two many Korean political ideologies fighting to fill that vacuum. On the northern side you had Russia coming in to support N. Korea and it's Communist ideology and on the Southern side you had a more nationalist ideology wanting to take control that was backed by the US who at the time was very much engaged in defeating and stopping the spread of Communism. One might also argue that since it was the US who defeated Japan which created the power vacuum they flt and obligation to step in and get involved. Naturally being against Communism they decided to back the South. Now if you step back and look at which side experienced the most positive benefit from that the clear winner is South Korea which is now a very modern 1st world country that has a very successful and profitable manufacturing sector that makes an excellent GDP trading on the world market bringing prosperity to it's citizens. While on the other side you have a 3rd world country whose leader force the majority of his people to live in poverty and starvation and who puts most of the countries GDP into military spending all to fight a war then isn't actually happening. Yet here you are trying to say this is proof of the US's military aggression without acknowledging the same exact behavior on the other side by Russia and you fail to note how the US involvement greatly benefited the South Korean people or how the Russian involvement has not benefited the N. Korean people and has helped to position the N Koreans as a constant global threat.

Now don't get it all twisted I'm not saying that most of this opportunistic behavior has been a good thing there are other cases where the US got involved on a side and it didn't end up having such a positive result as it did in Korea The thing is if the US didn't back the sides it did in these various wars someone else would have and when you're involved in a war you're not going to be very picky about which side supports you. In each case where the US has picked a side and supported it, there are many other countries that might have stepped in and have it lead to far worse outcomes for that country and for the world. Again though, picking a side and supporting it is not the same thing as being the one to cause the aggression in the first place. Had all these countries you want to point to as proof of America's military aggression found a diplomatic solution to their problems then there would have been no side for America to pick and support. There would have been no military aggression because America was never the source of the aggression in any of those cases.

 

[Montuno]

1934
My dad was 8, living on the Choctaw reserve, Oklahoma. Anything more recent? If we want to dive into
history that’s long past , I’m sure we can find a lot of shit. It’s called progress.

If the CHOCTAW are the same people that the Spanish called CHAETAS, then they will not have a good memory of the Spanish, or at least of Hernando de Soto and his exploratory expedition...


WIKIPEDIA:
Main article: Hernando de Soto expedition in Florida

A proposed map of the de Soto expedition, based on the 1997 map by Charles M. Hudson. [SUP][ 2[/SUP] ]



Hernando de Soto, engraving by Juan Brunetti after drawing by José Maea for the Portraits of Illustrious Spaniards , 1791


In May 1539 , with between 600 and 700 men, 24 priests, 9 ships, and 220 horses, he reached the western coast of Florida, which would become Bradenton , and south of Tampa , Florida . He named the place Holy Spirit. Hernando de Soto's goal was to colonize the area, preferably by seeking a city like Cuzco or Mexico . Therefore, he brought several tons of equipment distributed in tools, weapons, cannons, dogs, and pigs. In addition to sailors, the ships brought priests, blacksmiths, artisans, engineers, farmers, and merchants; some with their families, some from Cuba, most of them from Europe and Africa.
Few of them had previously traveled outside of Spain , or worse, outside of their villages.
Beginning in Espiritu Santo, De Soto explored Florida and much of the southern United States. Already in Florida, he began his misfortune. Instead of being full of gold, the country was swampy and infested with mosquitoes, extremely hot and humid. The Indians also complicated their work of advance and exploration.
The natives had had bad experiences with the previous expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez . De Soto's troops were much less brutal. They did not capture Indians to use as laborers and guides, they did not rape women, and they did not pillage villages for food for their men and horses as Narvaez did. He installed Christian crosses in the holy places of the Indians. To ensure the development of the expedition, the Spanish often captured chiefs of local tribes.
The most important aide to the troops was Juan Ortiz, who came to Florida in pursuit of Narvaez's expedition and was captured by the Uzica , a Calusa tribe. Chief Hirrihigua's daughter served as a precursor to Pocahontas asking for Ortiz's life, since her father had ordered him to be burned alive. Ortiz survived captivity and torture, and joined Hernando de Soto's new expedition at the first opportunity.
Ortiz knew the terrain and also helped as an interpreter. As a guide for the de Soto expedition, Ortiz established a unique method for leading the expedition and for communicating in the different tribal dialects. Paracoxi guides were recruited from each tribe along the route.
The expedition's first winter camp was set up at Anhaica , near Lake Tallahas . The site is also close to Bahía de Caballos, where members of Narváez's troop were forced to eat horses to survive. This is the only place on the entire route where archaeologists have been able to establish exactly where Hernando de Soto's expedition was.
In the north — The Battle of Mauvila (1540)Edit

The expedition ventured along the eastern Appalachian Mountains and came within a hair's breadth of annihilation. The members of the conquering advance had to negotiate, sometimes, the pigs that they brought to obtain other foods and in certain occasions they had to obtain, by force, what they needed. They crossed Georgia , South Carolina , North Carolina , and Tennessee .
Hearing about the famous Cofitachequi gold treasure , and accompanied by his friends, the Ocute , the expedition continued through the Carolinas. They marched for weeks, hungry and thirsty, with porters who didn't know how to get through the Cofitachequi territories. However, in mid-May, the expedition discovered the tribe's capital, located at what is now known as Columbia , South Carolina.
They received the Spanish with a relatively friendly welcome. The peninsulars demanded to see the city's gold immediately. Upon closer examination the "gold" turned out to be simple copper. They found some pearls and weapons in the city and later continued their search for wealth through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama .
Later they pursued the idea of ​​getting more precious metal, which led them to the so-called giant gold reserves in the east. In northern Alabama, they found the town of Mauvila (or Mabila). The Choctaw tribe , under the leadership of chieftain Tascalusa , defended the heavily fortified city. The Spanish held out for a while, but then the city was repeatedly attacked, over and over again. In a nine-hour battle, twenty Spaniards were killed, although the rest were almost all wounded, and twenty more died in the days that followed. All the Choctaw warriors in that area—between 2,000 and 6,000—died fighting or were executed or committed suicide. Mauvila was set on fire.
Although the Spanish won the battle, they lost most of their possessions and forty horses. They were wounded, sickened and found without proper equipment in unknown and hostile territory, surrounded by enemies. With the battle of Mauvila, the number of natives also decreased in the marching troops. During the crossing the Spaniards were increasingly attacked by an intermittent guerrilla system .
While the men in de Soto's troop lost hope and from then on only wanted to return to the coast, board their ships and return to Cuba, de Soto still dreamed, illusory, of making new discoveries.
In the West — Demoralized (1541)Edit


Discovery of the Mississippi , by William H. Power, 1847. Hernando de Soto seeing the Mississippi River for the first time


The expedition returned north, where they encountered the Chickasaw tribe . De Soto demanded that the indigenous community give him two hundred men to serve as porters. They refused to accept this demand and instead attacked the Spanish settlement during the night. The Spanish lost about forty men and the rest of their equipment. According to participating chroniclers, the expedition was about to be completely destroyed. Fortunately for the advance party, the Chickasaw allowed them to leave, perhaps intimidated by their success.
On May 8 , Hernando de Soto's troops reached the Mississippi River . For this reason, de Soto is the first European to sight this river.
De Soto showed very little interest in this discovery because it represented, for him, an obstacle to his mission. He and 400 men had to cross a wide and mighty river, which was constantly patrolled by hostile natives. After nearly a month, and after the construction of several rafts, he finally crossed the Mississippi with his people and continued west through present-day Arkansas , Oklahoma , and Texas . In winter he settled at Autiamique , on the Arkansas River .

Statue of Hernando de Soto in Barcarrota, Badajoz, Spain.


After a harsh winter, the Spanish expedition was diluted and continued in an increasingly irregular manner. His faithful interpreter, Juan Ortiz, had died, making it more difficult to find routes, food sources, and generally establish communication with the native Mississippians . The expedition headed inland to the territory known as the Caddo River , where they made contact with a native tribe they called Tula , and whom the Spanish considered to have the most expert and dangerous warriors they had ever encountered. The encounter, between Europeans and natives, possibly occurred at Caddo Gap(a monument stands in that community). Based on the documents of Soto's legacy and what Garcilaso indicates, the Spanish later returned to the Mississippi River.
Death of Hernando de SotoEdit

On the west bank of the Mississippi River , in the indigenous town of Guachoya , [SUP][ 3 ][/SUP] (now Ferriday ) Hernando de Soto died on May 21, 1542 due to a fever, leaving Luis de Moscoso de Alvarado in charge of his army. . [SUP][ 4 ][/SUP] Since de Soto was considered immortal among the natives, his body was concealed in sand-weighted blankets by his men, who then sunk him in the middle of the Mississippi River overnight. [SUP][ 3 ] [/SUP][SUP]​[[/SUP][SUP]5[/SUP] ]
Despite the fact that in his will he expressed his wish to be buried when he died, together with the remains of his mother, in the chapel of the Concepción of the parish of San Miguel Arcángel ( Jerez de los Caballeros ), this never came to pass. .
After having covered much of the southern part of what is now the United States on foot and then sailing along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico , the 300 to 350 survivors commanded by Moscoso managed to return to Mexico City in 1543.


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS :


hernando de soto, discoverer of north america

After landing in Tampa in 1539, the Spanish explorer wandered North America for three years and died before finding the immense riches of which he had dreamed.

​

Jose Maria Gonzalez Ochoa​

updated to July 07, 2021 14:20 · Reading: 7 min




from the trip of Solís and Pinzón (1508-1509) through the Gulf of Mexico , the Spanish knew for sure that there were extensive regions to the north of the Antilles, which they soon surrounded by a halo of mystery and fantasy , endowing them with an irresistible attraction. . From that moment, there were several expeditions that entered the south of the North American subcontinent.


In 1513, Juan Ponce de León reached the shores of Florida , baptizing it that way because he found them on the day of Easter. In 1521 he organized a more ambitious expedition in which he lost his life. The navigations of Álvarez de Pineda (1521), Esteban Gómez (1524-1525) and Vázquez de Ayllón (1526) provided the well-defined contours of the North American south coast , while stories were spread about the fabulous riches that the Indians of those regions. In 1528, Pánfilo de Narváez led a colonization expedition to Florida that ended with the death of almost all of its members, some 250 men. Two survivors of this enterprise, the Franciscan Marcos Niza and Vaca de Castro,they spread among authorities and adventurers the idea that there was a new El Dorado in Florida.

Back in Spain, fascinated by the stories that were told about Florida, he obtained a license from Carlos V to explore those lands.​

Landing of Soto in the bay of Espiritu Santo (Tampa), in 1539. Illustration from the American Aboriginal Portfolio, published in 1853.

Photo: American Aboriginal Portfolio

One of these explorers was Hernando de Soto. This man from Extremadura had amassed a great fortune since 1514 in Central America and in the conquest of the Inca kingdom of Peru together with Francisco Pizarro in 1532. Back in Spain , fascinated by the stories that were told about Florida, he obtained from Carlos V a license to explore those lands. Anxious to surpass the conquests of Cortés and Pizarro, Soto offered to pay for an expedition to the interior of Florida in exchange for the Crown obtaining 50 percent of the profits and he being appointed advance of the undiscovered lands and governor. from Cuba .The agreement was sealed on April 20, 1538. A year later he left Cuba at the head of a fleet of nine ships, with 650 men and 237 horses on board.
The expedition landed in Florida, in the bay of Tampa or Espiritu Santo . Leaving the ships anchored and a checkpoint of soldiers to cover the rear and be able to maintain communication with Cuba, Soto entered an unhealthy region, plagued by swamps, with an unbearable humid heat and inhabited by hostile natives who had very bad memories of the passage. of the host of Narvaez.


to know more

Spanish expeditions in the South Sea: the conquest of the Pacific

read article



LANDING IN FLORIDA

Soto's men were surprised when a tattooed man dressed in a grass skirt and loincloth suddenly appeared, addressing them in Spanish. It was the Sevillian Juan Ortiz, a member of the Narvaez expedition who had been captured by the Indians twelve years before and who now put himself at the service of Soto as a guide and interpreter.

Pendant of a Mississippi town.

Photo: State Museum, Tennessee

The Extremaduran conqueror had arrived in Florida convinced that he would find treasures like the one Pizarro obtained in Peru , but Ortiz told him that he had no news that there was gold in the region. Despite this, Soto decided to continue the march. The expeditionaries reached the Appalachian mountains in a few months. Soto sent a handful of men back to Cuba to give news of the expedition and get more men and supplies, although the relief ships sent by Soto's wife never made contact with the expeditionaries.​

With no news, no supplies, and no known course, in March 1540 Hernando de Soto and his men resumed their exploration, encouraged by the news that some tribes gave them about the queen of Cofitachequi, a country that they believed was rich in gold and pearls. Before they passed through other Indian territories in the current territories of Georgia and South Carolina: the lower creeks, the Toa people, the Ichisis, the Atamaha Indians... The Indian chiefs gave them food, housed them and even offered them porters , but the Spaniards did not see gold anywhere . When they finally arrived at Cofitachequi, the queen received them with great ceremonies and took them to a rich palace. But the explorers soon discovered that all the metal the Indians had came from poor copper mines.

The explorers soon discovered that all the metal the Indians had came from poor copper mines.​

By then, the cold and the epidemics had caused the death of most of the auxiliary Indians, so that the heavy advance of the Spaniards was joined by having to drag supplies. With no clear destination they passed through North Carolina and Tennessee, and down the south coast through Alabama . Arriving at each Indian town, Soto kidnapped the chief and demanded the delivery of food, porters and women to serve them.

Soto's expedition was a resounding failure. The Spanish did not find the splendid cities they dreamed of or a place to settle, but they lit up a huge portion of the North American geography. They toured Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana. They reached the Appalachian Mountains and crossed the Mississippi River, through which they came out to sea again.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons​

In November, the survivors reached the territory of the Choctaw Indians, south of what is now the state of Alabama. At Atahachi, Soto found the chief Tascalusa, whom he took to the next stage of his advance, Mabila (perhaps present-day Mobile). There the Spanish were greeted with dances and gifts, but one of them discovered that hundreds of warriors were crouched ready to attack them . After an incident in which a Spaniard cut off an Indian's arm, "everyone began to shoot arrows at us, some inside the houses and others outside, and we were forced to flee the town," wrote expeditionary Hernández de Biedma. Hernando de Soto decided to besiege the town and assault it with blood and fire. The city was burned, and the Choctaw massacred. Biedma himself recalled that the Indians "fought like wild lions; we killed them all, some with fire, others with swords, others with lances." On the Spanish side, 20 men died and 250 were wounded, including Hernando de Soto, shot in the buttock with an arrow, which prevented him from riding.


GHOST EXPEDITION

The advance guard decided to continue north, dragging behind him an increasingly demoralized host, already convinced of finding nothing but death. Winter forced them to seek shelter and rest. In the town of Chizaca they endured the cold, the hunger and the harassment of the Indians. With the arrival of spring, they continued northwest until they found, on May 8, 1541, an immense river that the natives called Meatt-Massipí (Mississippi) and that the Spaniards baptized the Rio Grande or the Holy Spirit. They built rafts to cross the huge stream and continued southwest, hoping to reach non-existent wealth and the Pacific as their way back. The new winter surprised them in the town of Utiange, today Camden (Arkansas).

With the arrival of spring, the expedition continued northwest until they found, on May 8, 1541, an immense river that the natives called Meatt-Massipí (Mississippi) and that the Spaniards baptized the Rio Grande or the Holy Spirit.

Photo: Cameron Davidson/Getty Images​

In mid-March 1542, only half the men who left Cuba were still alive. Already convinced of his failure, Soto changed course, headed south, and in April reached the Mississippi again. Trying to ford the river, the Extremaduran felt feverish and would die a few days later .

Hernando de Soto died of typhoid fever on May 21, 1542. He was buried in a hole in the ground near the Mississippi River, but his companions, fearing that the Indians might desecrate the tomb, dug him up, introduced him into the hollow of a trunk ballasted and dumped into the river, as this engraving by John Sartain shows.

Photo: The Granger Collection / AGE Fotostock.



His lieutenant Luis Moscoso was left in command of the expedition and attempted to reach Mexico by land. Faced with the impossibility of crossing the Trinidad River, the expedition members retreated to the Mississippi, where they built small ships to descend the current and go out to sea. There, the winds pushed them towards the coast and prevented them from sailing to Cuba. It took about 50 days to reach Pánuco (Mexico) , where they were able to disembark. The survivors, a third of those who left Cuba, had completed a fabulous feat discovering an enormous territory, but at a high cost in human lives.


https://historia.nationalgeographic... .eamerica_12286​

 

[HempKat]

Mira, solo en el s.20, y antes de la 1 GM, y sumale la Guerra de la Insurrección filipina (la cuarta por la cola de la lista de tu enlace:

Look, only in the 20th century, and before WW1, and add the Philippine Insurrection War (fourth from the bottom of the list in your link; something like the second part in Filipinas of the USA-Spain war)

Again I was only talking about cases where the American government started the war. In each of the examples you cited either America was attacked first or they picked a side to support in someone else's war. The only example in your list that I found where it might be said that America was the aggressor to start things was the American occupation of the Dominican Republic but I feel it's worth noting that as a result of the occupation, the country's budget was balanced, foreign debt decreased and economic growth resumed. The occupation force promoted the implementation of important infrastructure projects such as the creation of new highways that linked all the regions of the country for the first time in history. The National Guard was also created, a professional military organization that replaced the caudillista partisan forces that had waged an endless struggle for power. The only reason it ended up becoming more like a war was because most Dominicans, however, resented the loss of their sovereignty at the hands of foreigners. However I do feel sovereignty should be respected at all times so I'll concede that one even though the net result was a positive benefit for the Dominicans and that the country likely would have been in worse shape and maybe still in bad shape, if America never got involved. I would also point out that it looks like America was working towards a point of getting the country to a good stable point of self governance and probably would have eventually left on their own. At least I saw nothing that indicated America was looking to permanently occupy the Dominican Republic.

As for all the other cases where America or in the case of the Indian battles American citizens were attacked first, what would you have them do? Just accept it and say "Gee, you got us good there"? I don't consider defending one's country or it's citizens as being military aggression. That's just defending one's self.

As for the couple of cases where America picked a side and supported it. Like I said in a previous post, I don't consider that military aggression by the US since the aggression had already started and would have continued whether the US picked a side or not. Also as I pointed out before if the US hadn't seized the opportunity someone else would have and depending on who it ended up being could have been worse for everyone involved and led to situation that would have been worse for the world. For example the concern in Haiti that the US had was that the people most likely to come out on top were Germans living in the country. Imagine how different WWII might have been had the Germans gained control of Haiti and built it up over that 20 year period as a powerful German Satellite country/territory just South of the US. The only thing that really kept us safe from Germany's desire to conquer the world was the huge logistical problem created by the Atlantic. If the Germans had control ofHaiti that would have given them a solid base from with to launch a ground invasion as well as a point to establish Blitzkrieg type bombing runs against key US targets.

 

[HempKat]

1934
My dad was 8, living on the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma. Anything more recent? If we want to dive into
history that’s long past , I’m sure we can find a lot of shit. It’s called progress.

With the way he seems to interpret military aggression I'm sure he can find more recent examples. In fairness to him though he picked that time period because I picked a time period of 1900 to now to say there were far more wars started by other countries then started by the US since three dingleberries tried to claim that the US is the worst country in the world for starting military aggression.

 

[Montuno]

WIKPEDIA:



American occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1924)

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The first US occupation of the Dominican Republic occurred between 1916 and 1924. It was one of many interventions in Latin America by US military forces . On May 13, 1916, [SUP][ 9 ][/SUP] Rear Admiral William Banks Caperton forced the Secretary of War of the Dominican Republic Desiderio Arias , who had held the post during the government of Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra , to leave Santo Domingo under the threat of carry out a naval bombardment of the city.

banana wars

Illustration of US Marines arriving in Santo Domingo, 1916.

May 13, 1916 - December 27, 1924

Dominican Republic

Concerns about possible German use of the Dominican Republic as a base for attacks against the United States during World War I [SUP][ 1[/SUP] ] Political instability in the Dominican Republic that put "at risk" the collection in customs for payment of the foreign debt

American victory

Occupation of the Dominican Republic

United States Dominican National Guard (since 1917) Dominican Rebels

William B. Caperton Harry Shepard Knapp Desiderio Arias Vicentico Evangelista Olivorio Mateo †

3,000 Marines [SUP][ 2 ][/SUP] 6 Curtis JN-4 biplanes [SUP][[/SUP][SUP] 3[/SUP] ] GND: 5500 [SUP][ 3[/SUP] ] 1000 [SUP][ 4[/SUP] ]

1916 : Las Trincheras: 5 dead [SUP][ 5 ][/SUP] ​Guayacanas : 1 dead and 10 wounded [SUP][ 5 ][/SUP] ​Total : 7 dead and 15 wounded [SUP][ 6 ][/SUP] ​1916-1922 : 17-144 killed in action [SUP][ 2 ] [/SUP][SUP]​[[/SUP][SUP]7 [/SUP][SUP]][/SUP] ​54 dead from disease [SUP][ 2 ][/SUP] ​55-67 injured [SUP][ 2 ] [/SUP][SUP]​[[/SUP][SUP]3[/SUP] ] GND: 27 dead and 47 wounded [SUP][ 3[/SUP] ] 1916 : Las Trincheras: 5 dead [SUP][ 3 ][/SUP] Guayacanas : 27 dead [SUP][ 5 ][/SUP] Total : 100-300 casualties [SUP][ 6 ][/SUP] 1916-1922 : 860 dead

1,000 killed (including 140 US Marines) [SUP][ 8[/SUP] ]

[ edit data at Wikidata ]

The first major confrontation occurred on June 27, 1916, at Las Trincheras, a defensive position long used by the revolutionary armies. The Dominicans imagined it to be so impregnable that they called it " Verdun ." [SUP][ 10 ][/SUP] The Marines used field artillery to bombard the trenches , machine guns positioned behind the troops to stifle rebel rifle fire, and then rapid bayonet attacks to drive the rebels out of the trenches. [SUP][ 11 ][/SUP]A major confrontation occurred on July 3, in La Barranquita, when 80 Dominicans dug trenches on two hills blocking the way to Santiago and held single-shot fire at Marine automatic weapons before the Marines drove them off. . [SUP][ 10 ][/SUP] In November, the United States imposed a military government under Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp.
Campillo Pérez, the governor of a southeastern province, refused to accept the situation and organized a revolt with a few hundred nationalists. The US Marines captured his fortress, but not before he had led a 200-strong force into the interior of the island to start a guerrilla war. [SUP][ 4 ][/SUP] By the time US forces withdrew in 1924, 144 Marines had been killed in action. [SUP][ 7 ][/SUP] The Dominicans suffered 950 casualties between dead and wounded. [SUP][ 12[/SUP] ]

OccupationEdit United States Marines during the occupation of the Dominican Republic


Three days after Desiderio Arias left the country, a contingent from the United States Marine Corps landed and within two months took control of the nation, imposing a military government under the command of Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp in November 1916.
The Marines enforced "order" in most of the republic, with the exception of the eastern region. As a result of the occupation, the country's budget was balanced, foreign debt decreased and economic growth resumed. The occupation force promoted the implementation of important infrastructure projects such as the creation of new highways that linked all the regions of the country for the first time in history. The National Guard was also created, a professional military organization that replaced the caudillista partisan forces that had waged an endless struggle for power. [SUP][ 13[/SUP] ]
Most Dominicans, however, resented the loss of their sovereignty at the hands of foreigners. The country was left in the hands of the US Department of the Navy. [SUP][ 14 ][/SUP] A guerrilla movement known as the "gavilleros" had the support of the population in the eastern provinces of El Seibo and San Pedro de Macorís . These insurgents, based on their better knowledge of the local terrain, fought against the US occupation from 1917 to 1921. [SUP][ 13 ][/SUP] Nonetheless, US forces maintained order during this period of insurrection [SUP].[ 13 ][/SUP]Until 1921, the gavilleros were definitively overcome by the aerial supremacy of the occupiers and the methods of counterinsurgency and constant harassment applied by the US military. [SUP][ 9 ][/SUP] The Americans inflicted 1,000 casualties on the Dominicans. [SUP][ 2[/SUP] ]

WithdrawalEditAfter World War I , public opinion in the United States began to rally against the occupation. [SUP][ 15 ][/SUP] Wilson considered evacuating the island, but stopped short of taking any action. [SUP][ 16 ][/SUP] Warren G. Harding , who succeeded Wilson in March 1921, had campaigned against the occupations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. [SUP][ 17 ][/SUP] One of the first measures of the new US president was to appoint a new governor, more favorable to the military withdrawal from the Caribbean republic. [SUP][ 14 ][/SUP]He also chose a new head of Dominican customs, as he intended to balance the country's finances before concluding the occupation. [SUP][ 18[/SUP] ]
In June 1921, representatives of the United States presented a withdrawal proposal, known as the Harding Plan , which called for the Dominican ratification of all acts of the military government, the approval of a US loan of 2.5 million dollars for works public and other expenses, the acceptance of the police officers created by the Americans or National Guard and the holding of elections under the supervision of the United States. [SUP][ 19 ][/SUP] The Dominican police would remain for a certain period under the command of United States officers. [SUP][ 20 ][/SUP]The American governor intended to form a new government to which he would cede power when his forces left the country through a series of votes. [SUP][ 20[/SUP] ]
Popular reaction to the plan was overwhelmingly negative. [SUP][ 20 ][/SUP] A series of protests broke out, culminating in a large demonstration in front of the governor's residence. [SUP][ 20 ][/SUP] The press, political leaders and the majority of the population demanded an immediate and unconditional evacuation. [SUP][ 20 ][/SUP] The permanence of a US military mission and police control caused critics to brand the result of the covert protectorate plan. [SUP][ 20 ][/SUP]The leaders of the four political parties of the republic flatly refused to accept the plan and to participate in the planned elections, partly due to popular pressure, which did not admit concessions. [SUP][ 21 ][/SUP] Attempts by US Secretary of State Hughes to woo the disaffected with certain concessions failed, and Governor Robinson annulled the calling of regional assembly elections, the first step in his failed plan. [SUP][ 22 ][/SUP] The main stumbling block in the negotiations on the US side was the Dominican refusal to accept the payment of the loans that the occupying administration had contracted, which was essential for the Americans. [SUP][ 23 ][/SUP]For the Dominicans, any US military presence was intolerable. [SUP][ 24 ][/SUP] Given the stalemate in the negotiations and the economic crisis, the military government prepared to continue the occupation and request a new loan in March 1922. [SUP][ 23[/SUP] ]
Some Dominican leaders, however, used the plan as the basis for new negotiations that ended in an agreement between United States Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and Dominican Ambassador to the United States Francisco J. Peynado on June 30, 1922. [SUP][ 25 ][/SUP] This agreement allowed for the selection of a caretaker president to rule until elections could be organized. [SUP][ 25 ][/SUP] In exchange for ceding power and control of the police to the new Dominican government, the Caribbean representatives agreed to respect the measures approved during the occupation. [SUP][ 25 ][/SUP] Under the supervision of emissary Sumner Welles, personal representative of President Harding in charge of organizing the evacuation, [SUP][ 25 ][/SUP] Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos assumed the provisional presidency on October 21, 1922. [SUP][ 26 ][/SUP] Welles, who remained as the main US representative on the island despite lacking official position, managed to get the Dominican parties to accept the agreement reached by Hughes in the United States. [SUP][ 25 ][/SUP]Negotiations between the military government and Dominican politicians, in which Welles had to mediate, were complicated, especially by the disagreement between the two parties over control of the police, which Robinson wanted to maintain for at least six months and the Dominicans wanted to receive immediately after the new Government was formed. [SUP][ 27 ][/SUP] Welles had to seek the personal backing of President Harding to overcome Robinson's opposition to the concessions, which was based primarily on military grounds, while the Dominicans gave more importance to the political aspects of the issues. [SUP][ 28[/SUP] ]
Following the elections, the new caretaker government took office on 21 October. [SUP][ 29 ][/SUP] In the presidential elections of March 15, 1924, Horacio Vásquez Lajara , a former ally and collaborator of the United States, easily defeated Peynado. [SUP][ 29 ][/SUP] Vásquez's Alianza Party also won a comfortable majority in both houses of Congress. With his rise to power on July 12, control of the Republic returned to Dominican hands. The withdrawal of US forces began in June of that year, and ended in September. [SUP][ 30[/SUP] ]

ConsequencesEditDespite the withdrawal of the occupation troops, concerns remained regarding the collection and use of the country's customs revenue. To solve this problem, representatives of the United States and the government of the Dominican Republic met in a convention and signed a treaty on December 27, 1924, by which control over the country's customs revenues was ceded to the United States. This treaty was the cause of a long resentment between the United States and the Dominican people until in 1944, the Trujillo-Hull treaty repealed the previous one and the customs revenues of the country returned to be administered by the Dominican government again.
One of the consequences of the occupation was the rise to power of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo . Trujillo, a member of the National Guard created in early 1919 by the United States and despite being a person of questionable moral character, received high marks from US military officers and eventually became chief of staff of the country's army in 1928.
Following the fraudulent elections of 1930, Trujillo became president of the country. Although the US State Department viewed Trujillo as a kind of "Frankenstein, brought to life by the US Marines" and likely to cause further uprisings, it was supported by the US government when its tactics heavy-handed prevented the need for military intervention. By benefiting from US control over the country's customs, Trujillo was able to divert funds for the military from him and suppress internal dissent.
Political corruption, military force, torture, murder, nepotism, commercial monopolies and the personal management of the national treasure of the Republic, allowed Trujillo to silence his opponents and amass a fortune of more than 800 million dollars. of the time.




US occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965-1966)

Civil war in the Dominican Republic

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The second US occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965–1966) , called Operation Power Pack , [SUP][ 7 ][/SUP] by the United States Armed Forces , began with the entry of the Marine Corps into Santo Domingo on April 28, 1965. It was later joined by most of the United States Army's 82nd Airborne Division and its parent company, the XVIII Airborne Corps . The intervention ended in September 1966, when the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, the last remnant of the American unit in the country, withdrew.

Cold War

April 28, 1965 – September 1966

Santo Domingo , Dominican Republic

Military revolt, fear of possible communist expansion .

Truce , Juan Bosch excluded from the presidency, election of Joaquín Balaguer as president.

Loyal United States Inter-American Peacekeeping Force • Brazil • Honduras • Paraguay • Nicaragua • Costa Rica • El Salvador Congress of the Dominican Republic Interim constitutionalist government Dominican government in exile

Lyndon B Johnson John Bosch

Antonio Imbert BarreraBruce Palmer Francisco Caamaño Manuel Montes Arache Illio Capocci † André Riviere †

USA: 12,439 soldiers 6,924 marines 1,100 airmen 10,059 sailors Brazil : 1,130 soldiers 2000-4000 regulars and civilians armed with the San Cristóbal assault rifle , Browning M1919 A4 light machine gun, Browning M-2HB medium machine gun, M3 anti-tank gun, Kurk 75mm howitzer, Willy jeep with machine guns, Lanverk Lynx assault tanks, light tanks Panhard AMX-13 and Lanverk L-60 [SUP][ 1[/SUP] ]

USA: 13 soldiers killed [SUP][ 1 ][/SUP] 95 soldiers wounded [SUP][ 1 ][/SUP] 1 M50 Ontos tank destroyer damaged [SUP][[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP][SUP]][/SUP] IAPF : 17 wounded [SUP][[/SUP][SUP] 3[/SUP] ] 77 fighters killed [SUP][ 1 ][/SUP] ​175 fighters wounded [SUP][ 1 ][/SUP] ​5 tanks destroyed [SUP][ 4 ] [/SUP][SUP]​[[/SUP][SUP]5[/SUP] ]

Dominican civil war ← US occupation of the Dominican Republic

2,825 Dominicans died during the conflict. [SUP][ 6[/SUP] ]

[ edit data at Wikidata ]

BackgroundEditAfter a period of political instability following the assassination of Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in 1961, candidate Juan Bosch , founder of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), was elected president in December 1962 and inaugurated in February 1963.
A group of conservative military officers together with the powerful elite of the Dominican oligarchy and the Catholic hierarchy, dissatisfied with the measures taken by the new Bosch government, carried out the coup d'état on September 25, 1963, which led to a civil war.
At the beginning of the uprising against Bosch, General Wessin y Wessin controlled the Armed Forces Training Center known by the acronym CEFA, an elite group of some 2,000 highly trained infantrymen. This quasi-independent organization, originally established by Ramfis Trujillo , son of the former dictator, was formed to protect the government. Stationed at the San Isidro Air Base, they differed from regular army units in being equipped with tanks, recoilless guns, and artillery, as well as their own attack aircraft. Elias Wessin stated:

"The communist, Marxist-Leninist, Castroist doctrine, or whatever it is called, is now outlawed."
​

Subsequently, power was handed over to a civilian triumvirate. The new leaders quickly abolished the new constitution, called '63. The following two years were marked by strong political instability with numerous strikes and conflicts.
Donald Reid Cabral , who became head of the board on December 23, 1963, was unpopular with most high-ranking officers in the military, for his attempt to curtail their privileges. Reid suspected that some or all of these officers would try to overthrow him in the spring of 1965. Hoping to prevent a coup, on April 24, 1965, he sent his chief of staff, General Marcos Rivera, to cancel four officers considered to be conspirators. These did not surrender, but instead took a military camp northwest of Santo Domingo and captured Rivera.
Immediately, the Dominican Revolutionary Party and the June 14 Revolutionary Movement put large numbers of armed civilians on the streets, leading to the creation of the first squads of the rebel army, which were loosely known as "Comandos." These were, at times, well-armed gangs of teenagers. The Dominican Popular Movement distributed Molotov cocktails to the crowds, and the rebel military set up defensive positions on the Duarte Bridge . [SUP][ 8[/SUP] ]
Pro-Bosch rebels, known as "constitutionalists" for advocating the restoration of President Bosch and the restoration of the 1963 constitution, took to the streets, quickly seizing the National Palace and government media in the capital. Military loyalists to the Reid junta and opponents of the Constitutionalists adopted the nickname "loyalists."
Colonel Francisco Alberto Caamaño and Colonel Manuel Ramón Montes Arache, commander of the Frogmen Command Corps of the Dominican Navy , became leaders of the constitutionalists, coordinated with Bosch by Colonel Rafael Tomás Fernández Domínguez . Reid was captured in the presidential palace by rebel forces commanded by Caamaño. However, General Wessin y Wessin, head of the Armed Forces, took the vacant position left by Reid, becoming the de facto head of state.
Bosch, still in exile in Puerto Rico , convinced José Rafael Molina Ureña , a partisan leader, to become provisional president until his return. In the days that followed, the constitutionalists clashed with internal security agents and with the right-wing CEFA military . By April 26, 1965, armed civilians had outnumbered regular military rebels. Radio Santo Domingo, now under full control of the rebels, began to incite violent actions. [SUP][ 9[/SUP] ]
Both sides were heavily armed and many civilians were caught in the crossfire. The Washington government has begun preparations for the evacuation of its citizens and other foreigners who may wish to leave the Dominican Republic. The degree of involvement of the " communists ", including the June 14 Revolutionary Movement , had been questioned.
Provisional Constitutionalist President Molina Ureña and Colonel Caamaño asked the US ambassador for US mediation to stop the attacks by the Dominican Air Force on constitutionalist areas. The US ambassador refused. Totally dismayed by this rejection, Molina Ureña resigned. At the San Isidro base, loyal Air Force generals elected Colonel Pedro Bartolomé Benoit to head a new "loyalist" junta.
On April 28, the Dominican Air Force resumed bombing Constitutionalist positions in Santo Domingo while armed rebel civilians invaded a police station and summarily executed police officers. The rebels stormed the Ozama Fortress . An AMX-13 tank was used, which with one shot made a hole in the wall of the fortress, and then the tank entered the courtyard of the fortress followed by the rebel troops made up of military and armed civilians. They released 700 prisoners from the Ozama Fortress jail. [SUP][ 2[/SUP] ]
Of the 30,000 Dominican soldiers, pilots, and policemen, at the start of the civil war, General Wessin y Wessin ended up having less than 2,400 soldiers and only 200 national police officers under his command. The first military actions of the United States were limited to the evacuation of Americans and other foreign civilians in the city of Santo Domingo. A landing zone was established at the Hotel Embajador, located on the western outskirts of Santo Domingo.
The "loyalists" failed to regain control of Santo Domingo and a demoralized CEFA withdrew to a base at San Isidro, on the east side of the Ozama River . General Wessin and the last leader of the deposed government regime, Donald Reid – better known as "The American" – then requested the intervention of the United States.

OccupationEdit Headquarters of the US forces and the IAPF and lodgings of the health services during the occupation of Santo Domingo:
1. Headquarters, US forces
2. Headquarters, IAPF,
3. Company D, 307 Medical Battalion, at the Colegio María Auxiliadora,
4. Company C, liquidation station,
5. 15 Field Hospital,
6. Company C at Camp Randall.


Medical Service officers meeting near Santo Domingo in early May 1965.


The decision to intervene militarily in the Dominican Republic was a personal decision by United States President Lyndon Johnson . [SUP][ citation needed ][/SUP] This, convinced of the defeat of the loyal forces and for fear of the emergence of "a second Cuba" in the Caribbean, ordered the US armed forces to restore order.
Up to this point, all civilian advisers had been against immediate intervention, hoping that the loyalist side could end the civil war. President Johnson, however, followed the advice of his ambassador to Santo Domingo, W. Tapley Bennett, who argued that the Dominican military leaders were inefficient and indecisive. Bennett suggested that the US interpose its forces between the rebels and the Junta, thus enforcing a ceasefire. The United States then asked the Organization of American States to negotiate a political settlement between the opposing factions.
Chief of Staff General Wheeler told General Palmer of CINCLANT regarding the military intervention:

"Their occupation without warning is to prevent the Dominican Republic from turning communist."
​

On April 29, under the official argument of the need to protect the lives of foreigners – none of whom had been killed or injured – a fleet of 41 ships was sent to blockade the island and thus began the invasion of infantrymen. Marine and part of the 82nd Airborne Division . Also, about 75 members of "E" company of the 7th Special Forces Group were deployed . Ultimately, a contingent of 42,000 soldiers and marines was sent to Santo Domingo.
President Lyndon B. Johnson declared that night that he had given orders for the landing of marines in Santo Domingo in order to protect the lives of US citizens and that the OAS had been informed of this situation. Other versions affirm that the invasion was carried out unilaterally and that the OAS delegates found out about the invasion on the radio and on television after Johnson's speech. However, shortly after, the United States, together with the OAS, formed an inter-American military force for the intervention in the Dominican Republic.
A sniper killed a Marine near the US embassy and, in the ensuing crossfire, a grenade fatally wounded a Dominican girl. [SUP][ 2 ][/SUP]The evacuation of US citizens concluded without further loss of life. In the middle of the afternoon of April 30, a ceasefire was negotiated, sponsored by the apostolic nuncio in the country. On May 5, the "Act of Law" of Santo Domingo was signed by Colonel Benoit (loyalist), Colonel Caamaño (constitutionalist) and the special committee of the OAS. This act sought a complete ceasefire, the recognition of an "International Security Zone", an agreement to help relief agencies and the inviolability of diplomatic missions. The Law established the framework for future negotiations, but it could not stop all the fighting. Constitutionalist snipers continued to fire on US forces, although fighting between Dominican factions subsided for a while.
Faced with the impossibility of achieving a military victory, the constitutionalist rebels elected their leader Francisco Alberto Caamaño as president of the country. US officials countered this action by declaring General Antonio Imbert Barrera as president. On May 7, Imbert was sworn in as president of the "Government of National Reconstruction." The next step in the "stabilization" process, as envisioned by the Washington government and the OAS, was to arrange an agreement between Caamaño and Imbert for the formation of a provisional government. However, Caamaño refused to meet with Imbert until several of the "loyal" officers, including Wessin and Wessin, were forced to leave the country.
On May 13, General Imbert began "Operation Cleanup," with which his forces achieved some success in eliminating pockets of rebel resistance on the outskirts of the Ciudad Nueva sector, and the silence of Radio Santo Domingo. The operation ended on May 21.
security corridor


On May 14, the Americans established a "security corridor" connecting the San Isidro Air Base and the Duarte Bridge with the Hotel Embajador and the United States Embassy in downtown Santo Domingo, the Americans essentially cordoning off the Constitutionalist zone of Santo Domingo. Roads were blocked, patrols were established continuously. Some 6,500 people from many nations were evacuated to safety. In addition, the US armed forces provided aid by air to a large number of Dominican nationals.
In mid-May, the majority of the OAS voted in favor of carrying out the operation, the reduction of US forces and their replacement by an Inter-American Peace Force (FIP) which was formally established on May 23. The troops were sent by: Brazil – 1,130, Honduras – 250, Paraguay – 184, Nicaragua – 160, Costa Rica – 21 military police, and El Salvador– 3 General Staff officers. The first contingent to arrive was a company of riflemen from Honduras, which was later backed up by detachments from Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Brazil presented the largest number of troops with a reinforced infantry battalion. Brazilian General Hugo Panasco Alvin assumed command of the OAS ground forces, and on May 26 the US armed forces began to withdraw.
A Marine monitors the activity from a barricade in the streets of Santo Domingo.


On June 15, 1965, American tanks entered the city supported by the loyalists without the rebel tanks being able to stop them, falling to their northern position, although the main bastion resisted with the use of barricades and Molotov cocktails.
Fighting continued until August 31, 1965, when a truce was declared. Most of the American troops left soon after and peacekeeping operations were handed over to Brazilian troops, albeit with a US military presence that remained until September 1966.
US General Bruce Palmer and Brazilian General Hugo Panasco Alvin, IFJ commanders, General John Deane, head of the US 82nd Airborne Division, and senior military and police officials meet on September 9 with General Wessin and Wessin at their house, near Cachón de la Rubia, to avert the crisis unleashed by their refusal to leave the country. While 26 US helicopters fly in space over and around his house, General Panasco Alvin informs him that he must leave the country as consul in Miami.
However, in the face of continuous threats and attacks, including a particularly violent attack on the Hotel Matum in Santiago de los Caballeros , Caamaño accepted an agreement imposed by the United States government and the new provisional Dominican president, García Godoy , sent Colonel Caamaño as a military attaché at the Dominican embassy to the United Kingdom .
In the presidential elections held in 1966 and with the open support of the US government, the candidacy of Joaquín Balaguer , who had been a puppet president during the Trujillo era, emerged victorious over Juan Bosch . Bosch never got power back. This fact gave rise to a relative political stability coupled with strong repression by the Balaguer government, who became a leading figure in Dominican politics for decades.
The General Assembly of the Forty-sixth Regular Session of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved on May 15, 2016 a declaration of reparation to the Dominican Republic, for the role played by the regional organization, by giving the endorsement which allowed a military intervention in the country during the Civil-Military Revolution of April 1965. [SUP][ 10[/SUP] ]

LowEditDominicansEdit

• An estimated 2,825 Dominicans died, most of them civilians. [SUP][ 6[/SUP] ]

militaryEdit

• A total of 44 US soldiers were killed, [SUP][ 6 ] [/SUP][SUP][[/SUP][SUP]11 [/SUP][SUP]][/SUP] 27 in action. [SUP][ 6 ][/SUP] 172 were wounded in action. [SUP][ 6 ][/SUP] Some of the non-battle casualties were caused by terrorist-style actions. [SUP][ 6[/SUP] ]
• Of the IAPF personnel, 6 Brazilians and 5 Paraguayans were wounded in action. [SUP][ 6[/SUP] ]

 

[HempKat]

Josh Hawley, Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, maybe Ted Cruz. a short list of those willing to die on the wrong hill...so long as they die, i don't care where... "birds gotta eat too..."

I'm not so sure about how short that list will be. I mean logic would suggest in light of all the horrific war crimes coming to light that the Republicans would start backing away from Putin and return to the more traditional Anti Russian/Anti Putin position that used to be as reliable as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. Unfortunately that doesn't account for how the Republicans got to this unnatural Pro Russia/Pro Putin position which was dear of Donald J Trump or more accurately fear of the influence Trump has over his base. As far as I know Trump has yet to walk back any of the positive opinions he has of Putin and he still thinks his approach to the situation in Ukraine was brilliant. Add to that the Trump loving peanut gallery here still seems to thin everything Russia is doing is the fault of the US and/or Biden and that Putin is some misunderstood fighter against Nazism that we should all befriend and it's pretty clear Trump's base is still fooling his every lead like some star struck high school virgin that the Football Quarterback winked at. Given all that I don't see most Republicans having the spine to go against Trump or his base. Which really I'm fairly okay with I would love to see each and every one of them get voted out of office and hopefully be replaced with Republicans that are actually respectable and have a clear set of conservative values they stand by.

 

[Montuno]

La intervención estadounidense en República Dominicana: 50 años

Medio siglo después, es hora de refutar las ideas convencionales en Washington

ABRAHAM F. LOWENTHAL
27 ABR 2015-14:49 CEST


La intervención militar de Estados Unidos en la República Dominicana que comenzó el 28 de abril de 1965 fue objeto de numerosas condenas en su momento, tanto en América Latina como en Estados Unidos. Su propósito fue evitar “una segunda Cuba”, pero las autoridades norteamericanas, en especial el presidente Lyndon B. Johnson, fueron mucho más allá de los hechos objetivos al especular sobre la posibilidad de que los comunistas se hicieran del poder. El imperativo de evitar esa segunda Cuba distorsionaba su capacidad de reunir información veraz y analizarla.

Con el paso del tiempo, sin embargo, muchos en Washington empezaron a considerar la intervención en la República Dominicana como un éxito. Su argumento era que se habían logrado los cuatro objetivos propuestos: proteger a los ciudadanos estadounidenses y de otros países, detener la violencia, impedir una posible toma comunista del poder y restaurar los procesos constitucionales para bien del pueblo dominicano. Para dichos analistas, el episodio fue una demostración de poder de Estados Unidos que proporcionó enseñanzas prácticas sobre el uso eficaz de la fuerza. Esta opinión acerca de la operación dominicana pasó a ser una conclusión a la que Washington arribo sin el suficiente análisis.

Exactamente 50 años después de la invasión, ha llegado el momento de refutar esa idea tan prevaleciente.


Los costes de la intervención de 1965

Los costes de la intervención de 1965 no se han calculado debidamente. Los costes humanos y materiales fueron importantes, pero fueron los costes intangibles los que fueron especialmente elevados. La intervención en la República Dominicana redujo las probabilidades de éxito de las reformas pacíficas que muchos funcionarios estadounidenses deseaban ver en América Latina. Algunos conservadores latinoamericanos --sobre todo en Centroamérica-- llegaron a la conclusión de que Estados Unidos no iba a permitir que triunfaran los movimientos reformistas. Muchos de los latinoamericanos comprometidos con el cambio democrático se convencieron de que Estados Unidos iba a oponerse incluso a esas reformas, y que por consiguiente valdría la pena unir fuerzas con la extrema izquierda.

La intervención dominicana tuvo también graves consecuencias dentro de Estados Unidos. La escandalosa falta de transparencia del gobierno de Johnson agravó la desconfianza entre la administración y muchos líderes de opinión, contribuyendo a la crisis de credibilidad que acabó inspirando la reacción estadounidense ante Vietnam.

Donde más serios fueron los costes intangibles fue en la República Dominicana. La intervención intensificó la fragmentación política y la dependencia de Estados Unidos, e hizo más difícil el desarrollo de instituciones políticas efectivas. Irónicamente, una de las principales contribuciones resultó de la reforma inmigratoria de ese año en EEUU, cuya consecuencia fue un aumento de la inmigración dominicana, con el consiguiente flujo de remesas, experiencias e ideas.

La relativa facilidad para terminar la intervención

En el caso de la República Dominicana, varios aspectos singulares ayudan a explicar la facilidad con la que Estados Unidos pudo terminar la ocupación. Dos reconocidos líderes políticos --Juan Bosch y Joaquín Balaguer—contribuyeron a resolver la crisis mediante la convocatoria de nuevas elecciones. La excepcional prudencia mostrada por el presidente provisional, Héctor García-Godoy, y el embajador estadounidense, Ellsworth Bunker, permitieron la rápida partida de las fuerzas norteamericanas. Si después Estados Unidos hubiera enviado sus tropas a Haití --que no tenía instituciones ni grupos políticos sólidos, ni figuras políticas de peso--, habría sido más difícil partir, como sucedería posteriormente en Irak y Afganistán.
​​​​
La experiencia dominicana indica con claridad que Estados Unidos necesita diseñar métodos alternativos para perseguir sus objetivos, sobre todo ayudando a fomentar el desarrollo político, social y económico de los países y territorios más cercanos geográficamente, con los cuales el país está tan estrechamente relacionado.

La enorme diferencia entre las relaciones de Estados Unidos con sus vecinos más próximos y el resto de sus relaciones internacionales ha sido evidente desde hace mucho tiempo, pero ha adquirido especial importancia durante los últimos 50 años. Las nociones históricas de soberanía significan cada vez menos, aunque se sigan proclamando a voces.

Los problemas derivados de la creciente interacción de Estados Unidos y sus vecinos --tráfico de personas, drogas y armas, inmigración, medio ambiente, salud pública, turismo médico y prestaciones sociales y de sanidad transferibles, catástrofes naturales, política policial y vigilancia de fronteras-- son retos especialmente complejos para las dos partes. Estas difíciles cuestiones, internacionales e internas al mismo tiempo, se complican aún más en los países con muy escasa capacidad estatal --Guatemala, Honduras y Haití en particular--, con quienes se hace aún más necesario mantener una estrecha cooperación por el bien de los pueblos de ambos lados, una necesidad que crece año tras año.

Cincuenta años después de la intervención de 1965 en la República Dominicana, producto de la obsesión de Washington con Fidel Castro, no solo ha llegado el momento de tener una relación de mutuo respeto con Cuba sino también de desafiar otras mentalidades enquistadas y encontrar respuestas más creativas a la persistente interdependencia entre los países de la Cuenca del Caribe y Estados Unidos.

Abraham F. Lowenthal, catedrático emérito en la Universidad de Southern California e investigador titular no residente de la Brookings Institution, fue fundador y director del Programa Latinoamericano del Woodrow Wilson Center y del Diálogo Interamericano.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/elpais....outputType=amp

U.S. Intervention in the Dominican Republic: 50 Years Later

Half a century later, it is time to refute conventional wisdom in Washington.

ABRAHAM F. LOWENTHAL
27 APR 2015-14:49 CEST


The U.S. military intervention in the Dominican Republic that began on April 28, 1965, was widely condemned at the time, both in Latin America and in the United States. Its purpose was to prevent "a second Cuba," but U.S. officials, especially President Lyndon B. Johnson, went far beyond the objective facts in speculating about the possibility of a communist takeover. The imperative to avoid that second Cuba distorted their ability to gather accurate information and analyze it.

As time went on, however, many in Washington began to consider the intervention in the Dominican Republic a success. Their argument was that the four objectives had been achieved: to protect U.S. and other citizens, to stop the violence, to prevent a possible communist takeover, and to restore constitutional processes for the good of the Dominican people. For these analysts, the episode was a demonstration of U.S. power that provided practical lessons on the effective use of force. This view of the Dominican operation became a conclusion that Washington reached without sufficient analysis.

Exactly 50 years after the invasion, the time has come to refute that prevailing view.


The costs of the 1965 intervention

The costs of the 1965 intervention have not been properly calculated. The human and material costs were significant, but it was the intangible costs that were particularly high. The intervention in the Dominican Republic reduced the likelihood of success of the peaceful reforms that many U.S. officials wanted to see in Latin America. Some Latin American conservatives--especially in Central America--concluded that the United States was not going to allow reform movements to succeed. Many Latin Americans committed to democratic change became convinced that the United States was going to oppose even those reforms, and that it would therefore be worthwhile to join forces with the extreme left.

The Dominican intervention also had serious consequences within the United States. The Johnson administration's scandalous lack of transparency aggravated distrust between the administration and many opinion leaders, contributing to the crisis of credibility that eventually inspired the U.S. reaction to Vietnam.

Where the intangible costs were most serious was in the Dominican Republic. The intervention intensified political fragmentation and dependence on the United States, and made it more difficult to develop effective political institutions. Ironically, one of the major contributions resulted from the US immigration reform of that year, the consequence of which was an increase in Dominican immigration, with the consequent flow of remittances, experiences and ideas.

The relative ease of terminating the intervention

In the case of the Dominican Republic, several unique aspects help explain the ease with which the United States was able to end the occupation. Two well-known political leaders - Juan Bosch and Joaquin Balaguer - helped resolve the crisis by calling for new elections. The exceptional prudence shown by the provisional president, Héctor García-Godoy, and the U.S. ambassador, Ellsworth Bunker, allowed the rapid departure of the U.S. forces. Had the United States then sent its troops to Haiti - which had no strong political institutions or groups, nor political figures of weight - it would have been more difficult to leave, as would later happen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Dominican experience clearly indicates that the United States needs to devise alternative methods of pursuing its objectives, especially by helping to foster the political, social and economic development of the geographically closer countries and territories with which the country is so closely related.

The enormous difference between U.S. relations with its closest neighbors and the rest of its international relations has long been evident, but it has become especially important during the past 50 years. Historical notions of sovereignty mean less and less, even if they continue to be loudly proclaimed.

The problems arising from the growing interaction of the United States and its neighbors -- human, drug and arms trafficking, immigration, environment, public health, medical tourism and transferable health and welfare benefits, natural disasters, policing and border surveillance -- are particularly complex challenges for both sides. These difficult issues, international and domestic at the same time, are further complicated in countries with very limited state capacity--Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti in particular--with whom close cooperation is all the more necessary for the good of the people on both sides, a need that grows year by year.

Fifty years after the 1965 intervention in the Dominican Republic, a product of Washington's obsession with Fidel Castro, the time has come not only to have a mutually respectful relationship with Cuba but also to challenge other entrenched mentalities and find more creative responses to the persistent interdependence between the countries of the Caribbean Basin and the United States.

Abraham F. Lowenthal, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California and nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was a founder and director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin American Program and the Inter-American Dialogue.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/elpais....4.html%3foutpu tType=amp

 

[Montuno]

EuropeTrain station strike in eastern Ukraine takes brutal toll on civilians


By Dalton Bennett
Today at 6:14 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 2:17 p.m. EDT


Burned-out cars sit outside a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, that was being used for civilian evacuations, after it was hit by a missile strike on April 8, 2022. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post)


KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — A missile strike at a train station in eastern Ukraine Friday killed at least 50 people and injured another 98 as hundreds gathered to evacuate a looming Russian offensive in the region, authorities said.

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — A missile strike at a train station in eastern Ukraine Friday killed at least 50 people and injured another 98 as hundreds gathered to evacuate a looming Russian offensive in the region, authorities said.

Ukrainian officials blamed Russia for the attack in Kramatorsk, the capital of the Donetsk region, calling it a “deliberate slaughter."

“This is an evil that has no limits,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post Friday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry denied involvement in the strike. Fighting has intensified in eastern Ukraine in recent days, as Moscow refocuses its flagging war effort away from the capital, Kyiv.
Video shows aftermath of Kramatorsk train station attackA Russian missile attack struck the Kramatorsk train station in Ukraine on April 8 as evacuees were waiting to escape the region. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post)

Washington Post reporters arrived at the train station in Kramatorsk about 15 minutes after the attack and counted at least 20 dead, including children. A large piece of a missile had landed about 100 yards from the building entrance. On one side, the words “for the children” were written in Russian.


Witnesses said that an initial explosion was followed by four to five blasts that they believed were caused by “cluster bombs” and that struck outside the building where a large crowd had assembled for an arriving train.

It was a gruesome scene of carnage and chaos as Ukrainian police and military collected and covered bodies with pieces of shredded tarp. Blood-spattered luggage and personal items littered the station and platform, while a maimed dog shivered next to one of the victims.

More mangled human remains were transferred to black bags being loaded onto a truck. A long, heavy trail of blood could be seen leading from a bench toward the entrance of the building.
The remnants of a missile with the Russian words “For the children” painted on it lie on the ground after a strike on the Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine on April 8, 2022. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post)
“There were people everywhere. Torn-off limbs, flesh, bone, pieces of people everywhere," said Yelena Khalenmonva, a local resident who was inside the station waiting for a train when she heard the blasts.

The explosions shattered the train station windows, sending glass shards into a waiting area packed with evacuees, including women and children, Khalenmonva said.

“An old man missing his leg, another person missing their head,” she said.

Outside, Khalenmonva found her 27-year-old son, Vladyslav Kopichko, on the ground with five other bodies covered in flesh and other remains. He was alive but gravely injured, with shrapnel sprayed across his entire body and further wounds to his back and leg.

At the hospital, where medical staff treated Kopichko’s wounds in the hallway, he said that he was knocked to the ground by the first explosion and that another person fell on top of him, shielding him from the worst of the blast.

“I was saved by the body that fell on me,” he said. “They were completely torn to pieces.”
Wounded were treated in a city hospital in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, where evacuation trains were departing on April 8, 2022. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post)

​​​​​​
Anton Ladygin, 18, had spent two days at the train station waiting to be evacuated. On Friday, he was standing outside with his girlfriend and dog when the missile struck nearby.

He fell to the ground after hearing the first blast and threw himself on top of his girlfriend as the explosions continued around them.

“People were screaming. There were explosions everywhere,” he said.

Survivors described severe casualties among those seated in two outdoor waiting areas on the train platform. Bags of food and children’s toys were scattered on the ground near blood-soaked wooden benches.

Alexander Pluschev had just left the bathroom in one of those areas when he heard an explosion and felt a sharp, searing pain in his leg — a shrapnel wound.

“How could they hit the train station when they knew so many civilians were here?” he said while waiting for treatment inside a local hospital.

Russia’s war dead belie its slogan that no one is left behind

The scene at the train platform in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, where evacuation trains were departing on April 8, 2022. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post)

The wounded were ferried to two separate medical facilities in Kramatorsk, including Town Hospital Number 3. There, medical staff struggled to cope with more than forty casualties, including many with catastrophic injuries from shrapnel. All five of their operating rooms were full.


In the hallways, medical personnel treated more than a dozen patients, applying pressure to wounds or tightening tourniquets. A man lying on the floor screamed in pain as military medics rushed to seal his gushing wound.

“I need tape, give me tape!” yelled the woman who was treating him.
Ukrainian servicemen carry a body after Russian shelling at the railway station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Friday, April 8, 2022. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post)

Inside an operating room, surgeons struggled to stabilize a grievously wounded patient as they convulsed from blood loss. In another, doctors prepared to amputate the leg of a child injured in the blast.

Members of the Ukrainian armed services rushed three injured children down the chaotic hospital corridor to idling ambulances to receive further treatment in the city of Dnipro.

“We do not know yet how many children were killed and injured in the attack, but we fear the worst,” Murat Sahin, Ukraine representative for the United Nations Children’s Fund, said in a statement Friday.

Back at the train station, two hours after the blast, police officers were still gathering belongings left by those that fled for their lives.

“Is this going to be the next Mariupol?" said a sobbing station attendant, referring to the besieged Ukrainian city that has suffered some of the most brutal bombardments of the war.

Adela Suliman in London, Mary Ilyushina in Riga, and Annabelle Chapman in Paris contributed to this report.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...rain-station-strike-civilians-ukraine-russia/

 

[Montuno]

​

Rambla Magazineindependent journalism​

APRIL 8, 2022

COVER PAGE

Ukrainian missiles kill at least 39 civilians at Kramatorsk train station in Donetsk/b]

APRIL 8, 2022
R@MBLA

The Tochka-U artifacts, used exclusively by the Ukrainian army, bore the inscription "for children", a legend that has appeared since 2014 on the ammunition that kyiv uses to massacre the Donbas





Tochka-U missiles, used exclusively by the Ukrainian army, have caused, early this Friday, the death of at least 39 civilians at the Kramatorsk railway station, in the Donetsk People's Republic, in eastern Ukraine. More than 300 people were injured in the attack. The station was packed with civilians waiting to be evacuated, an estimated 4,000.
A few minutes after the event, the Ukrainian government has already pointed to Russia as the author of the massacre. Volodomir Zelensky himself has pointed out that Russia "exterminates" the civilian population. His words have been picked up by high-ranking Western leaders such as Josep Borrell, who has called the action an "indiscriminate attack by Russia." Under the premise of this "extermination" the kyiv government continues to demand the shipment of weapons to NATO countries. The United Kingdom and Germany have announced today the supply of more weapons to Ukraine.
Moscow denies that its armed forces were the perpetrators of the missile attack. "On April 8, the Russian armed forces did not have fire missions in the city of Kramatorsk and they were not planned," says the Ministry of Defense in a statement released on its official Telegram account, where they make their version of authorship clear. : "We emphasize that the Tochka-U tactical missiles, fragments of which were found near the Kramatorsk railway station and published by eyewitnesses, are used only by the Ukrainian armed forces." The missiles of the Russian armed forces are of the Iskander type.
"For the children"

Remains of a Tochka-U missile near the station with the inscription "for children" on the side. Unlike the Iskander, the Tochka-U have 4 fins.In one of the fragments of the Tochka-U missile that has hit near the Kramatorsk station, in images distributed by the city's railway company, the inscription "for children" can be read on the side. This legend is commonly used by Ukrainian troops since 2014, in their deliberate attacks against the Donbass regions.
Some media suggest that the missiles were partially intercepted by the Russian defense after being launched from Ukrainian positions. However, the fragments ended up hitting the civilian population. Hence, no crater can be seen and the casing has remained more or less intact.
The militias of the Donetsk People's Republic control this area of ​​the Donbass (including the railway lines), where, in addition, the population is mainly Russophone.

​

R@mbla
​

Writing in Rambla Magazine | Web | Other articles by the author​

This article has been written and/or validated by the editorial team of Revista Rambla.​

https://www.revistarambla.com/un-mi...-estacion-de-trenes-de-kramatorsk-en-donetsk/

 

[Petrochemical]

If the CHOCTOW are the same people that the Spanish called CHAETAS, then they will not have a good memory of the Spanish, or at least of Hernando de Soto and his exploratory expedition...


WIKIPEDIA:
Main article: Hernando de Soto expedition in Florida

A proposed map of the de Soto expedition, based on the 1997 map by Charles M. Hudson. [SUP][ 2[/SUP] ]



Hernando de Soto, engraving by Juan Brunetti after drawing by José Maea for the Portraits of Illustrious Spaniards , 1791


In May 1539 , with between 600 and 700 men, 24 priests, 9 ships, and 220 horses, he reached the western coast of Florida, which would become Bradenton , and south of Tampa , Florida . He named the place Holy Spirit. Hernando de Soto's goal was to colonize the area, preferably by seeking a city like Cuzco or Mexico . Therefore, he brought several tons of equipment distributed in tools, weapons, cannons, dogs, and pigs. In addition to sailors, the ships brought priests, blacksmiths, artisans, engineers, farmers, and merchants. Few of them had previously traveled outside of Spain , or worse, outside of their villages.
Beginning in Espiritu Santo, De Soto explored Florida and much of the southern United States. Already in Florida, he began his misfortune. Instead of being full of gold, the country was swampy and infested with mosquitoes, extremely hot and humid. The Indians also complicated their work of advance and exploration.
The natives had had bad experiences with the previous expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez . De Soto's troops were much less brutal. They did not capture Indians to use as laborers and guides, they did not rape women, and they did not pillage villages for food for their men and horses as Narvaez did. He installed Christian crosses in the holy places of the Indians. To ensure the development of the expedition, the Spanish often captured chiefs of local tribes.
The most important aide to the troops was Juan Ortiz, who came to Florida in pursuit of Narvaez's expedition and was captured by the Uzica , a Calusa tribe. Chief Hirrihigua's daughter served as a precursor to Pocahontas asking for Ortiz's life, since her father had ordered him to be burned alive. Ortiz survived captivity and torture, and joined Hernando de Soto's new expedition at the first opportunity.
Ortiz knew the terrain and also helped as an interpreter. As a guide for the de Soto expedition, Ortiz established a unique method for leading the expedition and for communicating in the different tribal dialects. Paracoxi guides were recruited from each tribe along the route.
The expedition's first winter camp was set up at Anhaica , near Lake Tallahas . The site is also close to Bahía de Caballos, where members of Narváez's troop were forced to eat horses to survive. This is the only place on the entire route where archaeologists have been able to establish exactly where Hernando de Soto's expedition was.
In the north — The Battle of Mauvila (1540)Edit

The expedition ventured along the eastern Appalachian Mountains and came within a hair's breadth of annihilation. The members of the conquering advance had to negotiate, sometimes, the pigs that they brought to obtain other foods and in certain occasions they had to obtain, by force, what they needed. They crossed Georgia , South Carolina , North Carolina , and Tennessee .
Hearing about the famous Cofitachequi gold treasure , and accompanied by his friends, the Ocute , the expedition continued through the Carolinas. They marched for weeks, hungry and thirsty, with porters who didn't know how to get through the Cofitachequi territories. However, in mid-May, the expedition discovered the tribe's capital, located at what is now known as Columbia , South Carolina.
They received the Spanish with a relatively friendly welcome. The peninsulars demanded to see the city's gold immediately. Upon closer examination the "gold" turned out to be simple copper. They found some pearls and weapons in the city and later continued their search for wealth through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama .
Later they pursued the idea of ​​getting more precious metal, which led them to the so-called giant gold reserves in the east. In northern Alabama, they found the town of Mauvila (or Mabila). The Choctaw tribe , under the leadership of chieftain Tascalusa , defended the heavily fortified city. The Spanish held out for a while, but then the city was repeatedly attacked, over and over again. In a nine-hour battle, twenty Spaniards were killed, although the rest were almost all wounded, and twenty more died in the days that followed. All the Choctaw warriors in that area—between 2,000 and 6,000—died fighting or were executed or committed suicide. Mauvila was set on fire.
Although the Spanish won the battle, they lost most of their possessions and forty horses. They were wounded, sickened and found without proper equipment in unknown and hostile territory, surrounded by enemies. With the battle of Mauvila, the number of natives also decreased in the marching troops. During the crossing the Spaniards were increasingly attacked by an intermittent guerrilla system .
While the men in de Soto's troop lost hope and from then on only wanted to return to the coast, board their ships and return to Cuba, de Soto still dreamed, illusory, of making new discoveries.
In the West — Demoralized (1541)Edit


Discovery of the Mississippi , by William H. Power, 1847. Hernando de Soto seeing the Mississippi River for the first time


The expedition returned north, where they encountered the Chickasaw tribe . De Soto demanded that the indigenous community give him two hundred men to serve as porters. They refused to accept this demand and instead attacked the Spanish settlement during the night. The Spanish lost about forty men and the rest of their equipment. According to participating chroniclers, the expedition was about to be completely destroyed. Fortunately for the advance party, the Chickasaw allowed them to leave, perhaps intimidated by their success.
On May 8 , Hernando de Soto's troops reached the Mississippi River . For this reason, de Soto is the first European to sight this river.
De Soto showed very little interest in this discovery because it represented, for him, an obstacle to his mission. He and 400 men had to cross a wide and mighty river, which was constantly patrolled by hostile natives. After nearly a month, and after the construction of several rafts, he finally crossed the Mississippi with his people and continued west through present-day Arkansas , Oklahoma , and Texas . In winter he settled at Autiamique , on the Arkansas River .

Statue of Hernando de Soto in Barcarrota, Badajoz, Spain.


After a harsh winter, the Spanish expedition was diluted and continued in an increasingly irregular manner. His faithful interpreter, Juan Ortiz, had died, making it more difficult to find routes, food sources, and generally establish communication with the native Mississippians . The expedition headed inland to the territory known as the Caddo River , where they made contact with a native tribe they called Tula , and whom the Spanish considered to have the most expert and dangerous warriors they had ever encountered. The encounter, between Europeans and natives, possibly occurred at Caddo Gap(a monument stands in that community). Based on the documents of Soto's legacy and what Garcilaso indicates, the Spanish later returned to the Mississippi River.
Death of Hernando de SotoEdit

On the west bank of the Mississippi River , in the indigenous town of Guachoya , [SUP][ 3 ][/SUP] (now Ferriday ) Hernando de Soto died on May 21, 1542 due to a fever, leaving Luis de Moscoso de Alvarado in charge of his army. . [SUP][ 4 ][/SUP] Since de Soto was considered immortal among the natives, his body was concealed in sand-weighted blankets by his men, who then sunk him in the middle of the Mississippi River overnight. [SUP][ 3 ] [/SUP][SUP]​[[/SUP][SUP]5[/SUP] ]
Despite the fact that in his will he expressed his wish to be buried when he died, together with the remains of his mother, in the chapel of the Concepción of the parish of San Miguel Arcángel ( Jerez de los Caballeros ), this never came to pass. .
After having covered much of the southern part of what is now the United States on foot and then sailing along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico , the 300 to 350 survivors commanded by Moscoso managed to return to Mexico City in 1543.


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS :


hernando de soto, discoverer of north america

After landing in Tampa in 1539, the Spanish explorer wandered North America for three years and died before finding the immense riches of which he had dreamed.

​

Jose Maria Gonzalez Ochoa​

updated to July 07, 2021 14:20 · Reading: 7 min




from the trip of Solís and Pinzón (1508-1509) through the Gulf of Mexico , the Spanish knew for sure that there were extensive regions to the north of the Antilles, which they soon surrounded by a halo of mystery and fantasy , endowing them with an irresistible attraction. . From that moment, there were several expeditions that entered the south of the North American subcontinent.


In 1513, Juan Ponce de León reached the shores of Florida , baptizing it that way because he found them on the day of Easter. In 1521 he organized a more ambitious expedition in which he lost his life. The navigations of Álvarez de Pineda (1521), Esteban Gómez (1524-1525) and Vázquez de Ayllón (1526) provided the well-defined contours of the North American south coast , while stories were spread about the fabulous riches that the Indians of those regions. In 1528, Pánfilo de Narváez led a colonization expedition to Florida that ended with the death of almost all of its members, some 250 men. Two survivors of this enterprise, the Franciscan Marcos Niza and Vaca de Castro,they spread among authorities and adventurers the idea that there was a new El Dorado in Florida.

Back in Spain, fascinated by the stories that were told about Florida, he obtained a license from Carlos V to explore those lands.​

Landing of Soto in the bay of Espiritu Santo (Tampa), in 1539. Illustration from the American Aboriginal Portfolio, published in 1853.



Photo: American Aboriginal Portfolio

One of these explorers was Hernando de Soto. This man from Extremadura had amassed a great fortune since 1514 in Central America and in the conquest of the Inca kingdom of Peru together with Francisco Pizarro in 1532. Back in Spain , fascinated by the stories that were told about Florida, he obtained from Carlos V a license to explore those lands. Anxious to surpass the conquests of Cortés and Pizarro, Soto offered to pay for an expedition to the interior of Florida in exchange for the Crown obtaining 50 percent of the profits and he being appointed advance of the undiscovered lands and governor. from Cuba .The agreement was sealed on April 20, 1538. A year later he left Cuba at the head of a fleet of nine ships, with 650 men and 237 horses on board.
The expedition landed in Florida, in the bay of Tampa or Espiritu Santo . Leaving the ships anchored and a checkpoint of soldiers to cover the rear and be able to maintain communication with Cuba, Soto entered an unhealthy region, plagued by swamps, with an unbearable humid heat and inhabited by hostile natives who had very bad memories of the passage. of the host of Narvaez.


to know more

Spanish expeditions in the South Sea: the conquest of the Pacific

read article



LANDING IN FLORIDA

Soto's men were surprised when a tattooed man dressed in a grass skirt and loincloth suddenly appeared, addressing them in Spanish. It was the Sevillian Juan Ortiz, a member of the Narvaez expedition who had been captured by the Indians twelve years before and who now put himself at the service of Soto as a guide and interpreter.

Pendant of a Mississippi town.


Photo: State Museum, Tennessee

The Extremaduran conqueror had arrived in Florida convinced that he would find treasures like the one Pizarro obtained in Peru , but Ortiz told him that he had no news that there was gold in the region. Despite this, Soto decided to continue the march. The expeditionaries reached the Appalachian mountains in a few months. Soto sent a handful of men back to Cuba to give news of the expedition and get more men and supplies, although the relief ships sent by Soto's wife never made contact with the expeditionaries.​

With no news, no supplies, and no known course, in March 1540 Hernando de Soto and his men resumed their exploration, encouraged by the news that some tribes gave them about the queen of Cofitachequi, a country that they believed was rich in gold and pearls. Before they passed through other Indian territories in the current territories of Georgia and South Carolina: the lower creeks, the Toa people, the Ichisis, the Atamaha Indians... The Indian chiefs gave them food, housed them and even offered them porters , but the Spaniards did not see gold anywhere . When they finally arrived at Cofitachequi, the queen received them with great ceremonies and took them to a rich palace. But the explorers soon discovered that all the metal the Indians had came from poor copper mines.

The explorers soon discovered that all the metal the Indians had came from poor copper mines.​

By then, the cold and the epidemics had caused the death of most of the auxiliary Indians, so that the heavy advance of the Spaniards was joined by having to drag supplies. With no clear destination they passed through North Carolina and Tennessee, and down the south coast through Alabama . Arriving at each Indian town, Soto kidnapped the chief and demanded the delivery of food, porters and women to serve them.

Soto's expedition was a resounding failure. The Spanish did not find the splendid cities they dreamed of or a place to settle, but they lit up a huge portion of the North American geography. They toured Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana. They reached the Appalachian Mountains and crossed the Mississippi River, through which they came out to sea again.



Photo: Wikimedia Commons​

In November, the survivors reached the territory of the Choctaw Indians, south of what is now the state of Alabama. At Atahachi, Soto found the chief Tascalusa, whom he took to the next stage of his advance, Mabila (perhaps present-day Mobile). There the Spanish were greeted with dances and gifts, but one of them discovered that hundreds of warriors were crouched ready to attack them . After an incident in which a Spaniard cut off an Indian's arm, "everyone began to shoot arrows at us, some inside the houses and others outside, and we were forced to flee the town," wrote expeditionary Hernández de Biedma. Hernando de Soto decided to besiege the town and assault it with blood and fire. The city was burned, and the Choctaw massacred. Biedma himself recalled that the Indians "fought like wild lions; we killed them all, some with fire, others with swords, others with lances." On the Spanish side, 20 men died and 250 were wounded, including Hernando de Soto, shot in the buttock with an arrow, which prevented him from riding.


GHOST EXPEDITION

The advance guard decided to continue north, dragging behind him an increasingly demoralized host, already convinced of finding nothing but death. Winter forced them to seek shelter and rest. In the town of Chizaca they endured the cold, the hunger and the harassment of the Indians. With the arrival of spring, they continued northwest until they found, on May 8, 1541, an immense river that the natives called Meatt-Massipí (Mississippi) and that the Spaniards baptized the Rio Grande or the Holy Spirit. They built rafts to cross the huge stream and continued southwest, hoping to reach non-existent wealth and the Pacific as their way back. The new winter surprised them in the town of Utiange, today Camden (Arkansas).

With the arrival of spring, the expedition continued northwest until they found, on May 8, 1541, an immense river that the natives called Meatt-Massipí (Mississippi) and that the Spaniards baptized the Rio Grande or the Holy Spirit.


Photo: Cameron Davidson/Getty Images​

In mid-March 1542, only half the men who left Cuba were still alive. Already convinced of his failure, Soto changed course, headed south, and in April reached the Mississippi again. Trying to ford the river, the Extremaduran felt feverish and would die a few days later .

Hernando de Soto died of typhoid fever on May 21, 1542. He was buried in a hole in the ground near the Mississippi River, but his companions, fearing that the Indians might desecrate the tomb, dug him up, introduced him into the hollow of a trunk ballasted and dumped into the river, as this engraving by John Sartain shows.


Photo: The Granger Collection / AGE Fotostock.



His lieutenant Luis Moscoso was left in command of the expedition and attempted to reach Mexico by land. Faced with the impossibility of crossing the Trinidad River, the expedition members retreated to the Mississippi, where they built small ships to descend the current and go out to sea. There, the winds pushed them towards the coast and prevented them from sailing to Cuba. It took about 50 days to reach Pánuco (Mexico) , where they were able to disembark. The survivors, a third of those who left Cuba, had completed a fabulous feat discovering an enormous territory, but at a high cost in human lives.


https://historia.nationalgeographic... .eamerica_12286​

I'd love to hear from the Spanish archives when they went into the interior of that rainforest and that jungle in Central and South America they're kind of giant Beast they ran into here in America we don't get access to the real documentation at least not where I live we don't I'd love to see that

 

[Three Berries]

No the long term problem is Russia and it's Imperialistic tendencies. The American forces in the region aren't there as America they are there as America's contribution to NATO's article 5 which says an attack against one is an attack against all. They will only get involved directly if Russia crosses Ukraine's western borders into one of the NATO countries along that border. They hope however, that doesn't happen and the presence of American troops along with the troops of other NATO nations is intended to be a deterrence against expanding aggression from Russia. As long as Russia confines itself to Ukraine and doesn't seriously escalate things through the use of chemical or nuclear weapons then the US will remain where it is, prepared to defend it's fallow NATO countries. You seem just all too willing to overlook some very important historical facts that play a significant role here. The most important being that the primary reason NATO was created in the first place was to help protect against the threat of military aggression by the USSR (now for all intents and purposes Russia). This threat was very real and present at the time because the USSR took advantage of the distraction of WWII and it's non aggression pact with Hitler's Germany to invade and assimilate into the USSR many of the now Eastern European NATO countries on the border of Ukraine. These countries joined NATO the first chance they could when the USSR fell because of the threat Russia still represents as is proven by the current invasion of Ukraine, the previous invasion of Ukraine in 2014 where they took Crimea, the previous attempt to take back Czechoslovakia in 1968 where they maintained a direct military occupation for the next 25 years and Putin's very public and long standing self expressed desire to return Russia to what he considers the former glory of the USSR. These NATO countries where US forces have been sent have every right to feel threatened and to look to it's NATO Allies like the US, to defend against the threat that Russia and Putin represent. After all Russia as the USSR had once ignored their sovereignty, invaded and took control before. So if your wanting to find the cause of all this, the one thing most responsible to blame it's Putin's Russia. If the USSR wasn't they way it was after WWII and it's leaders weren't like Putin wanting to continue that aggression, NATO might never have been formed because with Hitler's Germany conquered and Japan bombed into submission there was no other global threat besides the USSR, creating a need for Europe to join with countries like the US to form a defense. Had Putin kept his wet dream of re-establishing the glory of Russia to that of the former USSR, to himself. NATO very likely would not have felt the need to build up defenses along Ukraine's border that Russia tries to use as it's lame excuse for attacking Ukraine. All Russia has ever had to do to completely eliminate the threat of NATO was to become a friendly nation willing to respect the rights of it's neighbors to exist as free Sovereign nations and work together to turn Europe into what might have been the greatest Super Power of all time. But no Russia couldn't do that and as a result you have the tensions that exist today the history of the previous cold war and now a new cold war forming where the world will have to live in constant fear again of a nuclear holocaust. Thanks Putin

Ukraine is about covering up crimes. Russia is cleaning it up for the world.

NATO blew it when they went to Afghanistan and should have been dissolved with the Soviet Union was.

They are nothing but a moistly US taxpayer paid for Globalist/EU army.

 

[Montuno]

RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WARDozens of dead after a Russian missile attack on the Kramatorsk train station in eastern Ukraine



There are also a hundred wounded. The attack came as 4,000 people crowded into the station trying to get out of the city. A senior Ukrainian commander says there are "scores dead":


A building destroyed by a Russian attack in the city of Kramatorsk, in an image taken on Friday. —REUTERS _


MADRID
04/08/2022 11:28UPDATED: 04/08/2022 14:39PUBLIC



PUBLIC

At least 39 people have died – although the number will surely increase – and another hundred have been injured after a Russian attack on the train station in Kramatorsk , a town located north of the separatist region of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, reports the EFE agency. A missile hit the station this Friday morning as part of an offensive by Russian troops in the east of the country and when 4,000 people , according to Reuters, crowded the station. Many of them were women, children and the elderly. The Ukrainian government had asked them to leave the city due to the imminence of the Russian offensive in Donbas.
The attack occurred when thousands of people crowded into the Kramatorsk station trying to flee the city to safer areas of the country , according to the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kirilenko, published on his Telegram account. "Thousands of people were at the station at the time of the missile attack, while Donetsk residents were evacuated to safer regions of Ukraine," the Ukrainian command said.

Kirilenko has assured that the number of victims will increase and speaks of "dozens of dead" . "Russian fascists attacked the Kramatorsk railway station with an Iskander. Police and guards on the ground report dozens of dead and wounded," he writes on Telegram about the attack on the station.

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"The racists knew well where they were aiming and what they wanted," Kirilenko added in his message. "Russia is a country of villains and criminals, it wants to destroy everything Ukrainian. Evil must be stopped and punished," he stressed.
The attack has also been condemned by the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky , who has accused "the occupiers" of firing a missile at the station, where "thousands of peaceful Ukrainians were waiting to be evacuated". For the Ukrainian president, the attack is proof that Russia "exterminates" the civilian population.

"Nearly 30 people have died and around a hundred have been injured of varying degrees," Zelenski reported on his Telegram account, while denouncing that "Russian inhumans do not abandon their methods." "By not having the strength and courage to face us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population . It is an evil that has no limits and that, if it is not punished, will never stop," he assured. the ukrainian president.



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Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency, said that the Russians "saw perfectly well that they were beating civilians, first thing in the morning, that at that time there were thousands of people trying to get out of the station, families , children, elderly".

In a note posted on its Facebook account, the railway company has also stated: "This is a deliberate blow to the railway's passenger infrastructure and the residents of Kramatorsk." The railway company also publishes a photograph in which a body can be seen lying on the ground near several wrecked cars in the station car park, with bags and luggage scattered on the road.
Russia denies the attack and accuses Ukraine

After learning of the attack, Russia strongly denied being behind it . "On April 8, the Russian armed forces did not have fire missions in the city of Kramatorsk and they were not planned," the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its official Telegram account.



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Furthermore, Russia has accused Ukraine of having orchestrated the attack on the Kramatorsk station. "We emphasize that the Tochka-U tactical missiles, the fragments of which were found near the Kramatorsk railway station and published by eyewitnesses, are used only by the Ukrainian armed forces," the Defense Ministry insisted.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov , joined the conspiracy theory, also pointing out that "our armed forces do not use these types of rockets."

The pro-Russian authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, whose independence was recognized by Moscow days before the start of the invasion, have also accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of being behind the launch of the missile .
Flight from the Donbas

For a few days now, the Ukrainian authorities have been urging the citizens of the east of the country, especially in the Donbas regions, to leave due to signs that the Russian troops are preparing a major offensive to bring them under their absolute control.
Russia already warned, by ending the first phase of its military operation in Ukraine, that from then on its actions would focus on Donbas.
"The occupiers are concentrating all their efforts on preparations for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine to fully control both Luhansk and Donetsk," the Ukrainian Army General Staff said of the two self-proclaimed independent provinces with the support of Moscow. Other authorities called for these regions to be abandoned "while there is opportunity."
"The main efforts of the Russian invaders continue to focus on the capture of Mariupol, the offensive in the area of ​​the city of Izyum (located on the Donets River, in the Kharkov region) and towards the Donetsk area", in the east from Ukraine, adds the war report.
, whose recognition of independence by Moscow preceded the start of the invasion.

At least 39 people have died at the Kramatorsk station in eastern Ukraine, due to a missile attack that hit people trying to flee from an area, that of Donbas, on which a Russian offensive is being prepared.

Ukraine has blamed Russia for the attack, but the Russians have denied any involvement in the attack because, they said, "they had no planned fire missions in Kramatorsk" on April 8.

"This is a deliberate blow to the railway's passenger infrastructure and the residents of Kramatorsk," a town in the northern Donetsk region of Ukraine, Ukrainian Railways reported on Facebook.

The railway company also published a photograph in which a body can be seen lying on the ground near several damaged cars in what appears to be a parking lot, with bags and luggage scattered on the road.

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kirilenko, said that "thousands of people were at the station at the time of the missile attack, while Donetsk residents were evacuated to safer regions of Ukraine."

Kramatorsk is the main military base of the Ukrainian Army in the region.


RUSSIA DENIES ITS INVOLVEMENT IN THE ATTACK

Russia denied that its armed forces were responsible for the attack: "On April 8, the Russian armed forces did not have fire missions in the city of Kramatorsk and they were not planned," the Defense Ministry said in a statement released on its website. official Telegram account.

"We emphasize that the Tochka-U tactical missiles - a transportable missile that, depending on the class, can have a range of between 70 and 185 kilometers - whose fragments were found near the Kramatorsk train station and published by eyewitnesses, are used only by the Ukrainian armed forces," insisted the military entity.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov also noted that "our armed forces do not use this type of rocket."

Pro-Russian militias in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, accused kyiv of the attack on Friday.

"The Ukrainian army has attacked Kramatorsk with rockets", a city controlled by kyiv, said the territorial defense office of the pro-Russian militias, quoted by the Interfax agency.

Several Russian pro-government sources on Telegram have claimed that the Russian Army does not have Tochka-U missiles at its service.


ZELENSKI: KRAMATORSK SHOWS THAT RUSSIA "EXTERMINATES" THE CIVILIAN POPULATION

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenski, assured this Friday that the attack on a train station in Kramatorsk is proof that Russia "exterminates" the civilian population.

"Police and riot police are on the ground. The inhuman Russians do not abandon their methods. Not having the strength and courage to oppose us on the battlefield, they cynically exterminate the civilian population," the Ukrainian president added.

Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency, said that the Russians "saw perfectly well that they were beating civilians, first thing in the morning, that at that time there were thousands of people trying to get out of the station, families , children, elderly".


PEOPLE FLEE FROM THE DONBÁS

For a few days now, the Ukrainian authorities have been urging the citizens of the east of the country, especially in the Donbas regions, to leave due to signs that the Russian troops are preparing a major offensive to bring them under their absolute control.

"The occupiers are concentrating all their efforts on preparations for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine to fully control both Luhansk and Donetsk," the army General Staff said of the two self-proclaimed independent Ukrainian provinces supported by Moscow. Other authorities called for these regions to be abandoned "as long as there is an opportunity."

Russia already warned, by ending the first phase of its military operation in Ukraine, that from then on its actions would focus on Donbas, whose recognition of independence by Moscow preceded the start of the invasion.


THE RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE IN THE DONBAS

Russia continues to prepare for an offensive in eastern Ukraine and continues to focus on the siege of the coastal city of Mariupol, on the Sea of ​​Azov, according to the latest war report issued by the High General Staff of the Ukrainian Army.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (USA), controlling the city of Izyum and the axis with Sloviansk is essential for the future Russian offensive because, otherwise, "Russian forces are unlikely to successfully capture the oblasts ( regions) of Donetsk and Lugansk".

In his message this morning, the Ukrainian president, Volodomir Zelensky, warned that the Russian troops are now more active in Donbas (eastern Ukraine) and that they are reinforcing themselves for an offensive.

"Russian forces are likely to try to regroup and redeploy units withdrawn from northeastern Ukraine to support an offensive, but these units are unlikely to allow a Russian advance," he said.

https://www.publico.es/internaciona...ml#analytics-cabecera-comprimida:hoy-interesa

 

[Three Berries]

More people have died from being saved by the US than would have died if we just let them to themselves.

Obama was the Drone king.

‘Hey, Hey, USA! How Many Bombs Did You Drop Today?’

https://progressive.org/latest/usa-bombs-drop-benjamin-davies-220112/

Over the past twenty years, as documented in the table below, U.S. and allied air forces have dropped more than 337,000 bombs and missiles on other countries—an average of forty-six strikes per day. This endless bombardment has not only been deadly and devastating for its victims, but is also broadly recognized as seriously undermining international peace and security, diminishing the United States’ standing in the world.

Now, even in the face of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, they are doubling down on their success at selling this counterfactual narrative to the public to reignite their old Cold War with Russia and China, dramatically and predictably increasing the risk of nuclear war.

The new Airpower Summary data reveal that the United States has dropped another 3,246 bombs and missiles on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria (2,068 under Trump and 1,178 under Biden) since the end of February 2020.