MetaFilter posts tagged with coup

Everything you know about U.S. involvement in Iran is wrong

lenny70 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:54:37 -0800

The Great Satan Myth. We have discussed the US supported coup of 1953 on MeFi before. Now, Abbas Milani, provides some more context to the complex relationship of the two countries.

Iron Man,Wild Goose! Sounds like a finger up a tin man's backside,doesn't it?

KokuRyu — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:44:31 -0800

Simon Mann, freed dog of war, is demanding justice. After more than five years in jail, the British mercenary is seeking vengeance on others he says were part of the failed 'Wonga Coup' – including Mark Thatcher. [previously] The plot itself is well documented – how in March 2004 Mann, Nick du Toit and three other South African mercenaries with wealthy international backers and the tacit approval of at least three governments, most notably the Spanish, attempted a coup which involved flying into the former Spanish colony in a plane loaded with arms and more than 50 black "Buffalo soldiers" – former members of the now disbanded South African defence forces' elite 32 battalion– to replace Obiang with an exiled opposition activist called Severo Moto. The prize was vast, untapped reserves of oil and natural gas that an American company had recently discovered in the tiny nation. In March 2004 the plane was intercepted by the Zimbabweans at Harare airport and a jubilant President Robert Mugabe threw Mann and his fellow conspirators into jail before handing them over to Equatorial Guinea where a court sentenced the Eton-educated mercenary to 34 years in jail. [Mann and others imprisoned for five years in Equatorial Guinea] are "furious" at yesterday's indications by Scotland Yard that there is insufficiently strong evidence to further pursue Thatcher or Calil and at the lack of international political will. Equatorial Guinea, a small central African country and former colony of Spain, has a bloody post-colonial history. One dictator, Francisco Macías Nguema, transformed Equatorial Guinea into the "Dachau of Africa," and either drove out or killed two-thirds of the population, becoming known as one of the worst African dictators of all time. Equatorial Guinea's Bioko Island, besides serving as an isolated offshore hub for the country's oil industry, is also famous as a refuge for the endangered baboon-like drill.

Change we can believe in?

lukemeister — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:33:40 -0800

John L. Perry worked in the Johnson and Carter administrations. He posts once a week at a blog called Right Angles. Perry's latest column suggested that a "civilized" military coup to "resolve the Obama problem" should not be dismissed as "unrealistic". Another person who thinks a military dictatorship may be in America's future? Gore Vidal.

Honduran coup regime attacks Brazil's embassy

shetterly — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:18:21 -0800

Honduran coup regime attacks Brazil's embassy with LRAD-X Remote Long Range Acoustic Device, violating the Geneva Convention. And, to violate it a little more, they've also used a mobile cell phone jamming device.

Army overthrows Honduras president

shetterly — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:16:28 -0800

Army overthrows Honduras president in what some fear may be Obama's First Coup d'Etat. A troublesome circumstance: Key leaders of Honduras military coup trained in U.S. But condemning the coup with many others, Hillary Clinton says, "The action taken against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and thus should be condemned by all." Earlier on metafilter: A School for Torture and Is the CIA tampering with Venezuelan elections?

Man Gets On Bus

mattoxic — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:35:42 -0800

Commodore Frank Bainimarama has engineered a coup on top of a coup in sacking the judiciary, suspending the constitution, controlling the press, quashing dissent and taking over the central bank pdf press release. With no reportage of the takeover or criticism of the junta allowed, and with local journalists arrested and foreign correspondents expelled, how is the Fiji’s story being told? Bloggers have taken to the task, but are undertaking huge risks.

If at first (or second) you don't succeed...

scalefree — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:27:24 -0800

Operation PLIERS. An internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that reveals a plan to destabilize Venezuela during the upcoming constitutional referendum. The plan, titled "OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington. The full text of the memo will be released soon for verification purposes. Many previously.

Participating in UN peacekeeping missions made Fiji prone to coups

jstruan — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:32:47 -0800

Without participating in peacekeeping missions overseas, it is unlikely that Fiji's army would ever have become strong enough to seize power. So says the Economist: "When the British left Fiji in 1970, there were only around 200 serving military personnel. UN peacekeeping operations in Lebanon and Sinai generated a tenfold increase by 1986. The next year, Fiji witnessed its first military coup." The series of coups since then haven't stopped Fiji from continuing to participate in UN missions.

Bomb attack in Bangkok

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 06:54:36 -0800

Seven bombs rock Bangkok as the New Year's countdown begins. At least two are dead. Is it related to the recent coup? Some photos here.

Let loose the Dogs Of War!

Sticherbeast — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 23:53:23 -0800

Operation Red Dog. "The group of [N]eo-Nazis planned to travel from New Orleans to Dominica on a chartered boat, land at night in rubber boats, meet up with John and his guerrilla force of disgruntled army veterans and Rastafarian rebels, and then lay waste to Dominica's police force and political leaders." Of those Neo-Nazis, Don Black would go on to marry David Duke's ex-wife and found the notorious racist site Stormfront. Another of the gaggle, Wolfgang Droege, would get fatally shot by a man who was convinced that he'd installed surveillance and tunnels into his house as revenge for the time he'd laughed at Mr. Droege.

Ai tei vovo, tei vovo, veico, veico, veico

arruns — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:02:15 -0800

The coup d'état of Fiji continues today, having picked up again yesterday after letting the Friday deadline for the step down of PM Qarase pass and taking a couple days to enjoy the rugby and a weekend off. Unlike the violence generated largely by Native Fijian/Indo-Fijian tensions in the three previous coups, this latest act by Commodore Bainimarama appears bloodless thus far. It has again crippled tourism however, and, possibly more damaging, halted their trade in soldiers-for-hire.

China may back coup against Kim

ernie — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:08:04 -0800

Newsfilter: North Korea's response to a toothless UN resolution may be a second nuclear test. With military solutions pretty much off the table, it may be up to rival factions within the DPRK to topple the regime. NK coups have been discussed here before, and the end result may not be as pretty as one would hope, but maybe this time the Chinese have had enough.

"Friendliest military coup ever": Thai coup leaders urge soldiers to smile

dwarfplanet — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:55:11 -0800

Coup leaders urge Thai soldiers to smile Military coup leaders in Thailand — often called the "Land of Smiles" — apparently don't want to ruin that image. They've ordered soldiers to smile. Army radio broadcasts are reminding soldiers to be friendly and courteous, especially to children. Many Thais have described this as the friendliest coup ever seen in a land with a history of violent coups.

State of emergency in Thailand

ClanvidHorse — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 09:55:41 -0800

Coupfilter: State of emergency declared in Thailand after troops move in. According to Reuters the army are now 'in control'.

At least the Cold War made sense.

imperium — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 02:00:04 -0800

Now we're faced with a supposedly democratic Russia where the opposition parties are established, crushed, united, their leadership changed, all at the behest of the president. China, now clearly a capitalist state, albeit one without the democratic trimmings, still calls itself communist. Vietnam has gone much the same way.

Some things remain the same, though. America's still meddling in Latin America, just like it did during the Cold War. The US Army is also fighting a guerilla resistance in Iraq, its leaders apparently ignorant of the lessons of history, yet accusing others of exactly that. It's just like the 60s, when it was just as obvious who had learnt lessons and who hadn't.

Coup D'Etat

trinarian — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 19:37:41 -0800

American Coup D'Etat. Will the most powerful and well-funded institution on the planet remain under civilian command indefinitely? As the domestic spying saga unfolds and militarism rises, Harper's brought four experts - both academics and brass - to discuss the possibilities.

"To subdue America entirely, the only route remaining would be to seize the machinery of state itself, to steer it toward malign ends—to carry out, that is, a coup d'état."

'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' - Lord Acton

y2karl — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 07:20:41 -0800

James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 47:

The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many...may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.

That extraordinary powers have, under Bush, been accumulated in the "same hands" is now undeniable. For the first time in more than thirty years, and to a greater extent than even then, our constitutional form of government is in jeopardy.

Power Grab

When Fascism Comes to America...

rzklkng — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 07:17:04 -0800

Corporate Interest Plot to Overthrow US Government. Approximately 72-years ago, the predecessor to the House Un-American Affairs Committee, known as the McCormack-Dickstein Committee, investigated claims made by Marine Corps General Smedley Butler that a vast right-wing conspiracy funded by the American Liberty League (Wiki) (funded by US Steel, Goodyear, DuPont, Morgan-Stanley, Chase-Manhattan, Remington Arms, and others) with backing from some of America's wealthiest citizens (such as Al Smith and Irene DuPont) and various Wall Street interests (1930s American Business seemed to be pro-fascism as a hedge against communists and socialists to protect their own wealth in the face of the Great Depression). Their goal was to overthrow Franklin Delano Roosevelt and install a military dictatorship in order to stop FDR's New Deal and its "redistribution of wealth" and to enact fascist policies to protect the economy and their investments. [more inside]

Coup untrue?

soiled cowboy — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 17:32:01 -0800

The country formerly known as Burma officially denies reports of a coup. Rumors circulated last week that Senior General Than Shwe had been deposed by his military regime's number-two, General Maung Aye. Burma-watchers discounted the reports, with some suggesting that the junta concocted the story as a trick. The country's "ossified leaders" blamed the BBC for the rumors, while astrologers in Rangoon believe that Than Shwe's wife spread the story. The general's wife, it seems, is worried about Mars.

Hope and Memory

homunculus — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 13:32:02 -0800

Hope and Memory, 1801 - 2004. "This is an archive of 163 US interventions, a multi-faceted catalogue of coups, humanitarian incursions, covert actions, proxy armies, freedom fighters/terrorists and multilateral offensives. Out of this legacy, a complex picture emerges." [Via wood s lot.]

The Forgotten Coup

euphorb — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 02:22:25 -0800

In 1934, the only thing standing between a fascist coup and democracy in the United States was the courage and honor of one man.

Aristide Says He Was Kidnapped

ao4047 — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:40:56 -0800

Aristide Says He Was Kidnapped From Democracy Now: Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. "He did not resign.... He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president. Will this revolution be televised? (Accounts in ogg and mp3)

hired guns?

kaibutsu — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 11:03:48 -0800

"I don't think that there's any question about the fact that the weapons that they have did not come from Haiti," says Kurzban. "They're organized as a military commando strike force that's going from city to city."

Parts of the rebellion's leadership, such as head of military operations Louis Chamberlain, were leaders in the attempted 1994 Hatian coup that resulted in the use of 20,000 U.S. troops. A coup which, according to the U.N. Human Right Commission, was supported and aided by the CIA. In other words, this wouldn't be the first time that the U.S. has played on both sides of a Haitian military uprising.

Meanwhile, Bush refuses to protect President Aristide's life - and perhaps the lives of thousands of Hatians - citing the opposition's refusal of a U.S. peace plan. Silmultaneously, he issued a harsh pronouncement warning refugee Hatians off from American shores.
"It is clear that the right wing in this country does not support that democracy," said Jesse Jackson, today. "(Bush) is, in fact, supporting overthrow of this government in this hemisphere."

Chile coup

plep — Fri, 12 Sep 2003 00:14:46 -0800

First-hand accounts of the 1973 coup in Chile. Thirty years ago yesterday.

That Mexican shit is so choice

crasspastor — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:27:21 -0800

ChoicePoint buys data on 65 million Mexicans. You might remember ChoicePoint as the company that provided the data to purge black "felons" from voting in Florida 2000. Welp, good news! We get another free lap around the track and all of our Latin American friends will be there to greet us in common victory. What a coup!