This is no doubt correct but the following are just a small selection of the falsehoods and lies perpetrated by the USA. Other countries (including the UK, France and Israel) have also misled the world community.
- After Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, Palestinian leaders were forced to leave, escorted out of Beirut by USA troops. The USA envoy, Philip Habib, promised that the Palestinian civilians left behind would be protected by the international community and Israeli forces would not be allowed to enter Beirut.
A few days later, the Phalangists (a Lebanese Christian militia) massacred over 2,750 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila (in the suburbs of Beirut). Most of the victims were women, old men and children. Many girls (as young as 6) and women were raped by soldiers. During the three day massacre, Israeli troops looked on and assisted by sealing the camp perimeters and illuminating the camps at night. Bulldozers (supplied by the Israelis) were used to dig mass graves for bodies. A number of houses were bulldozed to cover up the bodies of the victims.
- During the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq, more than 200,000 civilians were killed and 1,800,000 were made homeless. The Western media concentrated on the 9 UK and 148 USA soldiers killed. When asked about Iraqi casualties, USA general Colin Powell replied: "It's really not a number I'm terribly interested in".
- In 1996, Israel attacked Qana, a refugee camp in southern Lebanon, with 6 shells killing over 120 people, mostly women and children. The Israeli claim that the attack was accidental was discounted by United Nations observers.
The USA magazine Newsweek informed its readers that the victims had "died in the cross fire".
- In 1998 a factory in Sudan was bombed with Tomahawk missiles by the USA. This was later admitted by the USA to have been an error. The casualty toll remains unknown as the USA blocked a United Nations inquiry.
- Also in 1998, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a report about poverty. It stated that poverty was the leading cause of premature death and sickness in the world. The gap between rich and poor was the widest it has been since records began. 30% of the world's children suffered from hunger; 50% of the world's population was denied access to medical care. Countries with debt are forced to export food and other cash crops while their population starve.
The USA threatened to withdraw funding from the WHO if it monitored the effects of trade conditions on health.
- During the 2001 bombing in Afghanistan, very little information about civilian casualties was given in the Western media. This appeared to be a deliberate policy. Walter Issacson, the chairman of USA satellite and cable news company, CNN, informed his staff:
"It seems perverse to focus too much on the casualties and hardship in Afganistan."
- In the 2002 elections in Pakistan, the president, Pervez Musharraf, a military leader who took power in a coup in 1999, changed the constitution so that he could dismiss the country's government. The two previous leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were barred from standing in the election by presidential decree.
Observers from the European Union described the elections as "seriously flawed" accusing the government of using its resources to support pro-Musharraf parties. Ari Fleischer, the spokesman for the USA president, described the elections as "an important milestone in the transition to democracy".
