9/11: The real death toll was over 40,000

Photo by Anthony Fomin on Unsplash

As a combat veteran, today’s date is extremely important to me. An entire nation came under attack, and millions felt their freedom and security fall away under the onslaught of ideological oppression.

In the fight for democracy and human rights, I try to make sure we never forget what happened on September 11th, 1973. When the U.S. fought against democracy, and ruined the next 40 years of a country’s history.

I couldn't agree more, dick.

Under the direction of two dicks, Richard Nixon and Richard M. Helms, the USA overthrew the democratically elected government of Chile. Why, you ask? Because the rich were losing money.

Here's that other dick.

You see, Chile has a fuckton of copper. It’s been the global leader of copper production for over 30 years. And up until 1970, the majority of that copper had been claimed by U.S. companies.

Until Salvador Allende was elected president.

President Allende was of the opinion that Chile’s natural resources should benefit the people of Chile. He didn’t understand why the majority of the Chilean population should live in poverty while the U.S.A. siphoned billions worth of copper every year, simultaneously wrecking their environment with unsustainable mining practices.

As soon as he was inaugurated in 1970, President Allende took action. He seized, then nationalized, U.S. owned companies. He distributed the profits to the citizens of Chile, enacting massive increases in the people’s wages and quality of life. Any extra income was dumped into improving infrastructure, and food security soared.

Unfortunately, this was terrible for U.S. based companies. They could no longer report massive profits every quarter. So, in our proud tradition of patriotic freedom, people needed to die.

It's not war, it's business!

It began with massive monetary donations by the CIA to President Allende’s opposition. Then a failed military coup attempt in June of 1973. Further unrest was caused by protests and strikes, stirred up by CIA-led propaganda regarding consumerism, and the evils of imports.

Then, on September 11th 1973, the United States government finally got their wish: the overthrow of a democracy.

A massive assault on the Presidential Palace ended with the assassination of the President, and General Augusto Pinochet seized power. All further elections were canceled. Thousands of Chileans were executed. Tens of thousands disappeared.

And the seized copper companies? Returned to United States control within 6 weeks.

As for the new President Pinochet, he went on to order the killing of any who opposed him. The death toll is still being calculated, but it’s hovering at 40,018.

I don’t bring this history up to shame the United States. I believe we’re uniquely positioned to lead the world in innovative solutions to our looming problems. But we don’t get to pretend we’re perfect, nor can we ever stop educating ourselves. In order to find what works, we need to always acknowledge what didn’t. In the case of our foreign relations, any actions that are morally reprehensible need to be examined, and learned from. Only then do we stand a chance to survive our shaky, unstable future.

Let’s be better to each other. We still have a chance.