Sonoma West and Times, Sept. 11, 2009

In memorium

by Shepherd Bliss
Published: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 2:41 PM PDT

It’s September, the deadliest month. This September is the eighth anniversary of the event that “changed everything.” Do you remember when and where the other Sept. 11 was? Many more were killed as a result of that deadly day than on America’s 9/11.

Far to the south of us nestles a thin sliver of a country not unlike California along the Pacific Ocean with high mountains, the Andes rather than the Sierras, and deserts — a place I once called home.

On Sept. 11, l973, President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger pulled the trigger to support Gen. Augusto Pinochet to topple the democratically elected government of Dr. Salvador Allende. That ushered in a wave of military terror throughout much of South America.

I remember Sept. 11, l973, because a few months earlier I was one of the hundreds of young people, believers in democracy, who came from all over the world to participate in a peaceful, democratic revolution.

So September has been an anniversary month for me for over 35 years. Each September since l973, I have felt a stab in my stomach. Among the thousands dead in the days after the Chilean coup was one of my best friends, Frank Teruggi, whom I worked with closely. He was tortured and executed.

In the summer of 2007 an attorney summoned me back to Chile, after a 35- year absence, to testify before a judge against Frank’s alleged military torturers. While in Chile I also interviewed survivors of torture and visited torture sites. Now I carry their stories inside me.

So when you read about torture in the newspapers, it is probably distant for you. When I read about U.S. torture in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and around the world, I feel it in my body and soul.

“Chile: Judge Indicts 120 Former Members of Pinochet’s Secret Police” read a headline in the Santiago Times on Sept. 3, 2009. “A Santiago judge on Tuesday began the indictment of 120 former agents of DINA, a secret police force active during the Gen. Augusto Pinochet regime (1973-1990). Observers are calling this the largest human rights violations case the country has ever seen,” the article notes. Finally, after all these years.

Studies reveal that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has been responsible for around 1 million deaths, including many women and children. A nation cannot kill that many people and torture others, expecting the world to stand by watching forever. We have yet to bring America’s torturers to trial. Until we do, a dark stain will remain on all of America.

The U.S. military budget is larger than those of all the other countries of the world combined. We remain the only super-power, because we have become a fortress, rather than a beacon of morality.

But perhaps you have noticed — things are changing, as we face not just a recession or even a depression, but a contraction that could lead to a collapse. As the U.S. declines, other nations rise — especially China, India, Brazil, and once again Russia.

America on top is coming to an end. More than ever, we need to make allies, not enemies. We need to study conflict resolution and diplomacy. As I learned in Boy Scouts — “Be prepared.”

Rumi, the best-selling poet in America today, was ironically born in what today is called Afghanistan, in the 13th century. The following words of Rumi can help guide us to a peaceful future:

“Out beyond our ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing/ there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

Excerpt from speech by Shepherd Bliss at SSU on Sept. 1 to help begin annual “War and Peace” class, which is open to the public. He can be reached at [email protected].

Copyright © 2009 - Sonoma West