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us_atrocities.md
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- On March 21st, 2017, A US airstrike [killed at least 30 Syrian civilians](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/at-least-30-dead-after-air-strike-hits-syrian-school-1.3020369) in an airstrike on a school in the Raqqa province. The week before, 49 people were killed when US warplanes fired on a target in in the [2017 al-Jinah airstrike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_al-Jinah_airstrike), a village in western [Aleppo](https://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Aleppo&article=true) province. US officials said the attack had hit a building where al-Qaeda operatives were meeting, but residents said the warplanes had struck a mosque where hundreds of people had gathered for a weekly religious meeting. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_al-Jinah_airstrike)</sup> - On March 21st, 2017, A US airstrike [killed at least 30 Syrian civilians](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/at-least-30-dead-after-air-strike-hits-syrian-school-1.3020369) in an airstrike on a school in the Raqqa province. The week before, 49 people were killed when US warplanes fired on a target in in the [2017 al-Jinah airstrike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_al-Jinah_airstrike), a village in western [Aleppo](https://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Aleppo&article=true) province. US officials said the attack had hit a building where al-Qaeda operatives were meeting, but residents said the warplanes had struck a mosque where hundreds of people had gathered for a weekly religious meeting. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_al-Jinah_airstrike)</sup>
- On March 17th, 2017, A US airstrike killed ~112 civilians in Mosul, Iraq. In response, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said, "There is no military force in the world that is proven more sensitive to civilian casualties." <sup>[1](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/middleeast/mosul-civilian-deaths/)</sup> - On March 17th, 2017, A US airstrike killed ~112 civilians in Mosul, Iraq. In response, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said, "There is no military force in the world that is proven more sensitive to civilian casualties." <sup>[1](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/middleeast/mosul-civilian-deaths/)</sup>
- On February 15th, 2017, US-backed Saudi planes [bombed a funeral](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/15/yemen-funeral-saudi-led-airstrike-houthi-insurgents) in Yemen, killing 5 women and wounding dozens more. In the [2015 - Present Yemeni Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_(2015%E2%80%93present)), 16,200 people have been killed including 10,000 civilians, 3 million have been displaced and left homeless, and over 200,000 people are facing shortages of food, water and medicine. The US has used drone bombers in Yemen, and has supported Saudi interests in the region, with military contracts providing weapons and planes. The US has weapons contracts with Saudi Arabia valuing over $110 billion. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_(2015%E2%80%93present)),[2](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/15/yemen-funeral-saudi-led-airstrike-houthi-insurgents)</sup> - On February 15th, 2017, US-backed Saudi planes [bombed a funeral](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/15/yemen-funeral-saudi-led-airstrike-houthi-insurgents) in Yemen, killing 5 women and wounding dozens more. In the [2015 - Present Yemeni Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_(2015%E2%80%93present)), 16,200 people have been killed including 10,000 civilians, 3 million have been displaced and left homeless, and over 200,000 people are facing shortages of food, water and medicine. The US has used drone bombers in Yemen, and has supported Saudi interests in the region, with military contracts providing weapons and planes. The US has weapons contracts with Saudi Arabia valuing over $110 billion. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_(2015%E2%80%93present)),[2](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/15/yemen-funeral-saudi-led-airstrike-houthi-insurgents)</sup>
- In January 2015, the [US killed 13-year-old Mohammed Tuaiman in Yemen](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/drones-dream-yemeni-teenager-mohammed-tuaiman-death-cia-strike?CMP=share_btn_tw) with a drone strike. A month earlier, the guardian interviewed him, and he was quoted as saying: "“A lot of the kids in this area wake up from sleeping because of nightmares from them and some now have mental problems. They turned our area into hell and continuous horror, day and night, we even dream of them in our sleep...In their eyes, we don’t deserve to live like people in the rest of the world and we don’t have feelings or emotions or cry or feel pain like all the other humans around the world.” In 2011 an unmanned combat drone killed his father and teenage brother as they were out herding the family’s camels. <sup>[1](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/drones-dream-yemeni-teenager-mohammed-tuaiman-death-cia-strike?CMP=share_btn_tw)</sup>
- In 2010, President Obama [directed the CIA](http://www.salon.com/2010/04/07/assassinations_2/) to [assassinate an American citizen](https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/obama-killed-a-16-year-old-american-in-yemen-trump-just-killed-his-8-year-old-sister/) in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, despite the fact that he had never been charged with any crime, killing him [with a September, 2011 drone strike](https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/sep/30/anwar-al-awlaki-yemen-live). Two weeks later, a separate CIA drone strike in Yemen [killed his 16-year-old American-born son](http://www.salon.com/2011/10/20/the_killing_of_awlakis_16_year_old_son/), Abdulrahman, along with the boy’s 17-year-old cousin and several other innocent Yemenis. In January 2017, Trump ordered a SEAL strike, and reports from Yemen [quickly surfaced](http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-yemen-qaeda-idUKKBN15D094) that 30 people were killed, including 10 women and children. Among the dead: the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar Awlaki, brother of the 16 year old killed by Obama. <sup>[1](https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/obama-killed-a-16-year-old-american-in-yemen-trump-just-killed-his-8-year-old-sister/)</sup> - In 2010, President Obama [directed the CIA](http://www.salon.com/2010/04/07/assassinations_2/) to [assassinate an American citizen](https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/obama-killed-a-16-year-old-american-in-yemen-trump-just-killed-his-8-year-old-sister/) in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, despite the fact that he had never been charged with any crime, killing him [with a September, 2011 drone strike](https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/sep/30/anwar-al-awlaki-yemen-live). Two weeks later, a separate CIA drone strike in Yemen [killed his 16-year-old American-born son](http://www.salon.com/2011/10/20/the_killing_of_awlakis_16_year_old_son/), Abdulrahman, along with the boy’s 17-year-old cousin and several other innocent Yemenis. In January 2017, Trump ordered a SEAL strike, and reports from Yemen [quickly surfaced](http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-yemen-qaeda-idUKKBN15D094) that 30 people were killed, including 10 women and children. Among the dead: the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar Awlaki, brother of the 16 year old killed by Obama. <sup>[1](https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/obama-killed-a-16-year-old-american-in-yemen-trump-just-killed-his-8-year-old-sister/)</sup>
- In January 2015, the [US killed 13-year-old Mohammed Tuaiman in Yemen](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/drones-dream-yemeni-teenager-mohammed-tuaiman-death-cia-strike?CMP=share_btn_tw) with a drone strike. A month earlier, the guardian interviewed him, and he was quoted as saying: "“A lot of the kids in this area wake up from sleeping because of nightmares from them and some now have mental problems. They turned our area into hell and continuous horror, day and night, we even dream of them in our sleep...In their eyes, we don’t deserve to live like people in the rest of the world and we don’t have feelings or emotions or cry or feel pain like all the other humans around the world.” In 2011 an unmanned combat drone killed his father and teenage brother as they were out herding the family’s camels. <sup>[1](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/drones-dream-yemeni-teenager-mohammed-tuaiman-death-cia-strike?CMP=share_btn_tw)</sup>
- Since 2013, The US has intervened militarily in the ongoing [Syrian Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War#Western_coalition), with airstrikes, naval bombardments, and funding and training Syrian Islamic and secular insurgents fighting to topple the Syrian government. Many have labeled the struggle as a proxy war between US and Russian interests in the middle east, in a highly unstable region. Between 500-700 civilians [have been killed by coalition airstrikes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in_Syria#cite_note-airwars.org-328), and over 50,000 [ISIL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant) militants and pro-bashad fighters have been killed. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in_Syria)</sup> - Since 2013, The US has intervened militarily in the ongoing [Syrian Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War#Western_coalition), with airstrikes, naval bombardments, and funding and training Syrian Islamic and secular insurgents fighting to topple the Syrian government. Many have labeled the struggle as a proxy war between US and Russian interests in the middle east, in a highly unstable region. Between 500-700 civilians [have been killed by coalition airstrikes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in_Syria#cite_note-airwars.org-328), and over 50,000 [ISIL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant) militants and pro-bashad fighters have been killed. <sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in_Syria)</sup>
- From 2011 up to the present day, the US ousted Mummar Gaddafi in Libya, and began conducting an extensive bombing campaign(>110 tomahawk cruise missiles) in the [Libyan Civil Wars of 2011 and 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present)). This includes 7,700 air strikes, resulting in 30,000 -100,000 deaths. Loyalist towns were bombed to rubble and ethnically cleansed, and the country is in chaos as Western-trained and armed Islamist militias seize territory and oil facilities and vie for power. The Misrata militia, trained and armed by Western special forces, is one of the most violent and powerful in the world.<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present))</sup> - From 2011 up to the present day, the US ousted Mummar Gaddafi in Libya, and began conducting an extensive bombing campaign(>110 tomahawk cruise missiles) in the [Libyan Civil Wars of 2011 and 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present)). This includes 7,700 air strikes, resulting in 30,000 -100,000 deaths. Loyalist towns were bombed to rubble and ethnically cleansed, and the country is in chaos as Western-trained and armed Islamist militias seize territory and oil facilities and vie for power. The Misrata militia, trained and armed by Western special forces, is one of the most violent and powerful in the world.<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present))</sup>
- In 2010, Chelsea Manning's leak of the [Iraq War Logs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_documents_leak) revealed US army reports on civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan; [66,081 out of 109,000 recorded deaths were civilians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War). They show that US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers, and that US troops killed almost 700 civilians for coming too close to checkpoints, including pregnant women and the mentally ill, and countless other atrocities.<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_documents_leak)</sup> - In 2010, Chelsea Manning's leak of the [Iraq War Logs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_documents_leak) revealed US army reports on civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan; [66,081 out of 109,000 recorded deaths were civilians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War). They show that US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers, and that US troops killed almost 700 civilians for coming too close to checkpoints, including pregnant women and the mentally ill, and countless other atrocities.<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_documents_leak)</sup>
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### Workers and the Poor ### Workers and the Poor
- An analysis of 2016 data showed that [8 men control as much wealth as half of the world's population](http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/15/news/economy/oxfam-income-inequality-men/). Those 8 men are Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Amancio Ortega, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg, and are collectively worth $426 billion. <sup>[1](http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/15/news/economy/oxfam-income-inequality-men/)</sup> - An analysis of 2016 data showed that [8 men control as much wealth as half of the world's population](http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/15/news/economy/oxfam-income-inequality-men/). Those 8 men are Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Amancio Ortega, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg, and are collectively worth $426 billion. <sup>[1](http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/15/news/economy/oxfam-income-inequality-men/)</sup>
- US authorities have a [long history of murdering striking workers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes) fighting for better conditions, dating back to the 1800s, up to the present day. According to a study in 1969, the United States has had the bloodiest and most violent labor history of any industrial nation in the world, and there have been few industries which have been immune.[[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes#cite_note-1). A long list of these deaths and disputes can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes), and [this article on the Labor History of the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#Organized_labor_1929.E2.80.931955). - US authorities have a [long history of murdering striking workers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes) fighting for better conditions, dating back to the 1800s, up to the present day. According to a study in 1969, the United States has had the bloodiest and most violent labor history of any industrial nation in the world, and there have been few industries which have been immune.<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes#cite_note-1)</sup> A long list of these deaths and disputes can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes), and [this article on the Labor History of the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#Organized_labor_1929.E2.80.931955).
- US conservatives and authorities have systematically dismantled labor unions over the past few decades, and by 2011 fewer than 7% of employees in the private sector belong to unions. The number of major work stoppages fell by 97% from 381 in 1970 to 187 in 1980 to only 11 in 2010.[[129\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-129)[[130\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-130) The accumulating weaknesses were exposed when President Ronald Reagan—a former union president—broke the [Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_%281968%29) strike in 1981, dealing a major blow to unions.[[131\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-round-131)Union membership among workers in private industry shrank dramatically, though after 1970 there was growth in employees unions of federal, state and local governments.[[132\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-132)[[133\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-133) The intellectual mood in the 1970s and 1980s favored deregulation and free competition.[[134\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-Derthick218-134) Numerous industries were deregulated, including airlines, trucking, railroads and telephones, over the objections of the unions involved.[[135\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-135) Republicans, using conservative [think tanks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank) as idea farms, began to push through legislative blueprints to curb the power of public employee unions as well as eliminate business regulations.[[128\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-Carter_A._Wilson_2013_256.E2.80.9357-128)[[136\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-136) Union weakness in the [Southern United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States) undermined unionization and social reform throughout the nation, and such weakness is largely responsible for the anaemic U.S. [welfare state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state).[[137\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-137)<sup>[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#Unions_since_1955)</sup> - US conservatives and authorities have systematically dismantled labor unions over the past few decades, and by 2011 fewer than 7% of employees in the private sector belong to unions. The number of major work stoppages fell by 97% from 381 in 1970 to 187 in 1980 to only 11 in 2010.<sup>[129](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-129), [130](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-130)</sup> The accumulating weaknesses were exposed when President Ronald Reagan—a former union president—broke the [Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_%281968%29) strike in 1981, dealing a major blow to unions.<sup>[131](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-round-131)</sup> Union membership among workers in private industry shrank dramatically, though after 1970 there was growth in employees unions of federal, state and local governments.<sup>[132](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-132),[133](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-133)</sup> The intellectual mood in the 1970s and 1980s favored deregulation and free competition.<sup>[134](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-Derthick218-134)</sup> Numerous industries were deregulated, including airlines, trucking, railroads and telephones, over the objections of the unions involved.<sup>[135](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-135)</sup> Republicans, using conservative [think tanks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank) as idea farms, began to push through legislative blueprints to curb the power of public employee unions as well as eliminate business regulations.<sup>[128](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-Carter_A._Wilson_2013_256.E2.80.9357-128),[136](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-136)</sup> Union weakness in the [Southern United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States) undermined unionization and social reform throughout the nation, and such weakness is largely responsible for the anaemic U.S. [welfare state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state).<sup>[137](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#cite_note-137),[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States#Unions_since_1955)</sup>
- In addition to artificial housing crises, the US has high numbers of homeless, despite the fact that there are, [~6 houses for every homeless person](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-skip-bronson/post_733_b_692546.html). Instead of human planning and intelligent distribution of resources, the US ruling class upholds the market as the "the most efficient way of allocating resources". - In addition to artificial housing crises, the US has high numbers of homeless, despite the fact that there are, [~6 houses for every homeless person](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-skip-bronson/post_733_b_692546.html). Instead of human planning and intelligent distribution of resources, the US ruling class upholds the market as the "the most efficient way of allocating resources".
- Although the US economy produces more than enough food to feed those in poverty, [UNICEF](http://www.unicef.org/sowc06/pdfs/sowc06_chap1.pdf), [RESULTS](https://web.archive.org/web/20080527011602/http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=241), and [Bread for the World](http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html) estimate that **15 million** people die **each year** from preventable poverty, of whom 11 million are **children under the age of five**. In addition, The US has a comparatively terrible social support system to fight poverty and prevent deaths: "approximately 245,000 deaths in the United States in the year 2000 were attributable to low levels of education, 176,000 to racial segregation, 162,000 to low social support, 133,000 to individual-level poverty, 119,000 to income inequality, and 39,000 to area-level poverty" ([sources](https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/how-many-us-deaths-are-caused-poverty-lack-education-and-other-social-factors)). That is 2 million people every 10 years in the US alone.<sup>[1](http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/08/crimes-against-humanity-01-poverty-murder-over-400-million-people-since-1995-more-than-all-wars-in-recorded-history.html)</sup> - Although the US economy produces more than enough food to feed those in poverty, [UNICEF](http://www.unicef.org/sowc06/pdfs/sowc06_chap1.pdf), [RESULTS](https://web.archive.org/web/20080527011602/http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=241), and [Bread for the World](http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html) estimate that **15 million** people die **each year** from preventable poverty, of whom 11 million are **children under the age of five**. In addition, The US has a comparatively terrible social support system to fight poverty and prevent deaths: "approximately 245,000 deaths in the United States in the year 2000 were attributable to low levels of education, 176,000 to racial segregation, 162,000 to low social support, 133,000 to individual-level poverty, 119,000 to income inequality, and 39,000 to area-level poverty" ([sources](https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/how-many-us-deaths-are-caused-poverty-lack-education-and-other-social-factors)). That is 2 million people every 10 years in the US alone.<sup>[1](http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/08/crimes-against-humanity-01-poverty-murder-over-400-million-people-since-1995-more-than-all-wars-in-recorded-history.html)</sup>
- In the modern day, [20,000 to 40,000 people die every year](http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/) because of lack of universal health care or health insurance. On average, that's 300,000 over the last decade. <sup>[1](http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/)</sup> - In the modern day, [20,000 to 40,000 people die every year](http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/) because of lack of universal health care or health insurance. On average, that's 300,000 over the last decade. <sup>[1](http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/)</sup>