Update us_atrocities.md, improve 1980s Nicaragua paragraph (#126)

This PR includes improvements to the "From 1982-89, The U.S. government attempted to topple the government of Nicaragua..." paragraph.

* changed the years from 1982-89 to 1981-90, which I think are more factual
* minor typo/grammar fixes
* removed the Honduras link
* added information, especially about the ICJ ruling which is highly significant
* more links to sources

us_atrocities.md

@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ Notes :
 - In 1989, the U.S. invades Panama with 26k troops to overthrow a dictator of its own making, [General Manuel Noriega](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega), with the stated goal of "Defending democracy and human rights in Panama". Noriega had been on the CIA’s payroll since 1966, collecting at least $100,000 per year from the U.S. Treasury. As he rose to be the de facto ruler of Panama, he became even more valuable to the CIA, reporting on meetings with Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and supporting U.S. covert wars in Central America, and had been transporting drugs with the CIA’s knowledge since 1972. By the late 80s, Noriega’s growing independence and intransigence had angered Washington. The UN human rights commission estimates that around 4,000 people were killed by US troops (The US claims only 250 people). [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega) The US military bombed urban neighborhoods, executed hundreds of civilians, and even tested new experimental weapons. The Panama invasion violates both the UN and OAS charter, which prohibits the invasions of a sovereign country or their territorial integrity, as well as the Geneva conventions. All the major US media supported the invasion: the New York Times, Wallstreet Journal, The Washington Post, the LA times, CBS, and NBC. Michael Parenti observes in his observation of media complicity with the invasion: "The media is not *favorable* to corporate america, they **are** corporate america." The UN voted on Dec 29th 1989 overwhelming to condemn the invasion as a "flagrant violation of international law". No US soldier or general has been tried for these war crimes, despite the UN commission, or the dozens of eyewitness accounts by Panamanians. These atrocities are chronicled in the documentary [The Panama Deception.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGIio2qMnto)
 - In the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. supplied military equipment and substantial aid for the Columbian government in their civil war to fight against [FARC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Armed_Forces_of_Colombia), known as [Plan Columbia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_Colombia). The weapons, ostensibly delivered for use against narcotics traffickers, was being used by the Colombian military to commit abuses in the name of “counter-insurgency.” One estimate is that 67,000 deaths have occurred from the 1960s to recent years due to support by the U.S. of Colombian state terrorism. Another 1994 Amnesty International report, stated that more than 20,000 people were killed for political reasons in Colombia since 1986, mainly by the military and its paramilitary allies.
 - In 1987, the former CIA Station Chief in Angola in 1976, [John Stockwell](http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4068.htm), testified to Congress and told a grisly tale of US involvement on behalf of business interests in Latin America. He cited covert operations in Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Over the course of his testimony, he estimated that given the bombings of water supplies and other essential infrastructure, the invasions, the coups, that the United States, on its quest for empire, has been responsible for **6,000,000 deaths.** The CIA retaliated by [suing him into bankruptcy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stockwell). [1](http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4068.htm)
-- From 1982-89, The U.S. government attempted to topple the government of Nicaragua by secretly arming, training and funding the [Contras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras), a terrorist group based in [Honduras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras) that was created to sabotage Nicaragua and to destabilize the Nicaraguan government.As part of the training, the CIA distributed a detailed "terror manual" entitled "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla War," which instructed the Contras, among other things, on how to blow up public buildings, to assassinate judges, to create martyrs, and to blackmail ordinary citizens. In 1986, the Nicaraguan government under the Sandinistas shoots down a C-123 transport plane carrying military supplies to the Contras. The lone survivor, [Eugene Hasenfus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Hasenfus), turns out to be a CIA employee, as are the two dead pilots, contradicting Reagan's claims that the US was not aiding the contras. [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Hasenfus)
+- From 1981-90, the U.S. government attempted to topple the government of Nicaragua in so called "Contra war" or ["Nicaraguan Revolution"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaraguan_Revolution). The US [secretly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Nicaragua) armed, trained and funded the [Contras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras), a terrorist group based in Honduras that was created to sabotage Nicaragua and to destabilize the Nicaraguan government. As part of the training, the CIA distributed a detailed "terror manual" entitled "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla War," which instructed the Contras, among other things, on how to blow up public buildings, to assassinate judges, to create martyrs, and to blackmail ordinary citizens. In 1986, the Nicaraguan government under the Sandinistas shot down a C-123 transport plane carrying military supplies to the Contras. The lone survivor, [Eugene Hasenfus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Hasenfus), turned out to be a CIA employee, as the two dead pilots, contradicting Reagan's claims that the US was not aiding the contras. [In 1984 Nicaragua responded to the crimes commited by the Contras by taking the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States). ICJ ruled in favor of Nicaragua. ICJ condemnded the "unlawful use of force" (aka. international terrorism) by the US, ordered the US to terminate the crimes and pay massive reparations to Nicaragua. The US dismissed the ICJ judgement with total contempt and announced that they wont accept the jurisdiction of the court. Shortly after the ICJ ruling, the US directed Contras to attack “soft targets” — undefended civilian targets. Nicaragua then in 1985 went to the UN security counsil, which considered the resolution calling on all states to observe international law, but the US vetoed the resolution. The US now stands as the only state on record which has both been condemned by the ICJ for international terrorism and has vetoed a security counsil resolution calling on all states to observe international law. In 1987 Nicaragua went to UN general assembly, where similar resolution passed like in 1985 security counsil, with only the US with Israel and El Salvador opposing it.[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/28/world/world-court-supports-nicaragua-after-us-rejected-judges-role.html),[2](https://chomsky.info/200205__02/),[3](https://chomsky.info/200303__/),[4](https://chomsky.info/198803__/) The Contra war ended in 1990, and estimated 30,000 people were killed.
 - In the 1980s the CIA supported [Battalion 316](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battalion_3-16_(Honduras)), a torture/assassination squad in Honduras, which kidnapped, tortured and killed hundreds of its citizens. Battalion 316 used shock and suffocation devices in interrogations , and prisoners often were kept naked and, when no longer useful, killed and buried in unmarked graves. Declassified documents and other sources show that the CIA and the U.S. Embassy knew of numerous crimes, including murder and torture, yet continued to support Battalion 316 and collaborate with its leaders. These constitute war crimes.[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battalion_3-16_(Honduras))
 - In 1981, the [CIA assassinated Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos via a plane crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Torrijos#Death), over the [Carter-Torrijos treaty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrijos%E2%80%93Carter_Treaties), which would return sovereignty of the Panama canal by 1999, and force a closure of all 26 US bases in Panama by 2000, and for his support of the Sandinistas. The US denies the assassination, but refused to allow evidence to be submitted as it would violate the Classified Information Procedures Act. 
 - In 1981, in an act of biological warfare, [the US released a strain of Dengue fever into Cuba](https://archive.org/details/CovertActionInformationBulletinIssue17Summer1982USFakesDataInChemicalWar/page/n27/mode/2up), developed at Fort Dietrich. A total of 320k people were infected, 158 people died, including 101 children under the age of 15.