Definition of a Coverup
A coverup is an attempt to prevent the public from discovering information about a serious crime or mistake.
Cover-ups do not necessarily require the active manipulation of facts or circumstances. Arguably the most common form of cover-up is one of non-action. However, the United States government can initiate coverups and it does. The amount of resources both financial and human that these agencies can allocate to initiate a coverup is significant.
“Unlimited Capacity”
Image if that crime or mistake involves classified personnel involved in special operations (Department of Defense (DOD), FBI, DEA, CIA, and counterpart agency personnel in allied countries. The Department of Defense alone has an annual budget approaching USD 1 trillion. There are reportedly 70,000 SOCOM personnel and DOD has 1.3 million active duty. The FBI has 35,000 employees, and its budget. The resources are staggering.
History of Coverups
The United States has a history of engaging in coverups especially the Department of Defense. How a C.I.A. Coverup Targeted a Whistleblower, the New Yorker Ronin Farrow.
Reuters Journalists
The Reuters journalist and a good samaritan were gunned down by Army personnel. You can read about it all lies: how the us military covered up gunning down two journalists in Iraq
Pat Tillman Friendly Fire
Pat Tillman coverup, a Cardinals football player who went to fight for his country only to be gunned down by friendly fire and it covered up at least initially, and here at the Los Angeles Times, A cover-up as shameful as Tillman’s death.
Abu Ghraib Prisoner Abuse by Army Intelligence and Military Police
There is the Abu Ghraib coverup where one member of Army intelligence who talked about the collective silence of so many people being involved, Intel staffer cites abu ghraib coverup. This has all unravled over the years and Time magazine ran a story on Abu Ghraib, with How Did It comes to this showing a detainee with a bag over his head. There the My Lai Massacre coverup that involved numerous Army personnel who committed atrocities against Vietnamese civilians from slashing their throats to raping them. The History Channel reported, How the Army’s Cover-Up Made the My Lai Massacre Even Worse, but there are numerous sources.
“The military’s secrecy ultimately compounded the shock of the revelations once they became public. Not only had scores of Army soldiers participated in the wanton murder of defenseless women and children, but the Army’s leadership had seemed to conspire to sweep crimes against humanity under the carpet.”
Watergate Scandal
There are of course White House coverups that include the Watergate Scandal and read about it at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, Watergate: The Cover-Up. Threat, Lies and Audiotape. And it is obviously not the United States that engages in coverups.
Crimes at Auschwitz
Take the Germans for example in the not too distant past, they attempted to coverup the crimes at Auschwitz.
Operation Fast and Furious
As to Operation Fast and Furious, a high-ranking Sinaloa drug cartel member Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, claimed in court that the gang was financed and armed by the U.S. government as part of a secret deal to undermine other Mexican drug cartels. The deal allegedly began sometime before 2004 and lasted until at least March 2009.[144] Mr. Niebla was the son of one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. Mr. Niebla agreed to forfeit 1.39 billion dollars as part of his plea deal. He seemingly had no incentive to lie and would have been in the position to know.
Mexican news outlet El Universal has reported that Fast and Furious was part of a scheme to intentionally arm the Sinaloa cartel so that it could defeat rival drug gangs, as part of a secret ‘divide and conquer’ strategy of the U.S. government aimed at the long-term goal of wiping out all of the drug cartels, a strategy which had previously been employed in Colombia. It is also alleged that as part of the deal, the U.S. government agreed not to pursue charges against the Sinaloa cartel for drug trafficking in the U.S.
It would make sense that United States intelligence provides a degree of protection for the cartel in order to use it as a doormat for global operations. After all it is one of the world’s largest distributors of cocaine and like SOCOM probably operates in just as many countries. This is the dark side of things with no over sight. Is it a coincidence the rise of SOCOM has mirrored the rise of the Sinaloa Cartel to some degree.
We Know About These Coverups
The fact remains we know about these coverups which demonstrates coverups do fail.
