Nuns of El Salvador

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May 01, 2024

Sean Griobhtha w/ Rubicon

Excerpt from X Rubicon, Nuns

This was real life for Rubicon. This is something that is laden with guilt and shame.

"Within 2-1/2 years I became guilty of planning and assisting in the slaughter of thousands, and was directly responsible for the killing of >300, from a distance, close up, and personal. I had become everything I despised...”

Rubicon

Nuns

#16 [of 18], June 1981

Blood red stains on habits black,

Fell before my roving eye,

Hands uplifted to their god,

Now in blood mud dirt they lie.

- Nuns of El Salvador – Rubicon

…US President Jimmy Carter, spewing the usual anti-communist rhetoric vowed in Oval Office conversations to squash any and all socialist sentiments in Central America. He complained about Romero to Zbignew Brzezinski, who in a recorded call to the Vatican demanded that they silence Romero, “or we will”. Low and behold, in March 1980, in a country practically guided by the CIA, Arch-Bishop Romero was murdered while officiating in front of his congregation. Nuns of all orders were helping the people and rebels with humanitarian support, because the oppression was that strong, and evil reigned in a civil war of the Haves seeking to have more…

…This raised so many doubts and questions in my mind about what we were doing there, about the morality of what we were doing. I wasn’t being religious, but I wondered why women who wanted peace in the world would be so convicted to help in an obvious civil war. I started to ask myself what the rebels were fighting for, instead of accepting the word of my commanders, especially the CIA.

Having finished what can only be described as macabre clean up, I returned to my hill location. I called for the Combat Talon, and they dropped a Fulton Recovery Unit. I donned the harness and let up the balloon, and they yanked me off that hill and pulled me in, and I thought how badly those rebels would have liked this for an escape.

Back at the staging base, I rounded up the pilots and Electronic Warfare Officers and told them that nuns were in the convoy. To a man they replied, “Really? That’s interesting.” but didn’t really care. When I told the debriefing officer, Lt Weasel, he said, “Who cares? The CIA doesn’t care and neither do we. The nuns have no business sticking their noses in this.” I became enraged and yelled, “You motherfucker! That’s so fucked up!”. The observing sergeant pulled me from the room.

I spent sleepless nights after this trying to understand what I was involved in; why people were so willing to invest their lives in fighting; why we were always supporting right-wing regimes with ties to US business vs supporting human rights and calling out mendacity. Learning more about the conflict, I learned that right-wing Salvadoran military and para-military death squads had targeted nuns for rape, torture, and murder because they opposed the regime and preached liberation theology. I started to feel like a Nazi.

Reflecting on the fact that the CIA always knew how many would be in the convoys – and they knew ~400 would be on this one – it has struck me that they knew nuns were aboard this convoy, but they chose not to make this known or debate the issue. With the intelligence they had gathered, and with what they did share, it’s not possible they didn’t know. Somewhere in Washington or Langley pictures of dead nuns torn to shreds by US fire sit in archives. The CIA, in many respects, is a lot like the SS, with detailed documentation and images of the death and destruction they have orchestrated. The United States Central Intelligence Agency knew those nuns would be killed, and they wanted them killed because they upset the Agenda.

To this day the sadness over having participated in this atrocity pervades my being. It’s one thing to attack and kill those who don soldiering outfit and gear – they know what they’re getting in to; but to slaughter those whose sole purpose is to support, protect, and provide aid to the afflicted and innocent... [Yes, I’m as guilty as any Zionist]

*****

To read more, purchase the book in original English or 7 translations (it’s much cheaper than a subscription would be). If you want to support me in any way, buy the book. eBook available from your favorite digital store. Paperback & hardcover are heavy paper, and to keep cost down, the paperback is B&W interior; the hardcover has color interior with blacker text.

From the back cover:

“Pronounced gree-Oh-tah. This book is a first-hand account of Rubicon's military experience journey in CIA proxy wars. The depth of his pain and experience that I have personally witnessed moved me to convince him, along with his wife, to open up and detail the events which changed him through time. Ignorance of the American (and other colonial) people is at the heart of much of the cause and effect. I have great respect for all who must face the evils of their life or past and actually commit themselves to examination and change. I despise zealots of religion, politics, and money. My writing is ferocious in this regard, yet deeply caring for the person involved in dealing with the propaganda and lies which led to the committing of atrocities. I'm committed to changing America's love affair with the military (at any cost) and fascism (of any stripe).”

“Sean's book truthfully takes the reader through a horrendous 2.5 years of deception and death, and 40+ years of locking away emotions and truth. His compassion comes through as he describes the aftermath of PTSD. This is a narrative that is jarring and unsettling, but there is a sense that knowing the true invites us to change the reality of our love affair with the military. We can wake up, become aware of what we have allowed to happen with the trillions of dollars spent to kill and ravage other countries (all in the name of America), and change the trajectory of our role in the world. There is hope if we are honest and learn from our past.” (Jules Bond)

“This is NOT another patriotic account of war vainglory. It is a raw and vulnerable account of a man coming to terms with what he has done and how he has grown in life. A veteran of CIA proxy conflicts in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua has given his story to the author. It is very intense writing, and takes a first hand critical view of the VA, CIA, Presidents, Congress, and especially the American public. I found myself weeping and drawn to the arguments made. It seems geared totally toward combat PTSD, combat veterans, their SO's, young men especially, and an ignorant public. There is plenty of discussion on dealing with an intense PTSD over a life-time, and some advice for sufferers and their SO's and family. It's definitely a different paradigm in this narrative than I've ever read before. The veteran's wife wrote the Foreward and it will definitely grab your heart and conscience.” (Barnes & Noble Editorial Review - AS)

Crossing Rubicons

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