The history of the United States of America is full of violence and illegal killings of innocent people on its land and abroad. The illegal shooting at Kent State University is one of the examples.
It is quite shameful that the American president Richard Nixon did not show any remorse over the illegal killings, and the soldiers from the Ohio National Guard were acquitted of all charges.
Those students were peacefully protesting at the premises of Kent State University and had no political ambitions whatsoever. The only crime they committed was to demand and question the legality of American military action against the innocent civilians of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
The American leaders illegally led the nation to military intervention in Vietnam. The American leaders were quite fearful of the Soviet and Chinese influence in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and they illegally deployed American soldiers in Vietnam. The American President John F. Kennedy led the American soldiers to be deployed in Vietnam, and after his assassination in November 1963, his successor Lyndon B. Johnson even expanded the American military presence in Vietnam. In 1969, US President Richard Nixon was elected and decided to bomb the neighbouring countries of Vietnam. That is why they decided to bomb Cambodia and kill innocent people.
The Bombing of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, 1969-1973
The US President Richard Nixon ordered the aerial bombing of Cambodia, and the US Air Force started Operation Menu. Later, Operation Freedom Deal followed and continued till August 1973. The US Air Force B-52 bombers used heavy bombs and indiscriminately bombed thickly populated areas.
A report noted that the US Air Force launched more than 2 million bombing missions against the Southeast Asian countries during the 1960s and 1970s. It also noted that American jets and bombers flew an average of 924 aerial bombing missions per day and continued the campaign for many years.
In Laos a total of almost two hundred thousand people were killed, including the wiping out of entire villages and towns. In Cambodia a total of one hundred fifty thousand people were killed. According to estimates, the US dropped over seven million tonnes of bombs and munitions over these countries. These munitions also included incendiary bombs and cluster bombs, which are absolutely banned by the United Nations due to their lethality.
Henry Kissinger Ordered General Alexander Haig
On 9 December 1970, the telephonic conversation between the National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger and General Alexander Haig was an eye opening conversation that revealed the actual and true face of American barbarism. Kissinger personally conveyed the message of President Nixon to General Haig that President Nixon “wants a massive bombing campaign in Cambodia. He doesn’t want to hear anything. It’s an order; it’s to be done. Anything that flies on anything that moves. You got that?”
This documented conversation was declassified decades later. One can well imagine that the American imperialist leaders did not hesitate for a single minute to bomb and kill innocent civilians, who had nothing to do with the Viet Cong or the North Vietnamese Army or even the Viet Minh.
Conclusion
This article aims to honour the 56th Anniversary of the sacrifice of those students. The righteous and innocent students of Kent State University who stood up in the name of humanity and international law. The 4 young students, namely Allison Krause (19 years old), Jeffrey Miller (20 years old), Sandra Lee Scheuer (20 years old), and William Schroeder, did not die of the bullets that were fired at them, but they were killed because of American imperialism.
It is to be noted here that the American students were shot dead by their very own American soldiers who were supposed to protect them. The blood of those innocent students is still haunting American imperialism, and the ongoing political and social unrest in America is because of those policies.
Simon Westwood is a Masters student at Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland. He is also a Research Assistant at the DCU’s Department of History
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