Dirty Hands and Vicious Deeds

Book excerpt: Government officials were reasonable or unreasonable; moral, amoral or immoral; right or wrong; and/or legal or criminal. In his Introduction, Totten offers a critical assessment of the US Foreign Policy as it pertains to genocide and crimes against humanity, and discusses the differences between those two terms--a subject that generates great debate among scholars. In the following chapters, each author presents a detailed analysis of a particular case of crimes against humanity or genocide by a foreign government against its own citizens, and discusses why and how United States Government was complicit by aiding and/or remaining silent. What makes the collection unique--and chilling--is the inclusion of actual declassified documents generated by the U.S. Government at the time. Such documents include memoranda, telegrams, letters, talking points, cables, reports, discussion papers, and situation reports. .