Morgan Report available online

Jere Krischel, our own resident contrarian, has an op-ed in today's Advertiser announcing that the Morgan Report is now available online at morganreport.org. The report is available both as scanned images and transcribed text. Regardless of what one thinks of Krischel's interpretation of the report (and the fact that the U.S. can't exonerate itself for violations of international law regardless of the report) it is a service to all who are interested in the history to have the report available electronically so we can more easily research it ourselves and make up our own minds.

Update: A few points to keep in mind for perspective...

The U.S. cannot exonerate itself in an international violation. The Morgan Report is legally meaningless in that regard. It may be interesting historically, but it is useless in refuting that the invasion was illegal. The fact that only pro-annexationist supporters of the traitors testified (aside from Blount himself) reveals the bias, but the report is legally meaningless anyway. It is like a person holding a trial in which he is defendant, prosecutor and judge, and where only his friends testify, then proclaiming his innocence. After he had already confessed to the crime.

Next, the United States engaging in diplomacy with the government its military had a direct hand in helping to establish—which the executive branch (responsible for foreign relations) found would not have existed without U.S. intervention—is entirely meaningless in establishing the legitimacy of that government, or its authority to cede the territory or sovereignty of the state, even if there had been a treaty of cession (which there wasn't).

So, the Morgan Report can give us insight into the thoughts and motivations of the traitors and their supporters and conspirators, and the efforts of certain forces within the U.S. to cover up and justify its actions retroactively, but it cannot by its very nature disprove that the United States acted illegally, or provide legitimacy to any purported merger of sovereignty of the Hawaiian state. It is actually just further evidence of the crime.

Oh, and one more thing... Regardless of this one Senate committee report, the official position of the Senate today remains that the invasion was unlawful, that it was an international violation. While one may argue the historical merits of their position, with such an admission against interest there is no legal dispute whatsoever as to the unlawfulness of the intervention.

Posted: Sun - January 15, 2006 at 01:14 PM

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Morgan Report available online

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