native land
© Unknown
When last year's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed overwhelmingly the bill tacked on riders that gave Native American land to foreign investors.

Every year the NDAA passes through congress and every year it passes. With a bloated budget of 585 million, it flew through Congress with a whopping 89 to 11 vote. From the sound of the name, you would think that it was a defense bill but everything DC is smoke and mirrors.

A rider in the Bill called the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, had twice failed to win support in the House of Representatives and was blocked both by conservationists and conservatives.

The Act was added into the NDAA largely thanks to the efforts of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who sees the project as an "economic boon" that will create 3,700 jobs over several decades.

Secret negotiations gave a subsidiary of the Australian-English mining firm Rio Tinto 2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest in exchange for several other land parcels in order to mine a massive copper deposit.

Rio Tinto has a uranium mine in Namibia in which 15% is owned by Iram since the days of Shah Pahlavi. The company supposedly removed Tehran from the mine board and claim it has not active connections with Iran. Under Namibian law, it is impossible to buy out Iran's share or forcefully remove Tehran.

It's not only the benefit of a claimed enemy that is troubling, Native American land usurped in the deal to mine copper will destroy sacred ceremonial and burial grounds. Of course, Rio Tinto spouts the usual corporate line that they will work closely with the Tribe so their concerns are heard. I'm sure they'll listen until it cuts into Rio Tinto's bottom line.

As soon as the NDAA becomes law, Rio Tinto with sketchy ties to our "avowed" enemy Iran will take the small amount of land these tribes have only to drill and pillage from their promised amount of dirt for the benefit of a foreign company.

There is always going to be secretly hidden grime in bills passed through our so-called Democracy. None of the riders are for the benefit of the American people and certainly not from the Apache.

The Government has always moved Indigenous people to lands they don't want and promise that land forever until they find something that they want, they the State will take it.

Our system is broke and we need to fix it. Let's figure out how.