~Justin Schoville
What it is and why it is significant:
Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
The War on Terror and the Roots of Falsehood
It is important to constantly evaluate and analyse the events that come to "define" our society, particularly when they happen against our will, and are forced upon us.
9/11 was one of these events. 9/11 seems to be one of the most pivotal events in my relatively short lifetime, however as a 12-year old I saw through the mantra of "terrorism" immediately. As the events occurred and passed, despite the fact I had no idea how deep the scope of the attacks were on our society and the real consequences to them, I started to notice that something changed. Society was different than it was before, but then again it wasn't.
It was as if a new veil had been draped over the country, a veil of "terrorism". Rhetoric of the "War on Terror" emerged. Getting Osama bin Laden, hunting "terrorists" and defeating Al Qaeda- these were the new most important goals to American life. And yet something was amiss. Something wasn't right. Something was actually wrong. It was only later that I fully realised what that something was.
The idea of the "War on Terror", a fight against a tactic, was absurd to me even then, though I couldn't formulate why it was absurd. So was the idea of invading a country to root out "terrorists". I thought terrorists were a small group of people, not worth the effort of invading a whole country. After all, the wars I learned about always had leaders, they had definitive ends, where the leader died and the war was won. This was different. As the "War" progressed I found it odd that "terrorists" replaced the word "soldier" in enemy deaths. Especially after the invasion of Iraq, American troops kill tens of hundreds of "terrorists". Surely all of those were not bin Laden's and Zawahiri's? Surely they all hadn't plotted to destroy American infrastructure or lives. This wasn't right either.
Years later, I would think back to 9/11, and as I witnessed the degradation of American values (and still witness it) through the act of torture, aggressive warfare and other crimes meditated, planned, ordered, and committed by the highest levels of government, I realised that was the moment that spurred it on. That was the moment that allowed it all to happen. I understood the crucial importance of that day, and the Pandora's box of lies and deceit it opened. I understood that all the abuse of government power by the executive branch, the torture, secret rendition, CIA black sites, the warrantless surveillance, the PATRIOT act, the illegal wiretapping, the invasion of Iraq and by its extension all the government waste, fraud, and abuse with military contractors, the deaths and displacement of millions- their root was the noxious event of 9/11. That is the parasite that eats away every time a John Yoo devises a new torture technique to protect Americans, or when the CIA gets new authorisation to sneak into your library records, listen in to your phone calls, or steal your email. It is the parasite of fear that keeps the State of Tyranny alive and well, and 9/11 was the catalyst to a New World of Terror!
These actions that led to the unitary executive were folly. They were not necessary steps for protection in any sense of the word. They were forced down our throats by the fear of death and destruction, peddled by the warmongers and power hungry legislators of our federal government. They were tolerated by the mass of adults, the mass of scared adults, afraid irrationally of the nameless threat they saw on that day and repeated constantly on television.
As a result the PATRIOT Act passed. This was the beginning of the end for American values. Fear drove that bill to pass, and legislators reneged on their duty to uphold the values they swore to protect. They acted in haste and fear and became cowardly instead of acting as leaders. Leadership would have been to embrace tighter the Constitution and the values that make us Americans, instead of ceding that authority for political expediency. Yet this is what they did after those fateful days.
Our leaders failed us. Our representatives, the men and women elected by the people to uphold Constitutional government failed the people. These people would cede all vestiges of a Constitution if it meant they could hold onto power for a little longer. I say this not as wild speculation, but as truth based on their actions after that day.
Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg in irresponsible government. However, 9/11 and the "War on Terror" are supposed to be the events that define my generation. I refute these falsehoods entirely.
9/11 was one of these events. 9/11 seems to be one of the most pivotal events in my relatively short lifetime, however as a 12-year old I saw through the mantra of "terrorism" immediately. As the events occurred and passed, despite the fact I had no idea how deep the scope of the attacks were on our society and the real consequences to them, I started to notice that something changed. Society was different than it was before, but then again it wasn't.
It was as if a new veil had been draped over the country, a veil of "terrorism". Rhetoric of the "War on Terror" emerged. Getting Osama bin Laden, hunting "terrorists" and defeating Al Qaeda- these were the new most important goals to American life. And yet something was amiss. Something wasn't right. Something was actually wrong. It was only later that I fully realised what that something was.
The idea of the "War on Terror", a fight against a tactic, was absurd to me even then, though I couldn't formulate why it was absurd. So was the idea of invading a country to root out "terrorists". I thought terrorists were a small group of people, not worth the effort of invading a whole country. After all, the wars I learned about always had leaders, they had definitive ends, where the leader died and the war was won. This was different. As the "War" progressed I found it odd that "terrorists" replaced the word "soldier" in enemy deaths. Especially after the invasion of Iraq, American troops kill tens of hundreds of "terrorists". Surely all of those were not bin Laden's and Zawahiri's? Surely they all hadn't plotted to destroy American infrastructure or lives. This wasn't right either.
Years later, I would think back to 9/11, and as I witnessed the degradation of American values (and still witness it) through the act of torture, aggressive warfare and other crimes meditated, planned, ordered, and committed by the highest levels of government, I realised that was the moment that spurred it on. That was the moment that allowed it all to happen. I understood the crucial importance of that day, and the Pandora's box of lies and deceit it opened. I understood that all the abuse of government power by the executive branch, the torture, secret rendition, CIA black sites, the warrantless surveillance, the PATRIOT act, the illegal wiretapping, the invasion of Iraq and by its extension all the government waste, fraud, and abuse with military contractors, the deaths and displacement of millions- their root was the noxious event of 9/11. That is the parasite that eats away every time a John Yoo devises a new torture technique to protect Americans, or when the CIA gets new authorisation to sneak into your library records, listen in to your phone calls, or steal your email. It is the parasite of fear that keeps the State of Tyranny alive and well, and 9/11 was the catalyst to a New World of Terror!
These actions that led to the unitary executive were folly. They were not necessary steps for protection in any sense of the word. They were forced down our throats by the fear of death and destruction, peddled by the warmongers and power hungry legislators of our federal government. They were tolerated by the mass of adults, the mass of scared adults, afraid irrationally of the nameless threat they saw on that day and repeated constantly on television.
As a result the PATRIOT Act passed. This was the beginning of the end for American values. Fear drove that bill to pass, and legislators reneged on their duty to uphold the values they swore to protect. They acted in haste and fear and became cowardly instead of acting as leaders. Leadership would have been to embrace tighter the Constitution and the values that make us Americans, instead of ceding that authority for political expediency. Yet this is what they did after those fateful days.
Our leaders failed us. Our representatives, the men and women elected by the people to uphold Constitutional government failed the people. These people would cede all vestiges of a Constitution if it meant they could hold onto power for a little longer. I say this not as wild speculation, but as truth based on their actions after that day.
Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg in irresponsible government. However, 9/11 and the "War on Terror" are supposed to be the events that define my generation. I refute these falsehoods entirely.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Adding us to Technocrati and such
I will be writing a few articles sometime over the course of the next week and posting them on here. It's been my intention all along, but I've been extremely busy with my classes as of late to be able to do so. It certainly will be pleasurable though to finally get to contributing a bit more requently on this blog.
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