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Facts That Our War-Happy Leaders Would Like To Keep Hushed Up
Donald Trump said, "I'm going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody -- absolutely nobody -- is gonna mess with us."
Jan 23, 2017
Donald Trump said, "I'm going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody -- absolutely nobody -- is gonna mess with us."
Simple-minded but deadly thinking at the top derives from influential groups and individuals who think we have to KILL to keep the rest of the world in line. The compliant mainstream media scares us into accepting wars and drone killings overseas, military-style defenses on our own streets, surveillance of our private lives. For the war-happy leadership of America, certain realities are better left unsaid, or at most reported quickly and quietly.
1. Terrorist Acts in the U.S. Were More Common 40 Years Ago
Terrorist acts are deadly, but the panicky reports of mainstream news sources scare us more than they should, as when a FOX reporter called ISIS "the single biggest threat in [America's] 200-year history."
This graphic derived from the Rand Corporation's terrorism database shows that the frequency of terrorist acts was greatest in the 1970s and 1980s. CNN notes that "There were literally hundreds of terrorist bombings, shootings and hijackings in States during the 1970s."
2. Violent Crime Is Down -- Except Where Young Men are Left to Languish and Die
The rate of violent crime has been consistently dropping since 1993. Except in places like Chicago, where nearly half of young black men are neither working nor in school.
The New York Times summarizes the effects of constant media scares: "Americans are primed, when they hear a loud bang or screams, or see a crowd break into a run, to think in terms of mass killings and active shooters. Yet crime statistics show that over all, violence in the United States is as low as it has ever been, and experts say the fear far exceeds the risk."
The solution is JOBS -- but Congress has a long record of stifling job creation proposals. They'd rather pull out a gun.
3. The Military Believes it's OK to Kill Civilians
The Joint Chiefs of Staff instruct: "Otherwise lawful targets involuntarily shielded with protected civilians may be attacked, and the protected civilians may be considered as collateral damage, provided that the collateral damage is not excessive..."
This helps to explain why only about 12 percent of named drone victims in Pakistan were identified as al Qaeda militant targets.
4. Suicide Kills More American Soldiers Than Terrorism
In 2014, 55 U.S. soldiers lost their lives in foreign occupations, but 269 active service members committed suicide. Almost five times as many.
It gets much worse. In that same year of 2014 over 7,400 veterans took their own lives, accounting for an incredible 18 percent of all suicides even though vets make up less than 9 percent of the U.S. population. About 75 percent of the suicides were committed by veterans without VA care.
5. Whistleblowing was Part of the Founding of America
John McCain and Paul Ryan and numerous other super-patriots condemned President Obama's pardon of Chelsea Manning.
In 1778 the Continental Congress ruled that "it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states." Other pro-whistleblower legislation has been passed in recent years.
Our nationalist leaders don't care about any of this. They just want to make sure no one's "gonna mess with us." But as more of our misdeeds go unreported, more and more of the world is learning to hate us.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Paul Buchheit
Paul Buchheit is an advocate for social and economic justice, and the author of numerous papers on economic inequality and cognitive science. He was recently named one of 300 Living Peace and Justice Leaders and Models. He is the author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (2008) and "Disposable Americans: Extreme Capitalism and the Case for a Guaranteed Income" (2017). Contact email: paul (at) youdeservefacts.org.
Donald Trump said, "I'm going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody -- absolutely nobody -- is gonna mess with us."
Simple-minded but deadly thinking at the top derives from influential groups and individuals who think we have to KILL to keep the rest of the world in line. The compliant mainstream media scares us into accepting wars and drone killings overseas, military-style defenses on our own streets, surveillance of our private lives. For the war-happy leadership of America, certain realities are better left unsaid, or at most reported quickly and quietly.
1. Terrorist Acts in the U.S. Were More Common 40 Years Ago
Terrorist acts are deadly, but the panicky reports of mainstream news sources scare us more than they should, as when a FOX reporter called ISIS "the single biggest threat in [America's] 200-year history."
This graphic derived from the Rand Corporation's terrorism database shows that the frequency of terrorist acts was greatest in the 1970s and 1980s. CNN notes that "There were literally hundreds of terrorist bombings, shootings and hijackings in States during the 1970s."
2. Violent Crime Is Down -- Except Where Young Men are Left to Languish and Die
The rate of violent crime has been consistently dropping since 1993. Except in places like Chicago, where nearly half of young black men are neither working nor in school.
The New York Times summarizes the effects of constant media scares: "Americans are primed, when they hear a loud bang or screams, or see a crowd break into a run, to think in terms of mass killings and active shooters. Yet crime statistics show that over all, violence in the United States is as low as it has ever been, and experts say the fear far exceeds the risk."
The solution is JOBS -- but Congress has a long record of stifling job creation proposals. They'd rather pull out a gun.
3. The Military Believes it's OK to Kill Civilians
The Joint Chiefs of Staff instruct: "Otherwise lawful targets involuntarily shielded with protected civilians may be attacked, and the protected civilians may be considered as collateral damage, provided that the collateral damage is not excessive..."
This helps to explain why only about 12 percent of named drone victims in Pakistan were identified as al Qaeda militant targets.
4. Suicide Kills More American Soldiers Than Terrorism
In 2014, 55 U.S. soldiers lost their lives in foreign occupations, but 269 active service members committed suicide. Almost five times as many.
It gets much worse. In that same year of 2014 over 7,400 veterans took their own lives, accounting for an incredible 18 percent of all suicides even though vets make up less than 9 percent of the U.S. population. About 75 percent of the suicides were committed by veterans without VA care.
5. Whistleblowing was Part of the Founding of America
John McCain and Paul Ryan and numerous other super-patriots condemned President Obama's pardon of Chelsea Manning.
In 1778 the Continental Congress ruled that "it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states." Other pro-whistleblower legislation has been passed in recent years.
Our nationalist leaders don't care about any of this. They just want to make sure no one's "gonna mess with us." But as more of our misdeeds go unreported, more and more of the world is learning to hate us.
Paul Buchheit
Paul Buchheit is an advocate for social and economic justice, and the author of numerous papers on economic inequality and cognitive science. He was recently named one of 300 Living Peace and Justice Leaders and Models. He is the author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (2008) and "Disposable Americans: Extreme Capitalism and the Case for a Guaranteed Income" (2017). Contact email: paul (at) youdeservefacts.org.
Donald Trump said, "I'm going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody -- absolutely nobody -- is gonna mess with us."
Simple-minded but deadly thinking at the top derives from influential groups and individuals who think we have to KILL to keep the rest of the world in line. The compliant mainstream media scares us into accepting wars and drone killings overseas, military-style defenses on our own streets, surveillance of our private lives. For the war-happy leadership of America, certain realities are better left unsaid, or at most reported quickly and quietly.
1. Terrorist Acts in the U.S. Were More Common 40 Years Ago
Terrorist acts are deadly, but the panicky reports of mainstream news sources scare us more than they should, as when a FOX reporter called ISIS "the single biggest threat in [America's] 200-year history."
This graphic derived from the Rand Corporation's terrorism database shows that the frequency of terrorist acts was greatest in the 1970s and 1980s. CNN notes that "There were literally hundreds of terrorist bombings, shootings and hijackings in States during the 1970s."
2. Violent Crime Is Down -- Except Where Young Men are Left to Languish and Die
The rate of violent crime has been consistently dropping since 1993. Except in places like Chicago, where nearly half of young black men are neither working nor in school.
The New York Times summarizes the effects of constant media scares: "Americans are primed, when they hear a loud bang or screams, or see a crowd break into a run, to think in terms of mass killings and active shooters. Yet crime statistics show that over all, violence in the United States is as low as it has ever been, and experts say the fear far exceeds the risk."
The solution is JOBS -- but Congress has a long record of stifling job creation proposals. They'd rather pull out a gun.
3. The Military Believes it's OK to Kill Civilians
The Joint Chiefs of Staff instruct: "Otherwise lawful targets involuntarily shielded with protected civilians may be attacked, and the protected civilians may be considered as collateral damage, provided that the collateral damage is not excessive..."
This helps to explain why only about 12 percent of named drone victims in Pakistan were identified as al Qaeda militant targets.
4. Suicide Kills More American Soldiers Than Terrorism
In 2014, 55 U.S. soldiers lost their lives in foreign occupations, but 269 active service members committed suicide. Almost five times as many.
It gets much worse. In that same year of 2014 over 7,400 veterans took their own lives, accounting for an incredible 18 percent of all suicides even though vets make up less than 9 percent of the U.S. population. About 75 percent of the suicides were committed by veterans without VA care.
5. Whistleblowing was Part of the Founding of America
John McCain and Paul Ryan and numerous other super-patriots condemned President Obama's pardon of Chelsea Manning.
In 1778 the Continental Congress ruled that "it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states." Other pro-whistleblower legislation has been passed in recent years.
Our nationalist leaders don't care about any of this. They just want to make sure no one's "gonna mess with us." But as more of our misdeeds go unreported, more and more of the world is learning to hate us.
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