FLAIT

I originally wrote this as a Letter to the Editor but it was too long and I couldn't cut it down to size. So it wasn't published. Here it is with some additions and links.

To justify our troop's presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world, the standard talking point was that they were protecting our "freedoms" and "values." But consider the following:

We invaded, bombed and occupied Iraq based on lies, locked up prisoners indefinitely without charges or trials, tortured prisoners, including teenagers, journalists and those that were known to be innocent, sent prisoners to other countries to be tortured, and kept those identified for release behind bars at Guantanamo Bay. And the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act allows the President and future Presidents to lock up any American in a military prison indefinitely without charges or trial (although implementation has been delayed pending appeal of a temporary injunction ordered by the Federal Court in New York).

We're engaged in endless war, cyber terrorism and, in total secrecy, targeted assassination; not only of an American citizen without a shred of due process, and in a separate attack his 16-year old son and nephew, but with the help of a terrorist group, possibly Iranian nuclear scientists as well. And in a program cloaked in secrecy, we're dropping bombs by drone - killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children in the process - in Afghanistan and countries we're not at war with (imagine the outrage if Iran or Hamas were doing the same thing to us or Israel).

Why do they hate us? Gee, I wonder why.

If that's not enough, the government, our government, is spying on Americans without a warrant and is secretly "hoovering," storing and saving the "metadata" of every phone call and electronic communication made by every American. And the FISA court, which was set up as a check against government surveillance abuse and overreach, not only rubber stamps everything the govenment asks for, but writes the laws to make it all "legal." And it's all done behind closed doors in total secrecy (there's that word again) without opposing counsel, judical review or Congressional oversight. I guess someone forgot the words, We the People...

And whistleblowers, reporters and news outlets that exercise their First Amendment rights and reveal such deep, dark, unconstitutional government secrets and criminality, have been intimidated, harassed, placed under surveillance and/or charged with espionage; and then emotionally tortured for years while in prison awaiting trial. Meanwhile, Wall Street bankers responsible for crashing the economy and raiding the United States Treasury weren't prosecuted at all. They were bailed out instead. And banks involved with terrorists, drug traffickers and money laundering received the financial equivalent of a slap on the wrists because they were "too big to jail;" unlike Occupy Wall Street protestors.

And it's not any better at the state and local levels either. The New York City Police Department placed American-Muslims under surveillance, even those outside their jurisdiction in New Jersey. And red state Republicans are ramming through legislation that's in the process of taking away a woman’s constitutional right to choose. They're also enacting voter ID laws and using other tactics to make it harder for seniors, minorities and the poor to vote, which is the most precious and fundamental right Americans have, by far. And Republicans admit it's to suppress Democratic turnout.

If these are the "freedoms" and "values" our troops are fighting for, then every single soldier should be brought home immediately. And then we need to remind ourselves what America's freedoms and values once were and are supposed to be.