I think we are entering a very dangerous phase in this country. We already know that the government in Washington basically came to a stand-still mainly due to Republicans' intransigence. Then there is the drip-drip of revelations about the illegal and unconstitutional NSA spying on the entire U.S. population and much of the world, including the United Nations.
Because of the government dysfunction (Sequester, and the possibility of a government shut down during upcoming budget negotiations, unemployment and underemployment) segments of the population remain under enormous strains.
My take is that much of the government dysfunction has been caused by certain interests who are seeking to benefit from tearing down the public sector, by de-funding it, and then swooping in with privatization "solutions." A good source of information about this issue can be found at: ALEC Exposed.
I've been convinced (known, suspected) all along that this was a done deal; that we will attack Syria. I know that some argue that the use of chemical weapons warrants our military involvement. I'm not going to argue about that here (although if I did, I'd had a lot to say).
Here's what The New York Times reports tonight: "Confident Syria Used Chemicals, U.S. Mulls Action"
Moving a step closer to possible American military action in Syria, a senior Obama administration official said Sunday that there was âvery little doubtâ that President Bashar al-Assadâs military forces had used chemical weapons against civilians last week and that a Syrian promise to allow United Nations inspectors access to the site was âtoo late to be credible.â
I know this has happened in our nation's history many times; we've been involved in many wars and interventions. Sometimes justifiably; sometimes not so much (Iraq).
But I think that this time around things are going to be much different. We've gone through a very massive revamping of our entire system of Justice. I'm not going to get into all the issues, but there is the PATRIOT Act, and other issues like indefinite detention, curtailment of Habeas Corpus, extra-judicial assassinations, an others.
Right now in the U.S. there is an ongoing debate about NSA overreach, surveillance, etc. And of course, there are many other issues people care about regarding social justice, including the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and California, income inequality, unemployment, etc.
Here's my concern... Once the missiles are launched there is going to be a massive jingoistic push (by some people) aided by non-stop news coverage by the likes of MSNBC, CNN, FoxNews, ABC, NBC, CBS.
Attacking another country with missiles is kind of an act of war, so that immediately is going to raise the threat level for the "homeland."
If that happens, we are likely to see an army of government, military, national security people on TV pushing one simple message: now more than ever is when we need our surveillance and security capabilities to protect the homeland.
In that type of environment, critics of the surveillance state are very likely to be silenced, and media outlets like The New York Times, Washington Post, and others may be pressured to stop publishing NSA-realted revelations.
I'm basing this opinion on the recent past when fear-mongering and manipulation by the Bush Administration pushed the country into supporting the war of aggression against Iraq, and into accepting draconian security laws like the PATRIOT Act.
Officials say that a list of possible targets for a military strike has been circulating in the White House since late last week. The list, which the Pentagon originally prepared months ago for Mr. Obama, includes both chemical-weapons sites and broader military and government targets, depending on the type of action the president orders. If strikes are carried out, the targets would probably be hit by cruise missiles fired from Navy ships.
-- The New York Times
The emphasis is mine
To be clear... This is just my opinion. I do hope that these things don't happen in this way, but I'm afraid they may because of the conditions I described.
I'd like to know what the readers think about this issue. Of course, I would have preferred a different solution...
Again, I think we're going in with the missile strikes, and soon.
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P.S. I welcome spirited debate about this topic, and I'm especially interested in hearing from people who do not agree with my position. However, I will not engage in discussion with people who write personal insults, or engage in disruptive behavior. I ask other serious people to do the same. To learn more about this subject, please visit the following links: New Community Guidelines / The 15 Rules of Web Disruption / Thirteen Rules for Truth Suppression / Disinformation: How It Works.
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