Should Government Lead the People, or Should the People Lead the Government?

Big brother needs few excuses to do as he pleases.

Courtesy: news.thomasnet.com

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - Amidst great fanfare, the US government recently warned of an impending terrorist strike, and began to shut down embassies around the world. They could not tell citizens what was threatened, who made the threat, how they found out about the threat, or the nature of the threat; so some questioned the reality of the impending threat.

This, combined with the backlash among citizens over the revelations from the whistleblower Edward Snowden, that virtually everything is being watched by the US government, including e-mails, phone calls, content viewed on the internet, both here and around the world, has caused people to be against all the secrecy and spying.

Many began to wonder if the terrorist alert was nothing more than a tactic to convince the public of the need for the 24-7 surveillance of every single thing we do.

In any case let us assume for the sake of argument, the terrorist threat was real. One has to ask why the terrorists have turned on the US and a few of its allies, while virtually ignoring the rest of the world.

What is the difference between those who are threatened and those who are ignored? The US, on a daily basis, kills people around the world, claiming they are all terrorists and denying innocents are being killed, but many at home know, and certainly the relatives of the innocent dead know, they were murdered for nothing, which only creates enemies.

The US government insists almost all those droned are "militants", and deserve death, but their definition of a "militant" leaves a little to be desired.

The US has determined and decided any military age male is called a combatant, and therefore fair game. The new definition came about because too many innocent civilians were being killed by drones, so the government's solution was to change the definition of a combatant, thus enabling them to say almost everyone they killed was a militant or a combatant.

The US has bombed approximately 15 Muslim nations around the world. We don't know the exact number of nations being bombed because the Pentagon recently told Congress that is a "secret". We attacked Iraq without legitimate cause, and killed over one million people and reduced the country to anarchy and daily bloodbaths.

We have been attacking and killing in Afghanistan for more than 10 years, and no one can give a rational explanation for our violent presence in that country. We know, although we don't like to talk about it, that this nation has tortured thousands around the world, and has imprisoned without charge or trial, thousands of innocent people around the world, we have a kill list and assassinate those on the list, including American citizens, we back brutal dictatorships, we maintain a gulag of secret prisons around the world, we bomb and wipe out funeral processions and wedding parties, and lately have resorted to bombing, then waiting 30 minutes until first responders try to assist the wounded and remove the dead, and bomb the first responders, which is considered a horrible crime around the world. Human nature is not perfect, so when a nation bombs at random, kills innocents on a daily basis, tortures, and supports brutal dictatorships; there is a natural human response to seek revenge. Government has been our leader for far too long, and their leadership has reduced us to being Un-American, and having a policy that conflicts with American values.

Perhaps it is time for people to take control of their government. Let the people lead the government to a more humane pro American policy, and stop government from leading the people. Their leadership dragged us into an abyss of immorality. Let's have a truly "American" foreign policy; one "of the people, by the people, and or the people". Get involved!

So assuming the latest terrorist threat is real, and not a cover for the massive violation of constitution rights of citizens, you really do not have to ask why the US is being threatened by terrorists.

Why are nations like Finland, Iceland, Norway, and all the others who do not murder, bomb, torture, not subjected to terrorist attacks? It is really pretty basic.

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Salem-News.com Writer Joe Clifford, lives in historic Jamestown, Rhode Island, and has contributed a number of articles relating to foreign policy to newspapers in the Rhode Island area for years.

He graduated from Providence College where he earned an undergraduate and graduate degree. After a lengthy career as a high school teacher he turned to the study of US foreign policy, and then to writing, as a means of expressing an alternative perspective. His reading and research on foreign policy is broad and extensive, especially as the policy relates to the Middle East. His interest in foreign policy was inspired by the American misadventure in Vietnam. You can write to Joe at this address: jc21131@gmail.com