Trends evolving out of President Barack Obama's White House and the U.S. military drone program should be cause for immediate protest. How long can "we" hold on to the belief that the Obama administration is a more benevolent, democratic government than the one that preceded it?
Atrocities, considered blatant war crimes by the rest of the world, are the subject of serious political and legal deliberation by U.S. policymakers.
Recent reports reveal specific actions occurring under the direct oversight of President Obama:
President Barack Obama and "national security" advisers meet weekly to plan and authorize extrajudicial assassinations; so-called "signature strikes" have buried the concept of due process; and the U.S. military has now expanded the definition of "militant" to include any male found dead or alive within a drone strike zone-- a designation often made after unsuccessful cover-ups of civilian casualties.
Remote areas of Pakistan and the Horn of Africa are now under a constant threat of expanded, experimental forms of terror that have changed the already barbaric rules of engagement overnight.
Back in the "homeland", perpetual war overseas is having a debiliatating and immobilizing affect on the citizenry. The imperialists are marching without any domestic impediments. Those who have raised arms in defense have been methodically struck down by much greater arms (with no opportunity for due process).
A gradual erosion of basic democratic principals and the continuing abuse of executive power have left an uninformed populace in a state of glorified ignorance.
We aren't allowed access to the whole of what the U.S. military complex is perpetrating in the Middle East and, increasingly, Africa. We have the government's lapdog, or the mainstream media, to thank for that. It will seldom report the ugly truth, and never critically. Would U.S. citizens protest even if the filter were removed?
Think back to President-elect Obama shaking hands with President George W. Bush-- one leaving the White House as the other entered. At that moment, the truth just barely revealed itself through the fog of war, telling us to trust our intuition. Well now it's more than just a gut feeling. It's concrete-- its something we can act on.
The distinctive mark left on a community, or society, that does not act in the face of injustice has already tainted our collective psyche. If its not too late and the majority of U.S. citizens haven't already descended into the least democratic political climate, more of us will find the courage to heal those internal wounds by protesting the continued illegal wars overseas and ending the fraud that the two major political parties continue to perpetrate for the exclusive benefit of the elite.
Peace, Guy