AMERICA UNDER SIEGE—IS THIS WHAT WE WANT?

Whenever another of these seemingly inevitable mass shooting occurs, there is a rush, mostly by vested interests, to place or deflect blame. The fault lies, we are told, either with gun proliferation, a deranged person, a security breach or even radical foreign ideologies--whose adherents we've allowed to run loose within our borders. Politicians, law enforcement and security pundits pollute the airways with their hackneyed opinions, trying to explain to us yokels what is really going on—and with no idea on how to stop it—except to make more war and kill more people.

The rush to judgment has narrowed in on one religion and the radicalization of its adherents. It doesn't seem to matter that the alleged shooter was not known to be a devout practitioner of Islam, or that he regularly imbibed alcohol and was most probably gay—both of which are heavily punished by the alleged culprit, ISIS.

What never seems to enter the conversation is why an American Muslim would ever become radicalized, if indeed that was the case. Unless you've been a recipient of long standing discrimination, you probably are incapable of understanding what effect such treatment has on a person's outlook on life and their reaction to such prejudice. 

To illustrate, when O.J. Simpson was on his famous televised car chase, African Americans lined the streets cheering him on. Do you really think they approved of murder, or loved OJ? Hardly. What they enjoyed was one of their own sticking it to the MAN (the police who regularly shot, beat and arrested them). Can you possibly imagine Muslims feeling the same way? Their MAN is bombing, invading, killing and oppressing their kind on a daily basis. Politicians have adopted Islam as their favorite whipping boy, blaming them for everything they choose to label terrorism (including fighting the invader on their own land). So, is it possible that a small fraction of those might harbor ill will and even be enticed to go over the edge and act out their frustration?

Understanding cause and effect does not equate to justification or approval of terrorism. We gladly prohibit drunk driving because of its potentially horrifying results. We have no problem discouraging smoking because of its established lung cancer link. And the list goes on. We don't, however, blame making war on Muslim countries for the creation of "insurgent" factions who resort to the only tools they have to fight the MAN. It never seems politically correct in America to say, "Stop killing Muslims and we might stop all this blowback."

How did we get to this point where American foreign policy dictates the bombing, invasion and toppling of all Middle Eastern regimes? It all began near the end of WWI with the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration. The betrayal, subdivision and control of the Arab nation was very significant in the first round of empire building, led by England and France. The second round, lead by the US, has now reached a climax—with the destruction and dismemberment of Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Libya (with Lebanon on the horizon). In the process we've created enough enemies to sustain, into the foreseeable future, funding for the military/industrial complex and the homeland security apparatus. It is inescapable that US policy has close congruence with that of Israel, making one believe that the tail is indeed wagging the dog. It is no secret that Israel wishes to see all its neighbors in turmoil so they can never be a credible threat to them.

The America in our future is already adopting the siege mentality of Israel. In that country, non-Jewish travelers (especially Palestinians and peace activists) coming into the country are subjected to onerous questioning about their relatives, beliefs and purpose of their visit. They are regularly placed in detention, passwords to electronic devices demanded and snooped into, and in many cases they are denied entrance and deported. If Donald Trump has his way, Muslims will get the same treatment they now receive in Israel. Is this the American freedom that terrorists so despise? I doubt it.

So, what must America do to prevent the radicalization of its Muslim citizens? Here's a novel idea—STOP KILLING THEM!