Stephen Lendman: Terrorists Are Us!

State sponsored terrorism defines US policy. Double speak duplicity conceals it. Double think manipulates public opinion to ignore inconvenient truths. Howard Zinn once asked: How can you make war on terrorism, if war is terrorism? Waging war on terrorism gives government a perpetual war and a perpetual atmosphere of repression, and it generates perpetual profits for corporations. But it is going to make the world a far more unstable and dangerous place. Terrorism replaced communism as the rationale for the militarization of the country, for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civil liberties at home. Since WW II, there has not been a more warlike nation in the world than the United States. Zinn added that governments are terrorists on an enormously large scale. None in world history match America. Waging war on humanity is official policy. US law calls international terrorism activities involving violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any State, or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State: are intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population. Influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping, and occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The US Army Operational Concept for Terrorism (TRADOC Pamphlet No. 525-37, 1984, called it the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature, through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear. Merriam Webster calls it the systematic use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. In his book, Terrorism, Theirs and Ours, Eqbal Ahmad called state sponsored terrorism most important of all. It includes torturte, burning of villages, destruction of entire peoples, and genocide on a massive scale. It's called self defense, protecting national security, and or promoting democracy. Doing so conceals America's dark side. War on humanity follows.