Mass Murderers Follow the Example set by their
Government
By Joe Clifford
December 13, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - There are many
complicated reasons for the almost daily mass murders committed in
this country. As we are the only nation to have mass murders on a
regular basis, it might be instructive to examine why we have so
many.
Former Justice of the US Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis said: “The
government is the potent omnipresent teacher. For good or ill it
teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the
government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it
invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy”.
The actions of the national government set the example for its
citizens, and it is difficult to fault citizens for following the
actions of their own government. Many cannot admit, despite the
overwhelming evidence, that the US is lawless and out of control. It
shows a disregard for human life, and does anything it wishes
without paying the slightest bit of attention to law. For example,
international law is very clear, the only legal pretext to attack
another, is when a nation is facing imminent attack. The US has
illegally invaded or bombed numerous nations without the slightest
threat of “imminent attack”. Panama, Grenada, Haiti, Vietnam,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Libya or Somalia, to name just
a few, were hardly “imminent threats” to attack the US. We have been
attacking nations, one after another, for the past 50 years, with no
legal justification. Ignoring international law and attacking
smaller nations has become acceptable to both the US government and
its citizens. Our government makes a mockery of international law by
openly defying it, and our attitude is that laws do not apply to
this powerful nation. “Might makes right”, has become the policy,
and the law be dammed. Anything and everything goes, with no one
held accountable for all the illegal actions. There are many other
examples of government actions which demonstrate a contempt for law.
Torture, as in Abu Ghraib, waterboarding, illegal imprisonment
without charges, trial, or legal representation, as in Guantanamo,
random assassinations by our government, drone bombings, and the
daily murders of innocents by police, are illegal acts. We bomb
hospitals without blinking, killing doctors, nurses, and child
patients. We bomb weddings and funerals killing all participants,
very clear violations of international law.
One should not be aghast when a mass murderer defies law and kills
innocents; one learns by example. If it is OK for the US government
to ignore law, attack and kill anyone they wish for no apparent
reason, why is it a surprise when one of its citizens imitates the
action of their government, takes the law into his/her own hands,
and kills? We see nations illegally bombed into oblivion by the US
with no remorse or sense of guilt. Human lives are totally
inconsequential, unless of course they are US lives. Four successive
presidents have bombed Iraq, and in our 25-year history killed a
million people, including 600,000 children via US imposed sanctions,
and our citizens don’t even blink. The attitude seems to be, those
kids don’t count; they are not American.
Since Vietnam, this nation has been on a violent rampage. We left
three million dead in Southeast Asia, another one million in Iraq,
and have bombed 14 nations in the Middle East. Iraq and Libya were
both bombed into oblivion, and will most likely never recover
because the complete destruction of infrastructure has led to the
demise of any semblance of law in both nations. We are currently
hell bent on overthrowing Assad in Syria, disregarding international
law. What law give the US the right to decide who should rule
another country? We lead a “coalition” of countries who are
participating in a ‘free for all’ bombing of Syria. The US organized
a coalition in an attempt to feign legitimacy for its actions but
has done 95% of the bombing. The “coalition” merely provides cover
for yet another illegal bombing.
US defiance of law has set an example for others in the world
community, and has led to the complete breakdown of international
law as evidenced by Saudi Arabia’s vicious illegal attack of Yemen,
and by Israel’s frequent illegal attacks on Gaza. When the Saudis
recently exhausted their supply of bombs, the US rearmed them, and
is assisting Saudi Arabia in their horrific illegal bombing by
supplying targeting information. Following our example, Saudi Arabia
has bombed hospitals. We also rearmed the Israelis in their last
venture into Gaza when they used up their supply of bombs. Israel
illegally attacked schools and UN relief organizations in defiance
of law, and was shielded from prosecution by the US. The US has
shown a callous disregard for the rule of law, and our own citizens
and other nations of the world have followed the example. The only
thing that separates man from the animal world, is the rule of law,
so one does not have to guess where we are headed. Such contempt for
law and civility is now being manifested by the neo-Nazi like
demagoguery of candidates running for the US presidency. We know
from history where the incessant hate speech took the world in the
1940’s. The frightening signs of a rebirth of that disastrous,
horrible, racist ideology, are now prevalent in the presidential
campaign.
The US government sets the example and the mass murderers follow the
actions of their government. Why is that such a surprise? Justice
Brandeis was correct.Joe Clifford is a
frequent contributor who lives in Rhode Island.
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