We have an American government that is conducting a very aggressive War on Terror across this world; chasing and hunting down suspected terrorists it believes represent a direct threat to this country and its people. But this same government totally ignores the many acts of terrorism taking place in our own country each and every day.
Terrorism within America, happening each and every day? How can that be? Well we know that acts of terrorism plant fear into the hearts and minds of a populace. I say that when a murder is committed in America it is, in reality, an act of terror; that there is no real difference between murder and terrorism. Case in point: The murders that took place in Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, the mass shooting that took the lives of 12 students and one teacher were plainly acts of terror that generated great fear across this entire country.
Domestic terrorists have been committing acts of terror against the American people for many years. Here's an article that lists the mass shootings that have taken place in this country just since 1999; they include the slaughter of innocents at Columbine H.S., Atlanta, Fort Worth, Wakefield, Mass., Meridian, MS, Brookfield, WI, Seattle, WA, Lancaster, PA, Salt Lake City, Omaha, Northern Illinois Univ., Fort Hood, TX, Carthage, N.C., Binghamton, NY, Manchester, CT, Tucson, AZ, Carson City, NV, Seal Beach, CA, Oak Creek, WI, Aurora, CO, the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT. and lastly, the deadliest school mass shooting in American history; Virginia Tech in which 56 people were gunned down and 32 died. And there have been many more that went largely unnoticed.
Each time one of these horrific acts is committed in America the result is the same; immediately after one of them occurs there is massive shock and a feeling of fear and disbelief that such a thing could happen in this country. Some Americans, though not many, call for action to enact far more effective gun safety laws, together with other measures to end this reign of terror. At that point the NRA steps in and puts massive pressure on our government; the members of this Congress, spineless politicians who dare not defy the NRA, look the other way and do absolutely nothing; and then we wait for the next terror attack to take place.
Let's compare the effects of this domestic terrorism on this society with that of the terrible tragedy of 911 in which some 3000 innocent people, mostly Americans, lost their lives. In this country there are, on the average, 40 murders committed each day; a total of about 14,000 annually. Since the year 2000, there have been close to 200,000 murders committed in America, representing a loss of lives many, many times greater than that of 911. We still agonize over the 911 tragedy and we can't seem to get it out of our minds but we hear little to no agonizing over the mass of domestic murders that continue to take place all around us.
And this government, which is fully aware of the extent of this brand of American-based terrorism, simply ignores this monumental problem because it is so caught up in its War on Terror around the world; even though the magnitude of that threat is miniscule when compared to the terrorism going on here in America.
Those who live in America's inner cities are forced to exist in what might best be described as a shooting gallery; they are like sitting ducks, trying to survive in killing zones inhabited and controlled by inner city terrorists. The leadership in Washington watches as this form of terrorism continues non-stop and nothing of any real substance is ever done to stop the bloody carnage.
On July 4th I heard a typical news report indicating that "Americans "are terrified of a possible ISIS attack." That was the usual government propaganda designed to raise the level of fear in this nation. I don't think it worked this time because Americans, instead of becoming terrified, were far too busy celebrating July 4th and watching the fireworks. But we have to give credit to those facilitators of the phony War on Terror who never give up trying to instill fear and paranoia into this society. They have become masters of the art.
"Stand your ground" and "concealed carry" laws are now common across America as if allowing yet more "legalized" weaponry into this society was the answer to this rampant violence. In Texas groups of citizens want to have an "open carry" policy put into effect so that a weapon could be carried anywhere; into any business, schools, churches, supermarkets, or wherever anyone chooses. This deliberate proliferation of weaponry in our society is going to give the hidden domestic terrorists that many more opportunities to obtain and use their "weapons of mass destruction."
The official War on Terror being promoted and pursued by our government in Washington is a massive fraud, it is a form of mind conditioning designed to keep the American people in a state of mental paralysis so that they can't see what's really going on below the surface. Our government and its tightly controlled national media have been highly successful in spreading a message of fear, with constant warnings that terrorists across the Middle East and other regions of the world are preparing to launch an attack on this country at any time.
So the American people may be threatened with attacks from without but far more from within. They are bombarded with continuous warnings of the dire threat posed by foreign terrorists; and, at the same time, many thousands can become victims of a mass shooting anywhere in America, at any time, by domestic terrorists that can see us but we can't see them.
What if this government would really provide for the safety and security of its people by logically assessing this situation to determine where the greatest imminent danger is to be found; that posed by foreign terrorists versus that posed by domestic terrorists? It would find that domestic terrorism is, by far, the greatest. So the next question should be: why then is this government not concentrating its War on Terror right here in America?
Well there is no question that this would be the right thing to do. But there is a huge problem associated with going in that direction. Fighting the war against terrorism abroad, a major part of this government's agenda of endless war, generates enormous profits for the manufacturers of military weaponry such as General Dynamics, Boeing Corporation and Lockheed Martin; conducting a very aggressive program to rid this country of domestic terrorists does not. And that's exactly why this situation will never change.
Michael Payne
