Caitlin Johnstone ponders the misnomer "Defense"

[g2s at riseup.net (Razer)]

"A lot of delusional, unpatriotic democracy haters like to argue that the US military doesnâ??t actually defend the freedom of the American people, and that it isnâ??t really used to defend freedom at all, and that it isnâ??t even really used to defend any rules-based international order as sometimes claimed, and that even to use the word â??defendâ?? to describe anything the US military does is inaccurate since it is consistently on the attacking and aggressing side of any given conflict, and that actually the US military functions as nothing other than a blunt object wielded by the rich and powerful for the advancement of plutocratic interests and the geostrategic dominance of opaque and unaccountable government agencies, and that it can in fact be accurately said that the only difference between the US military and any other band of armed thugs is fundingâ?¦

I forget where I was going with this.

Ah, yes. Defending your freedoms. 

If sending a platoon of Paul Blarts to act as mall security for foreign oil corporations isnâ??t enough to get you saluting every American flag flying over every McDonaldâ??s you see, then you should know that the US militaryâ??s freedom fighting doesnâ??t end at mere corporate asset protection.

Theyâ??re also defending your freedom by killing Afghan farmers in their sleep.

Why did the armed forces of the United States kill dozens of civilian farmers in Afghanistan while they rested in the field after a hard dayâ??s work? Thatâ??s a good question. But an even better question is, what were those Afghan farmers doing lying on top of your freedom?

Obviously the compassionate US military would never dream of killing non-combatants under any circumstances whatsoever, but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that you canâ??t make an omelet without cracking a few civilians."

More: https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/us-defends-your-freedom-by-using-troops-as-saudi-oil-security-guards-e5db36fa1dde
Rr
Sent from my Androgyne dee-vice with K-9 Mail
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