The Element of Fear

Throughout history, fear has been used as a tactic with great effect. This should be a given by now, most of us realize that we are constantly being lied to, to raise the level of fear thereby raising the level at which we must “combat” said fear.

Here is a reality, no nation, or coalition of nations can defeat this nation, we are so ridiculously armed we offer little more than raising hell around the world, getting into scraps and wars where we have no business. The Department of Defense has become the Department of Offense. Empire building has rarely been easier, and the American Empire, like all those who came before, is doomed to crumble into sand.

We are told to be afraid. Afraid of what? Two kids place homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon, the reaction was predictable; increased police presence and a MA National Guard Humvee at Park St, all show and no substance. 20 blocks were cordoned off as the police of varying Dept’s searched for the wounded, but surviving, “terrorist”. He was hiding in a boat on block 21, just a bit out of the search zone. Not just that, but the owner of the boat, coolly and calmly called the police to investigate after he had noticed that a tie down had been undone and when he checked under the tarp, there was the suspect.

What happened next makes me wonder just what page the varying PD’s and NG were on. We have a living suspect, from whom  we may be able to glean information from, (his brother was killed earlier, no chance for questioning there). Fear, breaking out as bravado as the boat was surrounded and someone gave the order to fire, and a hail of bullets and “flash/bag” pyrotechnics broke the silence of the night. The officers in charge literally tried to force the assassination of the “2nd bomber”; the question is “why?”

Was it to quell the fears they had brought forth to the public, or was it ensure any one else with similar ideas might be frightened enough to avoid doing something similar in the future? The truth of the matter is that none of us are completely safe at any given time. We prefer the illusion of safety, but every day I see people step out int traffic, cars not using signals or driving at night w/o their headlights on, (talk about scary!) I see parents pushing children in strollers, not watching around them at various hazards that could harm their children. Life is filled with challenges, some we can see, others come in the form of maniacs willing to kill, seemingly at will, at the drop of a hat. One problem with the Marathon bombing, is that it was preventable if the police had followed up on any of several leads; some from Russian authorities.

I decided long ago, I will not allow fear to guide my actions. When caught in an ambush, the correct response is to run right into it, get behind the ambushers and take them out or take prisoners. If you do what is “natural” and move away from the fire, you will be caught in a secondary trap, (we used Claymores, about 10 feet off the trail/road facing away from us. Hit the clicker and all hell breaks loose as 200 steel balls are propelled through the air by C-4 shredding virtually everything in their way, multiply this by a factor of 10 and one can see that the reaction to fear can be devastating.)

So what can we do to alleviate the “fear messages” that we are bombarded with every day?

For starters, we can look from where they come from. If it’s the government, or governmental entity, say the CIA, FBI, NSA, et al, for the most part, we can figure it’s a bogus report, they live by spreading rumors and lies to keep the dollars flowing into their coffers. State and local PD’s can fall into this trap as well. One thing we can remember, during the Clinton Administration, the WTC was attacked by a truck loaded with explosives. What broke the case? Good old fashioned police work and some luck. In fact, the same thing happened with the Oklahoma City bombing. Every one of us felt remorse as the acts were perpetrated, but we did not run in fear, we assisted where we could, an American tradition long held that we aid those that need it when they need it. We did not panic, we acted in the best interest of those whose lives were devastated.

We need to use good old fashioned police work to catch perpetrators, for all of the “intel” gathered, there is a pretty poor record of preventing disasters from happening. It was luck in Times Square that caught the car bomber, not “gee whiz” technology. It was police work and luck that caught the Unibomber, his brother turned him in, setting up the arrest. If one of my brothers was killing people, I’d turn him in myself, fortunately, I don’t have to face that choice, but to save lives, there would be no second thought to turn in a perpetrator.

Today, it seems as though everyone is a suspect of something, which is pretty ridiculous on the face of it. We don’t prosecute “thought crimes”, (thank god, or we’d all be behind bars eating gruel from the same bucket we’d be crapping in). My suggestion is, live your life to its fullest, don’t be led by biased individuals or groups, to include agencies of the government or PD’s. Understand that every day we take risks, but 99.9% of the time, those risks don’t turn into disasters. Don’t let fear run your life; if there is a “bomb scare” in New Mexico, why should people in Philadelphia worry about being blown to smithereens? Let the properly trained people in NM take care of the problem, most likely the problem will pass, either with nothing being found, or a highly trained bomb squad taking control and dismantling the thing.

If you are attacked by a lone gunman, (something that appears to be happening with increased frequency), prepare by having several options of escape or levels of protection. Don’t do anything stupid, but if you are behind a lone gunman, you can take him out. No one is going to convict you for assault if you plant a hammer in his head. Be careful, but don’t be fearful.

I wish you all days of Peace, prosperity and safety.

Bob

Stay Strong

 

We’ve heard that a lot lately, especially here in Boston since the tragedy at the Boston Marathon. Strength however is more than being able to withstand assault, it is a frame of mind that is necessary to ensure our own survival, both physically and mentally.

First, we must understand what we are up against, the first rule in any engagement is “know your enemy”. When people use acts of terror to cast the shadow of fear upon others, the initial reactions are shock and fear, this is what is intended, and it works. In fact, it works so well, many people are willing to sacrifice their Liberties to gain the perception of safety. An “enemy” who will use terror is a coward as well as a fool. Those who fall into the trap of, “we will protect you” are fools as well. Think of this for just a moment, for all of the money spent on “Homeland Security”, two kids murder and maim in one of the most highly policed areas of the US.

Inevitably, anger follows fear. With anger, we seek revenge, not justice. When the second bomber was found hiding in a boat in a driveway, the reaction was to shoot the boat to pieces, then take a look inside. The object was essentially to kill the perpetrator, using that age old excuse, “he may be armed or have another bomb”. Let’s look at this from a realistic point of view. The owner of the boat had lifted the edge of the tarp to see the young man inside, he was not shot at, nor threatened; the boat did not explode from a home made bomb. The kid had nearly bled out by this point, he was not a threat. I’ll give the police credit for considering options that may have occurred but none of them did. The kid may have had a bomb, he may have been armed, he may have been a threat, however, none of those issues came to fruition. The police riddled the boat with small arms fire and used flash bang devices before looking inside. This was not a strategic decision, it was a tactical one. Strategy would have been to capture the individual in the best shape possible, to keep him alive for questioning and finding out why he and his brother did what they did. The tactical decision was to go overboard and do just about everything to ensure this kids death. If heavier arms, say .50 cal’s or LAW’s were available, I’m almost positive they (the police), would have used them. This was the act of  “avenging angels” as opposed to seeking to bring an individual to justice.

When people are afraid they do irrational things, it is admittedly tough to keep one’s wits about them when involved in a fire fight or being targeted by artillery or mortar fire, (which are all acts of terror in one form or another), with military training, you expect the unexpected and react, I never saw a soldier run from a fire fight, although I’ve seen many a man jump into a hole during a barrage. Once the fear and anger subside though, people rally together to get themselves through whatever event occurred, whether the bombing at the Marathon, the tornado in OK or a hurricane that rips shorelines to shreds and endangers people inland. After an earthquake, people rally to find survivors, after a tsunami, people rally to help each other even though they’ve never met and will most likely never meet again. Disasters, whether man made or natural tend to draw people together and steels their resolve to overcome the problem.

As we sort out man made disasters or acts of terror, we demand justice. Justice can often be complicated, but it should not be an emotional issue, it needs to be based on facts, and despite the fact we’ve all heard 100 times, “the maximum penalty is….”, there is also the the other end of the spectrum and everything in between. Not everything should be, “the maximum”, in fact, some things, even heinous acts can be at the other end of the spectrum and forgiven; it takes someone of extraordinary courage and empathy to forgive, but that is occasionally what it takes to ensure justice remains justice, it’s not all about punishment. Part of our collective strength is justice, albeit that is a debate that could take a long time and plenty of energy.

My point in all of this is that no matter how many times we are hurt, no matter who the next bully is that comes along, (lately that bully has been the US), it is imperative to remain strong, to maintain our sense of humanity and dignity. It is within our power to show the world we “are better than that”. We can stand strong in our morality, fighting agaisnt empire, fighting against drone warfare, (an act of terror by the way). We are not sheep, we are people, we must stand up to those who would have us cower, we must maintain our strength.

To all people who have felt the power of violence and intimidation; Stay Strong!