The peace and security of the “American” people and indeed the entire world will never be a reality until the root causes of so-called terrorism are honestly and forthrightly addressed. The state-sponsored terrorism of Israel, overwhelmingly supported by the U.S., against the people of Gaza virtually guarantees that individual and/or collective retaliatory acts of terrorism will occur not only against Israel but also against the United States itself. This does not have to be, but is in reality deliberately perpetuated by some of the leaders of the very nation states who claim to abhor terrorism.

Barack Obama and Rahm Emmanuel, etc, are fully aware that terrorism feeds upon itself and is an endless spiral, particularly when a people, as in the case of the Palestinians in Gaza, are humiliated, mass-murdered, and forced into desperation. Barack Obama knows this full well and is obviously and cynically counting on it.

It is the corporate military / industrial complex that ultimately benefits from terrorism. The more acts of state terrorism perpetrated - the more acts of retaliatory terrorism will occur. The victims of terrorism are not only those maimed and killed by its horror but also democratic freedoms and democracy itself. Terrorism flourishes when desperation reigns and an atmosphere of reason and common sense have been made null and void. None of this serves the interests of everyday people in any nation, anywhere in the world.

This is precisely why the cynical perpetuation of terrorism by various nation states, all in the name of abhorring it, is absolutely imperative. Without terrorism there is the very real possibility for reasoned justice and diplomacy to prevail. But active terrorism ensures the only thing on people’s minds is revenge at all cost. The state terrorism of F-16’s and/or tanks bombing whole towns and villages is no less abhorrent than an individual blowing up a bus load of passengers. All these acts feed on each other and perpetuate the blood frenzy of terrorism and hatred. All of these acts are equally unacceptable and reprehensible. It must be clearly understood that war is nothing more than organized terrorism by nation states. It is not acceptable nor is it in the best interests of  everyday men, women, and children throughout the U.S. and the world.

Political leaders already know these realities as does the corporate mass media. Yet, politicians and the mass media cynically, coldly, and callously manipulate information with disinformation or no information at all. Without the free flow of information and ideas by an informed people on all sides, people are kept in a perpetual state of ignorance and despair, which in turn serves as a breeding ground for continuing the cycle of terrorism. This is the terrorism of ignorance and manipulation and must be rejected and replaced outright with unfettered and uncensored information and discussion.

Terrorism does not have to be, but it will continue unabated as long as politicians and the concomitant corporate media are not made to be accountable to people on all sides.

Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow peoples owe it to ourselves, each other, and future generations to insist upon an end to terrorism by both nation states and individuals.

Nothing less will do. So much is at stake…

All Power to the People.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board Member, Larry Pinkney, is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities in opposition to voter suppression, etc., Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS NewsHour, formerly known as The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book). Click here to contact Mr. Pinkney.

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