Boston, Baghdad, Kabul, Random Acts of Terror

Dear Mr. President,
The Boston Marathon bombing was unquestionably an evil act of terror. So were the shootings at Newtown, Aurora, Columbine, Portland, Phoenix and every other place a shooting occurs. So is the violence done to men, women and children every day everywhere—the rapes, assaults and murders. But unless a violent act is particularly egregious, it mostly goes unnoticed. Boston, however, was right in our face and as a nation we feel both violated and outraged; we want the perpetrator brought to justice. Boston should be a lesson we learn from but we won’t; already the politicians are spinning it to suit their own ends, the media suggests dark links to al Qaeda—with no evidence—and extremists are spewing their message of hate—“Kill all Muslims.” Boston should give us an inkling of what it’s like to have bombs go off in a crowded public space, of what it’s like to live in a war zone, of what it’s like to live in constant fear. Iraq, a country we left shattered and broken, suffers multiple Bostons every day. So do Afghanistan and Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and every other country we’ve brought violence to, to people we do not understand, to places where everyone is a potential enemy. Our government commits acts of terror—essentially Boston bombings—every day with drones and night raids and helicopter gunships bringing death, destruction and fresh hatred for America. The carnage in Boston is not a lot different than the carnage caused by a Hellfire missile or the strafing fire from a .50 caliber machine gun. Everywhere we go—always under false pretenses—violence follows. Force and aggression are the hallmark of U.S. foreign policy. We commit these random acts of terror around the world and no one lifts a finger to stop it. Not you, not anyone in Congress and that too, is an act of terror, the refusal to stop terror. Moreover, you have institutionalized terror with your targeted assassinations, kill lists and drone strikes, indefinite detentions and secret interpretations of law. Violence and terror are now embedded in our national DNA and that is the real tragedy, that war and violence becomes a way of life, accepted, and we go from one disaster to the next not learning a thing, not changing our failed policies, not even asking the right questions. You were the great Hope to lead us out of this darkness but you were a fraud, a false prophet and led us to even deeper depths of depravity. And still we follow in a national stupor of denial and ignorance.