Where the US military goes, terrorism and oppression follow

The US military is a force for evil across the world. I don’t use the word lightly, but I don’t know what else to call an unaccountable organization that murders hundreds of thousands, abducts and tortures, and destabilizes entire regions. Especially now that it’s backed by a white supremacist commander-in-chief. If that’s not evil then I think you’re using the word wrong.

In addition to aggression, the US military also supports oppression. America, through its military agreements, backs dictators and cruel governments across the world — from Saudi Arabia to Egypt to Bahrain — and makes government-to-government deals that screw the people. Where there is a US military presence, the government basically gets a blank check to oppress the people.

The logic behind these agreements is that the US is somehow good at fighting terrorism, but they’re really not. They’ve been ‘fighting terrorism’ for 20 years, spending nearly 6 trillion dollars, and they quite conclusively suck. The countries they’ve occupied end up having more terrorism than before. This is a fail.

I mention this because there is a proposal called the Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA) pending between the US and my country and PLEASE FUCKING NO.

Under this agreement (as reported by the Sunday Times) US troops would have free access to come and go to Sri Lanka without passports, they would not be subject to any laws here, and they would be able to freely move weapons, materiel and use radio spectrum. They and their contractors would also not have to pay taxes.

This has been opposed as a threat to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, which is actually not my problem as I am not a sovereign. I am a human being that lives here, and we are the ones that get screwed, abducted, murdered, and/or oppressed under these agreements.

I want the US military nowhere near me. This is a group of completely unaccountable people with a global track record of murder, torture and failure. Why on earth would we invite them in?

The American Military Encourages Terrorism

In America it is common to ‘thank the troops’, but you have to ask for what. The trope is that they fight for ‘liberty’, but this is complete nonsense. Liberty for who? Does a random person in Iowa benefit from someone in Afghanistan having their door kicked in and being shot in front of their family?

American troops don’t defend American land and they wage wars of aggression, not defense. American troops don’t really serve their own people, and they certainly don’t serve the people they occupy. This war machine serves a military-industrial complex that can start but not end wars and which burns money and lives with no end. That may actually be the point.

The USA is the only country that seems to consider it a right to bomb, invade and occupy other countries. If anyone else does this it is considered an unconscionable act of aggression with no place in the modern world. The US has some reality distortion field that makes this normal for them, but it’s not normal. It’s bad for any country to invade and kill people, including the US. They have no right to fly lethal drones wherever they want and they definitely don’t have a right to boots and guns on the ground wherever they please.

It is important to remember that the US is still involved in endless wars. Not only did they attack and continue to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, they are currently waging the ‘war on terror’ in 76 countries, 39% of the countries of the world.

These are also stupid, losing wars, by their own definitions. By any measure terrorism has become worse since they started fighting it. A US military presence actually creates more terrorism, and it’s the most potent recruiting tool out there. Like every war on nouns, the war on terror has spread and helped terrorism evolve to become more deadly and virulent.

As you can see, Afghanistan and Iraq as hotbeds of terrorism didn’t exist before the US military went there. They definitely had other problems, but if you’re looking statistically at terrorism, the US military seems to be a cause, not the solution. It certainly doesn’t make things better.

The US military created the oppressive conditions, left the weapons and money, and even indirectly offered training for the people that became Al Qaeda in Iraq and then ISIS. This new form of terrorism spread over to Syria, spreading and metastized across the globe, where it indirectly blew up in Sri Lanka during the Easter Attacks.

The US military does not fight terrorism. Maybe that’s what they want to do, but the organization’s actual effect is more terrorism. Wittingly or not, the US military is part of a military-industrial-terrorist complex that creates conflict and violence across the globe. The world would be much better off if they just stayed home.

The American Military Supports Oppression

Besides terrorism, the US military also enables oppression in places it occupies. In countries like Egypt, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia where there is a US military presence, those agreements are between governments, and the people get screwed.

In Bahrain the government was able to quash democracy protests while the US turned a blind eye, and Saudi Arabia can get away with running one of the most oppressive states in the world and murdering journalists in foreign countries because the US backs them. In Egypt and Israel and any number of countries where US military alliances make life miserable for the human beings living there.

Not Here

I do not want to live in a country occupied by the US military. Occupy is a strong word, but I don’t know what else to call an armed force that’s allowed to come and go and not follow any local laws.

Sri Lanka doesn’t need their help fighting terrorism because they actively suck at fighting terrorism. Having the US military here would make terrorism much worse. The Sri Lankan people also don’t need them giving a carte blanche to our government to abuse us.

This Status Of Forces Agreement is an abomination and any agreement with the US military is something every country should avoid. Their propaganda deals with Transformers and other Hollywood movies make make it seem like they are the ‘good guys’, but they don’t actually turn those guns on aliens. They turn them on brown people, and they ultimately benefit no one except the military-industrial complex. The American military, as it is currently spread across the world, is not good for humanity. In practice, they are a force for evil.

They should not be allowed in Sri Lanka. They should not be allowed anywhere. But seriously, not in Sri Lanka. I live here.