Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Hidden Article

This posting has been hidden because it breaches the Indymedia UK (IMC UK) Editorial Guidelines.

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

The Emperor's New Clothes (pt. 1)

Sudhama Ranganathan | 18.08.2010 04:42 | Repression | World

What exactly is it that causes sane people to commit acts they know could lead to disaster? Does something internal cause them to make poor judgment calls? Do they listen to the advice of those without good advice to give? Do emotions cause them to make regretful decisions?

Recent events in the news might cause some to wonder about this. Take Iraq for example. We no longer believe Saddam Husein had WMD. Those we look to for truth exaggerated, distorted and lied about the threat posed to our nation. We blindly went to war most of us having the faith we were doing what was right and just.

We knew in our hearts our leaders wouldn't lie about matters of life and death and a fight they said was for our very civilization. We believed any dirt our government might have been doing was okay and was keeping us safe from the foreign menace. What else would we be throwing tax payer dollars into by the truckload except what was truly in the interest of the American people? We maintained the faith our public officials would never dupe those who pay their salaries in such a way.

So we went to war. Some of the most peace loving Americans decided Iraq was for the good of our nation. Through this war we hoped to stave off every bit of the new evil aimed at our soil. We faced an unknown enemy and trusted those in a position of authority to tell us what we needed to know to be safe. The only sure thing was the enemy could appear anywhere, could be anyone and could come at any time.

We allowed ourselves to be bullied into cooperation and driven towards panic. At such moments self preservation often becomes our foremost thought and being alone means public sentiment could turn on you. We were sold the line of thinking that led us to such a place by those we trusted to tell the truth and ended up buying a lie.

We now know it was b.s. There was no threat to our nation from Iraq. What we don't have now is who knew it, who didn't and who should have known better. The whole world is watching and as a member of the American public it's at times a little embarrassing the way we were tricked. One can only imagine what will come out of the closet next.

No one is perfect but people we trust with tax dollars should be responsible and beholden to the laws of our country and states. When a crime is committed on the taxpayer's dime those responsible should be held accountable. People went ahead with evidence they knew was false, they falsified themselves and suspected was false. The public has a right to know their identities.

I watched innocent people being duped by public officials while I was a student at the University of Connecticut's Landscape Architecture Department. People in positions of power put aside what was best for their students to recklessly pursue their own ambitions. It caused havoc, lawlessness and fear. It broke the stability and peace those authority figures were entrusted to uphold. Much of this was under the pretext of selling 9/11 as the best reason one had to be scared. Furthermore the tragedy of 9/11 was sold to young students as the perfect excuse to commit crimes that would go unpunished.

The ensuing internal investigation dismissed the claims and tried to sweep the crimes under the rug. The perpetrators of the crimes are still employed in the same positions with nothing to stop them from future criminal acts. But just like the war in Iraq the search for justice continues, and just like the truth about the war in Iraq there's more information to come. Public officials must realize there is no real cloak to keep people from seeing the crimes they commit and spin simply postpones the inevitable. That cold breeze they're feeling is the truth trying to help them understand the reality of what they face in the years to come. Whether in a court of law or the court of public opinion they will be left standing with their pants down and they'll discover this when the only thing left to wonder is why they ever committed those acts in the first place. I hope I don't sound too harsh, but oh well do the crime and do the time.


To read more about my experiences at the University of Connecticut go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.

Sudhama Ranganathan
- e-mail: uconnharassment@gmail.com
- Homepage: http://www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech