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When we think of the millions of U.S. Americans who have needlessly attacked or harmed millions of others in dozens of countries, and have harmed themselves — without fully knowing why — and when we acknowledge that many in the U.S. seem resigned to allow more of the same, one can extend this phenomenon to the nation’s population in general. We can call it a common trait, and find it to be a U.S. tendency upon historical analysis or reading between the lines of corporate news. Let us name the national condition confusion. Under this we can lump poor education, being propagandized, exploitation of the poor, rampant ill health, environmental devastation, and the rape of Mother Nature (and therefore of ourselves and our spirit).

Calling it confusion is kind sounding, when we think of three million U.S. personnel going to Vietnam to kill millions of soldiers and civilians. About 54,000 U.S. soldiers died there. Many more were sickened both physically and mentally. For what ultimate goal did these casualties on both sides occur? For the Vietnamese, it was their national defense — whether Communist or peasant Vietnamese. Even when one considers U.S. imperialism, and the false flag action of the Gulf of Tonkin, and one forgives all of that, and says the nation made an honest mistake that ended in defeat, it is still unanswerable: what was it for? To make money on napalm and agent orange? One can revisit the war ad infinitum, but most people can probably agree it was “for nothing” — worthy of confusion.

Perhaps most instances of confusion fall under the heading of war, such as the Iraq Invasion and Occupation. There was no Al Qaeda there, and no weapons of mass destruction. With the recorded death toll since March 2003 of over 150,000 Iraqis, roughly 80% of whom were civilians — that would not have happened without the U.S./UK invasion and occupation — one should expect retaliation labeled terrorism against U.S. and UK populations. Sowing confusion in order to wage war certainly resulted in more confusion and worse.