The purpose of 9/11 was to unravel our country, not fly planes into buildings and kill thousands.

I’m posting this on the day that testimony from Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher’s teammates went public. 

Here is how either Russia or China could majorly fuck the United States—and do it without resorting to violence: pony up funds to produce a big-budget war movie about this American atrocity. 

Don’t get militaristic. Go cinematic instead. We’re talking full-on war-porn. Spend big bucks on the special effects. These days, it’s all about explosions.

The heroes/good guys of this flick would be the Navy SEALs of SEAL Team Seven who stepped forward about Eddie Gallagher. 

The story should be told from their perspective. Weave together flashback scenes from the deployment with their testimony about the war crimes they witnessed. Then have the narrative progress to present-day with Donald Trump pardoning Gallagher just to show the red-hatted #MAGA-folk that he owns the libs. 

Dial up the drama when the team members decide to call out their Chief. Watch The Caine Mutiny and A Few Good Men for some perspective. Then really, really crank the drama when they learn about the pardon. 

Here’s the crazy thing: writers have the story done already. 

It’s reality. No need to embellish much. 

(Well…maybe some Chinese or Russian screenwriter would need to add in a layer of relationship drama…say…a character and his wife are having marital troubles or something. Movies need that stuff.) 

As one decade ends and another begins, I give two fucks about the United States of America. Before anyone soils their red-white-and-blue diapers, I will also state that I give two shits about both Russia and China. This isn’t an anti-American thing. It’s an anti-destroyers-of-the-future thing. All three countries seem to be committed to ruining everything they can in the here and now, with no thought of the long term. 

While I couldn’t care less about the world’s superpowers, what I do care about is Planet Earth. These days, I am concerned about Earth. Call me one of those weirdos who ranks Earth’s importance higher than the state of American Exceptionalism or the financial health of my country’s revered corporate institutions like Exxon-Mobil and Lockheed Martin.

And when I think about the harm being done to the planet, my own country bears the majority of the blame. Beyond our history of environmental disregard, we went full-force after September 11th, 2001. We used the attacks as an excuse. An excuse to profiteer and exploit and cut moral corners in pursuit of more pennies. 

Unexploded bombs and weapons that pollute long after they get used? No problem, we’re fighting terrorists. Contaminating our bases and then packing up and leaving without cleaning up? Hey…we were attacked and we are hell-bent on trading the world’s sympathies for more dough. 

As the Iraq War began in the early 2000s, then-Vice President Dick “Shooter of Faces” Cheney secured a contract for his former company, Halliburton, that, to date, is worth over $50 billion. He pulled strings to ensure than no other government contractors could bid for the contract.

Looking back, his dishonesty seems kinda quaint compared to the current picture.

And I keep thinking that Osama bin Laden saw all this coming. 

He knew that shallow and privileged white guys ran the country and he knew that these fellas would use any victimization to further take more from the overall pot. In turn, our short-sighted, self-interest-driven retaliatory efforts would piss off Muslims worldwide and create sympathy for his cause. 

So, Osama bin Laden victimized us on September 11th, 2001. 

Then stepped back to watch us take the unraveling from there.

Check out Revolutionizer Alpha, the first book in my new #scifi series. 

I also post at Medium.