Take the Power Back

At least thirty-thousand United States troops will be deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and counting. Tens of thousands of Marines and soldiers will start to be deployed particularly around Africa as well. Iraq still has thousands of troops on the ground and the American people are craving for real change in the United States. The war in Iraq and the combination of political propaganda influencing Americans to agree with false evidence of intelligence reports about weapons of mass destruction are examples of facts shaping my perspective on America’s freedom. Occupying an oil rich country with the potential to make a permanent duty station, while inhabiting it with U.S. military personal seemed to question my logical common sense for true American freedom. “Surf City USA” is the nicknamed, beach-bum, oil-rich, lazy town that I dearly love and in which I grew up—Huntington Beach. Living in Southern California for most of my life provided me with impressionable, valuable, and inspirational perspectives of morality that contributed toward the quality of life I wanted to live in American society. Many Americans would say that the “O. C. bubble,” is a nickname not affectionately given to Orange County because people are usually fake and ignorant in this upper–middle-class white suburbia, blinded from the truth by their own mentality on what American life should be. As a child, I bounced around from Catholic schools to Christian schools to public schools because I let my two fists do all the talking for me. Instead of informing a teacher whenever I felt threatened by my classmates, I fought my way through school, having the notion that I should use violence to solve violence. As a young man, I thought I could take on the world according to my own perception of the environment around me. I played football and baseball as a way to counteract the typical negative childhood interaction on the playground. I became a very well-rounded athlete, channeling my inner anger toward positive self-discipline, developing critical-thinking skills and self-determination, and fortifying positive self-control to logically make decisions that impacted my future. For the first time in my life, I saw how being a part of a team could bring out selflessness, a positive work ethic, mental toughness, and patience. A true team effort helped develop my self-control, motivating me to push out my inner anger and redirect positive energy toward peace within myself. My father, Dennis, began his adult journey as a carpenter. The tall and skinny general contractor turned his lifelong dream of owning his own business into a reality. Lynn, my mother, was a housewife who also had numerous jobs over the years—waiting tables, manicuring at salons, and as assistant manager for my father’s business. Patrick, my only younger sibling, is pursuing his lifelong dream of being an aerospace engineer by studying for his degree at Long Beach State University. As for me, I married my soul mate, Emily, on July 3, 2008, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. She has believed in me from the very first moment we met. True inspiration for my book came deep within my spirit for living, and it could not have been possible without the true love and devotion from Emily. It takes a strong-minded woman to stand beside a husband who has served in the United States Marine Corps, especially when past events affected my ability to emotionally survive and function in a censored American society. “Once a Marine, always a Marine” is the promise I made to the American people, sustaining integrity in the face of diversity and upholding true liberty and freedom forever. I still follow the old Marine Corps creed, holding the American flag close to my heart, with visions and remembered feelings of the Iraq War in moments of uncertainty and fear. I still fight for the people of the United States of America by upholding the truth about how our own government has manipulated the system to benefit it and corporate lobbyists. Their motivation for paying American politicians to deregulate government is to capitalize on future assets. It may be difficult for some Americans to accept this simple fact because people, in general, have a preconceived notion of how American life should be lived. Our American culture has bred violence into our nation for countless years; in turn, we accept this behavior as a normal part of American society. This ignorance gave birth to false beliefs that influenced former President Bush’s own idealism in fortifying freedom for U.S. citizens, manipulating our fellow Americans into a war for oil. I hope that my viewpoint will guide every citizen toward the truth about America’s freedom. Maybe explaining it in detail, from my perspective as a United States Marine Corps Iraqi combat veteran, will open America’s eyes to seek solutions for the economic, cultural, and political struggles wounding our great nation. Introduction Freedom is the heart and soul of this country’s foundation. Our forefathers built a structure of government that would shelter the American people from outside forces that attempted to violate our independence. The Declaration of Independence is a firewall of protection, blocking the United States government from abusing their political powers against the people of the United States. The people of America are created equal to the leaders that represent them; therefore, the Constitution is generally considered the document that protects the American people from an overly powerful government. America is the land of opportunity, where human beings can come together and live in peace with one another. Peace and freedom, however, are being taken away from American citizens, who pay taxes and obey the regulations established by the American government. Even United States military veterans, who risked their lives in the face of adversity to sustain freedom for the people of America, are beginning to question the integrity of politicians’ ideology on American foreign policy. Many would agree that freedom isn’t free at all. A politician’s version of freedom is very complex and often confusing when compared to the view of the American public. What is freedom, and how can we understand the meaning of the word in today’s society? To fully comprehend the definition, Americans must unshackle their minds from political propaganda and begin to question political idealism. The Iraq War has been an ongoing saga for years. I should know; serving my country as a United States Marine in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 validates my experience and allows me to unscramble the myriad intensions behind our government’s involvement there. To explain the full extent of the United States government’s involvement in Iraq, it’s necessary to look at specific examples in history and how those affected economics, foreign relations, and political powers within the White House. History is the key to prevent the twisting of factual events or the passing down of misguided education and information. Most of the U.S. population is Christian, and we have a long history of presidents who are Christian, at least in name. Religion can bring moral satisfaction through spiritual enlightenment—or it can shackle innocent minds from knowing the truth about immoral crimes, committed by men who believe in the Bible. History reveals years of religious prejudice among Judaists and Muslims, fighting over their Holy Land, Jerusalem. Throughout history, leaders have confused their own agendas with their alleged faith, which leads to their becoming more emotionally involved in the agenda and looking less closely at the real goals. Our addiction to using oil is putting our global longevity in question, yet without it, many everyday devices would not be available to us. Just how crippled would we be without oil?