"From 1917, Americans wondered why they aided Russia with food she could not grow herself. The truth was, those who had saddled them with a federal reserve and income tax did more than just keep Soviet Marxism going, they created it. During the first half of the century, government grew 500 times faster than the population. Could that have happened without an enemy to frighten voters and reluctant taxpayers?" -- L Neil Smith, from _Pallas_.

Years before I read anything by L Neil, I thought that the USSR was a created enemy to raise the state of fear among the US population. Any independent mind can come to this conclusion--I don't claim and special degree of intelligence. The federal government developed nuclear weapons and tried them out on Japan, for good or ill.

Right after that, USSR suddenly had "the bomb, too. How did they get it? Did they develop it in parallel with US efforts? No. A pair of American spies got hold of the plans and handed them over to the Soviets. Then, they were tried and quickly executed. Very soon, USSR was able to develop their own nuclear weapons using those plans.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have an enemy that will keep the average American's state of fear high for decades.

The Cold War worked splendidly. Washington was able to enlarge itself by orders of magnitude, citing the need to stay ahead of the Red Menace. For many ears, there was tension and gnashing of teeth by both sides. Skirmishes in Korea and Southeast Asia. People protested, but they protested the soldiers, not the government and its philosophy.

Then, Ronald Reagan was accidentally elected president. Reagan was a mixed bag, both good and bad, but better than his predecessors and not a member of the Establishment. Not fully aware of the Establishment playbook, he fought USSR to win and ultimately beat them and bankrupted them financially.

No more Cold War, no more Enemy.

They tried to put up China, but it really didn't take. I think Washington was afraid China might win.

We can argue for hours and days about what happened next, but so far no one really knows. Moslems started attacking US military installations, then civilian stuff, culminating in the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York. The blame went to a Soddy Arab called Osama bi Laden. President Bush appeared to be doing the right thing when he sent the military over there to get bin Laden. They had him cornered, then inexplicably let him go in Afghanistan.

US needs an enemy. A speech by GW Bush promised to fight a "War.on Terror." He said it would be a very long war. GW Bush was part of the Establishment, and the US needs an enemy to keep the state of fear high among the taxpayers. Bush and his successor, Barack Hussein Obama, have warred in several Middle Eastern countries to Keep the pot stirred up. They arm one side while it's "friendly," then our soldiers fight moslems with American arms when they turn.

Washington continues to increase the size and scope of government, dismantling American Freedom in ever enlarging chunks. Remember when you could buy a ticket and walk out to board an airliner without telling anyone your name? With your handgun in your pocket? And there was never any problems? Not any more.

Remember when a rich man could roll up a wad of thousand dollar bills and hop a plane over to Monte Carlo for some gambling and deal making? Not any more. You can't even buy a new car for cash without being reported to the government.

You can't even let your kids walk to school anymore, or set up a lemonade stand.  

Obama is even facilitating one of the moslem radical governments in developing nuclear capability. It looks like US will be fighting the "War on Terror" for a long time, indeed. Will we win? Does Washington want us to win?