VETERANS DAY - After all of the blood our soldiers shed, why are we less and less free?

I wish there was a way to ensure that we can honor the sacrifice for Liberty our fallen soldiers made at the altar of global corporate governance - but there isn't.

All that is left to us now is to honor their sacrifice, for sacrifice they surely did, and most likely with the most sincere intention to offer themselves so that Americans could be and forever remain free. It galls me to have to say, though, that their sacrifice is marred by one big thing that is almost wholly outside of their control: the actual reason for their fighting and dying.

At no time since WWII (maybe with the lone exception of America's invasion of Grenada under Reagan) has an American soldier died in battle or sustained wounds in battle that can be said to have helped defend American freedom. Virtually all of our military engagements since then were fought under the aegis of the United Nations, and they were all against tiny nations that had no hope of defending themselves against the US onslaught - much less posing any viable threat to the United States. I will spare you the history lesson. You can research this yourself or tell me where I am wrong.

In Vietnam, US soldiers were sent in as cannon-fodder for the Vietcong Army. Insane directives forbade our soldiers from attacking any Vietcong formations unless they were shot at (and likely killed) first. Similar rules of engagement were issued in Gulf War II. Who can fight a war under these circumstances?

Our recent "wars"  entirely fell under the heading "U.N. Police Actions" and were in the vast majority of instances dictated by mega-corporate interests. It is a crying shame and a scandal of historic proportions that this (a) has occurred for this long, and (b) that Americans have consistently supported these types of actions and whitewashed them with the band-aid of "Oh, I'm just supporting our troops."

If you truly support our troops, you don't waste their lives on wars that have nothing to do with preserving American freedom. It's a nice bromide to tell yourself - but it doesn't change the fact.

If you really want to thank a Veteran, please heed this advice.