by Marie Davis

Created on: June 17, 2008

"For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it. The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them." These words were spoken after a protracted, bloody war, to a nation who had suffered unthinkable losses in order to obtain the freedom to knowand speakthe truth freely. The war was the American Revolution, and the speaker was Patrick Henry. Yet, today, the same military that once served the cause of truth and freedom has now twisted itself into an empire of dishonesty and disinformation, luring America's youth into its grasp through manipulation and outright lies.

Have we a right to protest the deceptive practices of military recruiters, bent on targeting vulnerable youth who are not even old enough to vote? As truth-loving citizens, it is our duty. If we really love our country, we will not allow our youth to be sacrificed under false pretenses. Those who place themselves in harm's way, and even shed their blood, supposedly for the sake of our country, deserve nothing less than the complete truth about where they will go, what they will do, and for how long. To offer these heroes anything less, is despicable and is a blight on our national honor. We not only can, we must, protest such unjustice.

Sadly, the ideals for which our country fought, have now been reduced to a pack of lies and "spin" foisted on us by a corrupt, self-serving administration for its own gain. President Bush launched the "war on terrorism" in Iraq, promising us that threats from al-Quaeda and weapons of mass destruction in the hands of crazed radicals made such action necessary. Later, George Tenet of the CIA admitted there weren't any weapons of mass destruction. There were no real links to al-Quaeda, and terrorists are still romping through the Middle East, maybe now with nuke warhead blueprints in their hot little hands, thanks to an illegal Web network. But over 4,000 US soldiers are dead anyway. Many of them were teens from poor areas, sucked in by promises from unethical recruiters who said they'd never go to war.

Should we be able to speak out against this? Is not truth part of the foundation upon which liberty is built? How can we uphold freedom in other nations when we lie to our own? And, oh, how we lie.

In May of 2005, Cinncinnati's WLWT-TV broadcast a shocking undercover investigation of military recruiters in the Tri-State

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