The toughness of the U.S. government

CEM KUCUK TURKIYE, JUNE 3, 2020

WHEN IT’S TIME for a government to use force, no one can hold a candle to the U.S. The U.S. military didn’t even flinch when killing millions of people by invading other countries. The U.S. is responsible for millions of deaths in many countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The U.S. government has displayed this tough stance inside its borders as well. When hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets to protest the Vietnam War in the 1960s, hundreds of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents infiltrated into the protestors. J. Edgar Hoover, the former Director of the FBI, targeted anyone who led human rights movements and he chose Dr. Martin Luther King as his nemesis.

Hoover even wrote a letter to him, asking King to kill himself. A total of 159 street protests took place in Newark, New Jersey between July 12 and 17, 1967. A total of 26 people died and hundreds of people were hurt.

Establishments and businesses were all looted. These movements in Newark were called the Long Hot Summer of 1967. In these protests, a total of 67 people died across the U.S. The police were brutal…

The high number of deaths of black people in Vietnam was the main point of these protests. However, the protests went off track. When looting began, the FBI and National Guards took tough measures.

The U.S. government displayed how much force it can deploy. Robert McNamara, the former Secretary of Defense, was psychologically affected by the protests. He was dismissed during this period and later became the President of the World Bank.

The murder of George Floyd in the U.S. prompted these recent protests and street movements. People peacefully protested, but looting was inevitable. “If state police can’t handle this situation, the National Guard will,” Trump said.

As a country with a long history, the U.S. will surely take control of the situation by force and pity no one. It’s not clear if these protests will affect the election, but Trump talks about looting across the country all day long and underlines that he will not ‘show mercy to the anarchists.’ He even said he will declare Antifa a terrorist organization.