Words are indeed so powerful. There is a great effort to engineer not only history but the present as well. For myself, I always say that we have had a "coup" and refer to "the Bush regime," because it was installed after an irregular election and illegal interference with the election process. There is ample proof that both the 2000 and 2004 elections were tampered with. I always say the "illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq." I refer to the "US concentration camp" in Guantanamo and the "secret death camps" around the world where 14,000 people have disappeared. Naturally, I do not shy from saying that my country tortures people and has a policy of torture.

I refer to the campaign of the New York City Transit Authority that encourages people to "report suspicious activity" as a program to develop "citizen informers." If the authorities can get us accustomed to telling on our fellows, they can ratchet that up as part of the police state I already see developing.

Thanks for this powerful article. It helps me to continue my personal campaign to resist the thought police.

I want to commend WIP for publishing a very informative and interesting article on Historical Engineering. For too long, we have allowed the ruling class and corporations to interpret the past. These beliefs, as Ms. Darling suggests, influences how we as Americans respond to wars and military interventions in other countries.