How can we, as a country, "honor" American military members who have fought or are currently fighting in illegal wars of aggression based on lies? What "honor" is there in invading and destroying entire countries thousands of miles away from America, murdering millions of people in the process, who pose absolutely no threat to the people of the United States? Since 9/11, American foreign and military policy has essentially consisted of invading, occupying, and destroying a number of formerly sovereign states in the Middle East, which has been justified by a series of egregious and quite obvious lies, particularly the official conspiracy theory explaining the events of 9/11.

It is time we start asking these tough questions, rather than blindly supporting and "honoring" our military and its members. In San Diego, the tough questions and ugly realities will be ignored yet again this Veterans Day. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

And, finally, they get a parade.

As the last U.S. Marines return home from Kandahar this month, the San Diego Veterans Day Parade will for the first time be a tribute to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Tuesday's celebration won't be the tickertape New York City parade that Desert Storm veterans got when they returned enmass from that 1991 battle.

But for combat survivors who have trickled home in bits and bunches since 2001, it’s something.

“I think it’s extremely fitting, given the last 14 years of what we’ve been involved in,” said John Szczepanowski, 45, who retired from the Marines in September after serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Desert Storm.

“It’s a good tribute because our era of war was one of the longest,” said Ryan Panganiban, a 30-year-old former soldier who did 18 months in Iraq from 2004 to 2005.

Szczepanowski is one of three parade grand marshals. Panganiban is helping out on the all-volunteer parade committee.

They among several dozen post-9/11 veterans involved in parade planning, as a grassroots event that has largely been in the hands of Vietnam and Cold War-era vets begins to shift generations.

San Diego County is home to roughly 250,000 U.S. military veterans. With major Navy and Marine bases in the region, the concentration of post-9/11 veterans in the county is the nation’s highest, at about 39,000.

Parade organizers wish more young veterans would come out for the downtown San Diego event, which kicks off at 11 a.m. along Harbor Drive.

Veterans Day parades tend to feel like your grandfather’s event. White-haired gentlemen with Pearl Harbor caps and other World War II veterans usually draw the most cheers

But this year might mean something to newer vets, as it’s the 10th anniversary of the fierce 2nd Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, fought largely by Camp Pendleton Marines. Also, the drawdown in Afghanistan is a natural milemarker to prompt reflection on that conflict.

“In the past, it’s been this group of older guys. The younger Marines and sailors don’t show up for it,” said Richard Coleman, 55, who retired as a Marine colonel in 2012 and is another parade committee volunteer.

But, this year, “It’s really a beckoning. Saying, ‘Hey, it’s your day. Come out’ … Instead of feeling isolated, forgotten and unappreciated, like some do,” Coleman said.

Officials say anyone who served in a military uniform during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict period is welcome to fall in with the marchers at the start prior to 11.

To honor them, the post-Sept. 11 group will be at the top of the parade column, just behind the Marine Corps band.

“It’s time,” said Jack Harkins, a retired Marine officer who fought in Vietnam and is chairman of the parade committee.

“We’ve had men and women in combat against terrorist enemies of our country since 2001. It’s time we had a celebration of their great service, their character, their loyalty, their patriotism,” Harkins said. “We have ceased our combat formations having a role in Afghanistan and Iraq, Now we’ve got more work to do in the transition of these veterans.” [...]

If we really wanted to honor and show respect for our military, both active duty and veterans, we would expose and arrest all of the politicians, media pundits, generals, and other war-mongers who not only accepted and promoted the ridiculous fairy tale explaining the events of 9/11, which kicked started the fraudulent "Global War on Terror," but also advocated for the illegal wars of aggression currently being prosecuted by the American military and her NATO allies at the behest of Israel and international Jewry. Showing respect for and honoring the American military requires telling the truth about the ways in which the military is being used and abused to advance certain geopolitical goals of a foreign power. Who is willing to do that in America today? Certainly not enough of us.