Out of all eight values of free expression, the one that resonated with me the most was the fifth one known to check on governmental power, similarly to the way that checks and balances is set up to hold branches of government accountable. I feel that this truly connects with what’s going on in the country as there are many instances of suppression from the government when our freedoms should allow us to criticize government wrongdoings without persecution or cover up. Most of the public’s interaction with the government can be summed up with live broadcasts footage of public relations events and speeches from higher ups in the government, though for the most part, the public is hidden from errors & mistakes the government has made. Sometimes we hear news that seems inconceivable in the sense that it’s hard to believe that the information isn’t blasted on every news outlet.
*Bombing taking place.
This scenario happened to me recently as I came across a shocking article from the NY Times, detailing the war crime of the Baghuz Strike where about 80 lives were lost as a small town in Syria was bombed. The reasoning behind the murders was summed up by the government as the necessary action to kill Islamic State fighters. With inconclusive numbers, the inspector of the Defense Department deemed that 16 of the 80 killed were aggressive fighters, four were citizens, and the rest as an ambiguous mixture of armed and unarmed women and children. This atrocity occurred back in March of 2019. Why is this just surfacing to the public’s eye and where is the justice and consequences for the mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters left behind as their family members died under the guise embedded in the ideology of ‘fighting for our freedom’? What freedoms were protected as many were slaughtered ‘accidentally’ for the sake of capturing the lives of 16 fighters?
*Locals fleeing the city of Baghuz.
As internal sources questioned the characteristics of a war crime, the only investigation completed after the massacre was spearheaded by the same division that performed the strike. They therefore deemed the strike as lawful under the purpose of targeting the small group of fighters and no punishment was further needed. Suppression of these wrongful transgressions is evident as Forbes detailed that, “Gene Tate, a former evaluator in the DoD [Department of Defense] inspector general’s office, told the Times that he was forced out of his job after he complained that the office was not adequately investigating the incident”. Although the connotations that people think of when they hear “free expression” are thought of as a range from the right to take a knee during the national anthem, rappers candidly spouting demeaning lyrics, or the simple freedom to state your opinion, criticism and free expression go hand & hand. Gene Tate’s subsequent consequence of disapproving of governmental relations was a blatant abuse of power as he was not fired off the merits to do with his quality of work but for coincidently speaking out against a war crime. The person who took the strike’s report to the Pentagon, Lieutenant Col Dean Korsak claimed that he would be, “putting [himself] at great risk of military retaliation” for sending the details of the strike according to The Guardian. 
*Destruction of the town after the strike.
In the workplace, the sentiment of loyalty and representation of the company disallows employees from bad mouthing the business's image, though when the company associates as the government, the need for accountability needs to be upheld or our rights are increasingly weakened. Overall, the balance of checks and balances regarding free expression is an absolute necessity as suppression of wrongdoings supports governmental corruption and abuse.
*Visual of what's left among the debris.
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