what are you but a corpse waiting to be washed? - Harold Pinter

In Cuba I have always understood harsh treatment of dissenting voices as stemming from a "siege situation" imposed upon it from outside. And I believe that to a certain extent that is true.

The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of
blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute
contempt for the concept of international law.

One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness.