Former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik penned a powerful op-ed in Time accusing those supporting the protests against police brutality of waging a "war on law and order."

This war is as dangerous as any global enemy we face. In some ways, it is even more dangerous because it pits Americans against Americans, those who serve against those who are served, communities against their very own.

What is worst of all is that this war is built on a lie…. a lie that has quickly become so embedded in our society that it will take a Herculean effort to bring this lie to the light of day so everyone can see it for what it is: a lie.

Our nation’s police are not at war on blacks or Hispanics or poor neighborhoods. Cops fight lawlessness each and every day, putting their lives on the line in communities all across this country to keep our citizens, children, schools, institutions, and neighborhoods safe.

Yet if you have listened to some in the media, purported civil rights leader Al Sharpton, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and others around the country over the last several weeks, you’re forced to believe that nearly all of America’s local and state police are out to kill minorities.

It’s a lie! It’s a lie that has inflamed the hearts and minds of many and turned them against every cop in the nation. It’s a lie that has the potential to rip America at its seams and cause damage far worse than any attack on our country, including that on 9/11/2001.

It’s a lie that has caused protests and riots all over this nation, communities to be burned to the ground, police officers to be attacked and beaten, and horribly, two New York City police officers to be assassinated.

If this lie and the behaviors it incites continue, America will look more like a wasteland than the greatest country in the world in just a few short years. Lawlessness will rule. We will face devastation in social, economic, political, and unfathomable ways. No community will be safe.

Leaders in every community, every school, college and institution, every arena of our government—including the President, the Attorney General, governors, legislators, mayors, lawyers, community activists, clergy, parents, and—in actuality, all Americans—need to stand up and tell the truth.

Nice sentiment, Commissioner Kerik, but why on Earth would President Obama, Eric Holder, Bill de Blasio, and Al Sharpton want to tell the truth when the lie is working so well for them?

Kerik points out that both Michael Brown and Eric Garner were targeted not because of their race; they were targeted because they were breaking the law:

Michael Brown committed a strong armed robbery, attacked and assaulted a uniformed policeman, attempted to take the officer’s gun, and resisted arrest. Even after being shot by the officer he was assaulting, Mr. Brown attacked him again and did not stop until the officer fired repeatedly. Michael Brown was not stopped because of the color of his skin, and he did not have his hands up!

Eric Garner was selling cigarettes illegally. He was violating a law that was written by some of the very politicians who criticize the police for taking police action. There was a complaint made to the police and they responded. Unfortunately, Mr. Garner resisted arrest and died as a result. He was not targeted because of the color of his skin; he was targeted because the local merchants called for law enforcement.

Cops from LA to Bangor, Maine are on edge today because demogogues are deliberately lying to stoke the fires of racial hatred.  They may not have anticipated the murder of policemen resulting from their rhetoric.  But they are as guilty of their deaths as the bigot who pulled the trigger.