I'm sorry, but I don't support the "troops." That isn't to say I don't love them and pray for their safety. I do. But their mission is to take over Iraq. We were told the Iraqi people would be for us, but much to our chagrin, US and British forces have faced fierce resistance in southern Iraq this week, apparently against Shi'as who hate Saddam. The situation at midweek was murky, with it being quite obvious the only ones "shocked" were the American people while the press was less than awed. By Thursday, however, the major TV news was filling the airwaves with wounded soldiers, whose youth and charm bucked up a shaken nation during the morning hour interviews. Despite the fact a major explosion killed dozens of civilians in Baghdad Wednesday, the media chose to focus on Johnny talking to his mom back home. Johnny #1 was wounded in the hand and Johnny #2 in the foot. They were both good looking and articulate, and their mothers and America swooned. I know two young men -- both of whom I watched grow up -- in harm's way right now, so I'm not immune from having my emotions manipulated by what I see and hear on television and radio either. Reading is my sanctuary from this manipulative bombardment.
What makes such sanctuary necessary is the fact that we've all been lied to so often by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vice President Dick Cheney, President Bush and the corporate commercials that sponsor the corporate networks they appear on, that they have no credibility and we really have no one to believe (1).
The embedded reporters, however, will only stay in bed with the troops as long as they remain sexy and attractive. The minute things get messy, you can be sure the relationship will become a marriage headed for divorce. The question is will dad slap mom down, and if he does who's going to stop him?
When I say I don't support the "troops" it is in recognition that the language of the corporate-government establishment has been corrupted, that it's in Vietnam mode where "we" save villages by destroying them, that our "troops" are fighting for their mothers and to protect their hometowns and liberate the Iraqi people. It's all propaganda.
It was this type of Orwellian irony that Confucius addressed 2,500 years ago when a disciple asked: "Master, if you were emperor, what would be your first task?"
The wise one answered: "To rectify the language (2)."
Since military power is always an extension of politics, it cannot be supported when the language it uses avoids the truth and becomes overwrought with euphemisms to gloss over a bad situation. Under these circumstances, it is reasonable to wonder about the morale of the "troops," whether or not they may be secretly questioning their commanders as their teeth get sand blasted and their breath gets choked from the fumes of burning oil and diesel, and that by supporting them we are actually subverting their most fervent desire for peace. How many are fundamentalist Christians, who interpret the sky raining mud as a bad omen, a sign that God isn't happy with their mission?
We can all be grateful that Rumsfeld underestimated Iraqi resolve and overruled his generals request for "shock and awe," instead opting for this fast-moving, lightly manned, selective bombing campaign that has stalled in the desert (3). The reason for that is many people are still alive today that would have been killed, and outrage around the world and at home would have been significantly greater if our military was decimating the country. One can only guess at the role peace demonstrations may have played in Rumsfeld's decision, as they did during Vietnam when Nixon briefly considered then ruled out using a nuclear bomb because of the public reaction it would get (4).
The bottom line is, I support people. The "troops," of course, are people. In fact, they are people first, troops second, no matter what the military tried to install in their minds during boot camp. The fact is the vast majority of service people are not gung-ho lifers, but short-termers there for the training and experience. The recruiters hadn't informed them of Bush's national security strategy, I'm sure. If it was just a corporate job they'd been suckered into, they could just quit. I want the least number of people to be killed, period. By "supporting the troops," I fear the violence could escalate exponentially in proportion to the perceived threat they are under. I fear that by "supporting the troops" the Bush Regime may feel empowered to win this war by any means necessary.
I would prefer that the vast majority killed be "troops" from both sides and not civilians, who have suffered the most in modern, industrialized warfare (5). We must also remember that our young men and women chose to go in the military. If the majority of them entered to improve their economic lot in life, to get training and experience for the corporate job market, and now find themselves in a situation they hadn't planned on, so be it. That isn't to say I don't sympathize with their naïveté, I served four years in the Navy after high school. But my sympathies lie more with the innocent bystanders who haven't had any real choice regarding their lot in life. First, they were sodomized by Sadaam, then for the last 12 years they've also been bullied by American air power, and now they're being invaded by American ground forces. When it's all over, and who knows when that will be or the nature of the war's outcome, giant American corporations will swoop in and take over. Then the Iraqis will be intimidated, lied to, under paid and employed by the corporate powers that be just like the rest of us.
The fact is the military is the muscle of our political leaders. If our politicians are corrupt, military power cannot help but be abused. We currently have quite a racket going on between our leaders and corporate weapons manufacturers. One might say the US is a multinational racketeering junta. If one joins the military under such circumstances, it's like joining the Mafia. You'll get what you want from the military as long as the federal government can afford it, and in the meantime you'll be asked to do numerous dirty deeds. Under such circumstances, I pray for our "troops" safety and hope they kill as few people as possible.
To go into all the reasons people join the military is the same as going into all the reasons many Americans dream of getting a job with a large corporation. What it all comes down to, however, is a crisis of perception (to be addressed later). This crisis derives from the inherent contradictions undermining our belief systems. These are internal conflicts, difficult to resolve, and few people bother to deal with them. They believe what they believe because it consoles them; what they don't realize, however, is that their beliefs are the reason they need consoling.
So, to keep things simple and real in a time of chaos, in order not to play with anybody else's world, I choose to support people, not war.
1. Media critic Norman Solomon lambastes Colin Powell's professional record, raising questions about his integrity, in his book Unilateral by any Other Name. Also, for US government credibility problems, see the Institute for Public Accuracy's website posting on February 10, 2003; and "Cold Fronts: War is Golden for the Bush Administration," by Chris Floyd, CounterPunch, February 15, 2003, at www.counterpunch.org/floyd02152003.html.
2. Vidal, Gore. The Decline and Fall of the American Empire. Odonian Press, 1986, pp. 21-2.
3. Do a Google search for Gen. Wesley Clark, among the best criticisms of Rumsfeld is "Imploding Strategy," by the Egyptian writer Hani Shukrallah at http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/631/fr1.htm and "What Went Wrong?" by Egyptian Khaled Dawoud at http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/631/sc2.htm. Clark, along with several other military experts, are highly critical of Rumsfeld's war plan for Iraq.
4. NTI: Global Security Newswire by National Journal Group, "United States: Nixon Considered Nuclear Weapons in Vietnam," March 4, 2002, at http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2002/3/4/8s.html.
5. The number of Iraqi civilians killed by the war so far exceeds the number of Allied troops who have died during the invasion. During war, the truth is told in body counts. The rest is propaganda.
6. Carlyle Group, et al. See War is Golden above for a partial rundown.
http://www.corporations-suck.com/CKs/Richards/SupportPeopleNotWar.shtml
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