"Twelve American soldiers face charges over a secret "kill team" that allegedly blew up and shot Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies."-The Guardian (UK) 9-9-10
This latest atrocity is a continuation of a theme that has run continuously throughout the War On Terror.
Here is a short list, compiled hastily, to illustrate this theme:
- reports of US troops engaged POW massacres and torture began to bubble up
- the Abu Gahraib scandal broke, wherein photos taken by soldiers themselves confirmed widespread POW torture by US forces
- the US used white phosphorus, contrary to international conventions, against personnel and civilians in Faluja
- it was revealed that American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq have been taking pictures of dead Iraqis and Afghans, and exchanging those photographs for free access to online pornography
- it was confirmed that the US was secretly transporting POW’s to gulags across the world, and farming out the torture to foreign sources
- it was confirmed that the US employs a torture known as ‘Water Boarding,’ but by means of legal sophistry had changed the definition of torture so as to allow Water Boarding
- the legal mastermind who legalized Water Boarding was appointed to a cushy post at Berkley Law School
- combat video cameras documented US forces killing civilians and Reuters reporters in Afghanistan
All of these events happened in the context of the US waging war against 2 nations, Afghanistan and Iraq, which had never attacked the US. The US made many claims justifying these wars over the past 9 years, but most supporters of the wars simply think that by killing people in foreign lands, the killing of people in the US will be prevented.
And as the last 2 months of media hate frenzy have shown, the majority of US citizens who support the wars believe that Islam is the enemy.
The thesis that Muslims are the enemy is odious, but it fits the facts more than the justifications provided by the US government. Nine years into the War on Terror, no strategic objectives have been secured and no end is in sight.
And, at the smallest estimate, at least 1 million civilian Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan have been killed. So while no territory has been secured, it can be said without question that the US has retaliated against Islam with a fierce vengeance. For every American killed on 9/11, the US has killed at least 30 Muslim civilians. Now that’s badass.
With these things in mind, I have to say I find this moment in the Summer of Islamophobia to be ironic.
For at this moment, our President, the Pentagon, and many religious leaders are begging a Florida pastor to refrain from burning a pyre of Korans to celebrate September 11.
While such an act of hateful symbolism is indeed wretched and should be discouraged, our hand-wringing and condemnation of this event seem like hypocrisy.
Against the vast tapestry of violence and cruelty created in the last 9 years, it seems like an empty, feel-good moment.