Why should I support the troops?
For purposes of thought-experiment, imagine if our military were made up entirely of mercenaries. Would we pin "support Blackwater" magnets on our cars? Why not? Because they're just in it for the money, of course. They don't care about "duty, honor, country", whatever that may mean. They have a baser motive.
The Troops, though, are another story. They are, according to popular mythology, all patriotic Good Samaritans, intent on dedicating their lives to defending this Great Country and Spreading Democracy to the less enlightened corners of the world.
Remember:It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.
- Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC (often incorrectly attributed to Charles M. Province)
The soldier gave us all the things that make us "American" (in the conceptual sense---people can "be American" in spirit if they hold these ideals). If it weren't for this pack of professional patriots, we'd all be lining up in bread lines and speaking Russian.
But wait a minute. These professional patriots are our employees, right? And, this is their job. We don't have a draft. They all volunteered and entered this profession, the profession of professional hitman. They may wear nice uniforms and keep their hair short and their shoes shined, but when you get right down to it, they're still killers, aren't they? What else is the point of the military but to kill and threaten to kill? Who drops the bombs? Who gets put on "Shock and Awe" duty? Who softens up the "detainees"? And they signed up for it---and they're still signing up for it.
These model citizens are supposedly the highest exemplars of patriotism and moral enlightenment---that's why we're supposed to honor them and never question their "sacrifice". Why then are they recruited from the poorest neighborhoods? Could it be that they're in it for the money?
Of course not. They're in it because they need a job, and the Army's hiring, and it promises to make them as responsible and "got it together"-looking as that guy or girl in the ad. And, it's a respectable profession. You're "serving your country", and you'll be universally respected, even looked at with awe, for that.
So what happens when the public starts questioning the troops? What happens when Abu Ghraib hits and everyone's first reaction is "That's disgusting... how could they do that... our troops are psychopaths... they're like the Nazis..." Quickly we remind ourselves---on TV, even here on DailyKos where I'd like to think we'd be a little more thoughtful about things---that the troops aren't to blame, it's the higher-ups. The troops were just following orders. Well, so were the concentration camp guards at Auschwitz. In the military, very few people aren't just obeying orders. Does that absolve everyone from blame?
What is this universal fear we seem to have of disrespecting the troops? Are we afraid no one will join the military if it comes to be seen as an ignoble profession? This seems a bit unrealistic considering our limitless military budget and the already-pervasive use of "private contractors"---i.e. mercenaries---in Iraq and New Orleans. Not to mention the principal reasons people join the military already: it's a career (not just a temporary McJob with no benefits) that will take them. If the military loses some esteem, will we really be left defenseless?
More likely, the legions of veterans will feel dishonored and will strive to maintain their position as universally revered uber-citizens by spreading the propaganda of America's benevolence and love of democracy and freedom---and hence of their own heroism as the selfless warriors who delivered democracy and freedom to the world. Now, just to be perfectly clear, I'm not saying that we live in a totalitarian dictatorship. Obviously, my writing this is evidence of some degree of freedom. But to assert that America's influence throughout the world has been benevolent and motivated by spreading democracy is not a position borne out by the history books. We have, directly and indirectly, overthrown countless democracies and propped up dictatorships with military and economic "aid". Our CIA has orchestrated military coups, assassinations, and terrorist campaigns:
CIA operations follow the same recurring script. First, American business interests abroad are threatened by a popular or democratically elected leader. The people support their leader because he intends to conduct land reform, strengthen unions, redistribute wealth, nationalize foreign-owned industry, and regulate business to protect workers, consumers and the environment. So, on behalf of American business, and often with their help, the CIA mobilizes the opposition. First it identifies right-wing groups within the country (usually the military), and offers them a deal: "We'll put you in power if you maintain a favorable business climate for us." The Agency then hires, trains and works with them to overthrow the existing government (usually a democracy). It uses every trick in the book: propaganda, stuffed ballot boxes, purchased elections, extortion, blackmail, sexual intrigue, false stories about opponents in the local media, infiltration and disruption of opposing political parties, kidnapping, beating, torture, intimidation, economic sabotage, death squads and even assassination. These efforts culminate in a military coup, which installs a right-wing dictator. The CIA trains the dictator's security apparatus to crack down on the traditional enemies of big business, using interrogation, torture and murder. The victims are said to be "communists," but almost always they are just peasants, liberals, moderates, labor union leaders, political opponents and advocates of free speech and democracy. Widespread human rights abuses follow.
This scenario has been repeated so many times that the CIA actually teaches it in a special school, the notorious "School of the Americas." (It opened in Panama but later moved to Fort Benning, Georgia.) Critics have nicknamed it the "School of the Dictators" and "School of the Assassins." Here, the CIA trains Latin American military officers how to conduct coups, including the use of interrogation, torture and murder.
The Association for Responsible Dissent estimates that by 1987, 6 million people had died as a result of CIA covert operations. (2) Former State Department official William Blum correctly calls this an "American Holocaust."
Once you've read this history, how can you honor and revere the institution---the US military ---that makes it happen? Do we honor the CIA for its terrorism? Should we honor the Pentagon, Army, Navy, and Marines for their state-sponsored "Shock and Awe" terrorism?
I think it's time we dropped the mythology of the military, with its proud traditions and illustrious past. This mythology is keeping all of us Americans from opposing this war as strongly as we should. Bush and company knew perfectly well that if he just started the war, the opposition would be silenced, because the troops would be "in harm's way". Our fear of offending the troops was used as a tool against us. It's time for this nonsense to end. We should get our priorities straight:
1. It's more important to stand up for human rights and human dignity than it is to "support the troops" who are, consciously or unconsciously, trampling upon those rights and that dignity.
2. It's more important to tell the truth about the US military's present and past actions than to preserve the myth of "spreading democracy".
Our troops are pitiful suckers and should obviously not be judged as harshly as their brutish commanding officers and their criminal civilian war profiteers. But we should not pull our punches out of fear of offending the troops and damaging the mythology of the military that they have bought into. We should target this mythology directly if we want to stop the exploitation of it by the Republican war machine, which uses a vast national passion play of phony patriotism to get people to go along with huge transfers of tax dollars from the Federal Treasury to offshore tax havens owned by Halliburton and Exxon. As President Eisenhower said,
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Phony "support the troops" patriotism that brooks no questioning of the troops or their mission seriously imperils our ability to limit the military-industrial complex's power. So I say: Out with the war-hawks who have never fought. Out with the generals who take any order and hide behind the excuse of "duty" and "following orders". If the President is a criminal and obviously ignoring international law, then you are a criminal if you obey him. And most importantly, out with the ignorant calls to support the troops no matter what they are doing. If they are doing something noble, I will support them. If they are doing something condemnable, I will condemn them, just as I would condemn anyone else. Right now, because of the many obvious illegalities and immoralities permeating this war, our troops should be encouraged to become conscientious objectors, and their mission should be criticized in no uncertain terms, so that they are disabused of their illusions of "serving" the American ideals of democracy, freedom, and human rights, when they are serving just the opposite. Let us return to thinking critically and courageously, instead of hiding behind slogans and fear.