My nephew is scary smart, a math and physics whiz, very athletic, handsome, and with an incredibly bright future. He's in high school now and is considering attending the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. I sent him this letter to present an alternative view, and since he never reads this blog, I thought I would be alright to share it.
Dear Nephew,
Your Brother has informed me that you are considering attending the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. I do not doubt that you can get into any institution you wish, and that you have the talent and drive to accomplish whatever you seek.
I am sure that many of your friends and family will advise you that this a course which will benefit you and is an honorable, responsible and exciting new path. I wish to present an alternative view. I hope you will consider my words, and I hope you will receive them in the spirit they are given, with respect and love.
Service to one's country and community is both noble and satisfying. It is a secure future, exciting, even an adventure. There are exciting things to learn, and the technology of the US Air Force is cutting edge. It must be said, however, that the Department of Defense is misnamed. The Air Force is now, and has been for a very long time, a weapon of pure offense, unmatched by any threat to the people who support it, we the American People.
Its primary use is to enforce the political decisions of the United States by raining death from above. Past, present, and future, the targets of US air power are people who live in Viet Nam, Iraq, Panama, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq again, and perhaps soon, Iran.
They live in abject poverty and are completely incapable of defending themselves. Most do not not even have enough food to eat. They have nothing of value but their lives and those they love. Daily life is an unimaginable struggle for them.
And none of them have ever done anything to threaten the United States of America. They are not capable of threatening the US. Many can't even read and most have never been out of their own villages. Even if they wished us harm, they have no means of achieving it. They are simply trying to live their miserable lives without getting a bomb dropped on them.
The sad truth is that people like this are killed every single week by the US Air Force.
Consider the people of Iraq. Whatever you may think of their culture or their beliefs, they themselves have never attacked the United States, or any part of it. They never left their own country, whatever they may done to each other.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis, including thousands of children, have been killed by the United States Air Force. Children. Mothers. Teen-agers like yourself.
And to this day, not a single American child has ever been killed by an Iraqi. In fact, not a single American, civilian or soldier, has ever been killed or even injured, by an Iraqi outside their own country. To defend one's home is the American way, and these people see us as invaders.
It's not just Bush. President Clinton used the United States Air Force to enforce American policy in Kosovo, to drive the Serbs from the province and prevent the ethnic cleansing of the Albanians. In theory it was a good cause, but because American casualties would have been unpopular, this task was assigned to the Air Force. They killed tens of thousands of both Serbs and Albanians. This is called 'collateral damage'. In this morality, it is acceptable to kill innocent people if your intent is to kill people you think are bad.
Imagine if the local police bombed a house full of drug dealers next door to you from 50,000 feet? Imagine if in chasing a murderer, the police killed half a dozen other people who were standing near him? This would not be acceptable in our world, so why is it considered acceptable in poor countries? Is it because the United States military views non-American lives as basically worthless? Yes, is the sad and infuriating answer.
There is no simpler way to put it. The United States military, and in particular the Air Force, is a force of great evil in the world today. It is The Empire from Star Wars come off the screen to kill the defenseless.
The bomb, the fighter pilot, the target acquisition officer, these are the tip of the spear. You may think, I won't be doing that, but the spear has a shaft; every person who contributes shares moral responsibility of those deaths. Even the voter. Your participation may be peripheral; you may end up engineering a better laser that makes a bomb 'smarter'.
They will say, 'Oh, this will SAVE lives, by making the bomb more accurate..." Don't believe it. The argument is not credible. It's a killing machine, and every part is focused toward killing. And you can not trust your government, or even the American people, who are often greedy, selfish, and ignorant, to point that mighty spear in a just manner. Injustice is now routine. Pre-emptive war, resource wars, wars of economic hegemony; this is the past, and it will surely be the future. Is this what you want to give your only to support?
Eli, each man is ultimately responsible for the people he kills in his life.
Do you want to know the future of the Air Force? It is here: The Reaper.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/...
A pilotless drone that kills from 7 thousand miles away. Just like a video game, except the dead were real people. I don't know about you, but this a future that repulsive and offensive to me. That a nation rich beyond imagining would send these things to destroy people living in mud huts, who have nothing, who have no defense, and whose threats are tangential at best, is the definition of evil. This is the Eye of Mordor come to life, and with limitless killing power. There are other views, of course, but this is mine.
Finally, the United States Air Force, and in particular the Academy in Colorado Springs, are heavily infiltrated by aggressive evangelical Christian Dominionists.
These are people who believe the US is a purely Christian nation, and that our destiny is to dominate other religions and nations by military force; to bear witness to Christ by killing and destroying. Their religion bears no resemblance to the words of Jesus as I read them in the Bible. The Sermon on the Mount refutes them better than any poor words of mine. But they are waiting for you and will do their best to convert you to their views. They will have a powerful support system behind them and will play on your desire for acceptance, fear of rejection, pride, emotion, and patriotism. You are only human, my friend. Their insane views, in time, will come to seem normal and acceptable viewpoints, even if you disagree.
Here is an article about the problems there:
http://findarticles.com/...
For the sake of your conscience, your immortal soul, and a better world, I would hope you would consider this alternative view of the military before you contribute to it in any way.
The future holds great promise, but gigantic problems face your generation; global warming, terrorism, poverty, energy, disease, ignorance, and many more unnamed. The US Military, for the most part, is part of the problem, not the solution. The US now spends more on the military than all other nations in the world combined. These resources are wasted, as there is no real existential threat to our country. Imagine the good we could do with a 3/4 of a trillion dollars a year!
It would be a shame for a man of your talent and ability to waste it in such a wasteful profession; wasteful of blood, of treasure, and the lives of innocents. If you choose another path, you will find that one of your greatest obstacles in solving the world's problems will be this military mindset that has infected the US. I think it's a battle worth fighting and I believe our survival depends on it.
Dwight Eisenhower was president when I was born. He was the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and led the invasion of Europe. He planned D-Day and defeated Nazi Germany. Please listen to this excerpt of a speech made by this great leader about the dangers of the 'military-industrial complex', a term he coined in this speech.
Ike on the Military:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Here is a movie called 'Why We Fight" inspired by this speech: it may give you some valuable information to help you make your decision.
Part I:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/...
Part 4:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Thanks for reading this, and I hope all is well with you and Libby and your Mom. Send Emily my love when you see her.
With my love and respect,
Your UncleWhit
