Our Military-backed
Exceptionalism. By Steve Clemens. May 5, 2013
One would be hard-pressed not to see the enormous
fetishizing of the U.S. Military since the attacks of 9/11/01. Whether it is at
professional sports events, airports, political rallies, or even at local
restaurants, it seems almost impossible to avoid signs, speeches, discounts
for, symbols, or outright worship of those now labeled “heroes” – the backbone
of our national identity – our warriors.
It was bothering me for several days after a recent trip to
the local Hardees restaurant chain. The friendly clerk took my order and then
asked me if I’d like to “donate a dollar to support our troops”? On the counter
was the details of the promotion: “Stars for Heroes” where in exchange for my
$1 donation to “support military veterans and their families” I would receive
$10 worth of coupons for discounts at the restaurant and they’d place my name
on a paper star recognizing my support and gift which would be placed among the
hundreds of other stars already on display along the windows facing the parking
lot. I declined; but I debated with myself as to whether I should tell the
young clerk why. She was enthused about the program because that franchise was
in competition with other franchises around the state or region according to
the conversation I overheard among the staff. Who was I to rain on their
parade?
And still we sit and wonder how someone like the Tsarnaev
brothers or others could get “radicalized” and be (allegedly) led to commit
such heinous acts as the Boston Marathon bombing?
Several weeks ago I heard a senior high-ranking Pakistani
Police Officer (and Humphrey School Fellow scholar), Mubarek Zeb lead a
presentation about U.S. drone attacks on the remote tribal areas of his
country. He explained the cultural honor codes of the Pashtun tribes and how
those traditions going back thousands of years made them honor-bound to seek
revenge for the death or injury to tribal members or those granted hospitality
and asylum in their homes. He told us that for every person killed or seriously
injured by drone attacks, between three and ten tribal members were committed
to lifetimes of retaliation and revenge.
Several years ago an Iraq War Veteran, Tyler Boudreau,
travelled through Minneapolis while biking across the nation in his attempt to
heal from the trauma of war. In his excellent book, Packing Inferno, as well as his talk at Mayday Bookstore,
this former military officer decried the use of the term “hero” stating that it
hindered the healing of (psychologically) wounded vets who knew the reality of
war and knew that the acts of killing and occupation were mostly far from
heroic and often bordered on cringe-worthy if not outright criminal. Karl
Marlantes, author of the equally-excellent What
It Is Like To Go To War, also cautions his audience to understand the
cost to the human psyche in sending others to kill in our name or for policies
decided by politicians determined to use (and abuse) the power entrusted to
their office.
We continue to cheapen the true sacrifice forced on military
veterans with gimmicks which cost us little (“it’s only a buck!”) and promise
us a return on our investment (you’ll “support or troops!” and get coupons
worth a whole lot more!). At the restaurant I had brought along the latest book
I’ve been reading, James Cone’s now classic, The Cross and the Lynching Tree. As I thought more about the
clerk’s request for the modest “donation”, I flashed on how those on the
receiving end of the lynching rope, the Dakota survivors of the genocide of our
“Indian Wars”, my Iraqi friends who were traumatized by US military checkpoints
just a few years ago, or my Afghan friends who continue to fear drones and
helicopters when they go to the mountains to fetch fresh water or firewood
would respond to the uniformed protectors of American Empire now labeled
“heroes”.
When Jesus encountered Roman occupying soldiers as he was
growing up in occupied Galilee, did he see them as “heroes” – those who ending
up lynching him for the benefit of those engorging themselves on the spoils of
war and domination? How did Spartacus and other slaves view the legions sent to
put down their rebellion? I’m sure members of the Roman elite were grateful for
their military who allowed them to continue in “the lifestyle to which [they’ve]
come to be accustomed to”. We continue to be so blinded by the disease of American
exceptionalism that we fail to think about how much of the rest of the world
views us.
American exceptionalism rides on the back of American Empire
and White Supremacy. James Cone reminds us that until or unless we renounce the
latter, our “Christianity” will continue to “re-crucify” the one we claim to
follow as millions of young black men waste away in our prisons. The 150th
anniversary of the Dakota War reminds Minnesotans that conveniently “forgotten”
(if never learned) history continues to create victims and unhealthy
dependencies today. Our visitors from Iraq are genuinely perplexed about our
wall-to-wall obsession with the latest news about the actions, capture or
killing, and the impending trial of the alleged Boston Marathon bombers while ignoring
the on-going terror-laden bombings happening weekly, if not daily, in their own
country. A country where such “suicide attacks” were unheard of prior to our
military invasion ten years ago.
I find myself tired in this post 9-11 soup of fear and chaos
of feeling I must always do battle with our “mainstream” culture for its
jingoistic “patriotism” and desire to continue on with “the lifestyle to which
we have become accustomed to”. That lifestyle which is enforced and protected
by young people enticed to put on the uniform and grab a gun. As long as those
guns are pointed at others (and on our behalf), we can wallow in the notion
that “God has blessed us” and we deserve to be exceptional from the rest of
humanity. We don’t look at the crosses, the lynching trees, the dangling
nooses, the closed prison doors, and the persistent humming of the drones
overhead. I’m getting a better sense of how racial, sexual, and religious
minorities must feel here in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”.
Excuse me, but in choosing to follow one executed by the
powers of political, religious, and military empire, I must continue to find
creative ways to dissent – and then stand side-by-side with those marginalized
in the process.
