Haditha
By their very definition, wars are ugly. They are a series of ugly, brutal events. Combatants and civilians both die hard, in the most horrible of ways. And it has always been the case that soldiers, armed with the most lethal of weapons, confronted with sudden violence and the loss of close friends, have occasionally snapped, taking innocent lives in an atrocious attempt at vengence, trying to somemhow make things "right".Yes, these things can happen in a war. A war where armies clash, maneuver and fight under the support of air and artillery, moving fluidly across a battlefield, trying to take and hold ground. Alas, this is not Iraq, and it is not Haditha. We invaded their country. We took it by force of arms, we killed or deposed the existing government, we disbanded their armed forces and we occupied their nation. We then imposed a puppet government on them, enriched our own corporations, built massive bases and the largest embassy in the world, in full view of the Iraqi citizenship, while they can't get clean water or electricity. If any of them "scare" our troops, we fire on them. We break into their houses at night, arresting, searching, breaking things and terrifying the people. You can argue about the reasons why, but I'm sorry, it doesn't look a whole lot different to me than France in 1942 under German occupation.
As a result of their outrage, many Iraqis want to fight us, to try to force us to leave their country. Again, you can bemoan the fact that it is American citizens they are attacking, but it's really hard to blame them for doing so. But we make certain it cannot be a fair fight. If they try to mass for a real set-piece battle, we cut them to pieces with air power. We make sure they don't have armored vehicles or artillery. If they hold any ground, we just destroy it, as we did in Falluja, in spite of the harm and horror we cause thousands of innocents. So in order to fight back, they have only one option. Guerilla tactics, small unit ambushes, booby traps. What has come to be called "Asymetrical Warfare". When our guys are the targets, we like to call it "Terrorism".
The result can be a different kind of soldier. One that's not being asked to fight, but to occupy. One that may well be on his or her second or third tour, missing home, unable to tell friend from foe, terrified that anything might explode at any second. Anger, bitterness, suspicion, fear. And nowhere to go. There are no "front lines". The army isn't going to advance, take the next city, fight the next battle. You are an occupation army. The Romans, the British, and the Germans, for that matter, knew there was only one way to do a successful occupation. Terrify and Co-opt. You used horrendous brutality to create so much fear that the citizens were afraid to attack you, and any attack would cause such suffering among the rest of the community that the community itself was co-opted to prevent those attacks.
In today's world, that kind of brutality would be unacceptable. This probably means that forcible occupation is no longer a valid option for any government or army, but Bush and Cheney didn't get that memo. So the occupation of Iraq grinds on, American soldiers bleed, anger festers, and the hatred on both sides only grows. The quality of personnel in the military, as in any large organization, varies radically. In any case where there is weak leadership, the "bad apples" among the troops can begin to express their bitterness and hatred. First, maybe on a night raid, you beat up some old Iraqi guy who wasn't completely successful in hiding his loathing for you. And nobody says or does anything. So on the next raid, you wreck some of their posessions, maybe grope one of the women, maybe trash the generator. Still, everybody seems to think thats ok. Before you know it, you've got a bunch of angry, borderline psychotics running amok in a foreign country with heavy weapons and no accountability.
Is this every American soldier? Of course not. But this is a new kind of war, at least for us. We never were the invading/occupying force before. It's hard to keep your moral compass pointing straight when your very nation is using you as an armed thug. And I can promise you, Haditha is not the anomaly they are going to try to make it out to be.
Do not look away, America. This is what we have become. An occupation army, killing innocent civilians, propping up puppet governments, using our army to impose our will on another nation. And somehow we're supposed to believe these people will not hate us? That we will somehow be safer as a result of this? Think it all the way through. Many of the 3 and even 4 tour veterans will have become the most brutal of murderers in Iraq. Many of them will come home to America and find it awfully hard to assimilate. They will have trouble keeping jobs. They will have trouble sleeping. They will be angry, and bitter. They will find that booze and dope can turn off the voices and give them some peace. They will be among us--just another "benefit" of this illegal war.
posted by mikey @ 2:19 PM
0 comments
