Obama made some thoughtful and timely remarks on the Fort Hood shooting, but words alone can't heal a nation's wounds after such a horrible tragedy. If he wants to do a real service for the lives lost and their families, he should bring all the current troops overseas, who are barred down in unnecessary conflicts, home, and retire America from the empire game. The ultimate gesture to the dead is making sure that nobody else dies in these needless and immoral wars or as a result of them. But that will never happen under Barack Obama because he is not a real leader, just an eloquent sock puppet. Unfortunately, all his acts are dead gestures to an anxious people. But are Americans tired of presidents who only hold up appearances, and who are afraid to address head on the real and difficult choices that the country faces in this century? Only time will tell.
Obama is certainly more attentive to the spell of the moment than Bush was, and his refined nature poured through in the memorial service, but he is also lucky that he has more gifted speechwriters. For example, his team won't make an amateurish mistake like putting up a 'Mission Accompolished' banner at the beginning of a war. The current administration's PR is by far better composed for the times. With that said, I think the best part of the President's speech was his poetic recognition of the greatness that is present in our day:
For history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, I think all of us - every single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before.Sadly, though, the endless sacrifices made by the men and women in the military do not equal true greatness because they are following dreadful and illegal orders. Their participation in these wars have revealed again a deep and ugly truth about the character of the American people, and of their government. The truth is Americans have failed horrendously at being moral crusaders, and they always have, just like other conquering armies in history. Soldiers in the US military have not died for freedom, but tyranny, at home and abroad. But although their cause is not noble, it does not make their bravery less meaningful or their suffering less real.
We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.
This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations - all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.
These men and women have grieved and suffered more than past soldiers because they know they will never receive a hero's welcome anywhere except amongst their ranks, and in the company of politicians, and their corporate paymasters. To be sure, the public's devotion to these troops is not a mere formality, but their embrace is tinged with a skeptical appreciation for their services. After all, have they brought peace and liberty to the Middle East, or unjust blood and new cold tyrants? Almost seventy percent of the American people believe the latter. But this is not the military's stain, but the stain of the criminal leaders who are destroying the country to oblivion. Americans must promise themselves that the deaths of these fighters will not be allowed to go unnoticed and fade into history.
I feel for these fighters, it is an unbelievable weight to know that you played a part in the destruction of villages and homes, after putting trust and faith in your leaders, whose orders came from the darkest of places. The public's painful reaction upon discovering the corruption of the United States government and the lies of the war on the terror is minuscule compared to a soldier coming across unpleasant truths for the very first time, because their friends, brothers, and sisters, died for these treasonous lies, to which they committed their soul, not just their opinion. In them the tragic lie of 9/11 stings more deeply, because deception is more foreign to them than either the sands of Iraq or Afghanistan.
If these honorable men and women ever want to receive a true and pure hero's welcome in the future, it will be in Washington, and not in Baghdad, or Kabul. Those places have their own heroes, who have died for a just cause - defending their country against foreign occupiers. Their bodies lay in the ground with passionate blood still running in their veins, unlike American fighters who are killed due to a grave misfortune on the side of the road, and are brought home to be buried in the dark, and who are greeted without any prolonged or dignified acknowledgment by their countrymen for their sustained and noble efforts.
For the freedom fighters of Iraq and Afghanistan, the enemy is not invisible, nor is the enemy an orphan, or a widow. For them, the war is winnable because the enemy of these mischaracterized 'terrorists' is clearly marked by what he wears, and who he's fighting for. As a result his conscience is clear, and his self-defense, even if extremely bloody, is justified in history's eye. On the other hand, the fate of American fighters is tragically different. They are not George Washington's patriots, but George Bush's terrorists.
I pray that more men and women in the military will wake up, and come home to help liberate their own country from oligarchic tyrants. God knows their bravery, skill, and guidance is needed now more than ever in American history. These proud conquerors, if they are true conquerors, will witness that the 'clash of civilizations' is but a ploy to establish the new world order's fate, and consequently, they will turn their swords against the real enemy within. As Albert Camus remarked, "greatness has changed camp," it no longer belongs to the military general, but to the eternal rebel. "It lies in protest and the blind-alley sacrifice," Camus said. It lies with Pat Tillman, Matthis Chiroux, Adam Kokesh, Charles Dyer, Mike Prysner, Stewart Rhodes, Ehren Watada, and all the winter soldiers, and oath keepers, not with David Petraeus, Colin Powell, or Stanley McChrystal.
What America needs at this historical transition are men and women with a soldier's blood and a rebel's heart. If freedom is to be reconstituted in America and the rest of the world, the new and true conqueror must walk forth humbly now, without any reservations. If he does, he is guaranteed my salute, and my immortal gratitude.
