“U.S. Marines: Travel Agents to Allah.” This is a bumper sticker. A real bumper sticker. Google the phrase, and it appears not only on bumper stickers but also on t-shirts, coffee mugs—all manner of merchandising and memorabilia for the glorious crusade of the U.S. military against people of the Muslim faith. This attitude prevents peace, dehumanizes an entire world religion’s worth of people and helps continue a cycle of self-reinforcing American cultural militarism that has taken untold innocent lives on both sides, worsened our economic situation and ruined our standing in the world. It must stop.
As Americans, we declare war about every 15 minutes. The war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terrorism—nothing is sacred in the perpetual war on everything. And this is a symptom of a larger way of thinking in American culture—that of the increasingly expansionary and warlike society. Since the end of World War II, we have been in a state of perpetual war, whether with the Soviet Union until the mid-1990s, Yugoslavian splinter states immediately afterwards, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, and soon, Iran and Syria. Further, a warrior class has established itself in American society. Military families of Army fathers and Army sons (and, more recently, Army mothers and Army daughters) exist as, in a way, separate from the everyday American Joe.
The language shows it. “Support Our Troops,” we say—but it is never precisely explained what that means. Does “supporting the troops” mean going along with whatever meaningless crusade the reigning commander in chief has deigned advantageous to American interests abroad? Does it mean being nice to soldiers when they return; saying “thanks” when we pass them on the street? If so, thanks for what, exactly? If they fight a meaningless war, what are we to thank them for? Their willingness to throw themselves in harm’s way for politics? That does not smack of courage; it smacks of an obedience so absolute it cares not for what it fights. The “support the troops” admonition seems, in its most general form, to signify a concept roughly encapsulated in that whatever their end, American soldiers are to be celebrated for their war-making, regardless of whether they wage righteously. This is ridiculous. We do not give Grammy awards to actors in bad movies, or Nobel Prizes to individuals who have done nothing to warrant them (Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize being a notable and ironic exception).
Our culture is inundated with positive reinforcements of the value of a powerful military. Movies, books and music abound glorifying war and service in it. Its attendant horrors are but more cause to pile adulation on the American warrior. As if among Aztecs or imperial Mongols, no higher honor exists than military service. As such, what was an army of citizen soldiers, anxiously awaiting the return of peace, is no longer. It has become, instead, a massive standing army, perpetually subjugating foreigners for blustering politicians. Those who fight are professionals; it’s all in a day’s work, and those who command them possess no frame of reference for the destruction they cause among both the soldiers and the hapless inhabitants of whatever troubled corner of the globe on which we deign to visit our mechanical horrors.
This is not the world of the Cold War; no gargantuan Communist adversary menaces. Heavy-handed interference abroad has, of late, destroyed America’s international standing as the innermost bastion of the free world. Now more bully than benefactor, continuing to glorify war and those that wage it will do little except further drain our coffers and destroy everything we thought our country stood for.
You must have seen my bumper sticker on campus. So I guess we should not retaliate against people who strike at us first? Ive been to both Iraq and Afghanistan and have seen the good with the bad. Ive seen smiles and frowns on peoples faces in both countries for our efforts and actions. I agree the sticker is derogatory and offends many people, but I have a right to express myself freely, as do you. Im sure your intelligent enough to figure out why I have the sticker. My country that I love was attacked by Muslim extremist and many completely innocent lives were lost in the name of their god, for what? Do you even know why they devote their very existance to kill people that dont believe in their religion? what compels an individual to strap explosives to themselves and walk into a crowded street and detonate, killing men, woman, and children! what did they do to deserve that?? I personally hate religion, I think it is a form of control and is the cause of many sensless wars and innocent lives being lost. I respect your opinion and courage to right an article of this nature. this is one of few countries you would be able to freely publish opinions and our military is a large part of why that is possible.
I think you may be missing some of the motivation for Islamist extremism, on the one hand the specific action may be driven to an extent by religion, but much more importantly they are being instigated by a perceived imposition of Western culture and economic imperialism that have become widespread through the middle east. These people are reacting to our own first strike which came in the form of years of destabalizing of the region in order to gain access to many valuable natural resources at lower costs than previously available, which in my mind somewhat justifies a counteraction. Its really easy to pawn off violence as part of someone’s nature or religion, its harder but ultimately more important to find their real motivation in order to actually solve the problem.
Partly true Jon, but where does the chanting of “God willing” come from before they commit an act of violence? I’m sure you have heard it, “Allah Akba”?. They live and believe for the destruction of the so called, “infidel” meaning the Western culture. their violence has not only spread to the American people but every other country as well including the bombings in London. I am not saying that every Muslim believes this creed, but for the sake of the argument, violence is commited in the name of religion. Just watch Islamic propaganda and read it carefully.