So two weeks ago nobody had ever heard of Robert Bales. Now we are all scratching our heads and searchong our hearts trying to figure out what to do with him. The truth of course is that we killed him way before now. We don't know what to do with him because he is our creation. Every single one of us is complicit in his crime. We decided to tolerate endless war carried out by a few unlucky bastards on our behalf. We all know, or absolutely should know, that we are steadily destroying the people we send there to fight over and over and over again. This wasn't the first atrocity either, it's just the first we know was committed by a nice guy that we turned into a psychopathic killer.
We don't want to judge Robert Bales because we know he was just our instrument. Finding him guilty will be hypocritical unless we also find ourselves guilty. Of course if we do not find him guilty we are endorsing the crimes he carried out for us. We are stuck in our collective guilt.
Just like Robert Bales we are mostly good people that allowed ourselves to get sucked into a massive crime. It's time to confess and suffer the consequences. It's time to quit the killing. We like to think we are morally superior to other nations and that is the first step toward genocide. We need some humility.
We aren't the only people with that sense of moral superiority. The Islamic terrorists have it, the Nazis had it, Stalin had it (Putin may too) the Japanese had it prior to WW II, racists have it. Hunility may not be as glamorous as self-righteousness but we cannot afford that kind of glamor anymore.
We need to lose terms like "collateral damage." The Nazis talked about people that way too. We were and are apalled at how they dehumanized groups of people. I tell you what, predator drones controlled remotely and used with impunity with tolerable amounts of collateral damage (innocent victims) would have been one of Hitler's favorite wet-dreams.
The German army in WW II killed civilians, they massacred prisoners of war, were they cold hearted sociopaths? Of course they were. Or were they just German soldiers who wanted to serve their country and were gradually perverted by never ending war? Of course they were.
I feel real bad about Robert Bales. I remember being the lone protester against these stupid wars 10 years ago. I wish that having stood at 61st and Seawall with my "No War" sign would somehow relieve me of any responsibility but it doesn't. Still I'm glad I did it even if it didn't prevent these stupid wars. It's time to man up and admit we are wrong. It's time to quit pretending we are morally superior. It's time to bring home our wounded soldiers. And it's time to recognize that every last one of them is wounded and needs healing.
Russell
No comments:
Post a Comment