[lit-ideas] Re: Iran/al-Qaeda Ties Suggested
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 22:12:19 -0800 (PST)
For Lawrence and Eric, from a former US Navy officer.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HC23Aa01.html
That's what's truly ominous about the American empire.
In most empires, the military is there, but militarism
is so central to ours - militarism not meaning
national defense or even the projection of force for
political purposes, but as a way of life, as a way of
getting rich or getting comfortable. I guarantee you
that the 1st Marine Division lives better in Okinawa
than in Oceanside, California, by considerable orders
of magnitude. After the Wall came down, the Soviet
troops didn't leave East Germany for five years. They
didn't want to go home. They were living so much
better in Germany than they knew they would be back in
poor Russia.
Most empires try to disguise that military aspect of
things. Our problem is: For some reason, we love our
military. We regard it as a microcosm of our society
and as an institution that works. There's nothing more
hypocritical, or constantly invoked by our
politicians, than "support our boys". After all, those
boys and girls aren't necessarily the most admirable
human beings that ever came along, certainly not once
they get into another society where they are told they
are, by definition, doing good. Then the racism that's
such a part of our society emerges very rapidly - once
they get into societies where they don't understand
what's going on, where they shout at some poor Iraqi
in English.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
