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Pat Tillman: Hero or Wasted Life? |
Current rating: 3 |
by Gary Sudborough
Email: IconoclastGS (nospam) aol.com (unverified!) |
27 Apr 2004
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An argument against the continual depiction of American soldiers as "heroes" by the corporate media, when they are engaged in illegal, immoral wars for fallacious reasons, especially wars that leave a radioactive legacy of cancers and deformed children like the present wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. |
There is no doubt about the bravery of Pat Tillman or his idealism in resigning from a lucrative career in the National Football League after 9-11 to, as he perceived the situation, protect America and fight the terrorists responsible for this spectacular, deadly attack on American soil. However, soldiers all through history have exhibited great courage in combat, although often fighting for mistaken, spurious reasons or even against their own best interests. I know there were many German soldiers in World War 2 who were fervent believers in fascism and willingly sacrificed themselves for an ideology which cost tens of millions of lives, lead to the death camps and devastated the continent of Europe. The same could be said of Japan's kamikaze pilots. Their sacrifice was exceedingly brave, but was their emperor really that close to God. The German and Japanese media certainly attempted to make heroes of these men. There were many true believers among the Protestants and Catholics who fought one another in the bloody Thirty Years War and exterminated about sixty percent of the population of northern Europe. Naturally, the kings and nobles had their own economic and political interests in these religious wars. Are all these people heroes simply because they were courageous in battle or possessed an ardent belief in their mission or ideology?
Pat Tillman obviously didn't realize that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were planned long before 9-11 occurred and both were intimately connected to US control of oil reserves, rather than to any so-called war on terrorism. He was probably oblivious to the fact that terrorism has been used before in history as an excuse for wars of aggression, perpetrated for other reasons. Hitler used the excuses of communist terrorism and terrorism against Germans for his annexations of Austria and Czechoslovakia. Ronald Reagan had his own war against terrorism in Central America in order to defeat socialist revolutions there, which were a threat to the capitalist system. Our own American revolutionaries were considered to be terrorists by the British. Using fear as a means of manipulation and control is nothing new.
Therefore, Pat Tillman was not defending the American people, as he imagined, but by participating in a war against the innocent people of Afghanistan and Iraq was actually increasing the anger and resentment towards the United States and raising the probability of another terrorist attack on the US mainland, rather than diminishing such a probability. He may just as well have worn the company logos of Chevron-Texaco and Exxon-Mobil on his uniform as the US flag because this is who he really was fighting for, as well as the weapons manufacturers and companies like Halliburton and Bechtel. 9-11 was the fear-inspiring event that George W. Bush cynically utilized to pursue his real agenda of corporate domination and profiteering.
In my opinion, the real heroes are people like Ron Kovic, Stan Goff and other veterans who have taken the time and effort to discover the truth about recent wars and the nature of imperialism. They are willing to oppose US interventions in other countries and suffer the ridicule and disapprobation of American society for challenging some of its most cherished myths-myths like the continuous glorification of war and the supposition that American troops always fight for noble goals like freedom and democracy. They also attempt to educate military personnel and that is essential in stopping this scourge of war. People are heroes for fighting against the real ills afflicting humanity like slavery, racism, oppression and injustice, not for fighting for myths created by a ruling class intent on wars for their own benefit. That is simply a wasted life.
The glaring hypocrisy of the US corporate media in its hero worship is easily illustrated by the Spanish Civil War. American soldiers, such as those in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, fought fascism in Spain and the troops and modern weapons of Hitler and Mussolini years before World War 2 started. They exhibited extraordinary courage in fighting tanks and airplanes with small arms and outdated artillery. Were these brave American soldiers of the "greatest American generation" called heroes in the US corporate media? No, they were either ignored or labeled "premature antifascists." Some were even hounded by the FBI for years after World War 2 and lost job after job for being leftists. Every American knows about the heroes of the Normandy landing on D-day, but ask an average American if they have ever heard of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Obviously, the criteria for who is deemed worthy of being depicted as a hero by the US corporate media are determined purely on economic and political motivations and not on actual courage or sacrifice, as the corporate media so pompously pretend.
I knew the instant I learned that Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan that the corporate media were going to make a propaganda extravaganza out of his death, lasting days, if not weeks. After all, MSNBC calls every American soldier killed in Iraq a "hero" and has a whole wall dedicated to them with photos of the deceased soldiers. From time to time the hosts relate little stories about these soldiers' lives to their audience. No mention is given to poisonous effects of the US military's use of depleted uranium on the health of other potential "heroes." Little emphasis is placed on Iraqi casualties or the great suffering and misery of the Iraqi people. Neither the Pentagon nor the corporate media keep an accounting of the Iraqi dead and wounded. Of course, the insinuation here is that only American lives matter and the Iraqis are subhuman, much as Goebbels depicted the Jews and Slavs.
It has been my perception from watching war after war involving the United States that the corporate media always attempt to glorify each and every war and build public support for it, no matter how ridiculous the justifications for the war or how illegal, immoral and destructive the war happens to be. That glorification is probably the greatest evil perpetrated by the US corporate media and very dangerous to humanity's survival in an age of nuclear weapons. However, it is understandable, when one considers many of these media corporations are owned by weapons manufacturers. |
See also:
http://www.theblackflag.org/iconoclast
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This work is in the public domain |
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Re: Pat Tillman: Hero or Wasted Life? |
by John Kerry
hitler (nospam) yahoo.de (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
28 Apr 2004
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Could you be any farther to the left or the truth? Actually.. that far to the left is not reality anyway. I heard about this article on my drive into work this morning. I support our troops and our president. I'll be at the polls when they open to vote for GW. Kerry-Hines will tax my family into the poor house and let the UN run everything. This Gary chracter scares me. I'm surprised he didn't praise Hitler. |
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Re: Pat Tillman: Hero or Wasted Life? |
by karl
kvstein (nospam) swbell.net (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
28 Apr 2004
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This article made the local talk show in Corpus Chisti, Tx. Guess what the reaction was? Also prominent in the patter was that John Kerry wife's foundation was a $5,000 contributor to this web site. Is that true? |
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Re: Pat Tillman: Hero or Wasted Life? |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 6
28 Apr 2004
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Hey Dan Disinfo or M.Z. or whatever your pathetic little name happens to be,
Name the time, the place, and Jack will be there. I would like nothing better than to defend the honor of Pat TIllman and kick the living shit out of your Anti Semetic views.
Lets go hot shot, I may actually reveal my true identity to you, so that I may have the honor of kicking the living shit out of you.
Lets go Puss
Boy, or do you not have the guts?
Jack |
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Surely, You're Kidding |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
29 Apr 2004
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So...some Rush-wannabee:
http://www.glennbeck.com/hatemail/index.shtml
Who doesn't even have an affiliate station in Illinois:
http://www.glennbeck.com/affiliates/Illinois.shtml
Thinks UC IMC is a big threat to the cozy world that he believes exists???
Ahhh, then we must be doing something right.
Check out his special offer on "I Love Halliburton" T-shirts:
http://www.mercuryradioarts.com/site/product?pid=10026
My guess is that to be a "Real American" you have to think the idea of wasting tax-payer funded dollars on contracts with bloated, criminally inclined corporations is a good thing. And exactly what cut is Dick Cheney getting from the profits off of those T-shirts?
Then there is this little number:
https://glennbeckstore.premiereinteractive.com/index.asp
"The Best of Iraq!
Choose MP3 Download or CD
$14.95 MP3 Audio File
$19.95 Audio CD
Yes, it's here!
To celebrate the one year anniversary of the Saddam statue falling in Baghdad, the Glenn Beck program proudly presents “All for the Oil—The Best of Iraq”. Included are some of the best bits and segments relating to the War in Iraq. 24 tracks in all including Frontline, Mr. Saddam, the “I like Pudding” bit, and the moment the statue fell in Iraq, as it sounded live on April 9th, 2003. You can read the track descriptions by clicking on the All For The Oil title above. Don’t forget to create your own “Big Oil Pack” by buying a CD and a “I heart Halliburton” t-shirt. You won’t get a discount, but you know that because we are an evil corporation!"
Leave it to a corporate insider to make money off the blood of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians, then laugh that it's all about the oil. It's disgusting, pathetic, and shamelessly exploitative. This whole shtick of Glenn Beck's pegs the appallo-meter. |
