RANGER AGAINST WAR: It's a Question of Honor <

Friday, April 27, 2007

It's a Question of Honor

People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can't get...And if anything should go wrong, there's soma
--
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

One of the great attractions of patriotism - it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what's more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous
--Aldous Huxley


What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder
one another in cold blood
--Aldous Huxley
______________

John McCain's dogmatic insistence on staying the course, and his conflation of the concepts of nobility and honor and the ''courage and resolve of our troops'' with the failed war that is Iraq is shameful grandstanding. Yet, because he shows no equivocation at a time when waffling is the order of the day, that stalwartness is seen as moral rectitude. Pity, for history is full of unequivocal zealots and madmen.

After reading this glowing editorial in the Philadelphia Enquirer, ''On the Question of Honor, McCain Raises the Bar,'' certain distortions of history and misapplications of the law within the Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©) arise.

In "Character Is Destiny," [McCain] tells how Americans were tortured [in RVN] for military information, for details about one another, for statements against their country or their mission. If they would just speak, they were told, the pain would stop - and no one would know they had talked

McCain writes, "But the men I had the honor of serving with always had the same response: 'I will know. I will know.'

"That, dear reader, is good character. And I hope it is your destiny, your choice, your achievement, to hear the voice in your own heart, when you face hard decisions in your life, to hear it say to you, again and again, until it drowns out every other thought: 'I will know. I will know. I will know.''

This stuff just chokes me up and makes me want to wave flags and oppose torture for any reason. But wait a minute--isn't this the new McCain, a man firmly ensconced as a supporter of terror in our entertaining brave new world? How can McCain speak so disdainfully about North Vietnamese torture, yet support U.S. torture? It's a mite hypocritical.

Ranger finds it interesting that the U.S. policy in the Second Indochina war was to bomb the hell out of NVN sans the luxury of a declaration of war, a bombing which included civilian targets. And though there was no declared war, insisting that our captured airmen be afforded the rights of the Geneva Convention (G.C.). Fast forward to 2002-2007, and the U.S. has completely reversed its rhetoric.


Now the U.S. position is P.O.W.'s are not P.O.W.'s because there is no declared war, although there is a war when it benefits U.S. interests. We must get clear on this matter: either it is a
War on Terror, or it is not a war. It would be noble and honorable to declare for one and stick with it, with all the attending ramifications.

If it is a war, then prisoners are P.O.W.'s, and this means
no torture. Period.

As RVN was invoked by Senator McCain in his recent speech at the Virginia Military Institute, it is good to consider some similarities between then and now--what was gained, and what was/remains lost.


The Viet Cong, like the Taliban today, did not represent a sovereign state, did not wear uniforms, yet we afforded the VC G.C. protections. [Later G.C. Protocols dropped the military uniform requirement.] Somehow, we rationalize failing to extend that same protection to the Taliban and Iraqi resistance fighters.

However, if our soldiers are captured, the U.S. expects those same combatants to apply the G.C. protection to our captured personnel. In other words, the document works for us but not for them, as they are barbarians, i.e., subhuman (see Petraeus' recent letter).

The U.S. in the Republic of Vietnam ignored and short-stopped the G.C. in other areas, however.

One example is the North Vietnamese and VC graves which were mostly were unmarked and undocumented. No effort was made to comply with the G.C. by providing the names and burial locations of the dead. Not only is this lack of record keeping inhumane, it ignores the requirement of the convention. We seem to have contravened this messy bookkeeping aspect of the war.

So Vietnam demonstrated spotty application of the G.C., whereas Iraq demonstrates an almost total disdain of the documents. I don't think I'd count it progress.

Ranger's analysis: the U.S. administration wants it both ways.




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4 Comments:

Blogger Mike said...

I thought this blog title would be referring to George Tenet's recent comments:

"I told the president that strengthening the public presentation was a 'slam dunk', a phrase that was later taken completely out of context," Mr Tenet writes, going on to say that the leaking of the quote was the "most despicable thing that ever happened to me"."

For him, that was a question of honor, or of the lack of honor in the White House for people as human beings (with careers thrown out the window by a false leak).

Bush is the Genghis Khan of the 21st century, and with Bush as with Khan (who both sacked Baghdad), honor tends to get in the way.

Friday, April 27, 2007 at 11:09:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Lurch said...

"A Question of Honor"

In "Character Is Destiny," [McCain] tells how Americans were tortured [in RVN] for military information, for details about one another, for statements against their country or their mission. If they would just speak, they were told, the pain would stop - and no one would know they had talked. McCain writes, "But the men I had the honor of serving with always had the same response: 'I will know. I will know.'


Yes, excellent character.


"Demands for military information were accompanied by threats to terminate my medical treatment if I [McCain] did not cooperate. Eventually, I gave them my ship's name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant.

Faith of My Fathers
Page 193
John McCain

"Reds Say PW Songbird Is Pilot Son of Admiral"

Hanoi has aired a broadcast in which the pilot son of United States Commander in the Pacific, Adm. John McCain, purportedly admits to having bombed civilian targets in North Vietnam and praises medical treatment he has received since being taken prisoner.

United Press International
June 4, 1969"

http://www.bigbrassblog.com/index.php?itemid=698

Yes. "I will know" indeed.

Unless I conveniently forget.

As I noted here http://www.mainandcentral.org/archives/2007/04/breaking_under.html

No one knows what horrors and agonies the man faced and it would be uncharitable to accuse him or cowardice. But I am quite comfortable charging him with hypocrisy in pursuit of a dishonorable political dream, of consigning thousands of Americans and Iraqis to death and mutilation to feed his ego.

The man is 70. Perhaps he's just too old to remember what he said yesterday and the day before. That would certainly make him a prime candidate for President, wouldn't it?

Friday, April 27, 2007 at 4:51:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Lurch,

First, I hope your hospital stay was fruitful. Did anyone warn the nurses you were coming?

As always, your research impresses me fully. I believe we are saying the same thing; the hypocrisy is what I cannot abide by.

As a soldier, I never question another's valor, honor or devotion. It's only his stance vis-a-vis present day torture of terrorist suspects which is unacceptable.

Your point is perfectly stated that nobody knows what those guys went through. I probably would have signed a blank sheet of paper and let them fill it in.

Final comment: I don't think he is senile in any way. I think he is bought and sold by the RNC.

Friday, April 27, 2007 at 6:08:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Mike,

I've avoided Tenet b/c everyone else is covering it well. (Tenet, being CIA, doesn't earn earn a gold star with me for truth and honesty. We'll see how this one plays out.)

I can't see the Bush-Ghengis correlation because Ghengis had family members in his military machine. Otherwise, on the rapacious end of things, these two may share some similarities.

Friday, April 27, 2007 at 6:13:00 PM GMT-5  

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