[Col. Writ. 5/8/05] Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Soon, Memorial Day will be upon us, and stores
will put up bunting and flags to try to lure in more
shoppers to do their national duty -- and shop.
Cable and TV networks will run war movies,
and the corporate news networks will run file footage
of old vets, of new war wounded, to stoke up ratings
more than anything else.
But, memorial days, no matter where they occur,
aren't about remembering.
They're about forgetting.
Now why would I say such a thing?
On Memorial Days, the nation's political leaders
call on the people to remember the war dead,
when what they really mean, is to remember the
dead warriors.
When have you ever heard a politician ask
people to remember the civilian dead from those
murderous world wars?
When Vietnam is remembered, it is the 60-
thousand Americans who are recalled, not
the 3 million Vietnamese, Thais, Laotians,
most of whom were civilians who were bombed
into eternity as part of the U.S. government's
terror campaign against the Vietnamese
resistance.
In Germany, after a humiliating loss in World
War I, rightwing ex-soldiers pressed for war
memorials, and a number of cities and villages
began celebrating Volkstrauertag (or Day of
National Mourning). In 1934, Adolph Hitler
would make it a legal holiday, and rename it
Heldengedenktag (or Heroes Memorial Day).
All of us can remember the vast Nazi night
rally, where Hitler called on Germans to
sacrifice in the name of the war dead.
Behind him were the huge swastikas, which
stood for the elevation of the State over
humanity.
The rest (as in World War II) is infamy.
On this memorial day, as newsreels
stream past of cemeteries, and of wars,
past and present, think of those for whom no
memorials will be held. Think of the mothers,
daughters, husbands and sons, the many
un-uniformed, who were bombed into
oblivion, as part of the macabre military
doctrine of 'collateral damage.'
If you really want to remember something,
or someone on Memorial Day, I have a
suggestion: Timothy McVeigh.
As a young soldier in the 1st Iraq War,
McVeigh was awarded medals for burying
live Iraqis with a bulldozer, and witnessed
the killings of noncombatants.
When he returned home, and saw the U.S.
'Justice' Department's carnage at Waco, Texas,
he resolved to return the favor, and struck
the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma.
When he was asked about the innocents
who were slain, the children in day care,
the passersby, and the many who were not
part of the U.S. government that were killed,
he responded with the cool and deadly
lessons he learned in the deserts of Iraq:
"collateral damage."
As Memorial Day is celebrated, how many
Timothy McVeighs are being formed and
forged in this neocolonial mirage in Baghdad
today?
How many more massacres are being
contemplated?
On Memorial Day, we remember to forget.
We blare martial tunes, or visit quiet graves;
we remember, if anything, the men who died
in war; but, forgotten, unrecalled, is the why
of war.
Think of the hundreds of young men and
women who died in Iraq, yes; but remember
they died for a lie.
Think too, of the tens of thousands of
Iraqis who died under America's "Shock and
Awe" aerial bombing campaign, who died
so that Halliburton, Lockheed, and Bechtel
might profit.
Think, then, of war, and the reasons for it;
not the reasons that presidents say; nor the
reasons that your nightly newscaster tells you;
but, use your own mind; do your own
research, and learn the whys of war.
I guarantee, memorial days will never be
the same again.
Technorati Tags: War Memorial Day
Soon, Memorial Day will be upon us, and stores
will put up bunting and flags to try to lure in more
shoppers to do their national duty -- and shop.
Cable and TV networks will run war movies,
and the corporate news networks will run file footage
of old vets, of new war wounded, to stoke up ratings
more than anything else.
But, memorial days, no matter where they occur,
aren't about remembering.
They're about forgetting.
Now why would I say such a thing?
On Memorial Days, the nation's political leaders
call on the people to remember the war dead,
when what they really mean, is to remember the
dead warriors.
When have you ever heard a politician ask
people to remember the civilian dead from those
murderous world wars?
When Vietnam is remembered, it is the 60-
thousand Americans who are recalled, not
the 3 million Vietnamese, Thais, Laotians,
most of whom were civilians who were bombed
into eternity as part of the U.S. government's
terror campaign against the Vietnamese
resistance.
In Germany, after a humiliating loss in World
War I, rightwing ex-soldiers pressed for war
memorials, and a number of cities and villages
began celebrating Volkstrauertag (or Day of
National Mourning). In 1934, Adolph Hitler
would make it a legal holiday, and rename it
Heldengedenktag (or Heroes Memorial Day).
All of us can remember the vast Nazi night
rally, where Hitler called on Germans to
sacrifice in the name of the war dead.
Behind him were the huge swastikas, which
stood for the elevation of the State over
humanity.
The rest (as in World War II) is infamy.
On this memorial day, as newsreels
stream past of cemeteries, and of wars,
past and present, think of those for whom no
memorials will be held. Think of the mothers,
daughters, husbands and sons, the many
un-uniformed, who were bombed into
oblivion, as part of the macabre military
doctrine of 'collateral damage.'
If you really want to remember something,
or someone on Memorial Day, I have a
suggestion: Timothy McVeigh.
As a young soldier in the 1st Iraq War,
McVeigh was awarded medals for burying
live Iraqis with a bulldozer, and witnessed
the killings of noncombatants.
When he returned home, and saw the U.S.
'Justice' Department's carnage at Waco, Texas,
he resolved to return the favor, and struck
the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma.
When he was asked about the innocents
who were slain, the children in day care,
the passersby, and the many who were not
part of the U.S. government that were killed,
he responded with the cool and deadly
lessons he learned in the deserts of Iraq:
"collateral damage."
As Memorial Day is celebrated, how many
Timothy McVeighs are being formed and
forged in this neocolonial mirage in Baghdad
today?
How many more massacres are being
contemplated?
On Memorial Day, we remember to forget.
We blare martial tunes, or visit quiet graves;
we remember, if anything, the men who died
in war; but, forgotten, unrecalled, is the why
of war.
Think of the hundreds of young men and
women who died in Iraq, yes; but remember
they died for a lie.
Think too, of the tens of thousands of
Iraqis who died under America's "Shock and
Awe" aerial bombing campaign, who died
so that Halliburton, Lockheed, and Bechtel
might profit.
Think, then, of war, and the reasons for it;
not the reasons that presidents say; nor the
reasons that your nightly newscaster tells you;
but, use your own mind; do your own
research, and learn the whys of war.
I guarantee, memorial days will never be
the same again.
Technorati Tags: War Memorial Day
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