The Use and Misuse of the Military

When people from places like western Europe and the States think of the military they usually think of security, honor, and service.  They think of brave soldiers risking their lives to protect us and our values.  By and large, the military is a well-respected institution kept in check by civilian control and democracy   However, to people in many other, less stable places in the world, their military is often an organization that inspires crippling fear.

In some of those places, the military is something dictators use to control their people.  In other places the military is used by contested regimes to beat back rebel troops and civilians alike.  In the worst places and the worst instances, the military runs as a kind of loosely-organized, feral force left unchecked to whatever impulses and atrocities its armed men and boys want to indulge.  

During the dark years of its long civil war (1983-2005), Sudan was one of those worst kinds of places.  It was a place where two South Sudanese boys, age 12 and 14, among hundreds of their age cohort, took shelter with the occupying Arab troops to escape their own rebel soldiers.  Why?  Because between the ages of 12 and 20, or even younger, boys were taken from their homes by those rebels ostensibly fighting on their own behalf, but then were tortured until they agreed to become soldiers themselves.  They were brain-washed, beaten, and conditioned to become killing machines.  Child soldiers are a horror known the world round, but showed up with particular regularity in many recent African conflicts.  Boys who should be playing with toy cars are handed guns and machetes and set loose.

 Thousands died in the Congo in 1997 in what was described as one of history’s worst war crimes.  Two rival forces clashed and thousands died-the incident was of much greater magnitude than that of 9/11 and yet, because it was just another in a long run of such atrocities, very few locals remember it.  There’s no memorial, no national holiday.  There has been so much violence perpetrated on civilians by men and boys in uniform that everyday folk simply lose track.  Violence is just another terrible fact of life that includes such others as hunger and widespread disease.  When people in these kinds of places hear that the military is coming they don’t sigh in relief like we might in the U.S.A. - they run into the jungle bush and hide until the killing has stopped.   

So I’m infinitely thankful that I am a citizen of the United States.  I’m thankful that our military protects me, instead of burning our town, taking my brothers as child soldiers and raping and killing everyone else.  I’m thankful that I was born luckier than most of the world’s millions.  Being born luckier also means we are born more obligated.  We are obligated, by virtue of our education, health, and self-government to try to extend our “luckiness” to those born in considerably worse situations.  We are obligated, and should feel privileged, to help those in need.  Whether you donate to the Red Cross or send someone a “Christmas cow” through Heifer International  - whether you protest regimes that employ child soldiers or spend a quiet moment honoring all those who have died in the pursuit of justice-soldiers and civilians alike, I urge you to protest corrupt military institutions, to try to end their reign of terror over innocent people.  I urge you to support our exemplary troops, because without them we would be in the same situation as many all over the world.  Our troops fought for our freedom, and continue to do so today.

The reason I thought so much about the use and misuse of the military today is that today my best friend, Hannah Cole, graduates soon from basic training with the Army.  Hannah is more like my sister than anything else and I am ridiculously proud of her.  I miss you Private Cole and I wish I could be at your graduation today!  In honor of all your hard work this summer, today I’m listening to Mindless Behavior, Enrique Iglesias, and Pitbull and eating a jalapeño- even though I hate jalapeños and will probably regret this later when my mouth is on fire…  too bad I couldn’t find ranch dressing in the local market.. Or chicken nuggets :) once I’m back we are going to make this a senior year to remember!