For the Memorial Day 2012
celebrations the Veterans For Peace web site features a posting by VFP
President Leah Bolger titled Memorial Day: Pick Your Perversion. The
final paragraph is highlighted in bold print:
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
"On this Memorial Day, Veterans For Peace asks you to mourn not only for
Americans killed in battle, but also for those killed by Americans in
battle. We ask you to be willing to accept the fact that these war
deaths did not have to happen--that they are actually in vain. Hundreds
of thousands of innocent people have died in American wars of
aggression. That is a tragedy and is a truth that must be accepted and
for which we must take responsibility."
"For which we must take responsibility" sounds like Martin Luther King
Jr.' outcry in his world shaking 1967 sermon "Beyond Vietnam - a Time to
Break Silence. King demanded that we take responsibility for and bring these atrocities to an end
But King was quickly silenced with a bullet to the head, and his
condemnations of America's wars to maintain predatory investments in
poor countries has been blacked-out in media for the forty-four years
since his assassination.
Last summer, Veterans For Peace was one of the first to endorse the
Campaign for International Awareness that King Condemned US Wars as
"meant to maintain unjust predatory investments." [see King Condemned US
Wars]
http://kingcondemneduswars.blogspot.com/
For Veterans now better than anyone else that King's condemnations, once
well known, will arouse widespread desire to prosecute all who were and
are criminally involved in illegal undeclared wars since 1945. When it
becomes fashionable to be moral and decent rather than depressed and
self-centered, the wealthy, investing in and arranging wars, instead of
ruling us, will find themselves in prison until no longer a danger to
society and themselves.
If Leah Bolger's truthful words could be read by half of the millions of
Americans that will be subjected to corporate media war adulation this
Memorial Day, elected politicians signing deadly orders pursuing what
Republican candidate for President Ron Paul calls "illegal and
undeclared wars," would find themselves defendants in court proceedings
indicted under the US constitution and the Nuremberg Principles for
crimes against humanity. [see new campaign dedicated to Prosecute US Crimes Against Humanity Now ]
Her article:
"Memorial Day ... was created in the aftermath of the Civil War and ...
later broadened to include the theme of reconciliation ... it evolved
from simply decorating the graves and solemn memorization of those
killed, to opportunities for flag-waving, nationalistic displays with
parades, marching bands and political speeches. Today, it has become a
perversion of its original intent.
Perversion #1 -Commercialism/Consumerism/Entertainment
Nearly all American holidays have been transformed from their original
intents and into opportunities for economic profits, and Memorial Day is
arguably the best example. Memorial Day has turned into Memorial Day
weekend--a time for shopping, watching the Indianapolis 500, and
kicking-off the summer.
Perversion #2 -
American Exceptionalism
This perversion of Memorial Day is typified by the glorification of war
and everyone who participated in it. God is always on our side (which
means we are always right). Politicians try to outdo each other in their
effusive thanks for the military, and refer to everyone who has ever
worn a military uniform as a hero. God, guns and glory are wrapped up in
the flag, and the whole package is given the credit for all that is
good: liberty, freedom, justice, and the American Way of Life.
Perversion #2 is of much more concern because of the ideology that it
represents.
It is very dangerous when the people of a nation believes it can do no
wrong; that it can operate outside of international law; and that God is
on its side. Because when a nation is so confident in its
righteousness, it loses any capacity for objectivity. On Memorial Day we
remember the American war dead, but never question the necessity for
the battle. We cannot bear to think that American lives lost in war
might have been in vain, and so we continue to insist that we are on the
side of right. We never second guess our country, because if we come to
the realization that the war is wrong, for whatever reason, then we
have to accept responsibility for all of those killed in our wars--not
just our own. In the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan, that seems way
outside the capacity of the American public, who are only now starting
to question whether the sacrifice of more U.S. troops is "worth it." We
have not even thought to question whether the sacrifice of Iraqis and
Afghans is worth it--more than 90% of whom were non-combatants. The media
is starting to describe us as "war weary" but we haven't the slightest
clue.
On this Memorial Day, Veterans For Peace asks you to mourn not only for
Americans killed in battle, but also for those killed by Americans in
battle. We ask you to be willing to accept the fact that these war
deaths did not have to happen--that they are actually in vain. Hundreds
of thousands of innocent people have died in American wars of
aggression. That is a tragedy and is a truth that must be accepted and
for which we must take responsibility."
Leah Bolger
Bio: Leah Bolger spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and
retired in 2000 at the rank of Commander. She is currently a full-time
peace activist and serves as the National President of Veterans For
Peace.
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