The mythologizing of war

is a frightening form of

indoctrination through propaganda

It is hidden in a tangle of

political deceit and manipulation,

where patriotism becomes hateful jingoism

Where war is glorified

and warriors are national heroes

To encourage public tolerance

– perhaps even enthusiasm – for war,

the Bush Regime has orchestrated

an elaborate and multifarious campaign

of distortion, misinformation, and lies

This move to influence, perhaps even control,

public perception and support for war

by misrepresenting and distorting

its reality is not new

John Wayne Rides into the West

One of the best examples of the glorification of war comes from the Hollywood myth machine. It's the The Green Berets, starring John Wayne.

It has been claimed that he was the most influential movie who ever lived. I saw the Green Berets on a Saturday night in 1968 in Montgomery Alabama.

I had just come back from Vietnam, and I couldn't believe how absurd this movie was. So I laughed out loud, and I laughed and laughed.

And it wasn't long before the atmosphere around me grew very cold. My companion, who had been a Freedom Rider in the South, said, "Let's get the hell out of here and run like hell."

We were chased all the way back to our hotel, but I doubt if any of our pursuers were aware that John Wayne, their hero, had lied so he wouldn't have to fight in World War II.

And yet the phony role model of Wayne sent thousands of Americans to their deaths in Vietnam, with the notable exceptions of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

The mythologizing of war

It is a frightening form of indoctrination through propaganda.

It is hidden within a tangle of political deceit and manipulation, where patriotism is intensified, becoming jingoism.

Where war is glorified, warriors are national heroes, and the mass media celebrate violence in a 'just' cause.

Defending 'freedom', bringing 'democracy', demonizing the enemy, are all tactics used to 'persuade' us that going to war is necessary.

America Thrives on War

Due, perhaps, to not having experienced war themselves, or to an insensitivity and callous disregard for human life and suffering, our political leaders have failed to understand and appreciate war’s horror, insanity, and futility.

Tragically, in their arrogance, they see war, even perpetual war, as a viable extension, perhaps even as a substitute, for diplomacy and as integral to implementing their hegemonic foreign policy agenda.

From their perspective, the critical lesson to be learned from recent history – particularly from the Vietnam debacle – was not that disenfranchised people will endure tremendous sacrifice and struggle heroically and steadfastly against foreign occupiers and aggressors.

Or that military superiority and advanced weapons’ technology do not guarantee victory, but only that unsuccessful wars are due primarily to public relation failures.

Consequently, to encourage public tolerance – perhaps even enthusiasm – for war, the Bush Regime has orchestrated an elaborate and multifarious campaign of distortion, misinformation, and lies.

This move to influence, perhaps even control, public perception and support for war by misrepresenting and distorting its reality is not new or exclusive to any particular party or ideology.

During the Vietnam war, for example, it was the liberal Democrats who lacked the moral courage and forthrightness to accept their Vietnam policy as inexpedient, ineffective, immoral, and unlawful.

Rather, they chose, though not without considerable dismay and frustration, gradually to increase American involvement, escalate hostilities, and use lies and deceit to elicit support for their political agenda.

Today, however, the neoconservatives have made distortion and misrepresentation into an art form. Their mythologization strategy is both complex and sophisticated.

First, it contrives the illusion that war with Iraq – and eventually with Iran, Syria, North Korea, etc. – is necessary to defend America and the values we hold sacred.

Second, it portrays war as antiseptic discouraging, even prohibiting, any media reporting that would reveal its inevitable horrors.

Third, it appropriates religious rhetoric to depict war as a holy crusade against some absolute evil encouraging participation as righteous, glorious, honorable, and heroic.

Fourth, it blurs the distinction between the enterprise of war and those human beings who do the fighting, killing, and dying.

Fifth, it seeks support for the war or at least discourages opposition by preying upon the gratitude, empathy, and guilt of an ill-informed public now convinced that these sacrifices are made in their behalf.

Caught within the frenzy of mythological war, Americans are bewildered and confused into ignoring legal and moral concerns, and, inevitably, into rationalizing justification and warrant for the sacrifice of our children.

Also, the squandering of our treasure, and the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in an unprovoked, preemptive war against a sovereign nation.

Consequently, we feel the exigency of accepting, though perhaps uneasily, as a patriotic and civic duty, the imperative never to question the justness or necessity of any war we wage, nor to criticize our political leaders, nor to dissent against their warist policies.

As a result, we have become a culture characterized by hypocrisy and arrogance abiding by a view of war that is mythological and self-serving.

While all citizens suffer the effects of mythologization, clearly, none suffer as extensively and grievously as the soldiers and marines who must endure the horrors of the battlefield and the families of those killed or injured.

Further, mythologization seriously hampers their ability to come to grips with and put their experiences into perspective, to heal from the war or from their loss, and goon with their lives.

After having endured the moral ambiguity of guerilla/counterinsurgency warfare, in their efforts to maintain their moral integrity and self-esteem, many soldiers and veterans, feel impelled to staunchly defend the war in which they fought.

They embrace the myth because of a dread, perhaps unconscious, that unless their war is remembered as just, and the threat as real, readjustment – living with the trauma and the memories of the horrors of combat – would be unendurable.

Consequently, history must be changed to record the Vietnam war as a noble and necessary crusade against the evils of Communism and the invasion of Iraq as a justifiable response to the attacks of 9/11.

As integral to the war against global terrorism, and, of late, to the freedom and democracy of the Iraqi people.

In turn, from the pain and suffering of war’s participants, the myth is enlivened and the very mention of those who have already been injured or died discourages any talk of impropriety or wrong doing or of ending the conflict before final and ultimate victory has been achieved.

Many family members of those killed in war are also understandably hesitant to acknowledge the truth about war.

Instead, they embrace the myth in the hope that purpose and necessity will comfort them in their grief and help them cope with their tragic loss.

They speak of their lost loved ones as heroes and are comforted by the thought that they suffered and died for some important cause, to rectify some dire circumstance, to eradicate some prevailing evil.

All that remains are the memories, letters, photos, a Purple Heart medal, and pride in their child’s sacrifice in behalf of freedom and American values.

Dying for a mistake would, in their view, make the death more tragic and living with the loss more intolerable.

Once war becomes mythological and intricately linked to the warrior, any questioning of purpose, justness or necessity dishonor those who died, discredit the sacrifices of those who served, and further overwhelm those struggling to recover from its inevitable trauma.

Camillo Mac Bica @ ZNet