More photos of the U.S. and Brits torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. Saw a commentator on CNN talking about the soldiers who did the deed to the prisoners; he insisted on calling them "children", which was bizarre in the extreme.
But also apt. Children with guns, bent on revenge. Saddam Hussein is filmed being inspected for lice, and the tape is played again and again, all up and down the prime time alley. He is led like a dog on a leash. Prison guards yawn at the sound of a prisoner being fucked in the showers. The weak have committed the unforgivable sin of being weak, losers have committed the sin of being losers. Scrawny kids are given wedgies in the locker room. Hazing in the Frat House, downsizing at the plant. Societal norms must be maintained, intones Judge Rhodes. We must stay the course, brays George W. Bush, meanwhile, at the School of the Americas in Georgia, interogation techniques, psychological warfare, and just pure meaness is passed onto the student body: Latin American generals, petty thugs for hire, secret police of countries you couldn't find on a map, all learn cruelty, American style.
So I am surprised to see those photos of America's ardent warriors, smiling and gloating above those vulnerable naked bodies. Well, not really. George Orwell pretty well summed it up, when he said, "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stepping on a face, forever."
Any system where someone has power over another will bear such fruit. When Donald Rumsfield characterized the torture and humiliation of the Iraqi prisoners as "Unamerican." He proved himself a liar. It seems to me that it is very American, but usually it is kept hush- hush. This is just a boil that has come to a head. I mean even a cursory glance at U.S. history reveals a litany of grotesque cruelty, depravity, and abuse of power. I don't mean to single out the U.S. for this critique. Every empire since the world began has been held together by ruthless cruelty and self-deception. The myth makers must work hand in hand with the war makers. Otherwise there is a rupture in the consensus reality. People become restless, and it becomes difficult to sit still in that church pew and listen to the litany of nonsense spewed forth from the self-proclaimed righteous.
What was exposed in those photos was only the price of maintaining the Empire. Only the citizens of the U.S, would entertain the notion they could maintain themselves as a world power without the benefit of naked cruelty. Power and cruelty go hand in hand. It is absurd to think that a benign and humane empire could establish itself. People around the world tend not to like being told what to do. I don't like being told what to do, and I assume others don't like being told what to do.
My greatest shame in life was telling other people what to do. But I have to bear that disgrace. The other matters are inconsequential. Telling others what to do is the deepest disgrace. A form of torture, a refusal of grace.
Better to inquire what is the soul? Who am I? And let the cards fall where they may.
Better to give in to the truth of the heart. Better to kiss the executioner on the lips.
I thought of sending a poem. But then I thought, better not. I mean what has not been said, doesn't need to be said
May 6, 2004
More photos of the U.S. and Brits torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. Saw a commentator on CNN talking about the soldiers who did the deed to the prisoners; he insisted on calling them "children", which was bizarre in the extreme.
But also apt. Children with guns, bent on revenge. Saddam Hussein is filmed being inspected for lice, and the tape is played again and again, all up and down the prime time alley. He is led like a dog on a leash. Prison guards yawn at the sound of a prisoner being fucked in the showers. The weak have committed the unforgivable sin of being weak, losers have committed the sin of being losers. Scrawny kids are given wedgies in the locker room. Hazing in the Frat House, downsizing at the plant. Societal norms must be maintained, intones Judge Rhodes. We must stay the course, brays George W. Bush, meanwhile, at the School of the Americas in Georgia, interogation techniques, psychological warfare, and just pure meaness is passed onto the student body: Latin American generals, petty thugs for hire, secret police of countries you couldn't find on a map, all learn cruelty, American style.
So I am surprised to see those photos of America's ardent warriors, smiling and gloating above those vulnerable naked bodies. Well, not really. George Orwell pretty well summed it up, when he said, "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stepping on a face, forever."
Any system where someone has power over another will bear such fruit. When Donald Rumsfield characterized the torture and humiliation of the Iraqi prisoners as "Unamerican." He proved himself a liar. It seems to me that it is very American, but usually it is kept hush- hush. This is just a boil that has come to a head. I mean even a cursory glance at U.S. history reveals a litany of grotesque cruelty, depravity, and abuse of power. I don't mean to single out the U.S. for this critique. Every empire since the world began has been held together by ruthless cruelty and self-deception. The myth makers must work hand in hand with the war makers. Otherwise there is a rupture in the consensus reality. People become restless, and it becomes difficult to sit still in that church pew and listen to the litany of nonsense spewed forth from the self-proclaimed righteous.
What was exposed in those photos was only the price of maintaining the Empire. Only the citizens of the U.S, would entertain the notion they could maintain themselves as a world power without the benefit of naked cruelty. Power and cruelty go hand in hand. It is absurd to think that a benign and humane empire could establish itself. People around the world tend not to like being told what to do. I don't like being told what to do, and I assume others don't like being told what to do.
My greatest shame in life was telling other people what to do. But I have to bear that disgrace. The other matters are inconsequential. Telling others what to do is the deepest disgrace. A form of torture, a refusal of grace.
Better to inquire what is the soul? Who am I? And let the cards fall where they may.
Better to give in to the truth of the heart. Better to kiss the executioner on the lips.
I thought of sending a poem. But then I thought, better not. I mean what has not been said, doesn't need to be said
