Opinion
Militarism overwhelms American culture
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War is hell, or is it? Recently, Lt. General James Mattis of the U.S. Marine Corps offered a very different view of combat. “It’s a hell of a hoot,” he declared, adding, “I like brawling; it’s fun to shoot some people.” Now, ignore the instinct to believe that the aforementioned comment was a misquote — it wasn’t. As much as the General’s comments may come as a shock, this attitude is little more than a manifestation of American culture.
Disciplining Lt. General Mattis (although it should be noted that, according to BBC news, no disciplinary action has yet been taken against him) would seem an easy solution to the U.S. military’s latest embarrassment; but perhaps the actual problem runs far deeper than a verbal blunder.
While a great public outcry might occur in response to the General’s blatant disrespect for the horrors of war, should we really be surprised by his comments? American culture soaks people in a bloodbath of glorified war daily. In a country dominated by movies, books and music that trumpet the military’s triumphs but so often omit its travesties, it’s no wonder that people often trivialize war.
The broad influence of a militaristic culture on Americans is certainly disturbing, but perhaps more so is the culture’s specific influence on American children. Growing up in a military culture where becoming a soldier is among the most honorable things one can do, kids learn to embrace war. They drive army-themed Powerwheels, dress up as rifle-toting soldiers, and play video games that make light of human mutilation on the frontlines. It would be easy to dismiss such childish activities as harmless, but there seem to be striking similarities between such child’s play and the slogans often used in reference to modern military campaigns.
Hearing phrases like “shock and awe,” and “bring ‘em on,” both used to allude to the current war in Iraq, one has to wonder whether Americans ever grow out of their immature attitudes toward war.
Although tragic, it can probably be expected for the entertainment industry to glorify war. After all, entertainment is a business that is designed to make money, and war sells.
However, the glorification of war is increasingly being preached from a far more sacred pulpit: the American media. In an increasingly corporate U.S. media, viewer sentiments, like nationalism, are habitually reflected as part of an effort by the various news outlets to garner high ratings and, in effect, high profits.
During the 2003 run-up to the Iraq war, the American media seemed to be little more than a cheerleader of the military, with U.S. flag lapels and patriotic news slogans to be seen everywhere. How much more could war be trivialized than by counting down the seconds to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, as MSNBC did? It’s difficult to expect objectivism from an American citizen whose newspaper has essentially condemned opponents of a war as treasonous. Such an environment causes people to root for war as if it were a football game.
It’s probable that the American public will quickly denounce Lt. General James Mattis for verbally describing his simplistic view of war and soon forget the ordeal altogether. Unfortunately, while people shake their fingers at the General, their own children will be in front of the television, aspiring to do exactly what Mattis called “fun.”
Only when American culture becomes drastically less hawkish will such reckless views of war disappear. Lt. General James Mattis’s comments regarding war are not the issue. If anything, they are a wake-up call for all Americans to begin addressing the real problem: a culture that promotes war.
Rob Rossmeissl (writerossy@writeme.com) is a sophomore majoring in political science.
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People should enjoy their work, they will do a better job as well as be happier.
The objective is to kill the enemy before he kills you, in case you forgot.
I thought the objective was to find WMDs. No, wait, the objective was to liberate the people. No, wait, the objective was to practice before our Iran invasion.
For hopefully the last time, here is the real quote: ["You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."]
Although his comment might be a bit unrefined, I believe that Lt. General Mattis said what he did within the larger context of finding satisfaction through the repayment of injustice. Please, don't even waste our time trying to defend the Taliban or their supporters; anyone that would try to oppress women to such a degree as forced veils and total denial of education deserves nothing less than death.
Other than that you did bring up many valid points about contemporary American culture. Your article was well written. However, in the future, you must spare us such sophmoric criticism of the "corporate U.S. media['s]" glorification of war. The media is so overwhelmingly slanted towards the left, such that almost every positive accomplishment is ommitted from the news in favor of some sort of sensational, often purely speculative, inquiry into some new possible "atrocity." It hardly glorifies war, and to believe that it does, or even better yet, to believe that the media has fallen prey to some sort of vast, right-wing media conspiracy, is pure naiveté.
Does anyone else think that this general-who-likes-to-shoot-the-bad-guys thing is a little weird? I mean, he's a GENERAL in the U.S. ARMY. Given the choice between a military with the reputation of kicking your ass, or one that wrote introspective haikus and sipped tea before maybe fighting you, which one would YOU want to fight? Which one do we want as our army?
"I thought the objective was to find WMDs."
The job of the warrior is to kill the enemy. The reason for killing the enemy is not his concern.
Maybe you like the fine French culture better?
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/UnitedNations/story?id=489306&page=1
"Didier Bourguet, a U.N. official from France, is pictured here in an image found on his hard drive, which was obtained by ABC News. Also on the hard drive were thousands of photos of him having sex with hundreds of young Congolese girls."
Though LtGen Mattis may have ruffled some sensibilities of you folks back home in Madison, and his words were probably ill-chosen for the audience of an AP journalist, it is wrong to blame a "militaristic" culture that supposedly has a grip over the United States of today.
LtGen Mattis comes from a militaristic subculture, which is the culture of the Marine Corps. This culture is frequently at odds with the American culture that surrounds it.
America's tactical competency comes from years of immersion in such a militaristic culture, leavened with overseas duty, field exercies, professional schools, and outright combat. Indeed, LtGen Mattis is a veteran of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom I and II. He is one of the best warfighters we've got.
It's my opinion we should give the man a bit a deference.
On a seperate but related topic, Mr Rossmeissl should probably refrain from calling the American media a "sacred pulpit." Very little in the media should be considered sacred, war-related or otherwise. I seem to remember a certain memo relating to a certain sitting president's national guard service to be a pure fabrication. Or I could talk about Jayson Blair of the New York Times. Or any number of other "sacred" screw-ups by the media.
Somehow I doubt Mr. Rossmeissl was nearly as appalled by those scandals. But a single fractured utterance from a combat veteran somehow rates being considered "news" and is worthy of anger? I think not.
-Afghanistan Campaign Veteran and UW Alum
Did you ever thing that maybe the US is promoting the war, but supporting the war and the troops that are overseas right now?
"Journalists who got their panties twisted over Mattis apparently see nothing newsworthy about having the executive vice president and head of news for CNN accuse the U.S. military of deliberately killing journalists."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05044/456368.stm
I await the BH BS on the Eason Jordan affair.
Once strong evidence emerged that Jordan had accused the U.S. military of systematically murdering journalists, his legitimate options were the following: (1) he could try to show, through the tape of his remarks, that he made no such accusation, (2) he could present evidence to support his charge, (3) he could retract his charge and apologize, or (4) he could modify his charge and present evidence to support the new charge.
Jordan opted for none of the above. At that point, the question became whether CNN would be led by a monger of vicious and unsupported anti-American rumors. CNN, hoping to remain distinct from Al Jazeera at least for the time being, apparently answered that question in the negative.
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/009553.php
Rob, do you read the NY Times? While there were varying degrees of support/promotion of the war pre-invasion, it's probably important to note that there existed many popular media outlets who were strongly against us invading Iraq as well.
As far as Mattis is concerned, it was probably a bad idea to put a mic in front of his face. It's obvious that he lacks the polish of more seasoned military personnel like Colin Powell. That being said, if he gets his job done well within the contraints of the our government's guidelines, I guess I don't care what values he holds.
I think this guy should run for President!!
He xhows TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOTISM!
Shows that he's not scared to use the FIRST AMENDMENT AND the SECOND AMENDMENT!
James Mattis is my new hero of the year.