Calling All Warriors for Peace

When I first heard someone use the word, warrior, I was surprised, repulsed—but fascinated. An Annapolis-educated, former Navy fighter pilot told me he was a warrior. I had associated warriors with Native Americans and the Japanese Samurai, not the modern U.S. military.

The second time I heard someone use the word, warrior, was in a talk by Ed Tick, a Jungian psychoanalyst who has been working with Vietnam veterans with PTSD since 1978 and is now treating Iraq and Afghanistan War vets. He said one way we can help our veterans heal from their war wounds is to treat them as warriors. The audience, comprised mostly of peace activists gasped. Tick acknowledged the audience’s dismay and apologized, but he insisted on using the term, warrior, because its meaning makes sense to the vets. My subsequent reading of his book, War and the Soul, changed my understanding of the warrior to the point that I am now advocating its use as an approach for peacemaking.

According to Jungian psychology, the warrior is an archetype, which is an idealized role or identity embedded in our cultural narratives that guides our minds and actions. Archetypes have a mythic quality that bid us to act out a particular role for certain situations automatically. The warrior archetype typically stirs men in their adolescence while it comes to women during middle age—as it did for Cindy Sheehan.

The key to Cindy’s power is her warrior instinct to protect her loved ones—which with the loss of her son she extends to all soldiers. She calls herself a “Mother Bear” in her book, Not One More Mother’s Child, and eventually would be referred to as “Peace Mom.” Her warrior instincts, combined with her own sense of allegiance to the nation’s democratic ideals, serve as the motivation behind her actions–including her acts of civil disobedience.

Peace activists who rekindle the warrior’s innate desire to protect and cherish life in our nation and our world are key to fighting back the fascist-like directions this administration is taking us. However, to get there, we need a new vision of the warrior. Internationally-known inspirational speaker and Franciscan priest Richard Rohr describes this warrior as one who:

“…see[s] through and stand[s] against mass illusions of our time, and [is] willing to pay the price of disobedience. It takes warrior energy to see through the soft rhetoric of ‘support our troops’ which cleverly diverts us from the objective evil of war. It takes warrior energy to march to a different drum, disbelieve the patriotic trivia, and re-believe in the tradition of non-violence, civil resistance, and martyrdom.”

Many people besides Cindy Sheehan have adopted such a vision of the warrior including Lt. Ehren Watada, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, the Iraq Veterans Against War, Move-On.org, A.N.S.W.E.R. and United for Peace & Justice. Active duty soldiers in the Appeal for Redress are calling for a withdrawal of troops with some courageously testifying before Congress to do so. Generals are retiring their commissions in order to speak out. Gold Star Families for Peace, which Cindy founded, seeks not only to support families who have lost loved ones but “to be a positive force in our world to bring our country’s sons and daughters home from Iraq, to minimize the human cost of this war, and to prevent other families from the pain [they] are feeling as the result of our losses.” The Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out Against the War, and Mothers Against the Draft are working to end the war and bring the troops home. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is trying to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace in order to reduce domestic and international violence. And many local peace groups continue to stand out on public street corners—in all kinds of weather, all year long—demonstrating their objections to the war and the Bush policies.

Fighting wars based on deception and lies or without a just cause is not new. In 472 B.C.E. Aeschylus lost a brother in the war between the Persians and Athenians and wrote The Persians to illustrate how a war of choice mounted by the Persian king as “payment for [his] pride and godless arrogance” resulted in the terrible slaughter of common soldiers on both the Athenian and Persian sides. Leaders today, especially leaders of democracies, need to be called to task for any decision to go to war.

In this age where weapons of mass destruction are becoming more and more accessible, where pre-emptive strike is justified and where torture and perpetual war are deemed a legitimate government policy, it’s no longer a matter of just “giving peace a chance”, as the John Lennon song suggests, but for us human beings to find imaginative and practical ways of dealing with our blood lust. Stopping governments from waging wars takes committed and steadfast citizens willing to fight the cause of justice and peace. Don’t wait for someone else to do the job. Do what you can in your own community. Be a warrior for peace!

Olga Bonfiglio is a professor at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and author of Heroes of a Different Stripe: How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq. She has written for several national magazines on the subjects of social justice and religion. Her website is www.OlgaBonfiglio.com. Contact her at olgabonfiglio@yahoo.com.

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25 Comments so far

Awaken May 29th, 2007 12:48 pm

Ms. Bonfiglio suggests:

“Stopping governments from waging wars takes committed and steadfast citizens willing to fight the cause of justice and peace.”

Disengaging might be a better strategy.

I am not at all sure that the average person can stop this juggernaut. Mass protests were ineffective. The mass media is dominated by money-mongers and it seems worse than useless to expend energy to oppose the insanity.

One of the main problems with resistors, especially on these blogs is the recounting of long lists of problems and evil-doers and all of their terrible acts. It becomes an exhausting and futile kind of resistance.

Every election cycle enthusiastic young people and old idealists work for change and once again find themselves ensnared in the same old webs of deceit and lies of politicians.

Maybe it’s time to just disengage to every extent possible and stop feeding the machine. Any suggestions?

Paul Bramscher May 29th, 2007 2:07 pm

What’s so strange about Bush’s wars in the mideast is that most Americans (especially the young) are politically apathetic that they either don’t vote, don’t get engaged, vote for the “lesser” of two evils, etc. But somehow they are so deeply about Iraq which is not — and never has been — a threat to the US??

I’ve come to conclude that, in the absence of carnivorious politicians above, most people really don’t feel enough to get engaged locally — let alone make it a personal mission to invade foreign countries. It’s hard enough to put money in the bank, food on the table, provide for a family, etc. The real entities which go through the bother to harass one another on large-scale, across great geographical distance, etc. are rogue nations, not individuals (not directly). But let’s de-anthropomorphize the issue. Nations are abstractions, frameworks headed by hawkish/carnivorous individuals who can be named.

There’s no working for change with these people, it must be in their psyche. Anyone who’d gladly kill hundreds of thousands to achieve some sort of larger oil cartel or other hegemony is a psychotic on a large scale.

The real working is with the young people. Teach them the truth and make sure they don’t enlist. Defending the US is one thing, fighting for US corporations abroad is another.

Fed Up May 29th, 2007 2:07 pm

strength in numbers. praying for a military coup ……….

luna May 29th, 2007 2:11 pm

I am with you Fed Up!!!!!
It seems the only thing left…….

solrak May 29th, 2007 2:44 pm

Pull out of the system and create another…

Yes, mass strike and disengagement from the money machine seem like the most sane strategies…

PJD May 29th, 2007 4:11 pm

“Maybe it’s time to just disengage to every extent possible and stop feeding the machine. Any suggestions?”

Passive withdrawl from participation is not the answer. Machines of any sort can always be sabotaged with the a wrench thrown in just the right spot…

We need to find the vulnerable spots and concentrate our efforts there.

ezeflyer May 29th, 2007 4:59 pm

Read “Greenpeace”.

A KNESAL May 29th, 2007 5:49 pm

Jesus! How disappointing the first (7) Comments are. Obviously there are no Warriors among you, just ill formed opinions.
Apparently you wasted your time reading this insightful article and further wasted our time reading your sophomoric responses.
Please! Reread the article and put your prejudices where the sun shines.
…………… A KNESAL ….Warrior!

namvet67 May 29th, 2007 6:37 pm

A military coup isn’t all that far fetched. But a better solution is to follow the author’s premise. And that is that veterans have added value to a healthy society. What makes the current batch of American veterans such an important factor today is the presence of post WW2 veterans. Beginning with the Korean veteran and continuing with the Vietnam War veteran and including every veteran since Grenada and Panama. What do these vets add to the equation that WW1 or WW2 vets had been the standard for? Two things: Politics and losing. The WW2 vets also had political baggage but weren’t on the losing side so it was much easier to ignore. The Korean vet is known as the silent vet. Silent because he didn’t really have anything to add to the dynamics of WW2. Combat is combat. Politically he had plenty to ad but without a voice, or an audience. Then came the Vietnam vet. Don’t say we didn’t lose the Vietnam War. Our country has been spending the last 32 years trying to find and pin the blame on something. You don’t try to blame someone for a victory. There was no blame needed for previous wars. They could be wrapped up and put on the shelf. Available for future use of course. But this was America’s first loss felt by society. What we have failed to learn is that military victory doesn’t equate with political victory. What wins in D.C. doesn’t win in Saigon or Baghdad. Political wars don’t work because you can’t enforce morality. That war is even an option is barbaric. But American society is forced to deal with war everyday.
The Vietnam War was certainly a defeat felt by American society. No matter what side you were on you couldn’t take pride in the outcome, which for us came to a political end. The only legitimate good thing was that the suffering had mostly stopped. Not all, but in a political war the repercussions are far greater than a conventional war. The war divided America and we have never honestly reconciled. What do we have to reconcile? The fact that the Vietnam War divided us as individuals, families, schools, churches, media, and of course in politics.
There has never been an agreed upon definition of the Vietnam War, or its veteran, in our society. All the books and songs and movies and poems and TV shows couldn’t define what a Vietnam vet was, let alone if it was the vet that caused the defeat.
America was left stung by Vietnam but the Vietnamese were much more severely wounded as a society and country. We suffered a blow to our societal ego. As a society, we didn’t get what we set out to do. In this “win at any cost society” that means even if winning means losing. That’s an immature society at work. As a country we have been dealing with the blow ever since. If society doesn’t have a good understanding of war then it will be difficult for them to control war in their society. American society as a whole has no way of even knowing what war really is.
The answer of course lies within society’s veteran community. Veterans have kept this society, our homeland, free from foreign war for the life of the country. And they could lead this country away from perpetual war. But the veteran can lo longer guarantee to protect this society from the horrors of war. By waging political war, the government automatically makes its own citizens subject to the same tactics they are waging. Veterans can’t defend against that. Just like the innocent Vietnamese couldn’t and Iraqi people can’t. September 11th was a political move, the targets clearly show that. Some of this society experienced realize the results of its government’s foreign policy shocked them. Usually, stay-at-home Americans have always had the luxury of fighting, for or against, from their TVs in their house. On 9/11 America was attacked. But it certainly wasn’t a war. But it was enough to open a window. With the exception of those Americans who actually were forced to participate in those horrible hours in New York and Washington, what most Americans felt and considered is what they saw in their living rooms, with a window open. They were stunned.
If they could experience living in a house in Baghdad they would also be stunned. But they would have a better understanding of the true consequences of the war. But our media isn’t about to be the loser in this political war, so reality TV from Baghdad won’t be allowed in mainstream media. But even if you can’t go to Baghdad you can still get a better understanding of the war. You can talk to a veteran. Especially a post-WW2 warrior veteran. They can tell you exactly what it feels like to be in a home in Iraq. Yes, there are many homes in every country, but we are talking about a country with high hundreds of thousands of wounded and killed, and millions of displaced ignored victims. A country without political, religious, economic, military, educational, institutions What Iraqi society feels right now is pain. Pain and suffering beyond the bounds of any society. The sick part is that the civil war taking place was completely avoidable. It’s taking place because of political expediency in D.C. where the war is still being managed as a winner.
We are begrudgingly allowed to count our killed and wounded. But just like even the score in the Super Bowl, numbers in America mean nothing. One is too many. But our government calculates war plans and factors in, among other things, “acceptable damage”. This is more than just accepting calculated loss. It is making war acceptable. War can never be accepted or based on “acceptable losses”. This is what any warrior veteran can tell you. Honor and integrity have higher priority than “acceptable losses”. There may be times when you have to think about going to war. A real warrior veteran will add this honor and integrity to the discussion. Without it is a betrayal of the honesty needed between a veteran and society.
Hoa binh

iolellity May 29th, 2007 6:45 pm

The word “warrior” is disgusting.

Siouxrose May 29th, 2007 8:03 pm

Namvet: I appreciate your insight as one who has been there and done that and grown beyond the wound to find a means for its thereapeutic healing. If Kivals reads this one on the archetype of Warrior it goes back to something humorous he said on a post a few days ago, i.e. that Maggie Thatcher and Hilary would not “fail to deliver” in the role of warrior. These archetypes are innate to both genders; it’s just that up until recently it was always men who made the wars and went to serve in them. Still, to the degree a society identifies with war and the archetype of Mars defines its tolerance of and glorification for violence. As I’ve related before, Mars cannot make life; it takes two to DNA tango. His Divine counterpart must be given support to balance the great equation gone askance. That means investing in things Venus. For the uninitiated these include: art, music, culture, diplomacy, law, peace studies, beauty, dance, sculpture, pottery, gardening, the rendering of weaves and fine fabric… i.e. the CREATIVE as balance to the DESTROYER. Every human being has both these capacities and the polarity has been addressed by many titles and under various rubrics… in the I ching it is the interior tension between the “superior” man and the “inferior” man. Superior equates to enlightened self-interest. How can an individual know happiness, peace, health or prosperity if s/he participates in a society where so many are consigned to misery and senseless depravation? The inferior ONLY cares for self and a very small circle of interests. Some “expert” tried to blame these dual drives on prominence of a selfish gene. It always cracks me up when a supposed scientist tries to categorize a learned behavior as something answerable to genetics. And thinking men can think so wrongly…

ike May 29th, 2007 10:06 pm

A bit of the Sun Tzu doesn’t hurt. Conflict has unfortunately been an inescapable part of human history, but the first point in Sun Tzu bears repeating:

“One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not
the most skillful.
Subduing the other’s military without battle is the
most skillful.”

In Iraq the US won all the battles, used ’shock and awe’, tried to loot the Iraqi oil - and the result is an unmitigated disaster. Of course, Sun Tzu was concerned with conflict between states - not with occupation and control of states. There is no Iraq war, just an Iraq occupation. Sun Tzu explictly condemned the military occupation of foreign countries.

Sun Tzu also said this:
“Wrath can return to joy.
Rancor can return to delight.
An extinguished state cannot return to existence.
The dead cannot return to life.
Thus the enlightened soveriegn is careful about this.
The good general is cautious about this.”

Our leaders are idiots surrounded by cheering admirers. They have no insight, no skill and no understanding. Thus, their actions result in disaster at home and abroad.

Warrior is not a bad term; if you are willing to use violence to defend innocent people then you are by definition a warrior. However, without moral leadership war immediately turns into rape, murder and insanity. The fact is that there was no moral reason to go to war with Iraq, and the occupation was unjustifiable by any standard.

The difficult and unpleasant truth is that this was a raid, carried out by corporate robber barons and their political allies, whose goal was simply to seize Iraqi oilfields. That’s why the permanent bases are there, and that’s why the US military is still there.

Dr. Zimmerman Robert May 29th, 2007 11:29 pm

“The major advances in nonviolence have not come from people who have approached nonviolence as an end in itself, but from persons who were passionately striving to free themselves from social injustice.”
– Dave Dellinger

curmudgeon99 May 30th, 2007 6:48 am

I am reminded of an old high school cheer - with a twist:

Stand up! - for what you believe is right

Sit Down! - in the street and bring this society to a halt

Fight! - Like Bahaudur Shah(look him up-a friend of Gandhi)
Fight! - Like Gandhi
Fight! - Like Dr. Martin Luther King

With intense nonviolent love

danielgeery May 30th, 2007 8:04 am

I am pleased to announce that God has clarified His thinking (once again), regarding war (a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation), and, by extension, “warriors”–those who engage in war:Thou Shalt Not Kill

sfortuna May 30th, 2007 9:48 am

I love the idea of veterans working from within to expose the lies drilled into the military class of “honor and patriotism”. Showing vets the lack of caring and attention they receive after they do the oligarch’s bidding, the decimation of VA benefits, the war’s effects on poverty and wealth disparity, the wasted lives and treasures, might help them see brighter, alternative futures instead of ‘endless war’. Examine this war’s root causes and you will see the machinations of about 5,000 frightened rich white men who exploit nationalistic fervor and drive us to invade, kill and conquer so they can reap obscene profits, which they then use to buy our media and political leaders. We know for the most part who the puppetmasters are: the Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch’s, the boards of ExxonMobil, GE, General Dynamics, Boeing, etc. Perhaps we can break the mindless cycle of blind trust in a government that uses its poorer citizens as cannon fodder for hegemony, then tosses them aside with a few tin medals and an annual parade. We need to break the notion that defending America can happen on foreign soil.

We ‘lost’ Vietnam because we deserved to. We had no moral authority to intervene in a century old civil war between two sovereign nations. We were there to exploit the rubber, the tin, the bauxite and to impose our sphere of influence on emerging China. We deserve to ‘lose’ in Iraq for the same reason. This has nothing to do with “supporting the troops” and everything to do with educating them about the moral validity of their mission. In every society there will be a mercenary class, those seduced by the power of the gun, who will risk their lives for money and the adrenaline rush of combat, but if we strip away the glamor and facscade of patriotism and honor to revel the corruption and duplicity of our leaders, they may have second thoughts about serving corporate despots. Perhaps the more courageous and historically aware will become active in resistance, much the way General Rommel and others conspired to kill Hitler and end the German nightmare. Their efforts were unsuccessful, but the German people remember them as the real heroes of WWII and martyrs to a righteous cause.

The best use of our time as activists is to show current and future military leaders the futility of war on a social scale. Every dollar spent on bombs and munitions is one less dollar for veterans aide, educational opportunities and research for alternative fuels and We could use an “Inconvenient Truth” film about the economic realities of war, which shows graphically who the winners and losers are, how many billions are at stake, and put into context the cynical propaganda of our corporate controlled government to instill blind obedience into our youth. The fact that the only millionaire to enlist in the US military (Pat Tillman) was killed by his own troops should stand in stark irony to the lies of our government about ‘defending our nation’.

To any member of the armed services, I thank you for your commitment and bravery, and for the oath to defend us against enemies FOREIGN and DOMESTIC. I think you deserve better than be exploited with words like ‘exporting freedom and democracy’. You deserve better than to be thrown into harm’s way for lies. You deserve a nation who cares for you and treats you with the respect you’ve earned after risking life and limb. BUT if you want our continued respect, you must also realize that blind obedience to slavish exploitive leadership is destroying the America we grew up in. STAND DOWN. Refuse to fight for oil barons and Haliburton cronies whose feet are on the neck of your brothers and sisters, and who are mortgaging the future of your children for short-term greed. This country was born from the blood and sweat of simple citizens like you……people who wanted to breathe free of tyranny and make a better life for their children. Be a true patriot; THINK before you submit your hearts and minds to this mindless war machine - who profits? Who loses? How will killing poor people thousands of miles away help you or your children live better lives? And how would YOU act if the streets of your hometown were patrolled by foreign troops, with the ability to enter your house and arrest you without warrant, or kill your family with impunity? Don’t sell your soul for a few shiny medals and the lies of those who don’t care if you live or die. Be a warrior for peace, and just say NO.

Siouxrose May 30th, 2007 11:00 am

Sfortuna, excellent, sincere, unimpeachable (in its truths) argument! Thank you for spelling it out so powerfully.

Siouxrose May 30th, 2007 11:01 am

PS Imagine if your offered (Sfortuna) this “speech” in lieu of what Cheney
shared with the new class at West Point!

jbs May 30th, 2007 12:11 pm

Dancing With Fear By Robert C. Koehler Tribune Media Services Thursday 24 May 2007

read this to see just how much military jargon is used. what to subtitute for warrior, i don’t know….yet.

resistor May 30th, 2007 1:25 pm

Awaken, you asked for suggestions. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that you still want to make a difference without the futile activities that you cited. I too came to the realization before the war that mass demonstrations would not have any effect on the decisions made by the current power structure. I made the decision then to become a war tax resistor as a form of civil disobedience. It isn’t easy in this country to go against the tide in this way, without other people of like-mind supporting and joining you. In all humility, it does take a warrior spirit to practice this sort of resistance, because there must be a willingness to accept possible consequences.
I have made the statement before in these blogs, and I will make it again. Stop paying for something you hate. If you don’t support the war with taxes, those in power cannot wage it.

ezeflyer May 30th, 2007 2:18 pm

A soldier’s objective is to accomplish the mission he’s given. That’s it. “Ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do or die”. That means we follow orders instantly and without question. That’s what we’re trained to do. We vets can look back and question what we did and say what we should have done. But as kids in the military machine, we can’t and don’t consider that. We are trained to do a job and we are rewarded with medals for peer approval and punished severely for non-performance. We are basically brainwashed with jingoism and religion and our competing enemies are dehumanized to make killing them easy and heroic. That is why so many vets are authoritarian conservatives. The military breeds them. We also tend to drink too much, debase women, and hate hippies, commies and liberals in general. Some soldiers are brave and righteous, too many are chickenshit assholes.

To civilians out there: don’t glorify the word “warriors” because you like the sound of it or you like the warpaint and uniforms. We are a just workers doing a job, just like everyone else, getting paid too little for it and having to follow orders from people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing who are in turn following orders from people who are making lots of money from our labor.

luna May 30th, 2007 2:22 pm

PJD
Thier technology
think about it.
protesting does’nt work like it used to
signing petitions does’nt work like it used to
voting doesn’t work like it used to……

I am not afraid anymore…..
that is why nothing is changing, to many people are afraid of what they might lose and not thinking about what we could gain if we all worked together.
If we all came together and stood up for what we know is right, in our hearts,
to stand up for the Truth, to defend the defenseless, help the poor (there shouldnt even be any poor!)etc…. Imagine what we could accomplish. BUT too many are apathetic, to lazy, afraid that they will miss American Idol etc……. BUT not realizing that is exactly what “they” want!
we are not free. not anymore. those freedoms are being stripped away everyday while we sit and play video games, watch the idiot box and think of nothing but ourselves.
We are all connected. Whether we realize it or not. we are. It is in the Declaration of Independence that it is within our rights to take down our govmnt when this crap that is going on right now happens, and it is happening right in front of our faces! “they” are so blatant about it also which is inexcusable. we are all pawns to them. do you actually think that these thieves and liars care about you???? any of you????
your family???? your friends???? Think again. Warriors?
do you really want to know what a warrior is????
A warrior is someone who fights when they have to. A warrior is someone who remembers compassion and mercy and understanding and tolerance, one who does’nt fight because someone gave him an order. but who will fight when it comes to that. One who does have a say! I am sick to death of as soon as someone, anyone speaks the Truth, there is always someone out there ready to knock it down……I wonder how much “they”pay them to do this.
Thier technology, thats where it is.
turn off your TVs and see what happens, even your computers, but of course it can go much further.
Stop paying taxes. You think your tax money is helping this country???? think again.
your tax money is paying for a “private” army called Blackwater. your tax money is lining “thier pockets. Paying for death & destruction. is it helping our fallen or thier families????? No. Is it helping our troops coming home FUBAR????? No. Is it going to ease the healthcare system(or lack of one) in this country??? No. Did it go to help those victims of Katrina who are STILL suffering???? No. Education??? No…..The list goes on.
So tell me where is all your hard working money going?? who pays them????? you do, we all do.
So when Pelosi says “Impeachment is off the table” why is that up to her???? I thought it was up to the People. Are’nt they supposed to be representing the People of this country???
The People want these war criminals behind frickin bars!!!!!! BUT they are’nt going to do anything about it because…….. “they” are only concerned with thier own agendas just like the majority of this country.
TIME TO WAKE UP!

luna May 30th, 2007 2:34 pm

A Revolution never come with a warning
A revolution never send you an omen
A revolution just arise like the morning
Ring the alarm
We’ve come to wake up the snoring

They telling you to never worry about the future
They telling you to never worry about the torture
They telling you that you will never see the horror
Spend it all today and we will bill you tomorrow
Three piece suits and bank accounts in Bahamas
Wall street crime will never send you to the slammer
Tell all the children in the arms of the Mommas
THE F-15 IS A HOMICIDE BOMBER!
TV commercials for a pop a pill culture
Drug Companies circling like a vulture
AM-Iraqi babies with a GI Joe father
10 Years from now is anybody gonna bother?
YELL FIRE
Everyone addicted to the same gasoline
Everyone addicted to the same nicotine
Everyone addicted to a technical screen
Everybody tryin to get thier hands on the same green
From the banks of the river to the banks of the greedy
All of the riches taken back by the needy
We come from the country and we come from the city
Play us all a record
You can play us all a CD
ALL this shit your giving us, it’s fertilizer
The seeds that we planted, you can never brutalize it
Tell the corporations they can never globalize it
Like Peter Tosh Said… “Leagalize it”
The Boys & the girls hear the bass and the treble rumblin in the speakers and it makes you wanna rebel
Throw your hands up take it to another level
AND YOU NEVER EVER EVER MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL!
Yell Fire……”
—Micheal Franti & Spearhead

jbs May 31st, 2007 11:09 am

Dancing With Fear
By Robert C. Koehler
Tribune Media Services
Thursday 24 May 2007

read this on truthout.org. warrior is a military word. they are all thru culture. a new word for warrior??? don’t have one yet.

RonRico June 4th, 2007 9:59 am

I think that we’re at a turning point. The strategies and tactics of the past have proven insufficient. We are now searching inward for answers, where we will find them if we can stay centered.

Go beyond the warrior
Go beyond the self
Find what’s always been there
Take the enlightened path.

Awaken May 29th, 2007 12:48 pm

Ms. Bonfiglio suggests:

“Stopping governments from waging wars takes committed and steadfast citizens willing to fight the cause of justice and peace.”

Disengaging might be a better strategy.

I am not at all sure that the average person can stop this juggernaut. Mass protests were ineffective. The mass media is dominated by money-mongers and it seems worse than useless to expend energy to oppose the insanity.

One of the main problems with resistors, especially on these blogs is the recounting of long lists of problems and evil-doers and all of their terrible acts. It becomes an exhausting and futile kind of resistance.

Every election cycle enthusiastic young people and old idealists work for change and once again find themselves ensnared in the same old webs of deceit and lies of politicians.

Maybe it’s time to just disengage to every extent possible and stop feeding the machine. Any suggestions?
Paul Bramscher May 29th, 2007 2:07 pm

What’s so strange about Bush’s wars in the mideast is that most Americans (especially the young) are politically apathetic that they either don’t vote, don’t get engaged, vote for the “lesser” of two evils, etc. But somehow they are so deeply about Iraq which is not — and never has been — a threat to the US??

I’ve come to conclude that, in the absence of carnivorious politicians above, most people really don’t feel enough to get engaged locally — let alone make it a personal mission to invade foreign countries. It’s hard enough to put money in the bank, food on the table, provide for a family, etc. The real entities which go through the bother to harass one another on large-scale, across great geographical distance, etc. are rogue nations, not individuals (not directly). But let’s de-anthropomorphize the issue. Nations are abstractions, frameworks headed by hawkish/carnivorous individuals who can be named.

There’s no working for change with these people, it must be in their psyche. Anyone who’d gladly kill hundreds of thousands to achieve some sort of larger oil cartel or other hegemony is a psychotic on a large scale.

The real working is with the young people. Teach them the truth and make sure they don’t enlist. Defending the US is one thing, fighting for US corporations abroad is another.
Fed Up May 29th, 2007 2:07 pm

strength in numbers. praying for a military coup ……….
luna May 29th, 2007 2:11 pm

I am with you Fed Up!!!!!
It seems the only thing left…….
solrak May 29th, 2007 2:44 pm

Pull out of the system and create another…

Yes, mass strike and disengagement from the money machine seem like the most sane strategies…
PJD May 29th, 2007 4:11 pm

“Maybe it’s time to just disengage to every extent possible and stop feeding the machine. Any suggestions?”

Passive withdrawl from participation is not the answer. Machines of any sort can always be sabotaged with the a wrench thrown in just the right spot…

We need to find the vulnerable spots and concentrate our efforts there.
ezeflyer May 29th, 2007 4:59 pm

Read “Greenpeace”.
A KNESAL May 29th, 2007 5:49 pm

Jesus! How disappointing the first (7) Comments are. Obviously there are no Warriors among you, just ill formed opinions.
Apparently you wasted your time reading this insightful article and further wasted our time reading your sophomoric responses.
Please! Reread the article and put your prejudices where the sun shines.
…………… A KNESAL ….Warrior!
namvet67 May 29th, 2007 6:37 pm

A military coup isn’t all that far fetched. But a better solution is to follow the author’s premise. And that is that veterans have added value to a healthy society. What makes the current batch of American veterans such an important factor today is the presence of post WW2 veterans. Beginning with the Korean veteran and continuing with the Vietnam War veteran and including every veteran since Grenada and Panama. What do these vets add to the equation that WW1 or WW2 vets had been the standard for? Two things: Politics and losing. The WW2 vets also had political baggage but weren’t on the losing side so it was much easier to ignore. The Korean vet is known as the silent vet. Silent because he didn’t really have anything to add to the dynamics of WW2. Combat is combat. Politically he had plenty to ad but without a voice, or an audience. Then came the Vietnam vet. Don’t say we didn’t lose the Vietnam War. Our country has been spending the last 32 years trying to find and pin the blame on something. You don’t try to blame someone for a victory. There was no blame needed for previous wars. They could be wrapped up and put on the shelf. Available for future use of course. But this was America’s first loss felt by society. What we have failed to learn is that military victory doesn’t equate with political victory. What wins in D.C. doesn’t win in Saigon or Baghdad. Political wars don’t work because you can’t enforce morality. That war is even an option is barbaric. But American society is forced to deal with war everyday.
The Vietnam War was certainly a defeat felt by American society. No matter what side you were on you couldn’t take pride in the outcome, which for us came to a political end. The only legitimate good thing was that the suffering had mostly stopped. Not all, but in a political war the repercussions are far greater than a conventional war. The war divided America and we have never honestly reconciled. What do we have to reconcile? The fact that the Vietnam War divided us as individuals, families, schools, churches, media, and of course in politics.
There has never been an agreed upon definition of the Vietnam War, or its veteran, in our society. All the books and songs and movies and poems and TV shows couldn’t define what a Vietnam vet was, let alone if it was the vet that caused the defeat.
America was left stung by Vietnam but the Vietnamese were much more severely wounded as a society and country. We suffered a blow to our societal ego. As a society, we didn’t get what we set out to do. In this “win at any cost society” that means even if winning means losing. That’s an immature society at work. As a country we have been dealing with the blow ever since. If society doesn’t have a good understanding of war then it will be difficult for them to control war in their society. American society as a whole has no way of even knowing what war really is.
The answer of course lies within society’s veteran community. Veterans have kept this society, our homeland, free from foreign war for the life of the country. And they could lead this country away from perpetual war. But the veteran can lo longer guarantee to protect this society from the horrors of war. By waging political war, the government automatically makes its own citizens subject to the same tactics they are waging. Veterans can’t defend against that. Just like the innocent Vietnamese couldn’t and Iraqi people can’t. September 11th was a political move, the targets clearly show that. Some of this society experienced realize the results of its government’s foreign policy shocked them. Usually, stay-at-home Americans have always had the luxury of fighting, for or against, from their TVs in their house. On 9/11 America was attacked. But it certainly wasn’t a war. But it was enough to open a window. With the exception of those Americans who actually were forced to participate in those horrible hours in New York and Washington, what most Americans felt and considered is what they saw in their living rooms, with a window open. They were stunned.
If they could experience living in a house in Baghdad they would also be stunned. But they would have a better understanding of the true consequences of the war. But our media isn’t about to be the loser in this political war, so reality TV from Baghdad won’t be allowed in mainstream media. But even if you can’t go to Baghdad you can still get a better understanding of the war. You can talk to a veteran. Especially a post-WW2 warrior veteran. They can tell you exactly what it feels like to be in a home in Iraq. Yes, there are many homes in every country, but we are talking about a country with high hundreds of thousands of wounded and killed, and millions of displaced ignored victims. A country without political, religious, economic, military, educational, institutions What Iraqi society feels right now is pain. Pain and suffering beyond the bounds of any society. The sick part is that the civil war taking place was completely avoidable. It’s taking place because of political expediency in D.C. where the war is still being managed as a winner.
We are begrudgingly allowed to count our killed and wounded. But just like even the score in the Super Bowl, numbers in America mean nothing. One is too many. But our government calculates war plans and factors in, among other things, “acceptable damage”. This is more than just accepting calculated loss. It is making war acceptable. War can never be accepted or based on “acceptable losses”. This is what any warrior veteran can tell you. Honor and integrity have higher priority than “acceptable losses”. There may be times when you have to think about going to war. A real warrior veteran will add this honor and integrity to the discussion. Without it is a betrayal of the honesty needed between a veteran and society.
Hoa binh
iolellity May 29th, 2007 6:45 pm

The word “warrior” is disgusting.
Siouxrose May 29th, 2007 8:03 pm

Namvet: I appreciate your insight as one who has been there and done that and grown beyond the wound to find a means for its thereapeutic healing. If Kivals reads this one on the archetype of Warrior it goes back to something humorous he said on a post a few days ago, i.e. that Maggie Thatcher and Hilary would not “fail to deliver” in the role of warrior. These archetypes are innate to both genders; it’s just that up until recently it was always men who made the wars and went to serve in them. Still, to the degree a society identifies with war and the archetype of Mars defines its tolerance of and glorification for violence. As I’ve related before, Mars cannot make life; it takes two to DNA tango. His Divine counterpart must be given support to balance the great equation gone askance. That means investing in things Venus. For the uninitiated these include: art, music, culture, diplomacy, law, peace studies, beauty, dance, sculpture, pottery, gardening, the rendering of weaves and fine fabric… i.e. the CREATIVE as balance to the DESTROYER. Every human being has both these capacities and the polarity has been addressed by many titles and under various rubrics… in the I ching it is the interior tension between the “superior” man and the “inferior” man. Superior equates to enlightened self-interest. How can an individual know happiness, peace, health or prosperity if s/he participates in a society where so many are consigned to misery and senseless depravation? The inferior ONLY cares for self and a very small circle of interests. Some “expert” tried to blame these dual drives on prominence of a selfish gene. It always cracks me up when a supposed scientist tries to categorize a learned behavior as something answerable to genetics. And thinking men can think so wrongly…
ike May 29th, 2007 10:06 pm

A bit of the Sun Tzu doesn’t hurt. Conflict has unfortunately been an inescapable part of human history, but the first point in Sun Tzu bears repeating:

“One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not
the most skillful.
Subduing the other’s military without battle is the
most skillful.”

In Iraq the US won all the battles, used ’shock and awe’, tried to loot the Iraqi oil - and the result is an unmitigated disaster. Of course, Sun Tzu was concerned with conflict between states - not with occupation and control of states. There is no Iraq war, just an Iraq occupation. Sun Tzu explictly condemned the military occupation of foreign countries.

Sun Tzu also said this:
“Wrath can return to joy.
Rancor can return to delight.
An extinguished state cannot return to existence.
The dead cannot return to life.
Thus the enlightened soveriegn is careful about this.
The good general is cautious about this.”

Our leaders are idiots surrounded by cheering admirers. They have no insight, no skill and no understanding. Thus, their actions result in disaster at home and abroad.

Warrior is not a bad term; if you are willing to use violence to defend innocent people then you are by definition a warrior. However, without moral leadership war immediately turns into rape, murder and insanity. The fact is that there was no moral reason to go to war with Iraq, and the occupation was unjustifiable by any standard.

The difficult and unpleasant truth is that this was a raid, carried out by corporate robber barons and their political allies, whose goal was simply to seize Iraqi oilfields. That’s why the permanent bases are there, and that’s why the US military is still there.
Dr. Zimmerman Robert May 29th, 2007 11:29 pm

“The major advances in nonviolence have not come from people who have approached nonviolence as an end in itself, but from persons who were passionately striving to free themselves from social injustice.”
– Dave Dellinger
curmudgeon99 May 30th, 2007 6:48 am

I am reminded of an old high school cheer - with a twist:

Stand up! - for what you believe is right

Sit Down! - in the street and bring this society to a halt

Fight! - Like Bahaudur Shah(look him up-a friend of Gandhi)
Fight! - Like Gandhi
Fight! - Like Dr. Martin Luther King

With intense nonviolent love
danielgeery May 30th, 2007 8:04 am

I am pleased to announce that God has clarified His thinking (once again), regarding war (a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation), and, by extension, “warriors”–those who engage in war:Thou Shalt Not Kill
sfortuna May 30th, 2007 9:48 am

I love the idea of veterans working from within to expose the lies drilled into the military class of “honor and patriotism”. Showing vets the lack of caring and attention they receive after they do the oligarch’s bidding, the decimation of VA benefits, the war’s effects on poverty and wealth disparity, the wasted lives and treasures, might help them see brighter, alternative futures instead of ‘endless war’. Examine this war’s root causes and you will see the machinations of about 5,000 frightened rich white men who exploit nationalistic fervor and drive us to invade, kill and conquer so they can reap obscene profits, which they then use to buy our media and political leaders. We know for the most part who the puppetmasters are: the Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch’s, the boards of ExxonMobil, GE, General Dynamics, Boeing, etc. Perhaps we can break the mindless cycle of blind trust in a government that uses its poorer citizens as cannon fodder for hegemony, then tosses them aside with a few tin medals and an annual parade. We need to break the notion that defending America can happen on foreign soil.

We ‘lost’ Vietnam because we deserved to. We had no moral authority to intervene in a century old civil war between two sovereign nations. We were there to exploit the rubber, the tin, the bauxite and to impose our sphere of influence on emerging China. We deserve to ‘lose’ in Iraq for the same reason. This has nothing to do with “supporting the troops” and everything to do with educating them about the moral validity of their mission. In every society there will be a mercenary class, those seduced by the power of the gun, who will risk their lives for money and the adrenaline rush of combat, but if we strip away the glamor and facscade of patriotism and honor to revel the corruption and duplicity of our leaders, they may have second thoughts about serving corporate despots. Perhaps the more courageous and historically aware will become active in resistance, much the way General Rommel and others conspired to kill Hitler and end the German nightmare. Their efforts were unsuccessful, but the German people remember them as the real heroes of WWII and martyrs to a righteous cause.

The best use of our time as activists is to show current and future military leaders the futility of war on a social scale. Every dollar spent on bombs and munitions is one less dollar for veterans aide, educational opportunities and research for alternative fuels and We could use an “Inconvenient Truth” film about the economic realities of war, which shows graphically who the winners and losers are, how many billions are at stake, and put into context the cynical propaganda of our corporate controlled government to instill blind obedience into our youth. The fact that the only millionaire to enlist in the US military (Pat Tillman) was killed by his own troops should stand in stark irony to the lies of our government about ‘defending our nation’.

To any member of the armed services, I thank you for your commitment and bravery, and for the oath to defend us against enemies FOREIGN and DOMESTIC. I think you deserve better than be exploited with words like ‘exporting freedom and democracy’. You deserve better than to be thrown into harm’s way for lies. You deserve a nation who cares for you and treats you with the respect you’ve earned after risking life and limb. BUT if you want our continued respect, you must also realize that blind obedience to slavish exploitive leadership is destroying the America we grew up in. STAND DOWN. Refuse to fight for oil barons and Haliburton cronies whose feet are on the neck of your brothers and sisters, and who are mortgaging the future of your children for short-term greed. This country was born from the blood and sweat of simple citizens like you……people who wanted to breathe free of tyranny and make a better life for their children. Be a true patriot; THINK before you submit your hearts and minds to this mindless war machine - who profits? Who loses? How will killing poor people thousands of miles away help you or your children live better lives? And how would YOU act if the streets of your hometown were patrolled by foreign troops, with the ability to enter your house and arrest you without warrant, or kill your family with impunity? Don’t sell your soul for a few shiny medals and the lies of those who don’t care if you live or die. Be a warrior for peace, and just say NO.
Siouxrose May 30th, 2007 11:00 am

Sfortuna, excellent, sincere, unimpeachable (in its truths) argument! Thank you for spelling it out so powerfully.
Siouxrose May 30th, 2007 11:01 am

PS Imagine if your offered (Sfortuna) this “speech” in lieu of what Cheney
shared with the new class at West Point!
jbs May 30th, 2007 12:11 pm

Dancing With Fear By Robert C. Koehler Tribune Media Services Thursday 24 May 2007

read this to see just how much military jargon is used. what to subtitute for warrior, i don’t know….yet.
resistor May 30th, 2007 1:25 pm

Awaken, you asked for suggestions. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that you still want to make a difference without the futile activities that you cited. I too came to the realization before the war that mass demonstrations would not have any effect on the decisions made by the current power structure. I made the decision then to become a war tax resistor as a form of civil disobedience. It isn’t easy in this country to go against the tide in this way, without other people of like-mind supporting and joining you. In all humility, it does take a warrior spirit to practice this sort of resistance, because there must be a willingness to accept possible consequences.
I have made the statement before in these blogs, and I will make it again. Stop paying for something you hate. If you don’t support the war with taxes, those in power cannot wage it.
ezeflyer May 30th, 2007 2:18 pm

A soldier’s objective is to accomplish the mission he’s given. That’s it. “Ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do or die”. That means we follow orders instantly and without question. That’s what we’re trained to do. We vets can look back and question what we did and say what we should have done. But as kids in the military machine, we can’t and don’t consider that. We are trained to do a job and we are rewarded with medals for peer approval and punished severely for non-performance. We are basically brainwashed with jingoism and religion and our competing enemies are dehumanized to make killing them easy and heroic. That is why so many vets are authoritarian conservatives. The military breeds them. We also tend to drink too much, debase women, and hate hippies, commies and liberals in general. Some soldiers are brave and righteous, too many are chickenshit assholes.

To civilians out there: don’t glorify the word “warriors” because you like the sound of it or you like the warpaint and uniforms. We are a just workers doing a job, just like everyone else, getting paid too little for it and having to follow orders from people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing who are in turn following orders from people who are making lots of money from our labor.
luna May 30th, 2007 2:22 pm

PJD
Thier technology
think about it.
protesting does’nt work like it used to
signing petitions does’nt work like it used to
voting doesn’t work like it used to……

I am not afraid anymore…..
that is why nothing is changing, to many people are afraid of what they might lose and not thinking about what we could gain if we all worked together.
If we all came together and stood up for what we know is right, in our hearts,
to stand up for the Truth, to defend the defenseless, help the poor (there shouldnt even be any poor!)etc…. Imagine what we could accomplish. BUT too many are apathetic, to lazy, afraid that they will miss American Idol etc……. BUT not realizing that is exactly what “they” want!
we are not free. not anymore. those freedoms are being stripped away everyday while we sit and play video games, watch the idiot box and think of nothing but ourselves.
We are all connected. Whether we realize it or not. we are. It is in the Declaration of Independence that it is within our rights to take down our govmnt when this crap that is going on right now happens, and it is happening right in front of our faces! “they” are so blatant about it also which is inexcusable. we are all pawns to them. do you actually think that these thieves and liars care about you???? any of you????
your family???? your friends???? Think again. Warriors?
do you really want to know what a warrior is????
A warrior is someone who fights when they have to. A warrior is someone who remembers compassion and mercy and understanding and tolerance, one who does’nt fight because someone gave him an order. but who will fight when it comes to that. One who does have a say! I am sick to death of as soon as someone, anyone speaks the Truth, there is always someone out there ready to knock it down……I wonder how much “they”pay them to do this.
Thier technology, thats where it is.
turn off your TVs and see what happens, even your computers, but of course it can go much further.
Stop paying taxes. You think your tax money is helping this country???? think again.
your tax money is paying for a “private” army called Blackwater. your tax money is lining “thier pockets. Paying for death & destruction. is it helping our fallen or thier families????? No. Is it helping our troops coming home FUBAR????? No. Is it going to ease the healthcare system(or lack of one) in this country??? No. Did it go to help those victims of Katrina who are STILL suffering???? No. Education??? No…..The list goes on.
So tell me where is all your hard working money going?? who pays them????? you do, we all do.
So when Pelosi says “Impeachment is off the table” why is that up to her???? I thought it was up to the People. Are’nt they supposed to be representing the People of this country???
The People want these war criminals behind frickin bars!!!!!! BUT they are’nt going to do anything about it because…….. “they” are only concerned with thier own agendas just like the majority of this country.
TIME TO WAKE UP!
luna May 30th, 2007 2:34 pm

A Revolution never come with a warning
A revolution never send you an omen
A revolution just arise like the morning
Ring the alarm
We’ve come to wake up the snoring

They telling you to never worry about the future
They telling you to never worry about the torture
They telling you that you will never see the horror
Spend it all today and we will bill you tomorrow
Three piece suits and bank accounts in Bahamas
Wall street crime will never send you to the slammer
Tell all the children in the arms of the Mommas
THE F-15 IS A HOMICIDE BOMBER!
TV commercials for a pop a pill culture
Drug Companies circling like a vulture
AM-Iraqi babies with a GI Joe father
10 Years from now is anybody gonna bother?
YELL FIRE
Everyone addicted to the same gasoline
Everyone addicted to the same nicotine
Everyone addicted to a technical screen
Everybody tryin to get thier hands on the same green
From the banks of the river to the banks of the greedy
All of the riches taken back by the needy
We come from the country and we come from the city
Play us all a record
You can play us all a CD
ALL this shit your giving us, it’s fertilizer
The seeds that we planted, you can never brutalize it
Tell the corporations they can never globalize it
Like Peter Tosh Said… “Leagalize it”
The Boys & the girls hear the bass and the treble rumblin in the speakers and it makes you wanna rebel
Throw your hands up take it to another level
AND YOU NEVER EVER EVER MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL!
Yell Fire……”
—Micheal Franti & Spearhead
jbs May 31st, 2007 11:09 am

Dancing With Fear
By Robert C. Koehler
Tribune Media Services
Thursday 24 May 2007

read this on truthout.org. warrior is a military word. they are all thru culture. a new word for warrior??? don’t have one yet.
RonRico June 4th, 2007 9:59 am

I think that we’re at a turning point. The strategies and tactics of the past have proven insufficient. We are now searching inward for answers, where we will find them if we can stay centered.

Go beyond the warrior
Go beyond the self
Find what’s always been there
Take the enlightened path.

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