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Rethinking 'War Hero'
"624787." In his first national campaign ad for president, Sen. John McCain is shown reciting his rank and serial number as he lies in a Vietnamese hospital bed as a prisoner of war. The ad describes him as "a real hero."
Let's be clear: Senator McCain is running for president as a war hero who plans to win the campaign based on character and honor.
On the surface, it seems churlish to critique the idea of a war hero. And criticizing a tribute to courageous and self-sacrificing soldiers would be disrespectful.
But inextricably tied to the idea of the war hero for president is a discussion that goes beyond individual soldiers or prisoners of war, such as Mr. McCain, to the wars they fight and what their role in the war says about their moral merits as national leaders. This turns out to be surprisingly problematic.
We need to distinguish the war hero from the war. Fixed ideas about war heroes get into what we call "morality wars," crucial struggles about which values should prevail, who should be admired and for what qualities.
When we call Mr. McCain a war hero, we engage in moral discourse about the Vietnam War - and now, Iraq. We also give Mr. McCain - currently the country's most celebrated war hero - the ultimate political weapon: power by virtue of heroism and the ability to discredit opponents as weak or unpatriotic.
The public has treated Mr. McCain's record in Vietnam and his status as a war hero as something unchangeable. But placing his sacrifice beyond the pale of criticism also implicitly places the cause he served beyond the pale, and that hushes important dialogue.
Mr. McCain's heroism stems entirely from Vietnam. Mr. McCain was brave in captivity, but he and his fellow pilots dropped more bombs on Vietnam than all those dropped in World War II, leading to the conclusion that "we had to destroy Vietnam in order to save it."
He did not acknowledge the war itself as immoral. If he had engaged in such "straight talk" about the war, or if we had a more enlightened concept of heroism, he might not be getting so close to becoming the next president.
This language of war heroism is used unfairly to confuse unjust wars and their architects with the honor of brave soldiers. By promoting the idea that Vietnam was an honorable war and denigrating anti-war Democrats as too weak to "stay the course," Richard Nixon won the presidency in 1968. He then kept the war going for another five futile years.
Playing the war hero card has long been a political strategy to elect Republicans, legitimize imperial wars and portray Democrats and peace activists as weak, cowardly or traitorous. Sen. John Kerry, also a courageous soldier in Vietnam, was "Swift-boated" as a traitor because he became a peace activist.
Republicans even did the same to Daniel Ellsberg, a real hero of the Vietnam era. Mr. Ellsberg was a war planner who turned against the war and in 1971 released to The New York Times the "Pentagon Papers," the military's internal and damning history of the war. But as there are no peace heroes in the American moral discourse, President Nixon tried to indict him, and many still brand him as a traitor.
Most of the presidents in the decades after the Civil War were Republicans, the majority of them generals who ran as war heroes. In the 20th century, Republicans continued to serve up war hero candidates such as Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush. And now we have John McCain.
If the Democrats are to win elections in the 21st century, the key is to finally engage in straight talk about war and war heroes.
First, they must renounce the morality of militarism. Second, they must be clear that the architects of unjust wars are not honorable or heroic but immoral moralists, those who wage evil in the name of good. Third, they must create a new language of heroism. Brave soldiers in just and unjust wars may be heroes, if we refer purely to personal courage and sacrifice in battle. But it is critical that we recognize that those who oppose dishonorable wars are also heroes. Surely, their courage should also qualify as a character virtue for the highest office in the land.
The peace hero - even more than the war hero - should be the ultimate moral force in the world we now inhabit.
Charles Derber and Yale Magrass are coauthors of "Morality Wars: How Empires, the Born Again, and the Politically Correct Do Evil in the Name of Good."
60 Comments so far
Show AllWe should ask why McCain is chairman of International Republican Institute www.iri.org which has been implicated in theoverthrow ofAstride and an attempt to overthrow Chavez among other things.
McCain is just another war monger.
What we need are anti war heroes like: Jesus, Gandhi, King,ect.ect.ect.
But there is so much more: he was one of the "Keating 5". I'm convinced that Hillary Clinton would bring up all of the character flaws of McCain and Obama won't do it. Another reason why I support her and not him. He IS going to run on his alleged good character! He is vulnerable here in myriad ways. Will he be called on it loudly and clearly?? I say not a chance if Obama is the democratic nominee, and other parties aren't allowed into the debates!
Although I hope the Democrats will address the Keating Five, I fear they won't because the other four were Democrats.
Compare this to John Kerry's Vietnam record and how the media treated his service. There is nothing heroic about getting shot down, as if it's a choice. John Kerry pulled a fellow soldier out of the water while being shot at by the VC. I think we can agree this fits our general definition of a heroic act. What is heroic about being a POW? Self preservation is hardwired, not heroic.
Whoa! Don't be so fast to say McCain was brave as a POW. Check out Doug Valenti's report in href="http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn04192008.html">Counterpunch before making such a comment.
It would appear that McCain actually caved in to his captors after only a couple of hours of intense grilling, and that his claim of heroism is pretty much made up.
I agree though, that this militaristic country is way to fast to call everyone who fires guns in uniform a "hero."
If you read "Road from ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia, an Iraq War Memoir" by Camilio Mejia (Haymarket Books 2007/2008), you will quickly understand that what our soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen and women are being ordered to do over there is anything but heroic. Indeed, much of it is war crimes, pure and simple, and the real heroes are those who say "No!"
DAve Lindorff
when, in contrast to the european media, the us msm talks so much of 'heroes''heroism' and their need, it reminds me of the following quote (do not remember who to ascribe it to)
happy the land with many heroes - happier still the land that needs no heroes.
What is needed to "rethink" war hero is for every member from such churches as Baptist, Nazarene, Assembly of God, Mennonite, Bible Church, Lutheran (Missouri and Wisconsin Synods), Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, independent charismatics and others to all get informed and get real about John McCain---firmly reaching a logical (from their faith and doctrine) conclusion.
THERE IS NO WAY UNDER HEAVEN THAT GOD IS CALLING A FORMER SKIRT CHASER AND CURRENT BEER PROFITEER TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. CAN'T HAPPEN. ISN'T HAPPENING. THE GOD OF THE CHURCHES IS NOT IN IT. THE VOTERS OF THE CHURCHES MUST NOT BE "IN IT" EITHER.
This is all that is needed to defeat John McCain. And such a defeat needs to occur for all the reasons progressives would recommend ODDLY COINCIDING WITH all the reasons that the most conservative of churchgoers can also recognize and recommend---IF THEY ARE INFORMED about "billions of beers over 25 years". (Hey, even a little rhyme. Except, of course, this is no joke and not funny. The stakes are very high for everyone and corporations are for McCain. We need liberal PEOPLE AND conservative PEOPLE banding together for a change and defeating the corporate candidate.)
Daniel__ I cannot see that the church people did us much good in the 2004 election as they went for Bush. If God elected Bush, he must really be pleased to have McWar coming on strong.
Personally, I wish we could just judge the people on their own merits and what they stand for, instead of mixing up religion with our governing system. It is tiresome to get politics when attending church, and then get religion when listening to the political news, and it does not seem to be working well, as the last eight years have shown.
Kernel,
I can assure you that the church people are going to vote, and there are A LOT of them. Enough to swing the election.
The key is to have them thinking beer man, not war hero.
Ignore them, let them be sold right-spin lies, and you lose again. Religion is important. McCain is on the wrong side of REAL conservatives---but they must be told.
Heroes are the ones who have the courage to refuse any orders to kill women and children. McCain would be a disaster for all progressives.
The excellent Mr. Lindorff beat me to it. I'm waiting for my print copy of CounterPunch to arrive to read it, but Mr. Cockburn's column on that site that I read this weekend makes it plain what the article about McCain is going to say.
It would appear that instead of the myth of a valiant war hero that instead officer McCain was providing military information and collaborating statements to the North Vietnamese in exchange for favorable treatment.
McCain is far from being a hero of the Vietnam Conflict. He was such a screw up that he managed to kill over 125 of the crew members of the USS Forrestal because he was such a show-off and trying a "wet" takeoff. That was only 1 of 5 military planes which he managed to destroy! What a guy. Without the protection of his dad and granddad don't you think he'd have been tried by a court-martial? This guy is dangerous. Talk about untreated PTSD...
How come war criminal can become war hero?
US needs to wake up and understand that bombing civilian targets from 30.000 feet is not heroism, that is WAR CRIME.
Jesus ... doesn't Daniel David know that most 'church people' also drink beer. Talk about a ridiculous talking point spammed beyond all possible reason!
Besides, who are 'the chuch people'? Is that the family of the SNL Church Lady?
Of course, what's amazing about the Democrats is this. Just below a comment where the facts that would devastate McCain's "War Hero" claim are mentioned, there's the democrat sycophant diverting attention off on to this stupid beer distributorship issue. Is the goal to divert attention from the real issues in McCain's past?
Certainly, the Dems avoid at all cost the direct attacks on McCain's war hero status that would bear fruit. Ie, that is that McCain was more 'war criminal' than 'war hero'. The Dems won't go near that one. Because, just like in almost all other issues, the Dems really support the same agenda as the Republicans. That is one of building the American Empire and fighting these wars along the way.
McCain was a 'war criminal' fighting a war that was started by Democratic Presidents and fully funded and authorized by a Democratic Congress. I'm not sure exactly when McCain was flying his missions, but its very likely that he's precise acts as a war criminal in bombing civilian targets was in following the orders established by a Democratic President acting as Commander-in-Chief.
So, the Dems won't go near calling McCain a 'war criminal'. Its only after they pass up the direct and obvious attack that they keep bringing up this ridiculous beer distributorship issue.
it would be nice if more americans were able to see that there are such people as peace heroes, but war heroes are always going to have the edge just because they put their lives on the line.
in the article, it was stated: "by promoting that vietnam was an honorable war and denigrating anti-war democrats as too weak to stay the course, richard nixon won the presidency in 1968." pretty dubious history, imho. trick ran on a so-called secret plan to end the war. most of us who had caught his act during the 50's and 60's were, of course, sceptical.
one factor that progressives, during the country's right-ward turn, have not given enuf attention to is the one of race. after signing the mid-sixties civil rights legislation, lbj said the democrats had probably just lost political power for the next 30 years. america's 20th century experiment in social democracy, the new deal, had as part of its coalition the segregationist south. i know it's hard to see how the rise of the right could be a good thing, but by sloughing off the segregationist south and hopefully building a more just coalition, we'll be able to see this all as part of a positive long-term transformation.
Is there such a thing as "War Hero"? Seems like a paradox to me.
Take a deeper look into McCain's hostage situation. There are reports that McCain used his contacts to hook himself up with a nice apartment and hookers during his hostage years, while leaving his buddies in the cold.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9b67gUm8sM
I'm not necessarily saying it's true, but has ANYONE in the media even investigated these claims? Why not?
I second what Dave Lindorff posted. Yesterday on another thread, I pointed out the article he referenced on Counterpunch about McCain. Turns out McCain is not so much of a war hero. The Straight Talk Express has not exactly been driving in a straight line down the road. It has been fishtailing and is headed for the ditch.
Johny Bomb Bomb is anything but a straight talker.
The frame for the election of Mcinsane is that the USA is at war against International Terrorism.
War requires a seasoned Commander-in-Chief to conduct this war. Mcinsane is a war hero, ergo Mc is the logical choice for president. Gotta destroy this arguement to stop this nutcase.
Daniel David__My point was that it is no use warrying about the religious people and how they vote. The right wing findamentalists are a lost cause, as the GOP party is also the GOD party in their view and that is not likely to change.
The religious voters that are left will do as many of the rest of us, support the candidate on their merit and platform. We need to get that point across to people and not spend time courting votes from those who will not listen to reason.
Hardly a hero! The word is so abused and over applied these days. Going to war, especially a war of choice, does not make heros, only victims.
Touche, Paul Revere!
When we honor the peacekeepers the way we honor war fighters, then we'll be an evolved nation.
War hero? How about war criminal!
We also have to get the "maverick" label debunked; the "straight talk express" thing, too. We need other parties in the debates in the fall to debunk the standard lies of both parties.
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, science for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable an ignorable war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." Albert Einstein
t was a failure of citizenship of the American people that the Bush cabal was allowed to invade Iraq. Thus, any U.S. citizen who is not doing everything in their power to end this illegal and immoral occupation as quickly as possible is complicit with the war crimes being committed in Iraq on a daily basis.": Dahr Jamail
WASHINGTON - Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex crime convictions.
The Few. The Proud. The Manacled! Egad...
Apparently John McShame was on Hanoi radio so often he was known as the 'P.O.W. Songbird'.
The last "war hero" to campaign for President was run out of town because he fought in a war (ie, medalled John Kerry).
Ain't no pleasin' some folk, especially when the GOP are pulling the media strings.
whatfools wrote: The Few. The Proud. The Manacled! Egad…
Well, it worked for "The Dirty Dozen", so maybe it is not such a bad idea to send crims: We could start with the Current Resident, so he could make up for what he missed out on.
pundit wrote: The frame for the election of Mcinsane is that the USA is at war against International Terrorism.
War requires a seasoned Commander-in-Chief to conduct this war. Gotta destroy this arguement to stop this nutcase.
Pundit is right about the insanity of this logic.
There is no "war against terrorism" (or against drugs). Such actions cannot be dealt with militarily (as Iraq and the drug trade have proved). Police action is the only thing that will work.
Bleeech! Not sure if I want a cop as President either.
The only thing heroic about McCain is he participated in another of our idiotic imperialistic invasions and got himself tortured. Does this mean he has any military experience or judgment worth talking about? Obviously not! The only salient thing about him is his stupidity. Having favored one imperialistic invasion, he now favors another. A person like this should never be allowed anywhere near the White House.
McCain signed a document when he was POW that stated he was a war criminal. Yes, he was tortured (which should make him totally against torture...and unless he was telling the truth on this document, he should realize that torture doesn't get at the truth..it gets said what someone wants said.)
Just because someone is deemed a war hero doesn't necessarily make them fit to be president. I know lots of war heroes I wouldnt want for pres.
Remember the Manchurian Candidate--5+ years is enough of a long time to turn anyone into a compliant piece of putty in the hands of their "control agent" and otherwise quite normal in their behavior. As such, any POW ought to be forever banned from holding any public office.
Poet- The US military is ACTIVELY recruiting convicted VIOLENT felons as frontline combat troops.
So why shouldn't an acknowledged war criminal with anger management issues be allowed to hold the nuclear launch codes?
We should know, instinctively by now, that anytime the mainstream media and both sides of the politcal aisle agree that anyone is a hero...we must remind ourselves that hard fought wisdom requires we simply apply the inverse and opposite. The term is useless except as a shibboleth to mystify and stake borders for who is in or out. Most of us, if not the vast majority, are out...and meant to be kept out. Since McCain has never been tried or convicted of war crimes, it is also useless to call him a war criminal...thus becoming yet another shibboleth. Simply ask the question again and again: how many civilians were killed in your multiple air raids over Vietnam...how many villages were decimated...how much livestock and agriculture was pulverized into ash: always turn the shibboleth of hero into an interrogation of deeds.
Kernel,
I do not readily concede that the right-wing fundamentalists are a "lost cause" at the voting booth.
They're only lost if you let them keep "war hero" in their focus and do not present them with the truth that McCain is a hard-cussing, skirt-chasing opportunist who was first unfaithful with---then married a woman with a fleet of beer trucks and has been getting rich off the beer ever since.
MOST CHURCH ATTENDERS DO NOT EVEN KNOW.
As for COMarc and his endless cynical funmaking as above, He's a good one to follow if you want to be saluting President John McCain. I honestly have come to think that promoting that result is his/her primary reason for being on this site. Take a good look at a bunch of his/her posts and see if you can reach any other conclusions. Knock the Dems to advantage the Rupugs. Honestly, what else is there?
for kara.korum: "happier...the land that needs no heroes" was said by Bertolt Brecht.
McCain, the man of a thousand faces
Remember when President Carter suggested that the USA have a Department of Peace?
Where is that sentiment now?
McCain is a war criminal, just like our troops in Iraq engaged in an illegal and immoral war of aggression. Sorry, I don't have any respect whatsoever for any one of them.
If McCain was helping the Vietnamese forces win the war, that's not a bad thing in itself. Of course, he's in the same boat as George Bush, who didn't go over there and bomb Vietnam. But I doubt in either case it was because they were against the American policy. Ellsberg was the brave one.
The whole mythology about war heroes was okay for WWII, I suppose, but imperialist wars are inherently criminal. How long will the bogus myth live on? How long will Americans be so smitten by the uniform?
Didn't his father, a US Senator arrange for him to be released and sent home immediately after he was captured? He stayed of course, but with conditions no doubt. Hero? Ha. Manipulator for sure. See the movie "Hanoi Hilton".
Daniel David__I have given up on trying to tell the right-wing fundamentalists anything about politics, as they do not want to know the truth. Quite a number of local religious people have insisted Bush was the right man for the job and that includes three preachers I spoke with. Most of them knew he was a drunk until his wife got him stopped, and everyone knew he had not completed his National Guard service, but they voted for him because he was "born again" and would protect us.
I have wondered what Bush`s opinion on "abstinence" was when he was a cheerleader in college. Now he thinks it is the proper behaviour for everyone in the world. When religious folks only care about what people do behind closed doors, it is a waste of time to talk to them. I have noticed very few of those people have ever publicly denounced the killing and destruction in Iraq as it is God`s will, yet they are pro-life.
Go figure. They could never support a "liberal" Democrat that is for defeat in the endless war on terror.
WHAT FOOLS said, "The Few. The Proud. The Manacled! Egad" Well, could be an end run around lethal injection. GALEN says they're taking the violent felons who probably would resonate with war and the kind of lawless land that allows Blackwater "soldiers" to get away with rape and murder, as if there is no higher accounting yet to be delivered.
DAVE LINDORFF (Thanks for joining us here) says,"I agree though, that this militaristic country is way to fast to call everyone who fires guns in uniform a "hero." This worship of violence, war and militarism is a modern depiction of the ancient worship of Mars, god of war; and because our national budget lays homage to these destructive ends it arguably reflects an ethos of MARS rules.
LOVER OF PEACE: I think you're absolutely right about the PTSD... that he SAW torture and now advocates for it knowing US troops will end up at the mercy of those with CAUSE for vengeance, NOT a wise or sane policy! Plus it shows impossible hubris to the central tenet of most religions: what goes around, comes around.
John McCain was a Navy Jet Jockey. He returned from his missions and showered, wore clean clothes, ate great chow and crawled between clean sheets to sleep. He never had to take a watch, pick leeches off his skin, worry about foot rot, smell burning flesh, hear the cries of the wounded or remain constantly hypervigilant while on patrol. Most importantly, he didn't perform any singularly valorous actions that saved lives or lead to victory on the battlefield. He would never have seen the face of the enemy nor gotten dirt under his fingernails if his butt hadn't hit the ground. To call him a hero is to debase and devalue our true heroes, all our heroes - those who risk all for their comrades on the battlefield and those who risk their futures by refusing to condone the waste of life that is unjust war.
I'm interested in researching what MCain's actual targets were when he was flying bombing runs over North Vietnam. Can anyone give me a lead?
Thanks in advance.
"Charles Derber and Yale Magrass are coauthors of "Morality Wars: How Empires, the Born Again, and the Politically Correct Do Evil in the Name of Good." This article originally appeared in The Christian Science Monitor." Doesn't the word "good" in the Derber/Magrass title have too many "o's" in it?
Also the question arises about just what kind of Vietnamese POW McCain was: Just how did he survive that experience?
John McCain = War Zero
I'm not saying that his survival of his imprisonment wasn't a feat of the highest degree, but what is clearly missing from the dialogue is any recognition of what damage he was causing to the innocent Vietnamese civilians.
What we need are anti war heroes like: Jesus, Gandhi, King,ect.ect.ect.
Not a good idea they were all murdered.