Think Twice: Reflections on the Kandahar Massacre

On March 11th, 17 Afghan civilians were gunned down in their homes, while they slept in their beds. No one was spared. Men, women and children were massacred at will, without discrimination. The perpetrator of these atrocities? U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, a 38 year old from Norwood, Ohio.

In the weeks that have passed, the United States government has apologized for the heinous crimes a member of our armed forces has committed, as it should. They cut a check for $50,000 for each relative slain (cause that's somehow suppose to make them feel better?). They promised to seek justice for the victims. Case closed, right? Of course not. Two things in particular concern me about this incident. 

First, new information is being released internationally that suggests that there is more to this story than one rogue officer losing it in the middle of the night. A couple things that are coming out of this late breaking version of events is that there are reports that the U.S. was alerted by Afghan soldiers about an American soldier who was leaving the base, acting suspicious and could be up to no good (they were alerted more than once and Bales left, came back and left again, without anyone doing anything to stop him). Secondly, eye witness accounts suggest that Bales may not have been acting alone. Children who are interviewed often refer to American soldierS (notice the S) who participated in the massacre.

You can go anywhere and hear this news, but if you follow this link, you'll get a transcript of one of the victims' accounts: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1637849/%27US-alerted-over-Bales-behaviour%27

My second concern is that there are too many instances of atrocities committed by our armed forces have come to light since this round of wars began in 2001. One is one too many, but to have several very serious incidents, shows an unfortunate pattern.

The three major instances (before this one) that I am thinking of are:

1. Abu Ghraib (not in Afghanistan, but as with most Americans, in my mind, this multifront war is one in the same.) I don't really need to explain this one, because EVERYONE knows this story.

2. SS- Scout Snipers- Basic information here: a sniper group working inside of Afghanistan used the SS symbol (Uh, that's a WWII, German, Hitler reference, for those of you who slept through your history classes). For more information: http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/exclusive-marines-nazi-flag-whistleblower-talks

3. Soldiers urinating on dead Taliban fighters (once again, a reference you won't even need to google, because you've heard it before).

These were the big three, until Staff Sergeant Bales went for a walk.

As with most Americans, I do spend a great deal of time worried about the U.S. image overseas. I could blame George Bush for the way the world sees us, but the truth is, our reputation has been a long time coming. We spend so much time "defending the world" and "defending ourselves" that we tend to lose certain inalienable truths in translation.

This was not the first time a U.S. soldier lost his sanity and massacred civilians in the middle of a war. I am, of course, referring to the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, in which U.S. soldiers of Charlie company massacred hundreds of My Lai residents, including women, children, babies, the elderly, etc. The only assumed difference between these two actions is the number of victims and the number of accused perpetrators.

My greatest concern with the mission being lost in translation is that if we continue down the current course of destructive behavior, our reputation will be the least of our worries. This type of behavior shows a disintegration of true American values and ideals and poses a greater threat to our nation than any terrorist plot. It is imperative that we get down to the truth of what happened in Kandahar Province, that we hold all those involved accountable and that we make provisions to make sure that it does not happen again. We need to teach tolerance and only allow those who are of sound mind to enter combat.

Once again, I caution you to realize that this is not an inherent truth of the armed forces. I am not blaming the armed forces as a whole and I believe that the majority of the men and women who serve are upstanding citizens answering their nation's call admirably. I will say that these events mentioned above concern me, as they should concern not only members of the armed forces, but all Americans.

We cannot truly know what was going through Staff Sgt. Bales' head. Is he legally insane? Possibly. Could there be more like him? Definitely. And we need to find those individuals and get them the help they need before tragedy strikes.

The New Emmett Till?

So, it's been while since my last post. As I told my sister this morning, I've been lacking the motivation necessary to sit and write. Not lacking the topics, just lacking the urge to put my thoughts out there. That changes today.

This story is true. If you haven't heard it already, you might want to change your cable or internet provider. You might want to renew your lease with civilization and crawl out from underneath the rock in which you live.

The story I'm talking about, of course, is that of the murder of Trayvon Martin. Yes, I know, it's awfully loaded of me to call it a murder right out of the gate, but hey, if I can't be honest to myself and the world on my own blog, then well, where's that rock of yours? Move over.

Why does my opinion on this matter? Because, I live in Seminole County, Florida. Check your maps, that's where this whole thing took place. As a taxpayer of this community, I have the right to demand justice for the sons and daughters of MY community.

First, the facts (for you cave dwellers):

On February 26th, 2012, 17 year old Trayvon Martin was walking home from a convenience store (Arizona tea and skittles in hand, wearing the now infamous hoodie). George Zimmerman, a resident of this community, saw Trayvon and made the decision to end his life. These are the only facts that we know, aside from a few eye witness statements (which I frequently disregard, because as an aspiring Sociologist, I know that humans see what they want to see). 

The rest of the blanks, those on either side of the argument consistently fill in with whatever they choose. That's fine. We see this all the time. I, for one, have gotten so used to reading in between the lines, that I do it automatically (sometimes when there is nothing to see).

Here's my conjecture. I say conjecture, because I, unlike everyone else, am willing to admit that I was not present the night that Trayvon died. George Zimmerman saw Trayvon, assumed the worst, fulfilling every stereotype about young black men in America (one perpetuated by every race, not just whites), let a racism that is still deeply embedded in American culture get the best of him and he pulled the trigger. On George Zimmerman's 9-1-1 call, he tells the dispatcher that Trayvon was "walking around looking at all the houses". Of course, the last time I did that, no one called me suspicious, or called the police, but who am I to assume anything on that one. After the dispatcher tells him not to pursue Trayvon, Zimmerman does so anyway. The end result is the death of a 17 year old. 

As this story continues to unfold, I am forever reminded of another story that shook America to its core nearly 57 years ago. The story I am referring to is, of course, that of 14 year old Emmett Till. On August 28th, 1955, Emmett Till, a Chicago native, visiting relatives in Mississippi, was beaten to death and disposed of in the Tallahatchie River. His crime? Whistling at a pretty white woman. Trayvon's crime? Looking at pretty houses.

Both of these stories are tragic, both could have been prevented and both have yet to see justice. Emmett Till's murders were acquitted of their crime and Trayvon's murderer has yet to even see the inside of a jail cell. Now, we could blame the law for Zimmerman walking,  but to be honest, the law in this case is being misused to undermine justice and to avoid having the discussion. By the discussion, I mean the one where we discuss where civil rights stand, right now, actually in this country. 

I don't want to get into a debate on Florida's stand your ground law, but I will say this: this law doesn't apply here. No where in the law does it say that you have the right to pursue, apprehend, or pull the trigger when your life is NOT in danger (hint: if you're having to pursue, your life IS NOT in danger). Zimmerman's life was not in danger. As one of my friends said, "What was Trayvon gonna do, make him taste the rainbow?". Seriously, what was a 17 year old, even one who played football and probably lifted weights, gonna do against a 28 year old man? Especially, when Zimmerman even told the dispatcher that Trayvon was "getting away". Zimmerman was adamant that Trayvon was not going to get away. And, unfortunately, Zimmerman made good on his promise.

What have we learned from all this? So far, nothing. We will not learn from this until Zimmerman is arrested and convicted for his crimes. I whole heartedly believe that. I am reminded of a quote from the movie Ghosts of Mississippi: "No man is above the law... When that kind of murder happens, no matter who the victim, no matter what their race, there is a gaping wound laid open on society as a whole. Justice has sometimes been referred to the soothing balm to be applied to the wounds inflicted on society, but when there is no justice, those wounds can never be cleansed". This applies here. We need to see justice prevail. We need to let society heal.

Now, I should mention, for those of you who have never been to the south, that racism is not rampant. Not every white person in the south is a racist and it should be noted that most of Central Florida is outraged by this situation. I for one, have not met someone around here who actually defends Zimmerman. What this situation does show us is that we have spent so much time sweeping racism under the rug, so afraid to talk about it for so long, so afraid that discussing race is seeing race and seeing race is racist, that now we have found ourselves in the midst of  an emblazoned battle in which race and race relations has to be discussed. Wouldn't it have been easier to discuss it openly, to embrace our differences in order to understand them better and remove the racial xenophobia? Perhaps.

This topic could go on forever. In fact, it seems like it has, but I won't dwell on it for the sake of dwelling. If there is one thought that I would like to leave you with, it's the following: there is one thing that we can all agree on coming out of this situation-- love your children. Treat your neighbor's child like you would your own. Love everyone for who they are: black/white/Hispanic/ etc., gay/ straight/ other. Learn to celebrate the differences, get to know the differences and embrace them.