Masters of War

Masters of War                                       3403

February 7, 2006-3:40 P.M.

As chronicled below, I've been in "housekeeper" mode today, doing lots of good, mindless cleaning chores, like laundry, taking out the garbage, doing up dishes, and letting my mind wander.  One of the things I like to do is listen to talk radio while I'm working, it's good background if nothing else, and also if some breaking news event happens, I won't miss it.  This technique allowed me to see the second plane crash into the World Trade Center live on television, unfortunately.  It's one of those minutes I'd trade you in a heartbeat, but I'd probably regret not seeing it....it's the JFK assassination "where were you when it happened" moment of our generation, or at least right up there with the Challenger exploding after takeoff.

So I'm listening to commentary on the White House wiretapping program, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony to that end, and my mind floats away, and I realize that the current activities of the Bush administration ring familiar, and then I make the connection; these are the events of the 1992 film "A Few God Men" starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson.

To summarize the film, Tom Cruise, Kevin Pollak and Demi Moore are Navy and Air Force attorneys assigned to the case of two Marines who are charged with inadvertently causing the death of a fellow Marine in a practice that is called a "code red;" a code red being an extracurricular disciplinary action levied upon a fellow who has fallen behind, causing difficulty or dishonor to the others in his platoon.  In this case, a rag was stuffed in the Marine's mouth and covered with duct tape, which while meant only to scare the Marine into catching up with the rest of the platoon, to stop slacking, actually caused his death.

Code Reds do not exist in the handbook of military conduct of the Marines, it is a hazing, a discipline outside of the law, deemed necessary to keep the quality of the troops up to snuff by any means.  It is also illegal, and therefore, unspoken to preserve it's effectiveness.

Currently, this storyline parallels what's happening in the Bush White House today.  J.T. Walsh's Colonel Markinson, the subordinate to Jack Nicholson's Colonel Nathan Jessup, commits suicide rather than testify to Jessup's wrong-doings.  Is it far-fetched to draw a line to the resignation of Secretary of State Colon Powell?  Powell lied on the floor of the United Nations about WMD's, and calls it the biggest regret of his life.

How about Nicholson's tirade on the stand, when asked for the truth?  "You can't handle the truth!" he wails, continuing with "Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to."

Could this very well be the thinking, the rationale of a man like Bush, who had decided that his authority is preeminent, and above question, and that his end very well justifies his means?  It's scary sometimes how life imitates art rather than the other way around.

Luckily, the film ends with Tom Cruise's Lt. Daniel Kaffee goading Jessup into admitting his breach of law on the stand.  My question is, how can we get Bush, or Cheney, or Alberto Gonazales on the stand, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, or any of the conductors of this heinous war to testify, and stoke their arrogance to the point when they will slip up and admit the horrible truths?  That we do wiretap innocent Americans, that we torture captured enemy combatants, that we went to war with a predisposition to attack, and not to "defend" our nation, that the President knew about 9/11 before it happened, and God help us, may have orchestrated those events to usher us into the Middle East, that the current price of oil is a reward to the oil companies who contributed mightily to Republican campaign funding?

The level of corruption, lies and outright swindling of the American people has reached levels that make Richard Nixon look like Dwight Eisenhower.  Where is our Tom Cruise, our Daniel Kaffee, who can look Bush in the eye and stare him down and make him admit to his grievous sins, for which the Christ to which he so ardently claims to worship will most certainly judge him with terrible wrath?

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY