Forget about the fact that it's not an isolated incident, that it's a much more common occurence in the fields of Mesopotamia these days...than what's represented by the mainstream media in the U.S.

I'm not going to take the tack that this or that action is wrong. I'm not about to argue against particular abominations being inflicted by the U.S. against Iraq (for so long now). The mere presence of the U.S. military in Iraq is a horror that must not be countenanced. But my complaint runs much deeper than that.

There is no honor possible for that Marine or any of his colleagues, co-killers. Go-for-it arrogant, overfed children with guns. Adults who can't know any better. (1)

Honorable discharge? Entering the U.S. military machine as a working part precludes the possibility of any such honor being bestowed.

For it is a dishonorable occupation.

Progressive U.S. writers --and their overseas colleagues-- who trace the history of our military or delineate where this or that went wrong vis-a-vis the most recent military "mistake," miss the boat. They do not penetrate the core of what's whorishly, horribly wrong about what's going on.

The U.S. is rotten to the core, and it always has been. Its military might is obviously the arm that implements its rotted will, spreading its infection.

A dear friend, an Italian journalist wrote to me this morning. I quote her at length here for many reasons...in leading up to my conclusion:

"Believe it or not, someone is doing a petition on behalf of the marine that shot the Iraqi wounded man, a useless criminal act that was seen by the entire world on TV. Is this why Bush won the elections again? Looks like lots of people are fascinated with the word 'war'. It must have a spell on them of some kind. One never gets that many signature to save a man or woman about being executed, regardless of calls of innocence or because he/she was a juvenile, battered woman, ecc. You get thousands of signatures when the killer has a marine uniform and shots a man in cold-blood. Please, write an article about this. Keep it quite simple in English. I really think it says a lot about the 'silent majority' we often see mentioned in newspapers and magazines. Is the silent majority so thirsty with human blood and so fascinated by the war that will defend a killer only because he wears a uniform while no one will defend killers produced by social ills?. I think that the opinion of an American could have an impact here. I am sure u will have something to say here."

Yes, I do have something to say here. But it's not going to be easy for Europeans to digest. For one, in taking on the U.S. military from the particular angle that I have adopted I am saying something about the military machines of the EU too.

Nevertheless, Europeans are obliged to wake up to the fact that the U.S. is not their friend. Alliances with the U.S. can come to no good in the future whether it's in regard to our current ecocide or future genocides.

I do not see it as my job to spell out for readers the nooks and crannies of U.S. criminality. I do not want to repeat what is easily available elsewhere. As Samuel Beckett said in Waiting for Godot, habit is the great deadener. With that in mind, I say that the unending redundancy in the news is killing us all. For it is being discussed in lieu of taking action.

We must do something about the abominations represented by the act of that one Marine, the popular topic for today's headlines.

In the 19th century in America John Brown led a small number of abolitionists in a radical advance to end slavery. Within the Anti-Slavery Movement, he was labeled as an "immediatist," someone who was demanding change...right away. The more moderate wing among the abolitionists --much greater in number-- were "gradualists" who argued for reform over time.

Europeans have run out of time. Unless they acknowledge the horror that the U.S. has become (and would be even with Kerry at the helm) immediately...all is lost.

And it goes beyond that. They must acknowledge that the groundwork for Bush was laid not only by Reagan and Nixon, but by Carter and Clinton.

I submit that all Europeans with a conscience --those who in a time past would have risen up against Hitler and Mussolini-- lead the rest of the world in forcing the U.S. to acknowledge not just its "dishonorable" behavior, but its very American dishonorable attitude toward the world.

This daunting task can begin with just a handful of "John Browns" asserting themselves, being careful in the process...to not allow themselves to be taken out of the loop of activism prematurely by the authorities. The normal channels for rising up have been closed tightly. New paradigms are called for...immediately.

But first must come the attitudinal adjustment. In the name of what's honorable.


(1) Having been in academia for over three decades, teaching on all levels of the public school system until very recently, I can assure the reader that formal U.S. education precludes the possibility that graduates with a healthy perspective on our history, current intentions, etc. will prevail. The same is true, of course, for the increasing number of dropouts.

Richard Oxman can be reached at dueleft@yahoo.com in Los Gatos, California, U.S.A. He encourages all readers to contact him for suggestions related to "new paradigms" of action, etc.