Terror And Leadership
The other day, I awoke with nothing but an aspiration to enjoy the warmth of my climate-controlled apartment overlooking my city. It started off wonderfully, with b-list DVRed television and an omelet that made my toes curl. It all came crashing down when I saw that the President was hosting yet another summit, this time on “violent extremism.” This was of course being performed in the shadow of the Copenhagen shootings and the executions of twenty-one Coptic Christians in Egypt. Once I finished rolling my eyes at the academic farce, I decided to see what the big deal was. So I watched 21 Egyptians have their heads sawed off. This was not my first beheading video, which is unfortunate. But to tame all fears, I don’t watch them for the entertainment; I watch them for the reality check. It is clear that this video represents an entirely different situation, a transition even, from the previous videos. These guys turned it up to eleven and then raised it ten. It is biblical brutality of the highest order that ends with (spoiler alert) a Tarantino-like finale with crimson waves crashing upon the beach. I think those assholes were trying to imply something, but like a good Tarantino movie, it’s lost in the ether. I finished that day spinning everything over in my head. I came to two conclusions: One, our country has zero leadership, only clever administrators with talking points, looking for camera time; and two, we (Americans) are better off in life because we collectively have a weaker stomach for that type of violence. Let me explain…second point first.
I know – I know, executions by decapitation have been happening for millennia or at least since the invention of sharp-things. So when put into the Presidential perspective of the Crusades, a contemporary knife is somewhat more humane than having a stone-chipped blade cut through your soft tissue and spine. “This kind of stuff isn’t new! Right?” No, it isn’t. It was considered honorable by the Romans, and was the most typical way to be executed in Medieval England, if you were a citizen. Beheadings were also considered the most humane way to be knocked off since it was the quickest and cleanest method at the time. So yes, when put into the context of the middle ages, death by decapitation is pretty humane. That is, though, if you consider the alternative for the day: being drawn, hung (for fun, not death), disemboweled, and then finally beheaded. Hell yeah, give me the sword!
What about today? What is it like presently? Thanks to the Internet, you can find out. You can observe hundreds of videos where barbarians with cast iron stomachs do their worst to people they hate, for no other reason than they are part of a tribe, sect, country, or religion they don’t like. So if you are in the mood to hear grown men cry and scream in agony and horror, be my guest. I promise it will change you. I don’t care who you are, it will.
We witness the “violent extremism” so much now that it required me to conduct careful thought and introspection. Not like the histrionics currently being exercised in Washington D.C., but a personal one, based on my own, albeit limited, perception.
Today, society goes apoplectic (I believe correctly) over an adverse reaction to the chemicals of a lethal injection and yet so many, though not all, dismiss the brutality of beheadings in other countries, because we are separated by a world of water. Curiously, it is gaining a renewed intrigue with the public due to the wonders of social media and a twenty-four hour news cycle. When we do seem to care, it’s only at the margins by people with a lot of bark but no bite. It is interesting how we never really talk about the actions of (extremist) cartel thugs in Mexico or on the Mexican border. Why? Well, the people are nameless, and their last seconds on planet Earth are not posted on the Internet like a VEVO music video, in fashionable camera angles and Adobe Premier quality editing. Some Cartel executions are recorded mind you, but the media will not touch it. And most of the victims are part of the drug trade anyway. So who cares…eh? Their heads, to be fair, are put on display, which is horrible no less, but it’s not as sexy. And let’s be real here, the music on all of the Islamic videos have that ominous prayer music that is scary as shit. The cartels can’t play their own music…we all know what it would sound like. Table for two.
Back on point, the only reason a botched lethal injection is so awful, is because as a modern society we know we can take care of our bad-guys in a better way. This is simply because we are better. Even as modern war fighters, we know of quicker, cleaner ways to end someone’s life that do not require two bags, though, given the right circumstances, a mason jar could work. We no longer view suffering in the way animals do, as an unchanging certainty. Which, not too long ago, even in modern society, men once accepted as the natural state of things. That kind of thinking today is called “Third World.” Death no longer requires men to feel the other’s life end. Death has become impersonal. It is typified when modern governments paying millions upon billions of dollars to make smart bombs that can hit a terrorist’s doorknob and miss the ever-present elementary school next door.
We all have undergone a massive change in mindset. It took the societal recognition of any individual’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for such a change to take place. Once this was accepted we had to turn away from acts of cruelty and to progress past the ways of savages, the ways of ISIS (ISIL?). All to get to the point where we debate persnickety matters involving the value of men on death row and what constitutes “moral” warfare.
ISIS is the most current rendering of Islamic savages (terrorists) today. Yet unlike Al Qaida, these guys can pair their savvy with their blood lust. ISIS is driven by ideology and faith; and more importantly, they know what GWAM stands for (not just the Urban Dictionary version). So basically, you cannot reason with them, but you can admire their witty Tweets. Which brings me back to the head shaker: the ‘Summit on Countering Violent Extremism.’ What are President Obama and the 60 other countries really trying to figure out? The President said on February 19th:
… we have to confront the warped ideologies espoused by terrorists like al Qaeda and ISIL, especially their attempt to use Islam to justify their violence…These terrorists are desperate for legitimacy. And all of us have a responsibility to refute the notion that groups like ISIL somehow represent Islam, because that is a falsehood that embraces the terrorist narrative.
Confront the warped ideologies? Really? I agree to a point. But can anyone reason with a barbarian who stands on a beach with his fellow assholes and celebrates Islam by beheading 21 CHRISTIANS in a MUSLIM country? Please sir, tell me you are kidding. I agree, go at them intellectually in public, and fight for their hearts and minds, but find out where they live afterwards… I cannot be the only veteran who is constantly doing a palm slap to the forehead when our leadership says these things.
As a veteran who served in Iraq, I watched in disgust, its deterioration. It resembled the last scene of Titanic: too long, very tragic, and probably preventable. Believe it or not, though, I am not one to say we should go back in and take over the country; I think we are all pretty tired of fighting in that region. We know the President is, which is understandable. I was there – I get it. What I am saying is that ISIS has turned terrorism into a Chicago street fight and we are trying to convert them like Evangelists. It’s a hollow attempt to change their perception. We are bringing books to a bomb fight and everyone knows it won’t work, so stop with the preaching and the pillow-fight language. These guys are cutting heads off and laughing at us. It’s okay to say that it’s pissing you off. You’re not giving them legitimacy; you’re talking shit before you step in the ring. And for our leaders, it might get you a little respect among the 1%ers who legitimately earned our precious fire-watch ribbon. I remember back in ’06, an old Commanding Officer brought my platoon into a school circle for a quick moto-speech and he said, “Men, if people aren’t dying, we are in the wrong spot.” Those were sobering words that stabbed the heart. That is leadership. He carried the weight of our command on his shoulders, accepted what his decisions may cause, and said the words required for combat Marines’ mindset to do their job.
So as a final thought experiment, imagine if the President said the following: “ISIL, and all who are associate with them, are Islamic-Extremists, they murder innocent people, they suck, so we are going to kill them.” Full Stop. *He walks off the stage with cameras clicking and reporters screaming questions* That would take balls… Not even big ones. But balls are mysteriously in short supply among America’s leaders today. So I’m afraid ISIS will continue to get bolder; so more videos, worse than the one above, will become more frequent.
I really hate feeling helpless like this. 
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I got a pretty good laugh out of hearing about it, personally.
not to mention all the wars these things prevented from ever happening in the first place, which is kind of the preferable outcome isn't it?
