It’s not that the torture scenes weren’t pretty bad. They were: the bruised face, haunted eyes, scarred skin, and gradual deterioration from arrogant jihadist to a helpless, broken body pleading for mercy. But that didn’t make me cry, for when such torture is not an instrument of sadism, as the process unfolding in the film clearly was not, it is simply an instrument of war. And war is hell. That’s just what it is. This I knew.
The torture victim suffered, greatly. So did the victims of the terrorist attacks portrayed in the film: at the Marriott hotel in Pakistan, on buses in London, at a military base in Afghanistan.
There are of course other suffering groups that the film did not portray. For instance, the victims of the American led coalition’s air strikes against Iraq – estimated by the British medical journal Lancet to be over 60,000; the Iraqi civilians who suffered – perhaps died – when ‘shock and awe’ destroyed electric power, transportation, health supplies, and hospitals.
If we are to have a war on terrorism, if Al-Qaida and its ilk are going to have a war on us, if all of us, together, are going to make war, the suffering will go on and on. From torture, from bombs; of soldiers, of civilians; of men, of women, of children; of other species, of the earth.
So it is not the suffering that made me cry, but four simple words spoken by one of the Navy Seal team who took Bin Laden out. With confirmation of the kill, following the only mildly celebratory word “Geronimo,” came the soul-chilling phrase:
For God and country.
And that’s when, in comfortably appointed stadium style seating in a large urban multiplex, I had to muffle the helpless sobs that shook my body.
For God and country.
For isn’t that, more or less, what the jihadists also say? Bin Laden, whatever else one may say of him, believed that he was serving God, and the cause of creating a morally and spiritually purified Islamic state. Doubtless he and his followers – at least the ones not in it for the thrill of violence (of which we surely have plenty on our side as well) – knew that their acts were good and ours evil, that any reasonably moral person could tell who was in the right. Surely the terrorists on both sides know that they are defending the innocent and slaughtering people who deserve to die.
And if in that righteous, even holy, struggle some innocents have to be hurt, if some collateral damage occurs, well – that’s unfortunate. But we are sure that it is worth it. Perhaps some of our smart bombs misfire and hit a civilian home, a marriage procession, a school. Perhaps a jihadist bomb hits a London bus on which devout Muslims are traveling. Perhaps this or that torture victim really didn’t’ know anything, wasn’t hiding anyone, and just had nothing to say – all that anguish you caused him was for nothing.
That’s just the price we pay for war. Don’t want to pay that price? Horrified by what you see? Don’t moan about innocent deaths, as if we could ever just bomb the guilty. Don’t object when the strong overpower the weak – that’s what strength is for. Don’t complain about torture, as if you might advise a prizefighter to keep hitting, but try not to hurt anyone. If you truly want the horror to stop:
Stop the wars.
And that’s why I sobbed in the dark, because right now that’s simply not possible. We would rather kill and be killed, taking our chances in unending battle, then find another way to live.
I realize that some people are evil and “must” be stopped. I know the endless critiques of American imperialism, soulless, repressive dictators, lunatic religious fundamentalists who marry carnage and prayer books. And I know there are lots of reasons for the killing: class privilege, exploitation, the joys of patriarchal power, the lust for oil, the fear fear fear that our way of life, our homes, our culture are under attack.
And so the question is not “Does this film justify torture?” (It doesn’t.) But – “Is there any hope that human beings can stop the madness?” For thousands of years humanity has lived with war and dreamed of peace, died violently and prayed for non-violence, worshiped saints and prophets who preached love and then shed endless blood on battlefields.
Justice, care, compassion, willingness to live with less and to give more to others. Empathy for the suffering we cause to match (at least) rage over our own pain – these might help a little. But to really make an end to our species’ attachment to death–who knows?
The only certainty is, for the indefinite future, the continued torment. On the faces of the victims of torture, and of suicide bombs, and of smart bombs, and of justified revolutions and government repression and world empire and resistance to world empire.
What can we do?
As often as we have courage, try to be examples of peace. And weep.
That’s about it.
Roger S. Gottlieb is professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and author/editor of seventeen books on ethics, political philosophy, environmentalism, and spirituality. His newest book is: Spirituality: What it Is and Why it Matters. Here is an excerpt.
Mali is under siege by extreme Islamists and French troops are now in combat with them. Your thoughts.
I will not defend the invasion of Iraq, it was wrong. Not that Saddam Hussein as a moral victim. But we had EVERY right to go into Afghanistan and every right to go after Bin Laden. There was no clean way to go after an organization that does not play by any rules. It’s tough and methods ned to be questioned, but mark my words, only one side is asking hose questions.
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/2013/01/one-world-in-one-week-we-want-to-break-all-borders/
dear sammy,
i don’t agree that there is only one side seeking peace and asking these questions. you may not know of the folks, or met them, but they do exist.
i’m worried that there are people on the other side who say the same thing about us.
that’s how i see it
tim
Dear Timmy
I dare say you really do not get the Taliban. I guess you ought to speak to someone who has been subject to their oppression and the methods they consult themselves. They are the ones draw civilian deaths by hiding behind them.. I fully understand the evil side of the Taliban and the extremist interpretation of Islam. I suggest you join the better world the strive to create and come back with a report. I think your problem is that you live in a world far removed form them and it;’s easy to claim that we are the aggressors.
Remember one thing. One day you may be posting about woman’s rights in this country on the all mighty Tikkun Daily, a world leader i human rights.. I want you to think about woman’s rights under the Taliban when you choose to do so, I suggest Jeanie do the same
Actually, I prefer Tim to Timmy.
The theology and ideology of the Taliban is beyond disgusting. And, of course, they may come up with “good reasons” why their way is “good.”
Perhaps I misunderstood that you lumped all of Afghanistan and Islam with one brush.
There is a heresy called Manichaeism that says that one side is totally evil and the other side is totally good. When the Taliban or anyone else divides the world into two easily identifiable camps, black and white, then I will oppose that. Bin laden thought he was serving good when he was actually doing evil. That is the danger I see.
So I understand that you think I am naive, stupid, and maybe hypocritical. That is your right. I still see things differently.
Bin laden thought he was serving good when he was actually doing evil.”
I guess yo can say the same thing about Hitler. He thought he was doing “good”. No good deed goes unpunished.
i am going to wait on the movie. It is too early rot interpret a historic event such as the killing of Bin Laden. Am I sorry tat he was killed? No. Bin Laden philosophy included martyrdom. He ordered members of how group to go on suicide missions so he got want he wished fore his followers. Why should I mourn someone who literally celebrated death?
Yes, Hitler and bin laden believed in killing their evil enemies as a solution.I do not share their logic.
Do you share their bias’s? Logic is such a benign word.
Did you see the video?
BTW, French troops are currently in battle with the same AQ in Mali. Your thoughts?
When all peaceful tikkun shalom options are crossed out, then Satan must cast out Satan, violence must defeat violence. I say the French invading with “good violence” share the same faith as the Islamists who practice “evil violence.” I am an atheist to the god of violent crusader jihad, a blasphemer to those who sacrifice and worship this deity.
Yes, when all peaceful options have been eliminated, then we need force.
Now I feel alone and depressed that the Satan casting out Satan logic continues to prevail in Mali.
So there was nothing wrong with the NATO entry into Afghanistan t root out a terri coup tat attack us and the rhine that supported it.
sammy said: “There was no clean way to go after an organization that does not play by any rules.”
And you seriously think the U.S. plays by the rules? As Martin Luther King put it so well, the United States is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world”. That was true 50 years ago, and is even more true today. Using your logic, that a whole country deserves punishment for the actions of a few, then pretty much every country in the world has every right to attack and kill Americans for what the U.S. government has done to them.
To the author of this article…where is the proof that Bin Laden had anything to do with 9/11…he denied it outright. His so-called “confession” video was a fake. Google it and see if you really believe that person is OBL. That was why he was killed instead of captured…so he wouldn’t have the chance for a trial, where the truth about 9/11 and the lies of the U.S. government would be revealed to the world.
Jeanne,
I don’t know where you come from and I really do not care. But Bin laden left little doubt that he and AQ were behind 911. I wonder who you suggest might have done it. name one of the freakish conspiracy theories out there. All are easily dismissed because they wrong. I wonder if you also deny the Holocaust. you all seem to be cut from the same cloth. He died and no one is sorry about it.
If you want to live in Bin Laden’s type world, there are plenty of places for you to go. Who knows, maybe the Taliban will return to power in Afghanistan and all the woman will be forced out of schools and locked in the homes. I should think that as a woman there would he as much anti extremist Islamic passion as anyone.
Wake up people!!! AmeriKa is the largest terrorist nation on the planet and have been for over 60 years. Look at what monkeyboy is doing everyday. He’s killing 100’s of innocent children and the media doesn’t say boo. But another maniac kills 20 kids in CT and the propaganda machine is spinning all kids of crap, by people who are paid agents of the criminal government. Any excuse for the NWO/Police State to deprive law abiding citizens the right to keep and bear arms to protect themselves and their loved ones from the local criminals and those of monkeyboy’s criminal government.
Who gives a rats ass what is happening anywhere but in AmeriKa? The country is in such turmoil with all the lies and deceit propagated by the media and government liars. It’s time that the citizens fought back to regain their Civil Rights and return the Country to a Constitutional Democracy without all the criminal government officials.
How about rounding up the Bush’s, the Clintons, Rumsfeld, ASScroft, Cheney, Holder, Biden, Pelosi, and Monkeyboy and his cabal of criminals. Then drag their gnarly asses into the ICC for trials on various international felony charges then after their long deserved convictions they are to be publicly HANGED after enduring many hours of torture so they can admit their criminal behavior and the names of their NWO handlers.
Have a nice day and either aim for the head or the crotch.
Jim
Jim, Now that you emptied you load, do you feel better? Was it a happy ending for you?
If this film was a work of truth, then I am ashamed, if it were a work of art then where is the beauty. If it were a work of fiction where was the entertainment. Whatever it was I wasted my money and my time. Somewhere, sometime we must be brave and “turn the other cheek”. If there were a moral to this picture it was “to be brave and endure, to break the bounds of the circle of violance.