The Warrior's Ethos
"On what foundation stands the warrior's pride?"
- Samuel Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes
Dr. Johnson's question relates to the recent assessment of the war in Iraq. The Washington Post points to another source that the war proceeds into the quagmire that will bankrupt the United States in personnel and materiel. The quagmire, according to the article, has spread to the rest of the world because of American intervention in the Middle East. Perhaps this assertion will prove correct after the years of looking back, the historians' analyses, and the result of years of terrorist attacks on the homeland. But tonight, I thought I would use Dr. Johnson to explore what is so different between the two opposing forces. What causes men (and in the case of the United States, women) to plunge into the meat grinder?
For the jihadists, absolute truth exists. Unlike many Americans who believe that an individual defines truth set by some vague parameters based in religion, law, upbringing, the Islamists know for certain that the promise of paradise is granted for the ultimate sacrifice. Their leaders, the ones who easily send the young on suicide missions, may have alternative motives: power, money, status. If martyrdom were indeed so important to those who preach it, why would they not strap on the TNT belt and plunge into the next Baghdad cafe that they see? Thus, the warrior's pride rests on a promise, governed by the Supreme Being, but delivered through earthly intermediaries who have their own agenda. Might as well use the poor and destitute to get what you want if they are willing to go to Heaven for it.
For the servicemen and women in the United States, their pride rests on something different. The cynic will state that socio-economics influences enlistment in the miltiary. The cynics are partially correct, and the lack of particpation from scions of the upper and upper middle class proves this argument. However, the military, and in particular the combat units, swell their ranks with those volunteering for hazardous duty. Some join the military to pay for something they need or want: college, a chance to abandon their small towns, a dream of independence from poverty or to gain a job skill. But for the most part, the "trigger pullers" are men and women who want to serve at the edge of their own humanity, and they serve there so that others do not. In the heat of combat, loyalty to fellow unit members sustains the fight.
Thus, when we look at the combatants in this war, the War of Ideology that I have oft discussed, we see that a promise of paradise fights the promise of duty. Sure, the politicians drape themselves in Old Glory and speak of how soldiers and Marines want to spread democracy and provide a better life for the Iraqi people. Although I cannot quote any imam from Iraq, I imagine that their message sounds similar, that they will provide something for their people that Democracy and Capitalism cannot. In short, they fear what we guarantee, a chance for the individual to make up his mind about religion, politics, who shall be his friend, and whom he shall marry. In the ranks of the US military, you find many who serve for a promise, but in this case one given from the combatant to its citizens. Unlike his enemy, the Marine kicking in doors in Fallujah is guaranteed no eternal paradise. Instead, that Marine promises the citizens who sent him there, as General Robert E. Lee once said, "to do [his] duty in all things. [He] cannot do more. [He] should never wish to do less." His warrior's pride originates from the promise, but we depend on it, whether we support the war or not.
- Samuel Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes
Dr. Johnson's question relates to the recent assessment of the war in Iraq. The Washington Post points to another source that the war proceeds into the quagmire that will bankrupt the United States in personnel and materiel. The quagmire, according to the article, has spread to the rest of the world because of American intervention in the Middle East. Perhaps this assertion will prove correct after the years of looking back, the historians' analyses, and the result of years of terrorist attacks on the homeland. But tonight, I thought I would use Dr. Johnson to explore what is so different between the two opposing forces. What causes men (and in the case of the United States, women) to plunge into the meat grinder?
For the jihadists, absolute truth exists. Unlike many Americans who believe that an individual defines truth set by some vague parameters based in religion, law, upbringing, the Islamists know for certain that the promise of paradise is granted for the ultimate sacrifice. Their leaders, the ones who easily send the young on suicide missions, may have alternative motives: power, money, status. If martyrdom were indeed so important to those who preach it, why would they not strap on the TNT belt and plunge into the next Baghdad cafe that they see? Thus, the warrior's pride rests on a promise, governed by the Supreme Being, but delivered through earthly intermediaries who have their own agenda. Might as well use the poor and destitute to get what you want if they are willing to go to Heaven for it.
For the servicemen and women in the United States, their pride rests on something different. The cynic will state that socio-economics influences enlistment in the miltiary. The cynics are partially correct, and the lack of particpation from scions of the upper and upper middle class proves this argument. However, the military, and in particular the combat units, swell their ranks with those volunteering for hazardous duty. Some join the military to pay for something they need or want: college, a chance to abandon their small towns, a dream of independence from poverty or to gain a job skill. But for the most part, the "trigger pullers" are men and women who want to serve at the edge of their own humanity, and they serve there so that others do not. In the heat of combat, loyalty to fellow unit members sustains the fight.
Thus, when we look at the combatants in this war, the War of Ideology that I have oft discussed, we see that a promise of paradise fights the promise of duty. Sure, the politicians drape themselves in Old Glory and speak of how soldiers and Marines want to spread democracy and provide a better life for the Iraqi people. Although I cannot quote any imam from Iraq, I imagine that their message sounds similar, that they will provide something for their people that Democracy and Capitalism cannot. In short, they fear what we guarantee, a chance for the individual to make up his mind about religion, politics, who shall be his friend, and whom he shall marry. In the ranks of the US military, you find many who serve for a promise, but in this case one given from the combatant to its citizens. Unlike his enemy, the Marine kicking in doors in Fallujah is guaranteed no eternal paradise. Instead, that Marine promises the citizens who sent him there, as General Robert E. Lee once said, "to do [his] duty in all things. [He] cannot do more. [He] should never wish to do less." His warrior's pride originates from the promise, but we depend on it, whether we support the war or not.
posted by Henry Plantagenet at 10:18 PM
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