G.I. Jane in the Middle East
I recently came across an article from the Jerusalem Post which reminded me a lot of Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried. The article, entitled Palestinian women train with men at academy, details how in the second year of the police academy there are 16 women and 148 men who are training and graduating together. In the past this would have been an impossibility. The article states:
On Saturday, women clad in olive-green uniforms, some with their heads covered, marched together with the men. Farah Salman was one of them and said she dreamed of being a police commander.
It is ironic though that a uniform is supposed to delineate equality of the people who uphold the law, but in this case the women still wear their traditional head coverings. When describing the training Salman described it as an equal share of responsibilities between the women and the men:
Women do the same training as the men, which includes marching, crawling, shooting, riding horses and the trademark jumping through rings of fire.
It is certainly good to see that there are positive steps being made in the equality of women in Arab countries. A previous post I submitted brought this into focus for civilians, but this is the first time that I have heard anything about government roles being given to females. As I was reading this though I couldn’t help but to think of the “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” in O’brien’s book. In this short story a civilized and even stereotypical girl from America is slowly but surely indoctrinated into the Vietnam war by the green berets. Rat tells about the time when Mark sees her coming in from patrol with the green berets:
Her eyes seemed to shine in the dark–not blue, though, but a bright glowing jungle green. She did not pause at Fossie’s bunker. She cradled her weapon and moved swiftly to the Special Forces hootch and followed the others inside. Briefly, a light came on, and someone laughed, then the place went dark again. (106)
In this account the idea of a young girl in war was almost unbelievable, but there is a connection to be made between this story and the article. I believe that women should be afforded the same opportunities to show that they can operate and function under extreme duress. In one instance the idea of a woman in a war zone may be fiction, but the article is reality, and in a region that is so one-sided, it is beneficial to see changes made.
Palestinian Women Train with Men at Academy by Associated Press writers for the Jerusalem Post in Jericho
Punishing the Innocent
I have read A Long Way Gone and I couldn’t help but to notice how the children in the book were forced from their homes, not given adequate care, and conscripted into military service, all in the name of the greater good. It seems that the justification governments and rebel groups use when they force children to fight for them is that they are providing food and shelter for children who otherwise would not have anything. Although I find it ironic that if these warring adults had not been so selfish in the first place and started a war, the children would have been able to live in their homes with their families. Baeh describes his experience of being indoctrinated into the military when he writes:
I turned away, and my eyes caught the smashed head of another man. Something inside his brain was still pulsating and he was breathing. I felt nauseated. Everything began to spin around me. One of the soldiers was looking at me, chewing something and smiling. He took a drink from his water bottle and threw the remaining water at my face.
“You will get used to it, everybody does eventually,” he said. (100)
It seems to me that this is not benevolent behavior towards children, but rather a punishment for crimes uncommitted. The entire war for the children was a punishment, and what did they learn from this? Simply that they were not allowed to have a childhood.
I think a common theme that I have noticed with my posts is how humanity is expected to grow as time passes. I understand that Baeh’s story was only fifteen years ago, but with globalization and NGO’s becoming more prevalent it only makes sense that more good will towards other people should also increase, especially when it comes to children. However this is not the case. It is unfortunate that the very institutions that Baeh may have believed protected him (government) were the ones who used and abused him. The same can be said about an article from FoxNews on Friday April 17th, 2009. The article explains that in India an eleven year-old girl died because her teacher made her stand outside in the sun. The entire article is as follows:
A girl in India reportedly died after standing in the hot sun Wednesday as punishment for not doing her homework, AFP reported.
Eleven-year-old Shanno Khan’s teacher made her stand in the baking New Delhi sun, after which she got a bloody nose and fainted. Khan slipped into a coma after being taken to the hospital and died on Friday, AFP reported.
The teacher and school principal have been suspended, and criminal charges are pending after the autopsy results are released, according to local media reports.
While corporal punishment is illegal in India, it is not unusual for teachers to physically abuse students, AFP reported.
I remember when I was in elementary school and didn’t do my homework, I had to wait five minutes before I could go outside for recess. It is a crime when children are subjected to adult punishments with little to no regard for safety. Even though the teacher are principal could face criminal charges, that does not negate the fact that they overstepped their bounds. This is not just child abuse, but a human rights abuse. Both this girl and Baeh were forced into situations that for one cost her her life.
Indian Schoolgirl Left in Sun as Punishment Dies by FoxNews staffers
Religion as a Hostage
In recent news stories on the television and in the papers, I have noticed how holy sites such as mosques, churches, and temples have been used by terrorists and army personnel alike as means of cover, shelter, and even bases. I guess my naivete of war always made me believe that holy buildings were generally unused by soldiers, but it may be the other way around. In an April 14th article written by a staff member for the Jerusalem Post it told of how security forces for the Palestinian Authority uncovered a weapons lab, two bombs, and eight suspects under a Mosque. The article states:
Palestinian Authority security forces have uncovered an explosives lab under a mosque in Kalkilya, it was announced Tuesday.
Even if this lab was underneath the mosque the fact still remains that if a mistake were made by alledged terrorists, they could potentially kill hundreds of people who are worshipping above them. The article goes on to say:
PA police said eight people were arrested during the operation, which took place several days ago.
Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for the police, said two bombs were found in the lab. He would not say which organization the lab belonged to, but stated that it was run as part of efforts to destabilize PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s rule.
I recalled after reading this article a section of Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried entitled “Church”. The section included this:
“Its bad news,” Kiowa said. “You don’t mess with churches.” But we spent the night there, turning the pagoda into a little fortress, and then for the next seven or eight days we used the place as a base of operations (119).
It is interesting that as Americans, the soldiers in O’Brien’s squad had respect for where they were staying. Of course this respect was not carried out, but the observation by Kiowa allows a reader to sympathize and to feel better about the soldiers staying there; as long as they know it is not entirely right. However when it comes to Islamic extremists who use mosques as shelters, bases, or even as targets we find the acts deplorable. I believe that in any circumstance the use, destruction, or inhabitation of holy sites should be kept to a bare minimum. These sites are places of worship, not war, and to commandeer them for military purposes defeats the purpose of these buildings.
Using Youth
It can be seen throughout A Long Way Gone that indoctrination and “brainwashing” techniques were used on Baeh and his friends, all in the pursuit of building them up as fighting machines. To most Americans this is certainly cruel and inhumane. We pride ourselves on being politically correct and being a country that is devoted to human rights. Therefore when we read about children being pro-scripted into an army, it is one of the most dishonorable thing a country can do. Lies are used to develop these children into fighting machines. They are given food and safety at first, and then given a weapon and drugs. The weapon is for fighting, and the drugs are for compliance. The generals and lieutenants of the squads know that once the children are hooked on the drugs then it is only a matter of giving an order for the children to act on. They become dependent on the drug and the orders that are given to them. However going back to this idea that America is politically correct, what is to say that we are not brainwashing our own children? Don’t get me wrong, we are not doing this to send our children off to war and drugs, but to think a certain way. In an April 3 article for the New York Times Helene Cooper writes about how Obama connects with European youths:
President Obama, appearing on the eve of a NATO summit meeting here, told a cheering crowd of young people on Friday that “America is changing, but it cannot be America alone that changes.”
I find it ironic and amusing that this sort of indoctrination of ideals isn’t considered brainwashing in our first world countries. Think back to the run up to the election back in November, it was clear that technology played a genuine role for the Obama administration. Facebook users could stream the inaugural address by President Obama, and his campaign launched massive ads on the social networking site. Most people would agree that the majority of users on facebook are pre to late teens, as well as twenty something year olds. While most of these groups are of the voting age, a lot of them are not. I know what most people are wanting to say right now, that this has no comparison to Baeh’s situation. I understand that, but think about how the liberal and conservative media twist and strangle their stories until it sheds a positive light on what executives want covered. This post is not meant to be partisan in any way, but it does want people to understand that their will always be brainwashing in our world. There will also be lies told to people to encourage violence, conformity, or even silence. In any case, Baeh’s situation and any number of other people’s situations are not mutually exclusive, but rather are placed on a continuum which displays at to what degree people with power will brainwash youths.
Obama Connect with European Youth by: Helene Cooper, New York Times
