Battlefield Paradox


There are beautiful paradoxes, like those in Buddhist thought. Then there are ugly paradoxes, like the ones in the Memorial Day 2004 spotlight.

There is the ugly paradox of Pat Tillman, the Jack Armstrong-style American hero who gave up a life of wealth and glory in the NFL to soldier in Afghanistan, probably in the belief that his example, his athletic ability could be more meaningful in what he believed was defending his homeland, the noble role of young men in our history. But his death it now turns out was caused by an accident. He was killed by his own, in that horrible paradox called "friendly fire."

This is the reality of war. It is something that must be considered before the decision to go to war is made, and it must be considered in every decision on the conduct of war. This administration is open to the charge of callous disregard for these realities, and their mistakes in conduct of war are weighed in lives like that of Pat Tillman.

Then there is the ugly paradox of dealing with the realities of war. It has never been clearer than in the ongoing story of a San Francisco art gallery. Lori Haigh, owner of the small Capobianco Gallery located in a very liberal neighborhood of the very liberal city of San Francisco, exhibited a single painting which depicted Iraqi prisoners being abused by American soldiers. The basic imagery, of course, has been flashed thousands of times on TV screens. But some people feel very strongly that showing such images demeans the bravery and goodness of American soldiers, and the good soul of Americans in general.

So some of these people threw broken glass and garbage on the sidewalk in front of the gallery. Some 200 of them sent angry emails and voicemails, and some included death threats. A man walked into the gallery and spat in Lori Haigh's face. She closed the gallery. Then a man knocked on the door of the closed gallery, and when she came to the door, he punched the 39 year old Lori Haigh in the face, very hard. She lost consciousness, suffered a concussion and a broken nose.

So this is the ugly paradox of people protesting an image of Americans doing violent, hateful, bad things to unarmed helpless prisoners because Americans are good and what they are doing is noble, by doing violent, hateful and bad things to an unarmed woman on her own property, who is not forcing them to do anything at all, not even to look at an image similar to those brought into their homes on Fox News by Campbell's Soup, General Motors and McDonalds.

This is war: lashing out indiscriminately at the wrong enemy, with anger and hatred that belies the possibly good purpose. This is the paradox of patriotism in our time.

The World War II monument opened officially in Washington, honoring "the last good war" and the "greatest generation." Certainly the bravery of many in that war is worth contemplating and honoring, not just those who soldiered knowing their actions, initiatives and courage were small but necessary single parts of a large mechanism of war, but those who made brave decisions, not just in battle strategy but in diplomacy and purpose.

But recognizing this is not enough, in both senses of enough. It isn't enough for people to want to praise these people and what they did. They have to turn them into "the greatest generation." Greatest in comparison to what? Greatest because many of these men returned to become emotionally unavailable fathers who were never home, the "bad mood behind the newspaper" Robert Bly talks about? Greatest because they did what they were told on the battlefield, and came home and did what they were supposed to do, build suburbia, work for the corporation, and buy a new gas-guzzling car every year?

No, it's not enough, because we have to see the other side of the paradox. Yes, they were brave in a generally good cause, but many of them knew how screwed up that war was---as all wars are---and all their comrades who died needlessly, because of mistakes, arrogance, careerist officers, apathetic bureaucrats, etc. Some of those men returned to become strong voices against war. Vietnam may have produced John Kerry, but World War II produced Gene Roddenberry, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller and many others, just as World War I produced the great antiwar poets and novelists of that era. Virtually all the novels and movies prominent in the Vietnam 1960s that displayed the ugly paradox of war were created by members of "the greatest generation."

The paradox of war is in the pages and in the very title of James Hillman's new book, "The Terrible Love of War." War is ugly and war is beautiful in some respects, but both are heightened beyond what we perceive in ordinary life. War is the playground of the unconscious as well as the battlefield between the conscious and unconscious, individually and collectively. It is just as important for us to face both sides of the ugly paradoxes and take instruction from them, as it is to take joy and instruction in the beautiful paradoxes.

But surely the paradox that should be floating into the consciousness of most Americans today as they honor those men and women who died in World War II is the doubtfulness of a similarly justifiable cause for those we are sending to their deaths in Iraq. For those at the Vietnam Memorial today, that must be a bitter thought, without paradox or irony.