Curtis A. Bronzan

All political commentary aside, this notice I found in our apartment’s shared laundry facilities could lead to an interesting discussion regarding the role of the military in American society. It reads:

Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB) and 40th ID (M) would like to notify all of it’s surrounding neighbors that on Friday, July 31, 2009; our post will be celebrating a change of command ceremony, during this ceremony a battery salute will be initiated to signify the command of major General harrel. This salute entails the firing of 13 rounds (blanks) from a 105mm Howitzer. DO NOT BE ALARMED, there are controlled ordinances’ and are of no harm to the public. However, JFTB and 40th ID (M) felt obligated as good citizens and neighbors to notify the surrounding area of ths celebration and issue a sound warning.

While I am thankful for the “sound warning,” it is quite ironic when, in the middle of a densely populated community, a miltary training base – which includes the training of foot soldiers, flying of helicopters and planes at all hours of the night – seeks to be “good neighbors.”

In fact, all who support preemptive war should be forced to live in my apartment for a week, across the street from the JFTB.

Taxi to the Dark Side chronicles the capture, 5 day torture and eventual murder of Dilawar, an innocent civilian taxi driver at United States-run Bagram Air Force Base in early December 2002. Director Alex Gibney (who also directed the – also disturbing – Enron documentary Smartest Guys in the Room) won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2007.

After chronicling the torture, homicide, and certification of death given to Dilawar’s family – in English! – Taxi to the Dark Side reveals the extent to which the events and personnel at Bagram influenced further torture throughout occupied territories, including Abu Ghraib.

Gibney further uncovers the myriad ways in which the CIA upheld the letter of the Geneva Convention, while completely disregarding it’s intent. Most notable were their utter disregard for proper training in interrogation, unwillingness to discipline officers, and even encouragement to base staff to do “what needed to be done.”

I would encourage all who care about justice to pick up – or place in your queue – this important documentary, especily considering that these travesties have been perpetrated in the name of freedom and democracy.

I am further concerned (or is the word disgusted?) about a recent CNN study that revealed the more Americans attended church, the more they accept the use of torture. This reminds me of the writing of René Girard, who has asserted that instead of putting an end to violence (as it should), the cross – for Christians – has justified it.

But that’s another post for another day.