Salon.com‘s Justin Elliot has a good piece about media adoration for the Navy SEALs, focusing on an NBC report.
Lest anyone think that report is a weird outlier, here are some quotes from the May 3 broadcast of ABC World News (you can watch it here, if you must):
DIANE SAWYER: Tonight, details are surfacing about that super-human force that took down bin Laden, the Navy SEALs known as Team Six. A force so elite you cannot apply to join their ranks, you are just silently recruited.
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CHRIS CUOMO: You know, Diane, as impressive as the details of the bin Laden operation are, you really start to appreciate how special these SEALs are, when you learn that taking out bin Laden was just another day at the office.
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CUOMO: A superhero has nothing on these guys.
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CUOMO: The only thing missing seems to be the ability to leap a building in a single bound.
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CUOMO: But for all their physical abilities, what Marcinko says really sets a SEAL apart, their most deadly weapon is their mind.
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CUOMO: You know, we keep comparing them to superheroes, but they’re different from superheroes in a very important way. They’re subtle. They’re known for their reserved, unassuming nature. So, they carry out missions with calm. Now, Diane, why? Well one big reason is that so the enemy does not know what it’s up against until it’s too late.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph …
All they’re lacking are spandex one-pieces and capes.
Although from my childhood, I don’t recall the Man of Steel ever blowing a hole in the head of an unarmed man.
Even if it was Lex Luthor.
A minor moral detail. Watch for the new recruiting video, “Killing the Snake”, based on the daring exploits of our avenging dark angels!
I guess this is as good a place as any to put this remark. Lenin wrote that colonialism was the highest stage of capitalism. Kwame Nkrumah updated that by writing the neocolonialism was/is the highest stage of capitalism. In all of this, the idea of a nation-state is central to the concept, the domination of one nation over another. I think we need to modify their thinking and recognize that the concept of a theoretically sovereign nation-state is vanishing. It is being replaced by international capital that knows no boundaries. No, I’m not saying we’re there yet, but things are moving in that direction. Right now the US, the leading neo-colonialist power, believes the world is its playground, vis-a vis the recent execution of bin Laden. (No, I’m not defending bin Laden.) No respect for due process. And if the vanguard of US capital, aka the Republican Party, has its way, we will see a total marriage of the private sector with the state, what Ralph Nadar calls the corporatization of the government. Here’s where the libertarians totally fail. They do not see the connection between the private sector and the state. They do not understand the inherent tendency of capital to concentrate its wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands. By “highest stage” both Nkrumah and Lenin meant two things: highest in the sense of being the most developed and highest in the sense of being last. I think we need to modify what they wrote and state that international fascism is the highest stage of capitalism.
Um … make that “video *game*”.
Some people might take joy in the existence of men trained to sneak up on an enemy, kill them efficiently, and sink back into the woodwork, but it scares the hell out of me. Remember, these are trained killers and will have no compunction about killing anyone their government orders them to. They do not care about international law, the courts, or the quaint notion that one is innocent until proven guilty. Yeah, I honor their dedication and their commitment, but I do not go along with their easy obedience to authority.
It might be worth recalling that all too often the valor of these super-soldiers involves killing unarmed or unresisting targets. This appears to be the situation in bin-Laden’s case as well.
It is sometimes necessary to defend and protect your country. However, I find rejoicing in killing disgusting and mentally ill. It is the outcome of a country where a large population of people take pleasure watching the autopsy of murder victims on TV every night. I can’t find words to express how insane I think this is, and what a tragic waste of our lives. We are alive, and should be rejoicing in our lives, however because American corporate and pop culture socializes us to be too insecure to rejoice, we get addicted to sick fascination with death instead.
Thanks, Rivka–right on the money. That exchange above is childish, deeply immature, and strongly suggests that Sawyer and Cuomo (not Mario’s son, surely?) aren’t fit to do anything but the most menial labor (cleaning the floors of park outhouses, burning the shit of our brave fighting men and women in war zones all over the globe). That this apparently doesn’t embarrass them is reason enough to seriously question our country’s future.
These men are highly trained, but hardly supermen. Marcinko describes them as He-Man types, when actually they are generally of average build, just very well-conditioned. It’s their mission-oriented training and access to cutting-edge hardware that makes them special. When I was in the Marines I knew several SEALS and Recon (who are a match for any SEAL) and they are extremely dedicated and can be intense, but “supermen” – that’s hilarious.
Remember Disney owns these buffoon’s contracts and there must be some pull to hiring the cartoonish. None of the Cuomo’s ever impressed me including Mario.
No soldier of any kind is a hero to me. Killing is not an honorable thing even if it is sometimes necessary. Remember too what happens to many of these men when they leave the service. They are often a threat to others and themselves. It is hard to let that kind of training and behavior go.
Oprah had on some true heroes this week. She featured the Freedom Riders of the 1960’s. They showed incredible bravery in a non-violent way. Their cause was just, and their victory made a far better world. Would that we all put forward this kind of human being as our heroes, we might just change a thing or two.
Well stated and thought out BTJ. Thanks.
@MDNees
When i was in the Navy (80-84) i knew several SEALS. At that time the bad taste of American Imperialism vis a vis Vietnam was still the prevailing culture in the Millitary and the “superhuman” recon/green beret/SEAL myth was deeply rooted in the culture of that Conflict. Except they werent super heros then they were , at best, super- antiheros, if not “crazy” and “whacked out” methamphetamine/kill junkies .Books were first being written then about the SOG teams and the Phoenix assasination program and the general public was hearing, usually for the first time, the stories which were by then widely known and even semi-legendary in the millitary culture. Its nauseating to watch how the concept of a program of government sponsored murder has gone from creepy,disturbing and “whacked out” to heroic and superhero-like. I feel like im living in the 4th Reich.
The special forces are our terrorists. Since that is what they do. They also operate outside of international law as well since their operations are usually secret. Its interesting how they are letting in the gung-ho White Nationalist types again. The macho of the macho who love guns and combat. That doesn’t make them super men just among the most deadly on earth. But even so they aren’t your regular soldier and go behind “enemy” lines. That is into other people’s countries to do their work. What I see is in the semi-deification a means of accomplishing the creation of nationalist myths. We saw it with the Nazis who did the same thing. They were special, they were the best, they were right and the enemy was wrong. It is a bad habit that needs to be broken.
SEALS among the other special forces are the elites among the military in their intense training and cross discipline so that they have very small units. However they aren’t there for long fire fights. In fact they would avoid it since they are of such a small number and are there for in an out work. Wet or otherwise.
I was puzzled that they killed OBL if he was unarmed. Either they were there to kill him or there is something missing in the narrative they won’t tell us. You would think they would have wanted to interrogate him first. But then they have lied before and since no autopsy was done and no way to verify the chain of information he could be in some black out prison under torture right now for all we know. Nothing hypothetical about it. Our military and clandestine services have done it for years and once your dead and “buried at sea” who can say otherwise?
This is just the American Holy Reich in its still formative stages. We still have some elements of our Democratic-Republic, but for how long?
So are you saying the American media is trying to craft the reaction to the news by framing the news in a un-real manner? That happens in the USA? No… lol, ok it does. All the time. Navy Seals may or may not be the modern sons of Zeus. (I’m trying to get into the media, how is that one?) :P
Night Gaunt
I think your framing of the SEALs is forgetting something.They are nothing…….nothing but an arm of the Presidents wishes.If he is a terrorist- THEY are terrorists.And if he is not-THEY are not.They were not formed to be “AMERICAS TERRORISTS”.They were formed to be a collection of small units- highly trained, that could be inderdicted quickly, fully self supported, for lightning military strikes.They are constantly training as their capabilities and needs for them expand.An elite force with the utmost in espirit de core.
You come close to questioning the motives of anyone who IS a SEAL(gung ho white nationalist types).
When you are a marine, or in the Army ,or some other charge, you are aware that their are groups like the SEALS that demand the maximum in physical and mental endurance.They demand every ounce of stamina you have in their training.For people who are in the service this is sometimes a high bar they wish to shoot for.Black/white/or green matters not one wit.I hae this sneaking feeling that you do not see out fighting men as AMERICAS FINEST.Remember they risk all to secure what most take for granted.