Posted on 06/27/2014 9:55:16 AM PDT by Second Amendment First
*
In the United States today, the names Apache, Comanche, Chinook, Lakota, Cheyenne and Kiowa apply not only to Indian tribes but also to military helicopters. Add in the Black Hawk, named for a leader of the Sauk tribe. Then there is the Tomahawk, a low-altitude missile, and a drone named for an Indian chief, Gray Eagle. Operation Geronimo was the end of Osama bin Laden.
Why do we name our battles and weapons after people we have vanquished? For the same reason the Washington team is the Redskins and my hometown Red Sox go to Cleveland to play the Indians and to Atlanta to play the Braves: because the myth of the worthy native adversary is more palatable than the reality — the conquered tribes of this land were not rivals but victims, cheated and impossibly outgunned.
The destruction of the Indians was asymmetric war, compounded by deviousness in the name of imperialist manifest destiny. White America shot, imprisoned, lied, swindled, preached, bought, built and voted its way to domination. Identifying our powerful weapons and victorious campaigns with those we subjugated serves to lighten the burden of our guilt. It confuses violation with a fair fight.
It is worse than denial; it is propaganda.
*
Noam Chomsky has clarified the moral stakes in provocative, instructive terms: “We might react differently if the Luftwaffe were to call its fighter planes ‘Jew’ and ‘Gypsy.’ ”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
A warrior's combat worthiness is measured by the combat worthiness of the warriors he has defeated in combat.
With that in mind, defeating Arabs in combat isn't a noteworthy achievement, so I don't think any future U.S. Army aircraft will bear Arab names.
Now shut up and board the freight car.
Why can’t these news rags just fold already?
now this is just getting silly.
Native Americans are part of our history as America.
its the same reason why we have Corinth Mississippi, Syracuse New York or a number of Londons are Berlins around the country.
Greek Titans aren’t real but we still name Missiles after them.
Indians WERE often as brave in battle as Men can be and as such are worthy of Tribute in the minds of Men who understand Human nature in battle.
I don't much care about what happened to the Indians. What happened to them has happened to every indigenous people when a more advanced civilization expanded into their area. The same thing happened to the Gauls, the Celts, etc in ancient times as the Romans moved further north and west. When descendants of those people moved into the New world, they moved out the primitive indigenous people here as well. It's always been that way. Somehow, the bad treatment of American Indians is the only instance of this that we ever hear about.
The US government has been using the letter “R” for decades. CENTURIES even!
Personally I am offended by the government’s profiteering and using the letter “R” in tax codes.
I demand that they pay me $9 Billion dollars.
What about all the things that the military uses that are here on the Earth? The Earth was created by God. Everything that they use comes from the Earth or is on the Earth.
Isn't there some violation of the “separation of Church and state” by mentioning an object that is on the Earth? /s
“USS Gabby Kelly Giffords”
- Good
I agree completely. The Indians lost because they fought using Stone-age tools against guns and cannon. And they were a bunch of backward barbarians who hadn’t progressed technologically in eons.
Time doesn’t stand still. So boo freakin’ hoo for the Indians. Crap like this isn’t going to help them get past their defeats.
another moral of the story
look what happens when you have an open border policy
Noam Chumpsky, the human bladderstone!
I haven’t heard Simon Waxman’s take on Fauxcahontas yet.
Hey, Simon, ya’ idiot. It’s a sign of honor and respect for one group of warriors to another. But you wouldn’t understand that, would you?
The Left is delusional AND retarded.
Out of respect. The US Army regards the Native Americans as worthy foes, and uses many of their tactics as training tools. When I was trained in guerrilla warfare tactics, readings based upon Geronimo's and Sitting Bulls's tactics were mandatory.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.