The Tiger Trap of Empire . . .
US Soldiers Party in Baghdad Zoo: Casualties
include rare Bengal
tiger
Two US soldiers in Iraq got drunk last week and
proceeded to the Baghdad zoo. According
to the zoo's nightwatchman , the soldiers were out of uniform and
drinking beer. One of the soldiers tried to feed a Bengal tiger through the
bars. The tiger chewed off his finger. The other drunken GI whipped out his
weapon and pumped the tiger full of lead. The Bengal tiger is an endangered
species, protected by
the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species and the World Conservation
Union . The Army reports that it has opened an
investigation.
What else was going on in Iraq that day? There was an ambush on an American troop convoy in Khalidiyah , a town west of Baghdad. Initial reports indicated 8 American soldiers killed. Later, it was determined that three had been killed. Though witnesses on the scene reported the removal of more burned bodies of American GI's. Around the same time, the Iraqi police chief of Khalidiyah left his office to travel home . A few minutes later a motorcycle pulled up in front of his car. A pickup truck pulled up alongside the chief's car. Gunmen opened fire, killing the chief and wounding three fellow policeman. That same day, Hans Blix, the UN weapons inspector who was the object of outrageous Bush administration mockery in the months leading up to the Iraqi invasion, claimed that both the UK and US had "spun" intelligence to justify their plans to invade Iraq.
Can you blame the two American GI's for their act of stupidity and contempt? A couple of 20 year-old guys from the boonies or the inner city trapped in Baghdad for much longer than they ever dreamed, surrounded by sudden, irrational violence, their very reasons for being there increasingly suspect by their fellow countrymen, the international community, and the Iraqis themselves? Contempt, reckless disregard - - under conditions like these, responses like that have a logic. Gary Leupp riffs on the metaphoric significance of the tiger episode - - US military, tiger cage, bloodied fingers, exorbitant response as an allegory of the US's larger situation in Iraq. The Baghdad zoo incident also suggests, beyond the ways in which Iraqi chaos is so intertwined with the US's blundering confusion, that those in charge of the whole operation need to exercise a little discipline - - the Iraqis aren't the only ones suffering from anarchy.
Empire is the Bush ambition - - geopolitically, economically, etc. What kinds of human beings does Empire breed? Leftists often rightly focus on those at the receiving end of imperialism's big stick - - the poor, the wretched, the brown-skinned. But, we shouldn't forget what Empire does to those who swing the big stick - - contempt for others, recklessness, irresponsibility, racism, callousness. The violence doesn't discriminate; it consumes - - in body and spirit - - all the inhabitants of Empire.
What else was going on in Iraq that day? There was an ambush on an American troop convoy in Khalidiyah , a town west of Baghdad. Initial reports indicated 8 American soldiers killed. Later, it was determined that three had been killed. Though witnesses on the scene reported the removal of more burned bodies of American GI's. Around the same time, the Iraqi police chief of Khalidiyah left his office to travel home . A few minutes later a motorcycle pulled up in front of his car. A pickup truck pulled up alongside the chief's car. Gunmen opened fire, killing the chief and wounding three fellow policeman. That same day, Hans Blix, the UN weapons inspector who was the object of outrageous Bush administration mockery in the months leading up to the Iraqi invasion, claimed that both the UK and US had "spun" intelligence to justify their plans to invade Iraq.
Can you blame the two American GI's for their act of stupidity and contempt? A couple of 20 year-old guys from the boonies or the inner city trapped in Baghdad for much longer than they ever dreamed, surrounded by sudden, irrational violence, their very reasons for being there increasingly suspect by their fellow countrymen, the international community, and the Iraqis themselves? Contempt, reckless disregard - - under conditions like these, responses like that have a logic. Gary Leupp riffs on the metaphoric significance of the tiger episode - - US military, tiger cage, bloodied fingers, exorbitant response as an allegory of the US's larger situation in Iraq. The Baghdad zoo incident also suggests, beyond the ways in which Iraqi chaos is so intertwined with the US's blundering confusion, that those in charge of the whole operation need to exercise a little discipline - - the Iraqis aren't the only ones suffering from anarchy.
Empire is the Bush ambition - - geopolitically, economically, etc. What kinds of human beings does Empire breed? Leftists often rightly focus on those at the receiving end of imperialism's big stick - - the poor, the wretched, the brown-skinned. But, we shouldn't forget what Empire does to those who swing the big stick - - contempt for others, recklessness, irresponsibility, racism, callousness. The violence doesn't discriminate; it consumes - - in body and spirit - - all the inhabitants of Empire.
Posted: Wed - September 24, 2003 at 08:48 PM
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Published On: May 23, 2004 01:07 PM
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Published On: May 23, 2004 01:07 PM