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Gulf-Era Vet Speaks Against War

By Paul King

[This is a revised speech made by King in Champaign, Illinois on April 1, 2004.]

At 18 years of age, most of us are still children in our society. Physically, we are grown, but emotionally, morally, ethically and spiritually we are not fully-formed. Many of our children are lured or compelled into the military when they turn 18. This is wrong.

Looking back at how I was manipulated and indoctrinated by the military, I feel a profound sense of personal violation. I can never forgive my country for this. Although I never personally took another life, I was involved in an organization whose business is murder. I was successfully indoctrinated. I actually believed there was nothing wrong with taking the life of another human being. Not only was I instructed in the task of taking life indiscriminately, but mindlessly and with empty rage. I learned how to stab people, shoot people, blow them up, maim and slaughter them. And I was taught that this is not wrong ... that it is not wrong to drop bombs on cities, starve populations, and destroy their environments, because I am an American.

No one is born a murderer. No one naturally believes that killing is right. This is viscerally known deep inside and is a part of what makes us human. When the State takes a young adult from us and teaches him hatred and murder, this constitutes an ultimate violation of the person, his family and his community. His intellect is compromised, genuine emotions are subdued and the person as a whole is made into something less than human.

This is rape. Morally, ethically and spiritually.

Most people are not in the armed services because they want to be soldiers. They're looking for college money, adventure or an escape from poverty. Others believe the American military is an instrument of peace and desire to help others. Many want to be challenged to their physical and emotional limits, to "be all they can be." These are all reasons why I joined.

These desires can be better met through other programs that would not only serve these young adults better, but Americans and people of other countries as well. But we do not fund them. Why? Why don't we expand AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, Citizen Corps and Freedom Corps so that young people can meet their needs for respect, adventure, money and altruistic aspirations?

Every dollar spent on the military produces fewer jobs than every dollar spent on a social program. And the equipment that our money buys for our soldiers is complete shit. My equipment was defective and poorly-made. My vehicle routinely broke down. Consequently, my job was more difficult and dangerous than it needed to be.

Domestic programs are being dramatically cut. Our schools are buckling under debt. We are ranked 37th for health care by the World Health Organization. We are the only industrialized country in the world without national health care. People can no longer afford to live on minimum wage working two jobs, let alone one. And we spend half of our national wealth on a poorly-equipped military. Where is this money going?

Rather than teach our young people hatred and murder, we should be teaching them the skills of tolerance, understanding and peacemaking. We should be paying them to create domestic commonwealth and provide aid to the international community that would accomplish more toward thwarting terrorism than any number of bombs could ever do. We have the money for this. A strong economy does not need to be based on the military-industrial model.

The image of the soldier as a person of valor is bullshit. Soldiers aren't warriors these days. They're bureaucrats, mechanics, doctors, engineers and technicians. They have no more authority in matters of war and peace than anyone else. We should not be blind, however, to heroic acts sometimes performed by soldiers. We should honor those who disagree with war, but agree to participate. These people are capable of doing much good. They can diminish misery and cruelty in the battlefield. They are necessary for keeping humanity alive in the midst of our darkest moments.

However, we should not confuse admiration for the work of these good people with admiration for the industry of killing. Some of us are lucky enough to choose this way of life mindfully, aware of all requirements and consequences and with intentions aligned with our higher potentials and ideals. Most 18-year-olds are not capable of this. I was not such a person. I believed in war. And I am ashamed of that.

Half of the children born to veterans of the first Gulf invasion have deformities. Our country has poisoned an entire generation of its own people.

Iraq has been bombed and terrorized by the United States for 12 years. We dropped a thousand bombs on them on the third day of the invasion. Each one cost one million dollars. Many were tipped with depleted uranium and we've deposited tons of this dust in their deserts. It's everywhere. The cancer rate among the people there is extraordinarily high.

While I was in the military I was discouraged from asking natural questions that arise in any sane person's mind. Why? Why would we do this? Why would I participate in this? Why would I pay for this? Why are people back home proud of me for this? America perpetuates holocausts across the globe with impunity and our people are blind.

Peace worker Kathy Kelly states that "democracy is based on information." Without knowing the activities of our government, there can be no hope of exercising democracy with any degree of competence to change our culture of war. Ironically, the most important lesson that I learned while I was in the military was from the Russians. Glasnost is a word that means truthfulness, openness and transparency.

In the interest of glasnost and in deference to our old nemesis, I no longer intend to keep secrets for the government. I will not contribute to the shroud of secrecy that keeps our people ignorant, democracy at bay and, perhaps worst of all, separates and divides us from one another.