This is a letter to Mike Marqusee, Media Workers Against the War. I am a naval reservist with the U.S. Navy. Your points are well taken. I am ever alert to our own purchase and consumption of propaganda as U.S. citizens. Your evaluation of military tactics and use of land and air forces is completely accurate as conceived since the Korean War. I, however, am not content with the notion that we have, as an animal surpassed, or are about to surpass, the need for sophisticated techniques of warfare. We cannot dispose of the awareness of threat unilaterally.

Hawks continually seek to engage U.S. military assets abroad for their own gain, regardless of competing views of the national interest. This is a gross distortion of the concept of 'National Defense'. "Growing Democracy" internationally is the least and last effect of most U.S. military interventions in any other nation on the globe. Many in the military of the U.S. believe in that higher aim that our international engagements might engender, a replication of the ideals propounded by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. When I say "many" I mean both officer and enlisted. But just as in national politics, where prejudice and emotion rule, we are the minority.

I have chosen to engage as a member of the armed services because, in part, the reactionaries have laid claim to the right of credibility in U.S. foreign policy based on their own service, or their sons or daughters willingness (albeit often mythical), to fight for their country. I want communication and cooperation between nations and peoples. I do not believe this is a forlorn hope with a treaty only delivered on the barrel of a gun. Nevertheless, the armed forces serve as a safety net to keep all the poker players playing fair.

Sincerely, William Lofton

 

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