Random Thoughts on the Dead Americans in Jordan

When the story broke over the weekend I immediately thought of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and how happy he must be at this news. He wants to widen the war and there are plenty within the US Congress, Pentagon, and even White House that want the same. The Iran Hawks are already squawking – demanding some kind of massive bombing campaign – even if it leads to a massive war. As one commentator pointed out the Middle East is in the cusp of the biggest regional war since 1973. These people couldn't care less. Men like Lindsey Graham are literally just vampires – they live for blood.

Then today I saw the pictures of the Americans killed on the BBC website. First, I thought it noteworthy how much press they get as opposed to military members killed in other countries – let alone the thousands of faceless and nameless people killed in places like Gaza and throughout Africa. More could be said about the thousands of refugees that have died. Few in the West understand the wars and strife they're fleeing, and that's assuming they even care.

But returning to the killed Americans – I was immediately struck by the fact that they're all Black. One can't help but wonder if the military was the only way out for them – the way out of poverty and other traps. For some it was the only prospect of getting an education. Did they understand what they were signing up for? Did it ever strike them as strange that they're sitting in the desert on the other side of the world? Did they really believe the lies and propaganda that they were somehow defending America's freedom? Their community builds its narratives on being exploited and oppressed – did it never occur to them that's what the US is doing in places like Iraq and Syria – places they could literally see from their Jordan base?

The truth is they were expendable pawns – throwaways in a great game being played by powerful figures atop the world's power structure. They're not martyrs, they're not heroes, they're fools to be pitied. They literally died for nothing.

Their families won't be able to accept that and so back in their hometowns and neighbourhoods the legend is already being created. It will be manifest at high school assemblies, veteran's clubs, and in the bridges or overpasses named after them.

No one ever questions why the troops are where they are. The whole anti-ISIS justification is absurd and has been for some time. That's not what this is about. The US is involved in a much bigger game and while the ISIS-line will work for the ignorant – many of us know better.

I always think of that day years ago sitting in a coffee shop and listening to the conversation at a nearby table. It was a group of military recruiters having a meet-up and the one charming fellow was talking about how he loved driving up to some old run down trailer with junk and garbage in the yard. He was sure he had them. Those were the easy ones to sign up.

Preying on the weak, poor, and desperate, these parasites are looking for fodder – for fools that will throw their lives away for meaningless empty concepts – which even if they meant something at some point in the past, they no longer do.

And then of course how many reflect on what they're doing and what they're a part of and realize (hopefully with some degree of horror) that they have a great deal of blood on their hands – regardless of whether or not they're in actual combat. I know it was not a happy realization for me. Thankfully in my case it was pretty obvious and didn't require a lot of deep thinking. That came later and then I realized that my guilt was not just connected to the bombs being dropped on Serbs – but a larger death machine slaughtering people in Iraq, throughout the Middle East, and the world.

Like every kid of my generation, I wanted to be Luke Skywalker and thought I was doing something in keeping with that by signing up for the US military. Only later did I realize that I was in fact an Imperial Stormtrooper and we all know how easily they're killed and blown up – how worthless they are to the Empire. They are throw away people and so were these folks. I wasn't killed or hurt but I still had to deal with the shame and guilt for the things I supported and made possible.

By God's grace I left that evil behind and yet I struggle to have pity on those who even after years and decades refuse to reflect on it all and still glory in it – and this is even more true when it comes to Christians. I was not happy to see a car pull in next to me on the street on Sunday morning with a USMC license plate and a Vietnam Veteran sticker – and then see the guy go into the church I was also about to walk into. It would be one thing if he repented of all that evil – but clearly he glories in it. Do we serve the same Christ? I honestly don't know.

I'm sorry these three people died but if you live by the sword you die by it. If they didn't understand that, then they are to be pitied indeed. I hope it was worth it. I wonder if it would disturb them to know the US government will continue to make use of them even after they're dead. They are prime time propaganda now. They're part of the marketing package to sell a larger war. Their deaths will be used to generate more.

The US will present this as aggression – which of course is ridiculous. The Iranian government, Hezbollah, and others have actually been quite restrained even as the US and Israel actively engage in attacks and assassinations. In fact the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah are facing pressure from within to respond – to do something as they're being made to look like fools by the Americans and Israelis. Trump assassinated a major figure within Iran – a crime that remains effectively unanswered. The handful of deaths and injuries in retaliation do not even begin to make up for it. Can you even imagine how the US would respond if Iran took out the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, or some other major admiral or general? How would Israel respond? It wouldn't be with just a few missiles or a drone attack – and killing a couple of troops would not be deemed sufficient.

But none of this matters. Every action taken by Iran, Russia, China, or any other unfriendly nation is painted as aggression. If you have any doubts the US has some pictures of dead soldiers it would like to show you.