Thursday, May 5, 2011
We've IDed Geronimo
Those were the words spoken to President Obama and his staff, when special ops military personnel confirmed the location of Osama Bin Laden, minutes before destroying him. (See these two articles for more details on the matter: time and associated press.) Apparently the powers that be thought it was fitting to give Bin Laden the codename Geronimo. Was it their intention to equate the face of terrorism with the face of Native American resistance? I certainly hope not, but nonetheless this irks the shit out of me. Geronimo was fighting against an oppressive force that was moving in on his homeland that was exterminating his people and his culture. Bin Laden, on the other hand, instigated attacks against America for its global policy, for its ever growing influence, and for its friendship with Israel. These two men had vastly different agendas with vastly different motivations. If Geronimo had swam across the Atlantic Ocean to England, and started scalping random British people, then maybe he might be more comparable to Bin Laden. And if they wanted to get a more accurate code name for Bin Laden, they should have used Christopher Columbus, Andrew Jackson, or anyone else who unjustly terrorized others, not Geronimo. I wonder if the White House staff refers to Kim Jong-il as Crazy Horse? Fidel Castro as Sitting Bull? Throughout American History, the First Nations People have continually been treated like crap, continually been disregarded, and this is just another blatant example of that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
really enjoyed reading your blog - it is very interesting cheers
ReplyDeleteI followed Geri here.
ReplyDeleteThis really is a fascinating blog. I am not sure yet (after scrolling back several posts) how to take it.
It's very interesting.
The code name Geronimo had been chosen for bin Laden because, like the Native American chief, he had managed to evade capture for years and was apparently able to vanish into thin air.
ReplyDeleteIn Geronimo's case his ability to stay on the run gave rise to legends that he was able to walk without leaving any tracks, and that he could survive being shot.
It’s easy to disregard the subtle cruelty of oppression when you’re not in a group being oppressed or better yet when you’re apart of an oppressive group. There is a historical sensitivity between Native Americans and the United States Government where natives have been the victims of genocide, racism, and treaty breaking for many many years. And these things should have been considered before correlating America’s “worst enemy” (Bin Laden) with that of a native hero (Geronimo). As if the United States hasn’t already done enough to disregard the honor and legacy of the first nations people.
ReplyDeleteI think it's more like saying, Bin Laden is the Michael Jordan of terrorism...Yes?
ReplyDeleteWell that depends on point of view. If someone with a positive view of Bin Laden and a positive view of Geronimo had compared the two, then maybe I could draw a positive conclusion, but that's not the case with the American government. They have made hating Bin Laden official policy, and they have made disrespecting Geronimo's people national history.
ReplyDeletei remember in the movie conspiracy theorey i believe they equated jeronimo to falling in love via mel gibsons character
ReplyDelete