DC Memorial to America's Once and Future War
DC Memorial to America's Once and Future War
A chance for Americans to weigh in on Bush's dark legacy and the corporate elite's planned memorial to perpetual war.
“This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.” George W. Bush
One thing you’ve got to admit, the U.S. military juggernaut is unmatched at starting wars, proxy or otherwise. The ending parts, not so much. Nevertheless, there is still a plan underway to erect another war monument on the DC National Mall. When it comes to cashing in on the marketing and recruitment potential of national memorials, Monuments R Us…even if our rear-ends were kicked by the “insurgents” of each sovereign country our over-hyped military attempted to free. (Read: Invade, Occupy).
The next granite celebratory open wound in the queue is the National Global War On Terrorism Memorial, authorized in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act and signed into law by Joe Biden. Yes. You heard that right, a Global War On Terrorism Memorial, and apparently government leaders and corporate elites will not let an estimated price tag of over $100 million stand in the way of a 2024 groundbreaking.
According to retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael "Rod" Rodriguez, president and CEO of the GWOT Memorial Foundation:
"We're doing something that's never been done before, building a memorial to a live war," said Rodriguez, a veteran of 10 GWOT deployments. "We are challenging everybody's perception of what a memorial is. We're in essence creating a memorial for the future."
And it doesn’t sound like the Foundation or any of the rest of us are expecting the GWOT killing or dying to end anytime soon. “Certainly no sooner than five billion years from now,” according to Jon Schwarz of The Intercept, “when the sun expands and engulfs the Earth.”
A recent estimate by the Costs of War Project at Brown University found that over 4.5 million people have died from the direct and indirect effects of conflict in post-9/11 war zones, including over 7,000 U.S. service men and women. A more accurate commemorative of never-ending U.S. aggression would be 75 times larger to date than my own in Constitution Gardens.
Just think about it. A memorial to Global War on Terrorism, our perpetual once and future war, on the National Mall…with Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, 2024 adorning the celebratory entrance. A subtext like this would ordinarily read like dark, insensitive satire from The Onion, but it’s incredibly likely. Still, so much worse and stranger yet, war criminal George W. Bush is serving as the honorary chair of the GWOT Memorial Foundation.
Why doesn’t the Foundation just shit on the post-9/11 vets and the rest of us while it’s at it?
The GWOT Memorial Foundation is encouraging Americans to express their thoughts on its design and to remind us of the price still being paid for freedom. Seriously, that’s what it says, freedom. At least every American, not just veterans, have until October 17 to weigh in on this travesty. Just know, sculpted black granite homeless tents and fallout shelters are front runners.
More soldiers commit suicide after serving than those who are killed in battle. A dark legacy indeed. Shame on the MIC, Military Industrial Complex, for using these tragic wars to promote their greedy militaristic agenda!