Faith-Based War by Herbert T. Walter;

Author:Herbert, T. Walter; [T. Walter Herbert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1886857
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

Chapter Six

AVENGING ANGEL

Saint George

The plane was a lone figure against the vast westward expanse of ocean and sky, as it brought the Commander-in-Chief from the American mainland to the flight deck of the USS Lincoln. After two fly-bys, the plane swooped down and made a perfect tailhook landing. Then the cockpit opened and the President emerged, his lean muscular body moving easily in the snug flight suit.

His words were few, suiting the casual potency of his gestures: 'Thank you,' he said, 'preciate it.' 'Yes, I flew it,' he said. 'Yeah, of course, I liked it. I miss flying, I can tell you that.'1

This brilliantly orchestrated political theatre counteracted the disgrace inflicted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Navy S-3b jet, emblazoned 'Navy One' for the occasion, awakened visual memories of the lawless hateful planes of 9/11. The great tower of the warship, standing erect and proud with its 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' banner, recalled the stricken and falling World Trade Center. The scene summoned up fragmentary visions of the nightmare, and banished them in a festival of triumph.

'The tyrant is fallen and Iraq is free,' Bush declared tersely in the speech that followed his landing, but that was not the core meaning of the pageant. American freedom was the driving force in the drama staging Bush as a military hero, not concern for the ravaged people of Iraq. 'I have conquered,' was the hero's message; 'America is free.'

Americans had yearned for liberation from the fear that God had ceased to bless America, allowing evil to pierce the shield that He had erected to protect His chosen. Triumph in Iraq now demonstrated that the true target of divine wrath was not the United States.

The tempest of destruction had been carried out with a combination of precision and speed and boldness/ the President explained, inflicting a retribution that fit the crime: "The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got.' The death of American soldiers had served the cause of divine justice. "Their final act on this Earth was to fight a great evil and bring liberty to others.' Having 'taken up the highest calling of history/ the American military fulfilled the biblical promise of divine deliverance: 'To the captives "come out," — and to those in darkness, "be free.'"2

In his warrior costume, the President symbolized the stupendous military technology under his command. But powerful religious and cultural traditions were also implicit here. Long before he made his approach in the Navy S-3B Viking, virtuous lone warriors have appeared against an empty horizon—Alan Ladd, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood have played the part—approaching on horseback to bring deliverance to a fearful and stricken community.

Western heroes play a key role in the myth of America as God's people, as they move westward into the wilderness to claim their divine birthright and subdue peoples already living there. The zone of interaction between chosen and not-chosen is the 'frontier,' and the frontier hero—this savior on horseback—embodies the sacred collective mission, and exemplifies the deadly force required to achieve it.

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