Scapegoats of the Empire: From Breaker Morant to Haditha

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

Atrocities occur during times of war. This is not new, nor is it often reported as news. When it does come to the attention of a nation, it most often leads to a cry for justice. However, history has shown that the leaders responsible for sending military personnel to fight indistinguishable enemies in far-away lands under nebulous orders of conduct most often escape responsibility. This is an unfortunate reality and one that will probably play out in the Haditha tragedy.

"Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!"
These were the famous last words of Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant (1864- 27 February 1902) just prior to his execution.

During his service in the Second Boer War, Morant ordered the summary execution of several Afrikaner and African prisoners, which led to his controversial court-martial and execution for murder by the British Army; his death warrant was personally signed by the British commander in South Africa, Lord Kitchener.

Scapegoats of the Empire is the title of a book by an Australian Second Boer War soldier Lieutenant George Witton. Originally published in 1907, it is the only surviving eyewitness account of the events of the famous Breaker Morant case, in which members of a British irregular unit, the Bushveldt Carbineers were arrested and court-martialed by the British Army for allegedly murdering Boer prisoners of war. Three Australian soldiers, Harry 'Breaker' Morant, Peter Handcock and Witton himself were sentenced to death; Morant and Handcock were subsequently shot by firing squad but Witton's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he was later pardoned.
Witton's main assertion, as indicated by the book's provocative title, is that he, Morant and Handcock were scapegoated by the British authorities in South Africa—that they were made to take the blame for widespread British war crimes against the Boers, and that the trial and executions were carried out by the British for political reasons, partly to cover up a controversial and secret "no prisoners" policy promulgated by Lord Kitchener, and partly to appease the Boer government over the killing of Boer prisoners, in order to facilitate a peace treaty.

Today we are facing the Haditha atrocity in which several Marines are alleged to have gone on a killing spree in the insurgent-dominated town on Nov. 19, 2005, after one Marine died from an improvised explosive device.

The Marines at Haditha, if found guilty of committing the atrocity, can expect to receive severe punishment, which under military statutes could include their own executions.

Yet, just like in the Boer War with Breaker Morant, the leadership, which placed these soldiers on this disastrous course, remains immune from any meaningful accountability.

It would be a nice change to see the angry calls for justice directed not solely at a bunch of plankton-level marines but, instead, at the leadership that engineered this disaster.

Unfortunately, history will probably repeat itself.


Sources for Breaker Morant info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaker_Morant

[theophilus]

1. Very good post. Thank you. I loved the movie with Edward

Woodward. I can still hum some of the tunes after all these years.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

3. Thanks. Great movie based on the true story...with parallels to today.

Tragically, I fully expect the outcome to be the same and I won't be around some 80+ years from now for the Haditha movie.

[catnhatnh]

2. Yes and no....

as in, policy makers deserve more punishment.....But living in hell a year does NOT give you a right to be a devil,unless your only purpose there was to learn the territory....My contemporaries faced the devils and killed when it didn't feel right but they were scared...not to play catch-up....to quote the freepers-"Vengence is mine saith who????"...

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

5. No excuses, just actual accountability

Any military person who engages in these activities, like Haditha, deserve punishment. My point is that they are in the effed-up situation under tremendous stress because of the BULLSHIT policies of this administration.

I want REAL accountability and justice.

[existentialist]

4. Breaker Morant

I saw the movie Breaker Morant; I don't know how well the movie followed the book. The movie focused on the killing of one German clergyman, who was also a Boer spy, as the crime for which Morant, Handcock, and Witten were tried, and Morant and Handcock executed.

I don't remember any violence against other noncombatants being portrayed, although I do remember Morant stating that the Bushveldt Carbiners were, "good soldiers in a bad cause."

I did find the movie to be realistic, and to illustrate just how easy it can be to make the relatively powerless take the punishment for carrying out the orders of their superiors in a conflict situation.

This does not mean that we can accept the excuse of, "I was only following orders." It does mean that we must hold those giving the orders accountable too if there is to be some semblance of justice.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

7. Exactly. Not excuses but just punishment for all levels of command.

[gratuitous]

6. As long as Congress is passing laws . . .

The GOP-controlled Congress would like to get between you and your doctor, requiring your physician to tell you all sorts of dubious medical information about procedures you may be contemplating, while withholding other information (yes, I'm talking about birth control).

I'd like to see Congress pass a law that requires military recruiters to disclose all of these things to their potential recruits, and require recruits to sign a statement acknowledging that they are fully aware of the risks associated with fighting a war. Maybe even have to take a little test and answer questions demonstrating their understanding about the Boer War, the Nazi concentration camps, My Lai and Abu Ghraib and the military's role in connection with these topics.

[MindPilot]

8. As much as I would like to see recruiters held to the same standard

as say used car salesmen (no offense intended to any of the supremely honest and straight shootin' used car salesmen who might be reading this) Do you really think that anyone joins the military with a Private Benjamin-level naivete?

[gratuitous]

9. Not sure what you mean

I'm not sure what you mean by a Private Benjamin-level naiveté, but there is an awful lot of popular misinformation about what the military and being in the military is all about. All that nonsense about joining up to defend freedom and fight for the American way is on the lips of so many recruits, their families and the media whores hawking this war, it's the only explanation I can come up with. Secondary to that is nonsense about getting valuable training or money for college.

Our society's cult-like belief in the value and redemptive power of violence is practically bred into the bone of our sons and daughters. Our society is portrayed as so precarious, so prone to destruction that it's only by pouring over a billion dollars each and every day down the maw of the military that we are saved from anarchy. The message is so pervasive throughout our popular media, that it's not surprising to me that people have internalized it to the degree they have; the money spent on advertising every year isn't being spent without some kind of expectation of return.

[MindPilot]

12. I mean does anyone really go in the military thinking it's a vacation?

In the movie "Private Benjamin", Goldie Hawn joins the Army thinking she is going to be as pampered in boot camp as she was in her wealthy Beverly Hills lifestyle. Hilarity ensues.

Of course there is the "fighting for freedom" line. But does anyone not understand the fighting part? That you may get shot, blown up or at the very least have to endure some significant discomfort?

I'm not taking about NG reservists; they shouldn't be deployed outside the US for anything. But regular military? Is anybody so naive that they don't know what they're in for?

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

11. The question is what policies (disregard Geneva rules) & freq. deployments

and poor planning for an illegal war that contribute strongly to these kind of events.

It is the prez., vp, secretary of defense and the neocon policy-makers who should also be on trial.

[MindPilot]

14. Absolutely right about that!!

This administration has broken all the rules. Even if the recruiters had been straight-up honest, the current members of the armed forces got it stuck in and broke off. Reduced benefits, stop-loss, multiple combat deployments, under-staffed, under-equipped, inadequate leadership, reservists deployed overseas, etc, etc, etc.

[MindPilot]

10. Very good post!!

There seems to be a substantial contingent on DU who think that if we just make an example of those murderous cold-blooded baby-killin' Jarheads--if they'd just take some enlisted men out and hang 'em high--then justice will have been served and the Iraqis can get back to tossing rose petals at our feet. </hyperbole> (in case someone didn't figure that out)

We can kill half a million babies with sanctions; we can blow 'em to bits with thousand pound bombs, we can incinerate them with white phosphorous; we can even reach into the future and deform them with depleted uranium; but don't you dare shoot one; THAT would be a crime.

The hypocrisy here is just mind-boggling.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

13. The "jarheads" will get punished but the "powerful" will not

And nearly 100 years from now they'll be some movie about how these marines got court-martialed while the masterminds who sent them into Iraq under false pretenses and with vague orders/mission/rules of conduct escape any justice.

[DemoTex]

15. Scapegoating is alive and well.

Abu Graihb, certainly, comes to mind. And remember the scapegoats of My Lai, Capt. Medina and Lt. Calley.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

16. I thought about including My Lai in my post but knew more about Morant

I was a baby during My Lai and, although I have a general understanding of the event, wasn't sure how the prosecution related.

Breaker Morant (and poor Handcock) were made famous to Americans via the movie Breaker Morant. I thought immediately about the similarities between the British execution of the Boer War insurgents and the ultimate fate of Morant.

Iraq has many similarities IMHO to the Boer War.

[DemoTex]

18. And thank you for posting on Morant. I am a student of the Boer Wars.

Churchill was captured, Ghandi was a stretcher bearer, etc. I have read Thomas Packenham's The Boer War twice (1979 long version). Excellent read!

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0380720019.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

19. Excellent. Looks like a book I would be very interested in.

Thanks for the recommendation.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

17. .

kick :blush: