United behind the beast of the U.S. war machine

Dear Editor,

The beast is on the move again, stalking more easy pray in the Third World.

Let’s not think about it, or about the staggering number already murdered: 2 million in Korea, 3 million in Vietnam, and millions more in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were all mistakes, made with the noblest of intentions. The beast only destroys nations to save their people from oppression.

The beast is the creation of American hard work and ingenuity, the best killing machine the world has ever seen. We pour all our treasure into its bombs and missiles. We hold our little flags as if rooting for a team, rather than witnessing another carnage. What is the machine doing so far away from home? Thankfully, our media doesn’t show us all the body parts; there are too many pieces to ever film.

Now Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton are poised to send the machine into North Korea and Iran. It is time for body counts again. Always grossly understated, thank goodness. Who wants to know or even think about the endless landscapes of blackened villages to come. They are in our psyche already. We know them almost instinctively from some old war footage, so please don’t show us again.

The empire is a secret that only our subconscious knows. Our reason can only brace for another assault. “Weapons of mass destruction,” we whisper. We had to send the beast again, we tell ourselves. United we stand behind the beast.

How to preserve our illusion of being human? Fred Nagel Rhinebeck, N.Y.