Covert warfare

“Nothing is as it seems”—a phrase that I’d associate more with James Bond than the modern US army. A recent trip to visit a family member in the Marines reframed my understanding of what my country is doing in the name of its citizens.

The traditional image of war—tanks and front lines, large armies pounding their chests and facing off against one another—makes you feel that you know (broadly) what’s going on. But modern warfare has moved on from these bulky military apparatuses. The most significant offensives are no longer assaults with tanks onto beaches. They are covert and have been for decades.

I spent a week on an amphibious assault ship, full of United States Marines, heading home from the Middle East to San Diego. I stayed in the berthing with the female Marines, handled some expensive (unloaded) weaponry, and watched the helicopters and Harriers take off and land. For my entire time on the ship, some deeply disillusioned Marines working in an intelligence unit regaled me with stories that ran the gamut from illogical, to tragic, to just ridiculous.

If asked, most shrugged and instantly replied that the United States engaged in stupid wars and had no compelling reason to still be in Afghanistan. Those I spoke to generally thought that the military structure was terrible, their bosses were idiots, holding positions of authority because of longevity and not competence, and that the military was greatly overfunded.

In their view, the US’s gigantic military budget (currently about 20% of the federal budget) could easily be cut by at least half, the money used instead to fund NASA, education, or really anything else. One Marine told me of a recent incident where the senate budget committee told the Army that the Army needed more tanks. The Army deferred; they had more tanks than they could use, most of them rusting in storage.  Besides, tanks were developed for a type of warfare that no longer existed. The budget committee, however, had recently gone on a ski vacation (or something else) with the tank manufacturers. So the Army got more tanks.

I thought that it must have been an unfathomable cost to have a ship full of 2000 Marines, Harriers, Blackhawks, Humvees, etc. floating around the ocean for 9 months, Just In Case. The only effective operations done by this massively expensive, fully-ready assault force were the small, sneaky teams who were sent ashore to do things they weren’t allowed to talk about. Huge amounts of public money were being wasted on the public display of military, while wars were actually being waged below-board.

Who’s Accountable?

When a large percentage of warfare is tangled in layers of secrecy, no one at any level really has a clue about what is going on. And, when one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing, holding anyone accountable becomes extremely difficult, even impossible. It becomes very easy for the government to publicly deny actions which they are carrying on in secret. It also becomes very difficult for anyone to object.

An example: Imagine a worker at some level of the US bureaucracy determining that the head of an opium operation in Afghanistan is an enemy. Let’s say some vague charts showed that the trade had an effect on our economy, or maybe he was allied against someone who is assisting our interests. The result is that someone calls him a “terrorist,” someone else says “freedom fighter,” and another person simply says “opponent.” This person’s fate rests on semantics and therefore the whim of whoever has the most power.

It has been decades now that the United States has had its fingers in a lot of pies, some more morally ambiguous than others, and this secret world is a fascinating juxtaposition to the bravado of the military apparatus. The body of the United States Military comes with quite a bit of saluting, flag-waving, medal-baring, music-blaring moral justification. There’s much talk of Mission Accomplished, of Rights and Freedom, of Making the World Safe For Democracy. Meanwhile, the hidden underbelly conducts operations based sometimes on whim, sometimes on good intentions, and sometimes on blatant self-interest.

Confronting the New Status Quo

Thanks to Edward Snowden, a large swathe of America was indignant to discover that the US government was spying on its own citizens. Another contingent was amused at the outrage, surprised that anyone was surprised; they’d already assumed the government was up to no good. Those in power simply defended and justified their actions, with the secure air of people perfectly entitled to continue doing whatever they damn well please.

Sneaky things have long been basic operating procedure, but they are now becoming normalized by political discourse. The Powers That Be are increasingly open about the fact that they have no intention at all of being open. In any case, nothing useful is accomplished above-board these days.

With its crisp uniforms, parades, medals and gestures, the military has long been a symbol of national unity in the face of international conflict. But how can the nation continue to identify with the military when government behaviour becomes increasingly covert, and war is happening below-board? And how can those wearing the crisp uniforms—the servicewomen and men sent on secret missions—be expected to continue the charade?

What will be the fate of the military if everyone realizes that the above-board face is all a show? What role do US civilians play when they realize, and then acknowledge, that they have absolutely no idea what war(s) their government is waging?

Do we just shrug our shoulders and accept this as the new standard operating procedure?

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By Joy
Photograph by The U.S. Army