Petraeus

General David Petraeus has been the face of the American military, as it justifies its violent enforcement of global corporate capitalism after September 11, 2001. He has become a media creation, like so many selected icons of the corporate capitalist globalization movement. He has been portrayed as a man of "Faith" at times. His wife, the daughter of a military general, has been given a high-profile government position. Nobody in the media challenged this appointment as another example of Washington nepotism. The Petraeus team seemed untouchable. Until now.

 

The lesson here is one of skepticism. War mongers have always tried to reframe themselves as compassionate peacemakers after they have done their nastiest business. Those who pose as moral icons in a military uniform are by definition hypocrites. Now we have a rather basic and human example of this in the Petraeus affair.

 

The overall hypocrisy is further exemplified by Petraeus' resignation as Director of the CIA. Is this iconic bravery? Shame over human sexuality is not an example of heroic personality or personal conviction. The rationalizations required to ruthlessly kill hundreds of thousands of people, the carnage Petraeus engaged in, does not produce a human being with sound personal ethics. This is not only common sense. It is sound scientific psychology.

 

Humanist practice entails turning my back on icons of hypocrisy and turning my face courageously upon my own hypocrisy. The hypocrisy of the famous does not justify my own hypocrisy, just as murder by men in uniform does not justify my own violence. Working on my truthfulness is what I must do to maintain my own truth as a human being. This appears to be something that Mr. Petraeus and others put aside the day they assume a uniform which represents killing in the name of politics, power and money.