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Imperial Defiance
By Joel Miller
06/30/05 "ICH" - Some people cannot be defeated. They may be opposed by a far stronger force, but weapons, wealth and might do not always determine the course of events. People do. And some people will not and cannot be defeated. The people behind the following statements, for instance, have the power to resist and defeat their seemingly stronger enemy:
1. We are not weak if we make a proper use of the things which God has placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of victory in this country are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
2. For the sake of our nation, our aim is either victory or death. And god is witness to our oath!
These are no empty words, not the rantings over zealous warriors. They express the invincible determination of a people defending their homes against a foreign army and avenging the wrongs perpetrated against them. The words of statement number 1. above rolled off the tongue of a man called Patrick Henry in a speech to the assembly of the Virginia Colony in March 1775. The speech ended with, "Give me liberty or give me death."
The closing words of Patrick Henry are nearly identically with words in the second part of the statement, but 230 years separate the two parts. The second part appeared just the other day,
June
26, 2005, in a communiqué from the Mujahideen Central Command
in Iraq refuting Rumsfield's claim that negotiations have been initiated with insurgents.
Although I've changed the wording slightly to make a point, I have remained faithful to the context. The communiqué, for instance, actually reads, "We are Mujahideen for the sake of our nation. And our aim is either victory or martyrdom in it's path. And god is witness to our oath!"
The point is... this style of text that can be characterized as 'imperial defiance' can be found in oratories from Churchill in England to Giap in Vietnam. The style acts as a compass to the direction of a conflict, and how the balance of power will flow. The style is braced with a backbone of steel and an unflinching stare in the direction of victory. It not only represents the opposite of the spineless jingoism and the anemic chauvinism (not to mention the downright lies) of arrogant power, it also clearly indicates a people who cannot be defeated.
It also shows us who are the Patrick Henrys of today and who are the foreign invaders and aggressors; who are the defenders of their homes and who are the pawns of King George. Of course the aggressors will label the resistance in pejorative terms and describe their actions in bloody-black colors. "Ragged rebels against the crown" sounded a lot like "insurgents" or "terrorist" to the ears of 18th century Englishmen. The weapon-bearing farmers who attacked the orderly rows of uniformed soldiers from hidden positions behind trees and rocks were described as cowardly and immoral for not fighting on an open field as prescribed by the conventions of war. The guerilla tactics of the colonial minutemen awakened the same revulsion and fear among the British troops 230 years ago as suicide bombers and IED-attacks do today among American troops.
Some things never change. Some people never learn. Some people cannot be defeated.
Joel, is a American living in Sweden. < miller@bentarz.se >
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