Beautifully stated! At 87, I will continue to protest Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians, but, also, US Governments evil foreign policy, policymakers, and domestic policies that ignore human needs, that harm humans and the environment. Others that I know are doing the same. America needs a cease and desist, then a complete overhaul! I would have to say that Britain and Canada are in the same immoral, inhumane boat. Aaron, is every good mothers son.
I have followed a path of nonviolence for more that 60 years so no ammo needed ; just spiritual armour to shield against the barbed verbal arrows of the armchair warriors
The attention to detail (his words, last post, leaving money to Palestinian children in his will), the strategic brilliance, and the calm with which he carried out this act support what you're saying, Caitlin.
I think it's really sad that someone at the young age of 25 took his own life, but I get that it was an act of protest, the most effective he could muster.
If Aaron Bushnell had been in a war zone and jumped in front of a child to save the child from a bullet, would the military and public think that he was committing suicide and was mentally ill? I think not. He would be considered a hero. And he was trying to save far more than one.
During my travels in the Middle East back in the 70's I heard the story of a Palestinian fighter, they were called "fedayeen" (Arabic for "Those who sacrifice"). The story went like this: This fighter threw himself on a loose grenade to absorb the impact of the explosion so that others standing around would be saved.
When Americans reflexively thank a soldier "for his/her service," in effect they are humbly "acknowledging their willingness to put their life on the line and "make the ultimate sacrifice".
Because the mission of the US military is more often than not dastardly, I tend to skip genuflecting before members of the US military.
Nevertheless those who wish to denigrate Aaron Bushnell's sacrifice to stop the US/Israeli genocide in Gaza need to come to terms with what Americans mean by the "ultimate sacrifice" and why that is not suicide in the typical sense of the word as in "someone who has given up on life" vs "someone who is sacrificing for the sake of the lives of others."
As for Israel apologists, in the 150th day of their Gaza genocide, they are beyond hope and help.
I don't genuflect before anyone or anything. Nor do I routinely make such sweeping definitive absolutist statements about millions of other humans I don't know. Most reasonable people & critical thinkers tend to restrict their judgments to tentative generalities, even when they secretly believe they know everything. Omniscience is generally reserved for invisible sky fairies & those who claim to be prophets who channel those invisible sky fairies. In any case, almost all soldiers--especially those in the infantry--tend to be trained killers. That's what armies & the wars they fight are all about. War is combat (usually nasty & deadly, regardless of the reasons it's being fought), not a tea party.
You're most likely correct, but that's NOT what he did. He intentionally cremated his living body as a protest against the ethnic cleansing-cum-genocide of Gaza's civilian Palestinians. He did NOT jump in front of a child to save it from a bullet. He believed that he was trying to save far more than one child's life, but I haven't seen any evidence that grateful parents in Gaza thanked him for his grand gesture's having saved their child's life. Nor is there any reported evidence that he had more than one friend--the airman that he'd met & befriended during basic training--or even any family who proudly pointed to what they might have tearfully referred to as his selfless sacrifice to direct the world's attention to the barbarity of Israel's war against noncombatant Gazans, as if the world hadn't already been watching it in horror & protesting vigorously in the streets of most of the world's major cities for 5 months since Oct 7th. Once one begins a sentence with that conditional "IF", then one is talking about what the Houyhnhnms call “the thing which [is] not”. HAL 9000 might respond "Does not compute".
AS soon as I learned of Aaron Bushnell's brave sacrifice of his life so the People of Gaza can live on Monday, I sent this to Jake Sullivan, Biden's National Security Advisor.
@JakeSullivan46
You and the President are responsible for the Death of US Serviceman Aaron Bushnellls self immolation in protest of the Israeli genocide in Gaza as you blame Putin for the death of Navalny. The SOB President has the Power and leverage to stop the genocide. Do it
Thank you for reiterating this. It's beyond patronizing and insulting to imply he had depression or was suicidal. Self-immolation as a political act is many things but mostly it's pointing eyes in the direction of great injustice. There's pathological behavior on display but not from Aaron Bushnell.
He was unbelievably moral, ethical and above all courageous. He gave the greatest sacrifice to try and motivate a change. So sad that such a good person felt the need to do this to try and stop this sick, ongoing tragedy.
They/MSM at they behest of the State Dept. were too quick to make it about suicide. They know. Aaron Bushnell pointed out the abomination’s abject failure and lies of the City on the Hill and its claim of “In God We Trust.” It’s inability to be an example, let alone to serve and protect. Apparently,they believe nothing is expected of those given and claiming so, so much. Had to vent. Thanks, Caitlin, as always.
Thank you for reviewing the heartbreaking interview … never a more sincere interview - how could you not weep - I posted it but felt such remorse that it is, too soon, to be lost and forgotten - so thank you so much for keeping this dear tribute to Aaron, from a true friend, in the atmosphere.
" Neither of them belonged there, and they each took their exit in their own way."
I think Aaron's lasting legacy will be the realization that NO ONE belongs in an organization that ruthlessly slaughters children and babies in incubators. As soon one finds oneself entangled in any organization that does just that or condones the murders of innocents, then it's imperative to get out and let others know why you did leave. RIP Aaron.
"Neither of them belonged there". Does anyone belong in the US army? His act was, as he described, an extreme act of protest. I wish he were still alive, but his protest did draw a lot of attention to the genocide that is happening in Gaza. He was a brave man hoping to inspire justice.
Please Remember that the Nixon Administration's attempt to smear Dan Ellsberg focused on his psychiatrist's office. They also attempted a honeypot. These tactics are old.
I'm now (still!) reading Ellen Schrecker's classic "Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism In America" and they go back to before WW I - It's also clear that we are now in an even more toxic McCarthyism period.
Of course the media is doing the same thing to George Galloway right now. It's what a global imperialist hegemonic propaganda machine does to manufacture consent. And if the govt doesn't do it, then media mega-monopolists like Rupert Murdoch, Gannett, Sinclair, &, back in the day, William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) do it. And two of the biggest boosters of McCarthy were GOPer darlings Ronald Reagan & Charlton "Moses" Heston & DJ Trump's favorite lawyer, pre "pretty" Alina Habba, Roy Cohn. Big money & big leaners on the levers of political power run the Unjust States of Amerikkka (USA). That's why there's been political homeostasis in N. Amerikkka since the settler colonial British Empire grabbed the continent & why the UK Tories, now the USA's lapdog, are agitating for the same kind of suppression & repression of the UK's once vaunted Magna Carta & freedom of speech. They even gave their Iron Lady Maggie Thatcher wannabe, Liz Truss, the green light to speak at this year's CPAC circus in support of govt policies that prioritize profits over the rights to life, liberty (except to discriminate based on evangelical Christian canon law), & the pursuit of happiness (unless, of course, one is uber wealthy).
But Galloway & Bushnell aren't really comparable. Galloway might have roasted his political party & burned political bridges, but he didn't self-immolate & cremate himself. He can continue to fight the absurdity of the ultimate meaninglessness of human existence, but Bushnell can't, & Caitlin's approbation of moral relativism (by quoting these words of Ita Ford, the American Catholic nun raped & murdered by US-backed assassins in El Salvador: “I hope that you come to find that which gives life a deep meaning for you. Something worth living for — maybe even worth dying for. Something that energizes you, enthuses you, enables you to keep moving ahead." She found her vocation "worth dying for" and kept "moving ahead" until some executioners made her die for that. Bushnell, however, exercised his agency & executed himself) re the latter's selbstmord is just one thumb up in a tiny demographic bubble within the roiling ocean of 8 billion, many of whom will never learn about his extreme act of protest of "using his life to send a message”, or will disapprove of that extreme act. I don't have the moral heft to positively or negatively sanction his reasonable message that he "will no longer be complicit in genocide", his unconventional priorities, or his extreme act of selbstmord.
Ironically, Caitlin says this: "When you say someone is suicidal, you are saying they don’t want to be alive anymore and are in the process of making plans to bring about that result. They want to kill themselves because, in whatever way and for whatever reason, it hurts to live." This seems in one way to sum up Bushnell's feelings & intentions. He felt used by the US govt & so he wanted to stop contributing to the slaughter of non-combatant (women, children, the old, the sick, & the disabled) Palestinians. A worthy goal that he succeeded in achieving.
TY once again Caitlin. TY for the reminder of the murders in El Salvador -as one priest said before being killed: “such a waste, such carnage.” We must choose life to keep going.
Aaron is/was a masterful artist; a "performance artist" of the highest level. He chose agit-prop street art as his canvas, and put all of his angst-filled soul into a single performance. He chose the stage, he chose the costume, he prepared his text, and his camera angles, assiduously sending out notifications and invites to maximize his audience. He prepared for his performance as any great artist would; with maximal respect for his message.
What sets Aaron apart from many others who have purposefully chosen death to make their point (think Joan of Arc, Socrates, maybe even Jesus) was that Aaron was his own executioner. His performance has had such a profound effect on us; just as did that of Thich Quang Duc, whose self-immolation 61 years ago, turned this 18 year old into a Vientnam refusnik, changing my life.
I stand in awe of Aaron Bushnell, and will always cherish his singular act of ART. RIP.
Beautifully stated! At 87, I will continue to protest Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians, but, also, US Governments evil foreign policy, policymakers, and domestic policies that ignore human needs, that harm humans and the environment. Others that I know are doing the same. America needs a cease and desist, then a complete overhaul! I would have to say that Britain and Canada are in the same immoral, inhumane boat. Aaron, is every good mothers son.
At 90, Patricia Blair, I agree with your every word. As a result...so the shortest comment I have ever made on these pages.
But the last quote today from Ita, per courtesy of Caitlin , is so profound.
And I the same in my 95th year
My 'God,' I am a youngster here in my early eighties.
I’m a mere baby at 70, as of today 😳
Happy Birthday.
Are you getting a case of ammo or a new 10 X scope?
Happy birthday.
I have followed a path of nonviolence for more that 60 years so no ammo needed ; just spiritual armour to shield against the barbed verbal arrows of the armchair warriors
The comment was for gypsy33 for her birthday today.
And i emphatically agree at 81.
Me too, at 79 I am not stopping either!
At my 50, I haven't been even born! Yeah, let's protest, like the Beatles we all are, starting a revolution for a better world!
https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/make-the-bed
https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/premonition-become-ethereal
https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/ogs-original-gravewarm-graveworms
The attention to detail (his words, last post, leaving money to Palestinian children in his will), the strategic brilliance, and the calm with which he carried out this act support what you're saying, Caitlin.
I think it's really sad that someone at the young age of 25 took his own life, but I get that it was an act of protest, the most effective he could muster.
If Aaron Bushnell had been in a war zone and jumped in front of a child to save the child from a bullet, would the military and public think that he was committing suicide and was mentally ill? I think not. He would be considered a hero. And he was trying to save far more than one.
During my travels in the Middle East back in the 70's I heard the story of a Palestinian fighter, they were called "fedayeen" (Arabic for "Those who sacrifice"). The story went like this: This fighter threw himself on a loose grenade to absorb the impact of the explosion so that others standing around would be saved.
When Americans reflexively thank a soldier "for his/her service," in effect they are humbly "acknowledging their willingness to put their life on the line and "make the ultimate sacrifice".
Because the mission of the US military is more often than not dastardly, I tend to skip genuflecting before members of the US military.
Nevertheless those who wish to denigrate Aaron Bushnell's sacrifice to stop the US/Israeli genocide in Gaza need to come to terms with what Americans mean by the "ultimate sacrifice" and why that is not suicide in the typical sense of the word as in "someone who has given up on life" vs "someone who is sacrificing for the sake of the lives of others."
As for Israel apologists, in the 150th day of their Gaza genocide, they are beyond hope and help.
I don't genuflect before anyone or anything. Nor do I routinely make such sweeping definitive absolutist statements about millions of other humans I don't know. Most reasonable people & critical thinkers tend to restrict their judgments to tentative generalities, even when they secretly believe they know everything. Omniscience is generally reserved for invisible sky fairies & those who claim to be prophets who channel those invisible sky fairies. In any case, almost all soldiers--especially those in the infantry--tend to be trained killers. That's what armies & the wars they fight are all about. War is combat (usually nasty & deadly, regardless of the reasons it's being fought), not a tea party.
You're most likely correct, but that's NOT what he did. He intentionally cremated his living body as a protest against the ethnic cleansing-cum-genocide of Gaza's civilian Palestinians. He did NOT jump in front of a child to save it from a bullet. He believed that he was trying to save far more than one child's life, but I haven't seen any evidence that grateful parents in Gaza thanked him for his grand gesture's having saved their child's life. Nor is there any reported evidence that he had more than one friend--the airman that he'd met & befriended during basic training--or even any family who proudly pointed to what they might have tearfully referred to as his selfless sacrifice to direct the world's attention to the barbarity of Israel's war against noncombatant Gazans, as if the world hadn't already been watching it in horror & protesting vigorously in the streets of most of the world's major cities for 5 months since Oct 7th. Once one begins a sentence with that conditional "IF", then one is talking about what the Houyhnhnms call “the thing which [is] not”. HAL 9000 might respond "Does not compute".
AS soon as I learned of Aaron Bushnell's brave sacrifice of his life so the People of Gaza can live on Monday, I sent this to Jake Sullivan, Biden's National Security Advisor.
@JakeSullivan46
You and the President are responsible for the Death of US Serviceman Aaron Bushnellls self immolation in protest of the Israeli genocide in Gaza as you blame Putin for the death of Navalny. The SOB President has the Power and leverage to stop the genocide. Do it
Good for you!
Thank you for reiterating this. It's beyond patronizing and insulting to imply he had depression or was suicidal. Self-immolation as a political act is many things but mostly it's pointing eyes in the direction of great injustice. There's pathological behavior on display but not from Aaron Bushnell.
He was unbelievably moral, ethical and above all courageous. He gave the greatest sacrifice to try and motivate a change. So sad that such a good person felt the need to do this to try and stop this sick, ongoing tragedy.
They/MSM at they behest of the State Dept. were too quick to make it about suicide. They know. Aaron Bushnell pointed out the abomination’s abject failure and lies of the City on the Hill and its claim of “In God We Trust.” It’s inability to be an example, let alone to serve and protect. Apparently,they believe nothing is expected of those given and claiming so, so much. Had to vent. Thanks, Caitlin, as always.
Thank you for reviewing the heartbreaking interview … never a more sincere interview - how could you not weep - I posted it but felt such remorse that it is, too soon, to be lost and forgotten - so thank you so much for keeping this dear tribute to Aaron, from a true friend, in the atmosphere.
" Neither of them belonged there, and they each took their exit in their own way."
I think Aaron's lasting legacy will be the realization that NO ONE belongs in an organization that ruthlessly slaughters children and babies in incubators. As soon one finds oneself entangled in any organization that does just that or condones the murders of innocents, then it's imperative to get out and let others know why you did leave. RIP Aaron.
"Neither of them belonged there". Does anyone belong in the US army? His act was, as he described, an extreme act of protest. I wish he were still alive, but his protest did draw a lot of attention to the genocide that is happening in Gaza. He was a brave man hoping to inspire justice.
The media is doing the same thing to George Galloway right now that they did to Aaron, and for exactly the same reasons:
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/03/02/msm-target-galloway-at-victory-party/
They did the same thing to Assange, Manning, Snowden, Hersh, .......
Please Remember that the Nixon Administration's attempt to smear Dan Ellsberg focused on his psychiatrist's office. They also attempted a honeypot. These tactics are old.
I'm now (still!) reading Ellen Schrecker's classic "Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism In America" and they go back to before WW I - It's also clear that we are now in an even more toxic McCarthyism period.
Of course the media is doing the same thing to George Galloway right now. It's what a global imperialist hegemonic propaganda machine does to manufacture consent. And if the govt doesn't do it, then media mega-monopolists like Rupert Murdoch, Gannett, Sinclair, &, back in the day, William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) do it. And two of the biggest boosters of McCarthy were GOPer darlings Ronald Reagan & Charlton "Moses" Heston & DJ Trump's favorite lawyer, pre "pretty" Alina Habba, Roy Cohn. Big money & big leaners on the levers of political power run the Unjust States of Amerikkka (USA). That's why there's been political homeostasis in N. Amerikkka since the settler colonial British Empire grabbed the continent & why the UK Tories, now the USA's lapdog, are agitating for the same kind of suppression & repression of the UK's once vaunted Magna Carta & freedom of speech. They even gave their Iron Lady Maggie Thatcher wannabe, Liz Truss, the green light to speak at this year's CPAC circus in support of govt policies that prioritize profits over the rights to life, liberty (except to discriminate based on evangelical Christian canon law), & the pursuit of happiness (unless, of course, one is uber wealthy).
But Galloway & Bushnell aren't really comparable. Galloway might have roasted his political party & burned political bridges, but he didn't self-immolate & cremate himself. He can continue to fight the absurdity of the ultimate meaninglessness of human existence, but Bushnell can't, & Caitlin's approbation of moral relativism (by quoting these words of Ita Ford, the American Catholic nun raped & murdered by US-backed assassins in El Salvador: “I hope that you come to find that which gives life a deep meaning for you. Something worth living for — maybe even worth dying for. Something that energizes you, enthuses you, enables you to keep moving ahead." She found her vocation "worth dying for" and kept "moving ahead" until some executioners made her die for that. Bushnell, however, exercised his agency & executed himself) re the latter's selbstmord is just one thumb up in a tiny demographic bubble within the roiling ocean of 8 billion, many of whom will never learn about his extreme act of protest of "using his life to send a message”, or will disapprove of that extreme act. I don't have the moral heft to positively or negatively sanction his reasonable message that he "will no longer be complicit in genocide", his unconventional priorities, or his extreme act of selbstmord.
Ironically, Caitlin says this: "When you say someone is suicidal, you are saying they don’t want to be alive anymore and are in the process of making plans to bring about that result. They want to kill themselves because, in whatever way and for whatever reason, it hurts to live." This seems in one way to sum up Bushnell's feelings & intentions. He felt used by the US govt & so he wanted to stop contributing to the slaughter of non-combatant (women, children, the old, the sick, & the disabled) Palestinians. A worthy goal that he succeeded in achieving.
TY once again Caitlin. TY for the reminder of the murders in El Salvador -as one priest said before being killed: “such a waste, such carnage.” We must choose life to keep going.
Your reinforcement of A. Buhnell's intentional action of profound protest is entirely o oint. Thank you and Tim for your work..
Aaron is/was a masterful artist; a "performance artist" of the highest level. He chose agit-prop street art as his canvas, and put all of his angst-filled soul into a single performance. He chose the stage, he chose the costume, he prepared his text, and his camera angles, assiduously sending out notifications and invites to maximize his audience. He prepared for his performance as any great artist would; with maximal respect for his message.
What sets Aaron apart from many others who have purposefully chosen death to make their point (think Joan of Arc, Socrates, maybe even Jesus) was that Aaron was his own executioner. His performance has had such a profound effect on us; just as did that of Thich Quang Duc, whose self-immolation 61 years ago, turned this 18 year old into a Vientnam refusnik, changing my life.
I stand in awe of Aaron Bushnell, and will always cherish his singular act of ART. RIP.
An act of fucking love for Gaza, for us who do not see this as IN Our FUCKING name.
Young guy, fucked up by Military Dissiervice, but an act of devine something, and I am an atheist.
Throughout the military mercenary disservices, they are fucking making fun of the man. Every fucking sick joke in the book.
You are what you think, say, eat, read, watch, believe, hold true, imagine, dream, drink, salute to.
https://paulokirk.substack.com/p/pressed-into-disservice-fighting
omg, to those who claim he simply wanted to end his miserable life:
there are many ways of achieving it in much less painful way. Please stop trying to disown him of his own life, choice, will!