Remembering Oscar Romero, El Salvador and Iraq

March 25, 2013

A Special Appeal to the Men of the Army

Remembering Oscar Romero, El Salvador and Iraq

by MICHAEL McKEE


This weekend marked the 33-year anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. An unofficial saint to much of Central America, Romero was killed shortly after petitioning then U.S. president Jimmy Carter to halt aid to the Salvadoran government, as well as admonishing soldiers to prioritize their conscience over orders to kill civilians. While people of faith will honor Romero across the United States this Palm Sunday, their government and military continue to sacrifice innocent people, alongside transparency, in Iraq.

The connections between Romero’s El Salvador and the occupation of Iraq struck me pointedly a month ago in circumstances whose intersections may be more closely related than many U.S. citizens—let alone Catholics—would like to admit. I was sitting in a military courtroom in suburban Maryland covering the pre-trial hearing of army whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is facing life in prison for his own controversial, salvific act.

Forcing the comparisons too far would be inappropriate. One was a committed member of the clergy assassinated for daring soldiers (as Christians) to spare their country’s most vulnerable from violence as part of “a preferential option for the poor.” The other was a public-service-minded U.S. soldier confronted with endemic abuse and damning secrecy. One spoke in moral absolutes, motivated morally by faith. The other openly concedes the difficulty of his decision driven by the ethical rule of law. A further difference is that while Romero was martyred in death as a peacemaker, the U.S. government still has the chance to avoid Manning’s martyrdom through incarceration.

Despite the vast differences between these two men many regard as heroes, the intersections of their stories are worth observing on this anniversary of Romero’s death. Both demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice their own lives. Both confess a call to conscience. And, perhaps most importantly, both challenge our assumptions about the relationship between the military and those it ostensibly serves.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/03/25/remembering-oscar-romero-el-salvador-and-iraq/