Abstract

Kerry and the Gift of Impunity

The article discusses a picture of United States Marine James Blake Miller after a battle in Falluja, Iraq. Iconic images inspire love and hate, and so it is with the photograph of James Blake Miller, the 20-year-old Marine from Appalachia who has been christened "the face of Falluja" by prowar pundits and "The Marlboro Man" by pretty much everyone else. For a country that just elected a want-to-be Marlboro Man as its President, Miller is an icon, and as if to prove it he has ignited his very own controversy. Yes, that is right: Letter-writers from across the nation are united in their outrage--not that the steely-eyed smoking soldier makes mass killing look cool but that the laudable act of mass killing makes the grave crime of smoking look cool. Impunity--the perception of being outside the law--has long been the hallmark of the President George W. Bush regime. At home, impunity has been made official policy with Bush's nomination of Alberto Gonzales--the man who personally advised the President in his infamous "torture memo" that the Geneva Conventions are "obsolete"--as Attorney General. In the name of "electability," Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign gave Bush five months on the campaign trail without ever facing serious questions about violations of international law.