Cross posted @ God Is 4 Suckers!
It is no secret to the informed, that even the US Armed Forces, those stoic warriors of the crew cut, polished shoes and bounce-a-quarter-off-the-made-bed are privy to superstition just as much as the rest of the populace.
Recently, I watched the very funny The Men Who Stare At Goats. The movie touts itself as being ‘based on a true story’. It was quite entertaining, but I’m exceedingly wary of movies that claim this – I’ve seen far too many of these fabrications to take these proclamations seriously.
Yes, it is loosely based on the book of the same title. The film is prefaced with "More of this is true than you would probably believe."
A few minutes on the Internet, however, brings up some startling information:
The First Earth Battalion was the name proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, a U.S. soldier who had served in Vietnam, for his idea of a new military to be organized along New Age lines.
I’ve a deep and abiding dislike of ‘New Age’ philosophies – far too many of the modalities are reminiscent of stoner cosmology, and it tends to disdain empirical scientific validation.
When you read the components of this…woo stew is the best simile I can whip up at a moment’s notice.
Principles
LTC Channon believes the Army can be the principal moral and ethical basis on which politics can harmonize in the name of the Earth. Since "Earthkind" has grown from pack to village, to tribe, to territory, and then to nation, LTC Channon envisions going from nation to planet next, and thereby declares the First Earth Battalion's primary allegiance to the planet. Making the planet whole requires the ethical use of force based on the collective conscience. In his operations field manual titled Evolutionary Tactics, LTC Channon lists some of the important missions of the Earth Battalion as:
- Urban pioneers
- Counter hostage force
- Disaster rescue
- Eco pioneers
- Animal rescue
The First Earth Battalion will organize itself informally: uniforms without uniformity, structure without status, and unity powered by diversity, since its members will be multicultural, with each race contributing to "rainbow power." As a guiding principle, members of the First Earth Battalion seek nondestructive methods of conflict resolution because their first loyalty is to the planet.
Even I have to admit that sounds pretty cool.
The Warrior Monk Ethos
Service members of the First Earth Battalion would practice meditation, yogic cat stretches and primal screams to attain battle-readiness, and use tui na or shiatsu as battlefield first aid. First Earth Battalion trainees would learn to fast for a week drinking only juice and then eat only nuts and grains for a month. They would be able to: fall in love with everyone, realize the different paths of spirit, perceive the auras of living organisms, attain the power to pass through objects such as walls (phasing), bend metal by using the power of the mind (i.e. psychokinesis), walk on fire, operate based on spirit communications (e.g. mediumship), become a peacemaker, actually change a violent pattern in the world (e.g. the Maharishi Effect), organize a tree plant with kids, calculate faster than a computer, control their heart rate—including making it stop—with no ill effects, intuit information from the past (retrocognition) or future (precognition), have out-of-body experiences, live off nature for twenty days, be 90%+ a vegetarian, and be able to intuit other people's thoughts and feelings via telepathy LTC Channon coined the term "warrior monk" for these new service members of the First Earth Battalion, which is anyone who has the presence, service and dedication of a monk and the absolute skill and precision of a warrior. In “The Warrior Monk’s Vision,” Channon imagines an Army made up of awakened warriors. Channon’s ideal warrior monk would be proficient at every level of force. The warrior monk will learn different self-defense systems of martial arts (such as taiji, aikido, etc.), which are based on the notion of using the force of their attackers against themselves. To alleviate negative stressors and promote healing in self and others, the warrior monk will employ various affirmation, relaxation and visualization techniques, as well as a number of methods like yoga qigong and reiki to help strengthen and improve the mind/body connection with spirit.
This is exactly what I mean by ‘stew’. Some Eastern modalities are quite effective (e.g., yoga, taiji, aikido, and qiqong) while other items listed are complete junk (e.g., psychokinesis mediumship, retrocognition, precognition, and reiki). It illustrates quite bluntly that anyone embarking on a personal journey via meditation should be extremely careful, as the induced alpha state leaves one far too open to suggestion. The idea of using tui na or shiatsu as battlefield first aid is of course patently ridiculous. One cannot ‘imagine’ a gaping bullet wound away.
Of course it’s all good and fine for us to laugh at the hippie-dippie baroque meritocracy. As always, there’s a darker, less superstitious side to all this: the Psychological Operations department:
Psychological operations are planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.The purpose of United States psychological operations (PSYOP) is to induce or reinforce behavior favorable to U.S. objectives. They are an important part of the range of diplomatic, informational, military, and economic activities available to the U.S. They can be utilized during both peacetime and conflict. There are 3 main types: strategic, operational, and tactical. Strategic PSYOP include informational activities conducted by the U.S. government agencies outside of the military arena, though many utilize Department of Defense (DOD) assets. Operational PSYOP are conducted across the range of military operations, including during peacetime, in a defined operational area to promote the effectiveness of the joint force commander's (JFC) campaigns and strategies. Tactical PSYOP are conducted in the area assigned to a tactical commander across the range of military operations to support the tactical mission against opposing forces.
PSYOP? There’s a term I’d thought restricted to space operas.
It makes a sort of sense, to employ psychological warfare to the advantage of one’s country. Knowledge is power, and utilizing the knowledge of the human mind is incredible power. The ethical and moral considerations are staggering. Who wields this? Following the answer to that question: can the person/people who do wield these tools be trusted? How do we know that nationalism doesn’t overpower ethical considerations? The largest question is – who regulates these people?
At least Project MKULTRA was shut down.
It’s a frightening, dangerous world we live in – and we need to keep a close eye especially on the religious zealots, because while their superstitions are pure bunkum, their ability to persuade the populace is blaringly obvious as well as scary. To allow tools such as these to fall into the hands of the religious is foolhardy, and the cost will be more than we or our children can bear.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Till the next post, then.
