Irony Deficiency
When I was in the military I spent a lot of time on bases that belonged to the Strategic Air Command, the guys with the bombers and missiles with the nuclear warheads. When you entered the base there was always a sign indicating the base was part of SAC and the bottom was the command motto: “Peace Is Our Profession”. The general response from those of us not in SAC was “War Is Just A Hobby”.
That’s the way I reacted to the picture accompanying this CNN article on a prisoner at Guantanamo. The picture shows a sign attached to a chain-link fence topped by barbed wire and a coil of razor wire that says:
Camp Delta 2
Camp Delta 3
Maximum Security
[graphics]
“Honor Bound To Defend Freedom”
Guys, it’s a prison. You are keeping people inside. You don’t “defend freedom” with a prison.
I realize that SAC would not have approved of “Raining Death From The Sky”, and the Marines would reject “Abandon Hope All Who Enter Here”, but they really should try harder.
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My dad’s squadron motto was appropriate for a Pathfinder squadron – Primi Hastati (the first cohorot of the legion). The crews thought their alternative motto, Semper in Excreta, was a better dscription though.
Oh and a happy Christmas Bryan
The general staff think these things up and then paste them all over and the other ranks “explain” their true meaning. Happy Christmas to you an yours, Jams.
Their first choice was “Arbeit Macht Frei” but that was shot down because this isn’t a work camp, it’s a torture camp.
Actually, Michael, when I saw “Freedom,” that is exactly the motto that came to mind.