Patriots (An Independence Day Repost)

So, Mrs. CaliBlogger and I were watching Mel Gibson's The Patriot the other night. If you're not familiar, it's the story of how an undisciplined, but dedicated group, using unconventional military techniques, manages to defeat a vastly more powerful and better trained professional army. It's the story of the American Revolution.

Seeing this scenario played out against the current drumbeat of insurgent attacks in Iraq made me think of the national cognitive dissonance in play there.

The American mythos is almost entirely tied to our underdog status during the American Revolutionary War. No American story is more American than that of the underdog, facing overwhelming odds, who none the less triumphs over a seemingly insurmountable foe.

And so what is an American to think of Iraqis who, in their native land, using the pettiest of means (Improvised Explosive Devices for chrissake?), inflict major casualties against the world's most powerful military force?

Were that force not American we'd be cheering and standing in line for the Spielberg/Hanks version, out next summer.

It's no wonder George Lucas is catching flack from the wingnuts over the "political overtones" in the latest Star Wars. But the fault does not lie with Lucas, he's merely re-telling a favorite American myth. The fault lies with an America which has become the overweening prideful superpower it has traditionally despised. "We have met the enemy... and he is us". Indeed.

But alas for the Iraqi insurgents, no French warships are likely to pin down the Americans at Yorktown, er Basra. So victory is unlikely for them.

Still, one wonders if the new superpower, America, can avoid defeat. When reading accounts of Iraq try this: black out the name of the superpower and look only at the facts, you'll know the answer in your heart.