Around Halloween, KB Toys will be releasing a bizarre new addition to its Elite Air Force series of action figures:
George W. Bush, President and naval aviator, commemorating the president’s May 1ß flying of a plane onto the U.S.S Abraham Lincoln.
This toy is, at best, quite inappropriate.
Already, several groups have organized to boycott the doll.
Creating this toy boldly shrugs off the heavy criticism aimed at the president for wasting taxpayer money in what was called a publicity stunt.
The “spoils of war” argument that Bush supporters used to defend the indulgence becomes more and more hollow with each passing day.
The entire purpose of the jet fighter’s flight onto the carrier was to declare the mission in Iraq accomplished, yet our regularly scheduled television programs were recently interrupted by a presidential speech requesting an additional $87 billion from Congress to assist in the further occupation of Iraq.
This leads many to question exactly what has been accomplished so far.
The much talked about, but rather elusive, weapons of mass destruction have not been located and may very well not have existed in the first place.
Considering the fact that the search for these phantom weapons was the official purpose of the preemptive strike, celebration of the war’s outcome seems premature and in poor taste.
If the weapons did not exist in the first place, after all, the war hero is guilty of war crimes.
Portraying Bush as a war hero is also misleading given the fortunate son’s prior military experience.
American soldiers have been shedding their blood to accomplish the administration’s goals.
However, when his country called upon him in his youth, Bush reacted differently than those he sends to their deaths.
He joined the Air National Guard, avoiding combat duty in Vietnam.
It is no wonder that Vietnam veteran groups are among those who have come forward to boycott the action figure.
The image that the little toy will project through the interpretive lens of a foreign viewer must also be considered.
Many European countries perceived the United States to be war-mongering up until the end of the war in Iraq, and in the aftermath the administration has rejected a possibility to seal the rift between us and Europe by resisting offers from the United Nations in rebuilding Iraq.
One can only imagine their reactions to learning of G.I. George’s presence in our children’s toy boxes.
With so many questions about America’s presence in Iraq being asked around the world in conjunction with George Bush’s past military career, honoring the man even in this slightly whimsical way desecrates the memory of those who have died for their country and humiliates the nation as a whole.
Kyle Wind can be reached at kwind@temple.edu.
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