Afghanistan III: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Truman’s Faith, Niebuhr’s Doubt

Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. In this week's episode, we’re going to focus our attention on President Harry Truman: we’re going to look a little bit at his pre-presidential life of military service, and then we’re going to turn to his presidency, highlighting the moral urgency that he brought to questions of global responsibility and interventionism. We’ll introduce the Truman Doctrine and then we’ll spend some time digging into his State of the Union addresses. We'll also look at the work of American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and how his philosophy provides alternative approaches and ways of thinking to Truman's own thoughts on America's role in the world. Today's episode is co-hosted by Sara and our writer/researcher Roman Sotomayor, an alum of Cal Poly Humboldt who has worked closely with Sara on different research projects and on engaging with the local veterans community here in Humboldt. SNAFUBAR is regularly hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://history.humboldt.edu/people/sara-jaye-hart-0], who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.humboldt.edu/cahss1/jeff-crane]who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor (who also hosted today's episode) SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.  Works Cited: National Parks Service, Harry S Truman and the Influences of his Service in World War I [https://www.nps.gov/articles/harry-s-truman-and-the-influences-of-his-service-in-world-war-i.htm] Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, Biographical Sketch: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States [https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/trivia/biographical-sketch-harry-truman] National Security Archive, President Harry S. Truman, Handwritten Remarks for Gridiron Dinner, circa 15 December 1945[78] [https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/28454-document-96-president-harry-s-truman-handwritten-remarks-gridiron-dinner-circa-15] National Archives, Truman Doctrine (1947) [https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/truman-doctrine] Allierten Museum, “Cold War” - The (Pre)History of a Term [https://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/thema/cold-war-history-of-a-term/] Linen for Project Gutenberg, State of the Union Addresses of Harry S. Truman [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5039/5039-h/5039-h.htm#jan1946] Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, President Truman’s Remarks, Syracuse, NY [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5039/5039-h/5039-h.htm#jan1946] The American Presidency Project, Harry S. Truman Public Approval [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/harry-s-truman-public-approval] Daily News, Daily News from New York 217 [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/451140220/] Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo5864609.html] Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo12091283.html]

American Civil Religion

Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. This week, we’re exploring the concept of American civil religion. This episode, like our Military Lingo episode, offers some insight into the deeper frameworks we’re using to shape our podcast. overall and, this episode will offer a deeper insight into a concept that, as we argue, really shapes the way the United States engages in warfare. Not sure what we mean by American civil religion or do you have some questions about how it works and exists in our culture? This is the episode for you! Also, if you know or thing or two already, this is an informative conversation that will help put this topic into a larger context. Today's episode is co-hosted by Sara Hart and our writer/researcher Roman Sotomayor. Roman has sat in Sara's classes as she has taught about American civil religion and their dynamic reflects their time in the classroom together. SNAFUBAR is regularly hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://history.humboldt.edu/people/sara-jaye-hart-0], who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.humboldt.edu/cahss1/jeff-crane]who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor (who also hosted today's episode) SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.  Works Cited: Haberski Jr. - God and War: American Civil Religion since 1945 [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/god-and-war-raymond-haberski-jr/1128997901], 2012 Ebel - G.I. Messiahs: Soldiering, War, and American Civil Religion [https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300176704/g-i-messiahs/], 2015 Keeler - Sacred Soldier: The Dangers of Worshiping Warriors [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sacred-soldier-robert-f-keeler/1143883448], 2024 Gorski - American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691147673/american-covenant], 2017 Bacevich - Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America's Misguided Wars [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250832498/pathsofdissent/], 2022 Rousseau - The Social Contract [https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract/g-d-h-cole/text/single-page], 1762 Bellah - Civil Religion in America [http://robertbellah.com/articles_5.htm?%24NMW_TRANS%24=ext], 1967 Prothero - The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-american-bible-whose-america-is-this-stephen-prothero?variant=40824365678626], 2012 Hedges - I Don’t Believe in Atheists [https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/i-dont-believe-in-atheists_chris-hedges/293655/#edition=4612869&idiq=6370643], 2021 De Tocqueville - Democracy in America [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/815/815-h/815-h.htm], 1835 Something to Believe In by Bret Michaels [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5uamDMoW4o]

Military Lingo

Welcome to SNAFUBAR! Here in the SNAFUBAR, we explore American military history and America’s national myths, or stories or traditional narratives. We’ll talk about some mishaps, about errors, both strategic and moral. And we’ll focus, a lot of the time, on tension points, on those places where our beliefs and our behaviors don’t quite match up. We’ll look at the ways that our national culture romanticizes (even fetishizes) the military, while not always providing the support that service-members need to carry out their objectives, and not meeting veterans’ needs when they return from service, especially when that service involves combat. We are happy to have you along as we discuss a variety of different topics and historical periods.    This week, we are diving into the topic of military lingo, a way of speaking that is embedded in everyday life of former and current military personnel. It's also really popular among civilians too! It turns out, a lot of the phrases and metaphors we use everyday got their origins in the military. In this episode, there are plenty of topics and stories that will make you stop and think about the language we use to describe our lived experiences. What do these words and metaphors we live by reveal about how navigate and understand the world around us? Why do Americans use military lingo and language in everyday conversation? Of course, we will find time to laugh and reflect on our own experiences, highlighting some key historical and social developments that might be partially responsible for introducing military jargon into our everyday lives. We hope you enjoy this episode! SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://history.humboldt.edu/people/sara-jaye-hart-0], who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.humboldt.edu/cahss1/jeff-crane]who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni, Lecturer with the History Department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Roman Sotomayor. SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.   Works Cited:    Garard, Olivia. “Every Brief Ever.” War on the Rocks. October 27th, 2020.  https://warontherocks.com/2020/10/every-brief-ever/ [https://warontherocks.com/2020/10/every-brief-ever/].   Greene, Joseph I. The Infantry Journal Reader. Doubleday, Doran, and Company, 1944.  https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.78561/page/n5/mode/1up [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.78561/page/n5/mode/1up]   Lakoff, George., Johnson, Mark. Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press, 1981.    Martill, Jr.  O. W., Mock, Alfred J., et al. Military Review: Professional Journal of the US army,  (1974):https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p124201coll1/id/393/page/0/inline/p124201coll1_393_0 [https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p124201coll1/id/393/page/0/inline/p124201coll1_393_0].   McGurk, Marshall, “When Understanding Goes M.I.A: Lost in Metaphors, Idioms, and  Analogies,”  Harding Project Substack. March 26th, 2024. https://www.hardingproject.com/p/when-understanding-goes-mia-lost [https://www.hardingproject.com/p/when-understanding-goes-mia-lost]   Murray, Thomas E. “The Language of Naval Fighter Pilots.” American Speech 61, no. 2 (1986):  121-129, https://www.jstor.org/stable/455158?seq=1 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/455158?seq=1].

Afghanistan III: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. For today's episode, we will finish our three part series on Afghanistan and its relationship to the United States. Specifically from the post Cold War era to today, including the terror and deep loss of 9/11, the subsequent War on Terror, the continuing dynamic between the two countries, no matter the president and the withdrawal of troops in 2021.  This series is also the first of our "Close Look" groupings where we delve deep into one subject matter over the course of multiple episodes. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://history.humboldt.edu/people/sara-jaye-hart-0], who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.humboldt.edu/cahss1/jeff-crane]who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. ⁠ [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/241154/americas-war-for-the-greater-middle-east-by-andrew-j-bacevich/]Bacevich, The New American Militarism [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-new-american-militarism-9780199931767?cc=us&lang=en&] Becker, “A Nation Challenged; Renaming an Operation to Fit the Mood” [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/26/us/a-nation-challenged-renaming-an-operation-to-fit-the-mood.html] Bergen, The Longest War, 2011.  [https://www.montclairbookcenter.com/pages/books/543204/peter-l-bergen/the-longest-war-the-enduring-conflict-between-america-and-al-qaeda] Bin Laden, Declaration of Jihad Against Americans [https://www.911memorial.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/1996%20Osama%20bin%20Laden%27s%201996%20Fatwa%20against%20United%20States_0.pdf] The Bulletin, Doomsday Clock [https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/timeline/#culture] Bush Jr., “Remarks by the President Upon Arrival” [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010916-2.html] Bush Jr., “Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People” [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html] Bush Jr., “President Bush Speakers to United Nations” [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011110-3.html] Bush Jr., “President Delivers State of the Union Address” [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html] Costs of War Project, “Human and Budgetary Costs to Date of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, 2001-2022” [https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/human-and-budgetary-costs-date-us-war-afghanistan-2001-2022] Finkel, The Good Soldiers  [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312430023/thegoodsoldiers/] Finkel, Thank you For Your Service [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250056023/thankyouforyourservice/] Johnson, Nemesis [https://americanempireproject.com/nemesis/] Johnson, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire [https://americanempireproject.com/blowback/] Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire  [https://americanempireproject.com/the-sorrows-of-empire/] Miller, “Greetings America, My name is Osama bin Laden” [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/miller.html] Nissenbaum, “Who Won in Afghanistan? Private Contractors” [https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/who-won-in-afghanistan-private-contractors-troops-withdrawal-war-pentagon-11640988154] Roy, “The algebra of infinite justice” [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/29/september11.afghanistan] Vine, Base Nation [https://americanempireproject.com/base-nation/] Vine, Lists of U.S. Military Bases Abroad, 1776-2021 [https://aura.american.edu/articles/online_resource/Lists_of_U_S_Military_Bases_Abroad_1776-2021/23857422?file=41851266] Purkiss and Serle, “Obama’s Covert Drone War in Numbers: Ten Times More Strikes Than Bush” [https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-17/obamas-covert-drone-war-in-numbers-ten-times-more-strikes-than-bush] Zenko, “Obama’s Final Drone Strike Data” [https://www.cfr.org/blog/obamas-final-drone-strike-data] Friedersdorf, “Calling U.S. Drone Strikes ‘Surgical’ is Orwellian Propaganda” [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/calling-us-drone-strikes-surgical-is-orwellian-propaganda/262920/] Scahill, “The Assassination Complex” [https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/the-assassination-complex/] Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Afghanistan II: The Path to Jihad

Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. This week's episode marks the second of three episodes focusing on Afghanistan from a historical and cultural perspective, both as a region and later, as a country. For today's episode , we will continue to look at Afghanistan and the role the United States played in the conflict and instability of the country in the late 20th and early 21st century and all that happened between the Soviet invasion in 1979 and the American invasion in 2001. This series is also the first of our "Close Look" groupings where we delve deep into one subject matter over the course of multiple episodes. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://history.humboldt.edu/people/sara-jaye-hart-0], who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.humboldt.edu/cahss1/jeff-crane]who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Bacevich, America’s War for the Greater Middle East [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/241154/americas-war-for-the-greater-middle-east-by-andrew-j-bacevich/] Bergen, The Longest War, 2011.  [https://www.montclairbookcenter.com/pages/books/543204/peter-l-bergen/the-longest-war-the-enduring-conflict-between-america-and-al-qaeda] Carter, “Energy and the National Goals - A Crisis of Confidence” [https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jimmycartercrisisofconfidence.htm] Carter, “January 4th Address to the Nation” [https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00552R000101020087-4.pdf] Coll, Ghost Wars [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292947/ghost-wars-by-steve-coll/] Britannica, Executive Order 11905 [https://www.britannica.com/event/Executive-Order-11905] Bhutta, “Children of war: the real casualties of the Afghan conflict” [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1122273/] History.com, “Domino Theory” [https://www.history.com/articles/domino-theory] Office of the Historian, “Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, Volume XII, Afghanistan” [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3637992.html] Reagan, “Proclamation 4908 - Afghanistan Day” [https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-4908-afghanistan-day] Truman, “A Report of the National Security Council - NSC 68” [https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/report-national-security-council-nsc-68] U.S. Senate, “S. Res. 400 Establishing a New Seclect Committee: Church Committee” [https://www.senate.gov/about/resources/pdf/church-committee-sres400-ssci.pdf] U.S. Dept of Justice, “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978” [https://bja.ojp.gov/program/it/privacy-civil-liberties/authorities/statutes/1286#:~:text=General%20Provisions,purpose%20of%20gathering%20foreign%20intelligence.] Young, “40 years ago, Church Committee investigated Americans spying on Americans” [https://www.brookings.edu/articles/40-years-ago-church-committee-investigated-americans-spying-on-americans/] Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.