In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Since John Walker Lindh was captured by American forces, most conservatives have (unsurprisingly) been on the forefront of the lynch mob. The few exceptions, such as Paul Craig Roberts, Sam Francis, and Charlie Reese, have all gone after Jane Fonda in their defense of Lindh. While what Jane Fonda did in Vietnam was stupid and in bad judgment, it was hardly treason. All she did was misrepresent (either out of stupidity or ideological blindness) the mistreatment of American P.O.W.s and take some silly pictures with Vietcong soldiers. She did not provide any military or strategic assistance to the North Vietnamese and the truly horrendous acts that many say Fonda committed are nothing but Internet myths. Perhaps a more analogous situation to Lindh’s would be that of the legions of Americans who fought alongside the Stalinist Thugs during the Spanish Civil War in the aptly named Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

The U.S. did not get involved in the Spanish Civil War and placed an arms embargo against the Republicans. (According to Murray Rothbard this was the only thing FDR didn’t do wrong.) In addition to agitating for intervention, many on the Left decided to put their money where their mouth was and went off to Spain. To coordinate the effort, the Soviet controlled Communist International organized the International Brigade, which consisted of volunteers from 7 countries to fight with the Republicans. The American division of the group was the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Over 60% of the members belonged to either the Communist Party USA or the Young Communist League. While much has been made about the very nominal amount of aid that Franco received from Hitler, Mussolini, and a few US companies, until recently little has been said of the huge amount of support the Republicans received from Stalin and the atrocities they committed.

In his book, Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century, Robert Royal states that The Republicans killed at least 6,832 priests and nuns including 13 Bishops. The priests were often burned alive and mutilated while the nuns were raped. Bishops were tortured and executed in front of entire towns. They destroyed every single church they could. In Modern Times, Paul Johnson estimates that the Republicans slaughtered 50,000 civilians. In spite of these facts, the Catholic Church is still criticized for supporting the Nationalists.

What happened to the surviving members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade when they came home? Were they tried for treason, murder, or war crimes? No. Instead they were and still are trumpeted by Hollywood, academia, and the media as anti-fascist heroes. Most textbooks portray them in sympathetic, if not a heroic light – either ignoring the communist element or excusing it because it was during the Great Depression. All members of the Brigade are now honorary citizens of Spain. Some have even received the Presidential Medal of Honor. There are several organizations designed to generate more attention for the brigade by putting Museum exhibits and courses together.

Last year New Hampshire passed a bill that would put a tax-funded plaque in the State Capital that said "You Are History, You Are Legend. 40,000 international volunteers came to the defense of the Spanish Republic when Franco, Hitler and Mussolini attacked. Among them were some 3,000 young Americans, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and nearly half of them lie buried in Spanish soil. Their dedication to freedom and democracy is an inspiration to future generations." Fortunately, a last minute effort by local citizens took down the plaque, but this is a usual occurrence with similar plaques in Washington and Wisconsin already existing and others being pushed through other state assemblies.

Despite all this acclaim, many on the Left contend that the Veterans don’t get enough attention, and complain that they were victims of McCarthyism because some were forced out of government jobs.

Some will no doubt protest that I am blaming the Brigade for things they may not have been responsible for. It is true, they say, that Spanish Republicans were involved in atrocities, but the Abraham Lincoln Brigade consisted of idealistic youths that genuinely wanted to fight fascism. They did not participate in the Stalinist massacres, and were in fact the victim of the communists just as the priests and nuns were. Maybe they were pawns, but they were by no means villains. Neocon Ron Radosh, who to his credit has done much to expose Stalin’s involvement in the war, takes this line. There are a few grains of truth in this argument, but all of these points could be used in John Walker’s defense. He was not involved in any acts of terrorism. Nor did he oppress women, gays, or Buddhists. He simply went there because of his Islamic faith, and ended up in a situation that nearly had him killed by other Muslims.

I am in no way suggesting that any members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade should have been prosecuted in the US. Conservatives and libertarians should have no problem with Americans fighting in other countries’ wars. Just as those on the Right tell people complaining about poverty to give to charity instead of having the government steal other people’s money, whenever someone argues for military intervention in the name of human rights and democracy, we should tell them to go join a foreign army instead of push for U.S. intervention and sanctions.

Conservatives do not actually have a problem with American citizens joining other countries’ military. A particularly interesting story was told to me at a conference for editors of conservative college newspapers last November, shortly before the Lindh story came out. In the 80s, a few writers for a Yale conservative paper went to Afghanistan for a summer to fight with the anticommunist "freedom fighters" who of course are now our archenemies. They dressed themselves in Arab garb, got all swarthied up, and carried rifles just like John Walker. All of the conservative students thought they were heroes, yet I guarantee the same people would be happy to have Lindh executed. No one really cares if someone joins a foreign army, even if it belongs to a particularly nasty regime. Lindh’s only sin was that after joining up with the Taliban, they became what Gore Vidal calls our "enemy of the month."

August 5, 2002

Marcus Epstein [send him mail] is an undergraduate at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where he is president of the college libertarians and editor of the conservative newspaper, The Remnant. Here is his blog.

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