Apache Geronimo was no Bin Laden

Sam and I are not bleeding-heart liberals, but our government, which legislates political correctness, insulted Native Americans by using the code "Geronimo-E KIA" to signify that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. 

 Sam and I are not castigating our President nor our military for terminating Bin Laden with extreme prejudice. President Obama is to be congratulated for showing the world that the U.S. has real balls, not Texas balls. The SEAL team that shot and killed Bin Laden – whether he drew first or not - should receive medals. No one should be allowed to attack us on our home soil without swift and lethal retribution.

But it is truly unfortunate that the history of the United States has perpetuated the portrayal of Native Americans as bloodthirsty, heathen savages – and now this. We forcibly removed the Native Americans from their homelands during the so-called “settling” of the West. We lied to them, we betrayed their trust, we imprisoned them, mistreated them, and committed atrocities against them, leaving an embarrassing stain on U.S. history.

Yes, Geronimo the Apache warrior committed a few atrocities of his own. He wasn’t called the "worst Indian who ever lived" among white settlers for nothing.  (James L. Haley, Wikipedia). He cut throats and took scalps.  He frustrated Mexican and U.S. soldiers, evading capture for a long time much like bin Laden evaded capture for the past decade. But can we really compare the two men? Can we call a man trying to defend his homeland as a terrorist? Geronimo was simply a Native American warrior who refused to acknowledge the United States occupation of his homeland.

An argument can be made that Bin Laden was simply defending his homeland too when he was fighting Russian occupiers of Afghanistan. But why Bin Laden then brought his fight here on 9/11 is anybody’s guess –a good guess being that he was betrayed by United States politicians and military just like Geronimo. Still, that does not excuse the hatred that boiled over on 9/11 or us besmirching Geronimo’s name.

The U.S. military practices a tradition of naming weapons and helicopters after American Indian tribes and American paratroopers in World War II yelled “Geronimo” as a war cry when they jumped out of airplanes. So, maybe some kind of “tradition” played a part in labeling the Bin Laden action as a Geronimo thing.
 Still, Native Americans are right to assert that calling Bin Laden Geronimo is an insult. Jeff Houser, chairman of Geronimo's Fort Sill Apache Tribe, apparently has sent a letter to President Obama decrying the decision to use Geronimo’s name  as part of the ongoing cultural disconnect between American whites and Native Americans (Los Angeles Times). Houser said he didn’t think Geronimo’s name was used in malice, but the damage was done.


Let’s hope President Obama apologizes on behalf of all Americans. He, of all people, should understand the damage done by poorly thought out racial profiling.