Move over Nathan, we’ve got a 21st century Hale to honor

Back in 1950’s grammar school, we were all taught the famous last words of Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, who upon mounting the scaffold to be hanged for spying on British General William Howe, uttered “I regret I have but one life to give for my country.” The lesson was that no greater service could be rendered to America than giving up one’s life to protect it.

Three centuries later another Hale was punished for protecting America, not from a foreign foe, but from America’s own perpetual war machine. Former Air Force intelligence officer Daniel Hale, 33, was sentenced to 45 months in prison last July for trying to end murderous U.S. drone warfare in which up to 90% of the casualties are innocent civilians. He did that by pilfering secret documents establishing that horrific death toll in 2012-13, and giving them to antiwar journalist Jeremy Scahill. The resulting ‘Drone Papers’ proved that U.S. happy talk that drone warfare only kills foreign enemies was a cruel, murderous lie

Just a month after his sentence, the enormity of Hale’s revelations received worldwide attention when another U.S. drone strike in the heart of the Afghan capital obliterated a family of 10. Enemy combatants killed: 0. The U.S. military coverup team went into overdrive to first claim we slaughtered bad guys; then claim the strike was righteous. But with worldwide focus on the U.S. troop withdrawal, and rock solid reporting, the enormity of the U.S. war crime became undeniable.

No one guilty of criminal negligence in the slaughter would be arrested, imprisoned, fired or even disciplined. But for the unpardonable sin of revealing the truth about U.S. war crimes now in their third decade, Hale gives up 45 months of his freedom. The lesson is clear; break a technical law doing no harm to America whatsoever except to the criminals running amok in the Middle East and Africa, and you will be destroyed.

As long as we’re renaming Chicago schools these days, how bout updating the Nathan Hale school on the Southwest Side. Won’t take much effort, just chip off ‘Nathan’ and replace with ‘Daniel’. That is not to denigrate the sacrifice of the 18th century Hale. It will simply allow a 21st century patriot Hale, to serve as a modern role model to divert our youth away from senseless war….and toward peace.