The Return of G.I. Joe

The fighting is over in Grenada. For the second time in history, American troops have invaded and occupied a socialist country. But unlike the first attempt in 1951, when a U.S. invasion of North Korea was repulsed by Chinese forces, this time the U.S. looks like it's going to stay.

For one thing, Grenada doesn't have a friendly nation of 600 million people on its borders willing to intervene on its behalf. Nor does it have the strength internally: the violent overthrow of the Bishop government caused such confusion in Grenada that many people lost the will to resist. Even Cuba, Grenada's staunchest ally, refused to send reinforcements after Prime Minister Maurice Bishop's death.

Second, the Grenadan invasion appears to be a first step in what has become a regional war, organized by the U.S. In Central America, a multinational force composed of troops from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador is poised to strike at Nicaragua and join in the Salvadoran government's fight against guerrilla forces. Five thousand American troops are on maneuvers in Honduras. Grenada's own neighbors, Jamaica, Dominica, and Barbados, are helping the U.S. subjugate Grenada.

Third, the U.S. has made it clear that it intends to have a determining voice in future Grenadian affairs. One indication of the U.S. resolve are its plans to reorient the economy around lines desired by the U.S. A team sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) left in mid-November for a one-week fact finding tour designed to "help the Grenadian people help themselves." At the top of AID's list for projects in Grenada are export-oriented agriculture and tourism; the models being followed are Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

After doing everything in its power for four years to block aid to Grenada-not just from the U.S. but from other countries and international organizations-the Reagan Administration has now declared its willingness to spend millions to bring Grenada back into the capitalist fold. The irony in the fact that this "self help" program has been imposed by force seems lost on AID and the Reagan Administration.

But sadly, the "rescue mission" - as President Reagan calls it-appears to be gaining the support of a segment of the American people. Tired of seeing the country being kicked around, the line goes, Americans are feeling good that the country is willing to stand up for what it believes in once again. "There's only so many times you can get slapped in the back of the head before you're going to knock somebody down," an auto mechanic told the Wall Street Journal. "That is how I feel about Grenada."

These kinds of feelings have been reinforced by the almost total blackout of information about Grenada, and the near political monopoly Ronald Reagan has on network television. Only a few reports have appeared in the press discussing the social and political gains of the Grenadian revolution-or of the importance many Grenadians placed on the Cuban medical and educational personnel on the island. The media has also overlooked the growing domestic opposition to U.S. policies in Central America and the Carribean. Nearly 50,000 people demonstrated in Washington on November 12 while throughout the country there have been hundreds of demonstrations and protests against the invasion. A lopsided majority in the U.N. voted against the invasion, while a number of prominent American legal experts have criticized the act as a violation of international law and the U.S. Constitution.

Still, a new jingoism seems to be spreading-even down to the products that consumers buy for their children. As we were researching the article on the toy industry that appears in this issue, we found that, not only are military toys selling at record rates, but that the toys themselves reflect the Reagan war mentality.

The best selling military toy, G.I. Joe, has been resurrected by its maker, Hasbro Industries of Rhode Island, after seven years of post-Vietnam hibernation. Billed as the "all American hero," G.I. Joe is "for the red, white, and blue, for standing up for America, and for fighting terrorism," says Alan Hassenfeld, Vice President of Hasbro.

Joe's "enemy," the "Cobra Commander," bears a striking resemblance to President Reagan's descriptions of the Soviet Union and Third World liberation forces. As described by Hasbro, the commander's "main battle plan, for world control, relies on revolution and chaos. He personally led uprisings in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and other trouble spots," and is "probably the most dangerous man alive."

The invasion of Grenada and the creeping militarism of the 1980s are ugly reminders of the dehumanizing consequences of seeing the world in such simplistic terms. By dismissing the Cubans, the Grenadians, and the Nicaraguans as "terrorists," the U.S. reduces them to a sub-human status. And by playing on these sentiments, the manufacturers of military toys are only contributing to the war atmosphere.

The penetration of this mentality into children's minds was illustrated by a comment overheard at the display of captured weaponry from Grenada on view at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. While looking over a display of machine guns and hand grenades, and standing amidst a group of red-bereted Army Rangers just back from Grenada, a small child turned towards his father and asked: "Wouldn't it be fun to overthrow another country?"

Merry Christmas-and welcome to 1984.