Military-age male

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Military-age male (abbreviated as "MAM," plural "MAMs") is an American military and media propaganda term used to dehumanize civilians or immigrants and whitewash civilian deaths in the face of public criticism. [1]

Contents

History

Usage in genocide

A concerted effort was made by the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska to capture all Bosniak men of military age in the Srebrenica massacre. [2]

American usage

American usage of the term began during the Vietnam War, when the American public was disturbed by high civilian casualties, so the military-industrial complex used the media to redefine the term "civilian" as "military-age males." [1] This public opinion strategy involves putting civilian deaths into separate categories where one is termed "military-age males" and essentially excluded from the conscience as "possible or potential combatants," thus reducing the number of civilians deaths by only including women, children, and the elderly. [1]

Usage in post-9/11 wars

This term was commonly used in the Bush-era wars around the world and later in Obama- and Trump-era drone programs. [1]

Usage in immigration rhetoric

The term has also been used by the Republican Party against migrants crossing the Mexico-United States border. [3] Illegal immigrant males of this age statistically commit fewer crimes than native-born citizens of the same age and gender. [4]

Impact

The usage of the term has been criticized as a propaganda effort intended to avert public criticism from the US Department of Defense, and for obfuscating and preventing proper oversight of US defense and foreign policies. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Coyne, Christopher J.; Hall, Abigail R. (2024). How to run wars: a confidential playbook for the national security elite. Oakland, CA: Independent Institute. ISBN   978-1-598-13392-9.
  2. "Krstic Judgement" (PDF). ICTY. 2 August 2001. Part II. FINDINGS OF FACT – A. THE TAKE-OVER OF SREBRENICA AND ITS AFTERMATH – 11. A Plan to Execute the Bosnian Muslim Men of Srebrenica.
  3. "Migration and the "Military-Age Male" Fallacy". Reason.com. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  4. Light, Michael T.; He, Jingying; Robey, Jason P. (22 December 2020). "Comparing crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born US citizens in Texas". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (51): 32340–32347. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11732340L. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2014704117 . PMC   7768760 . PMID   33288713.
  5. "'Military Age Males' in US Drone Strikes". AOAV. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2024.