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Confessions Of An Argentine Dirty Warrior By Horacio Verbitsky

1154 Words5 Pages

Simone Fernandez
HIST 460: History of State Terror in Latin America
Prof. Geoffery Spurling
FEB 15, 2023
Dying a Christian Death; Examining the Distortion of Religion in Confessions of an Argentine Dirty Warrior by Horacio Verbitsky
In the book Confessions of an Argentine Dirty Warrior, renowned journalist Horacio Verbitsky interviews Aldolfo Scilingo, the first Argentinian naval officer to come forward and admit to executing alleged ‘subversives’ during the Dirty War. This comprehensive interview gives Verbitsky the opportunity to challenge Scilingo’s, and in part the military’s, perspective regarding the morality of their decisions. To the Argentine military, the dirty war was considered a ‘holy war,’ in which they had been tasked to weed …show more content…

Scilingo offers insight into the complex warping of ethics, religion, and morality by the Proceso to justify the torture and murder of alleged subversives; moreover, his accounts of visceral reactions and his weak justifications disprove the Proceso’s attempts at bastardizing religion. This tactic of religious and ethical distortion not only allowed the Proceso to violate human rights during the Dirty War but would also contribute to the military’s attempted warping of history after Argentina transitioned to a civilian government. Crucial to understand this, is the framework of a holy war. The Argentine military regime was ultra-conservative Catholic, as described by Pierre-Louis Le Groff . As a holy war, the regime believed that they had been entrusted to protect the state in the name of God. However, this holy war concept will lose its meaning and become one of the many reliable scapegoats for the regime’s …show more content…

Here, Verbitsky and Scilingo discuss the flights. Verbitsky pushes Scilingo to further explain the morality behind the flights, beyond the functionality. Scilingo admits that this method of disposal was a “Christian death,” since the subversives were blissfully unaware of their fate during transfer. The flights are described as a communion for the men orchestrating the flights , as they were all required to take part, as a sort of initiation. Moreover, sedation during death meant their passing was peaceful and painless. Scilingo’s discussion of the flights has various religious themes, further contributing to their ‘holy war’ beliefs. That the executions they participated in were not only justified, but since the method of killing was human, they as executioners were pardoned by God. Chaplains altered doctrine and gave them justification for their actions. When Verbitsky questions Scilingo on the alleged ‘Christian explanation’ for the flights, he responds; “I don’t remember very well, but he was telling me that it was a Christian death, because they didn’t suffer, because it wasn’t traumatic. They had to be eliminated, that war was war and even the Bible provided for eliminating the weeds from the wheatfield. He gave me some support.” . This story Scilingo refers to is the parable of Tares, or the parable of Weeds from Matthew 13: 36-43. In this passage,

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