Disarm on June 2nd, a peaceful country does not need military parades

If my soldiers began to think, there would be no one left in my ranks. (Frederick the Great)

I watched all the television videos of the parade of the armed forces at the Imperial Forums for the Republic Day. Happy to have survived the potentially suicidal ordeal, I must honestly say that I was overwhelmed by a pervasive boredom. Having seen a couple of departments pass by, the semi-infinite sequence of all the others is nothing but a mechanical repetition. The colors, more or less multicolored, of the uniforms, hats, and caps change, of course, but it is the same martial step, which makes the men and women resemble self-propelled mannequins. And the women, in particular, with their femininity imprisoned inside the uniform, appear improbable and even pitiful, when they show off the grit that imitates that of male warriors.

Then the triumph of weapons, a forest of pistols and rifles more or less all the same, shouldered with rough pride, as if they were about to start shooting. And the exhibition of armored vehicles, of tanks all polished to a shine, almost as if they were toys, as if their purpose were not to kill. Not a smile from the "parades", not even if you paid for it in gold, as if the homeland could not be defended with serenity. The respect towards the President of the Republic, patron of the show, and towards every marching infantryman, is not in conflict with the question that must be asked: is this annual dazzling exhibition really necessary? “Italy repudiates war as an instrument of offense to the freedom of other peoples and as a means of resolving international disputes” : clear, art. 11 of the Constitution. But respected only in words. Like when Italy bombed Belgrade ( Mattarella Minister of Defense, D'Alema Prime Minister), Libya, Afghanistan.

How much hypocrisy, then, in the celebration of June 2nd! In this regard, I am reminded of a letter that Lelio Basso, a partisan and one of the fathers of the Constitution, wrote in 1976 to the then Minister of Defense Arnaldo Forlani , thanking him for having suspended the June 2nd parade due to the devastating earthquake in Friuli. It is useful to report some passages. After having expressed the hope that the suspension would become “a suppression” , Basso writes: “ I had never understood why the national holiday of June 2nd had to be celebrated with a military parade. (…) June 2nd was a political victory, the victory of the civil and democratic conscience of the people over the monarchic forces and their allies: clericalism, fascism, the privileged class”.

(…) “The armed forces have maintained the characteristic spirit of the past, the authoritarian and anti-democratic character of the separate bodies. (…) Our governments have favored this situation by pushing fascist elements to the top of their careers, such as General De Lorenzo, former commander of the Carabinieri, former head of the secret services and former chief of staff and, finally, fascist deputy; such as Admiral Birindelli, who had already risen to a NATO command and then also became a fascist deputy; such as General Miceli, former head of the secret services and now fascist candidate for the Chamber” . After having recalled art. 1 of the Charter , “Italy is a democratic Republic, founded on work”, Basso vigorously hopes that “ the unarmed forces of work, which are by definition forces of peace, forces of progress, should be called upon to celebrate the civil victory of June 2”.

Of course, the letter is dated. From 1972 to today a different democratic sensibility has made its way into the armed forces, but it is equally true that there are still military bodies with a prevalent neo-fascist orientation. I believe that we should take advantage of Basso's statements above all of the idea of ​​celebrating June 2 (to worthily celebrate the referendum that in 1946 made the country transition from monarchy to republic) with a large demonstration of representatives of all categories of the world of work, including a small group - a small group, I underline - of the military forces without weapons, since they too are made up of workers... Let's imagine the context: the Imperial Forums crossed by an immense procession of young people, women, men, recognizable by professional categories (from farmers to industrial workers, from artisans to white-collar workers, etc.), who parade paying homage to the civil authorities. It would be a memorable... upside down. Even more so in these times, characterized by the paroxysmal tendency to increase military spending for rearmament. Ah! If the President of the Republic, the President of the Council and the political forces understood this! It would mean the achievement of a new civil awareness. A country that truly pursues peace does not need to parade weapons.

FROM

Mario Capanna