Editor‘s note： The United States has been at war for more than 200 of its 240 years of existence。 Between the end of WW2 and 9/11 – barely 50 years – the U。S。 initiated 201 conflicts that ravaged 153 countries and regions。 “America： War by another name” is a special eight-part series that explores the sinister motivations for its warmongering。 Episode 1 examines how the pursuit of capital justified multiple genocides

電影《心靈捕手》中，男主人公威爾（Will Hunting）被問及為何不願為美國國家安全域性效力時，稱“設想我接受這份工作，成功破解了有關中東北非某個起義軍藏身之所的密碼，那麼政府便會據此展開精準轟炸，1500個素不相識的生命瞬間灰飛煙滅，隨後政客們派陸戰隊去斬草除根，反正在前線賣命的也不是他們的孩子。一番出生入死後，來自南部州的軍人小夥兒回到家鄉，身心俱損，卻發現根本無法養家餬口。而政府發動這場戰爭的唯一原因就是要扶植一個能賤賣石油給美國的代理人政府。與此同時跨國石油公司以此戰爭為由頭抬高了國內油價，賺得缽滿盆滿。就憑這個，我寧願做點別的事兒。”

In the film Good Will Hunting， there was a scene when the protagonist Will Hunting was asked about reasons why he refused to work for the National Security Agency。

He replied， “Say I’m working at NSA。 Somebody puts a code on my desk， something nobody else can break。 So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it… But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East。 Once they have that location， they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and 1，500 people I never had a problem with get killed。 Now the politicians are saying， ‘Send in the marines to secure the area’… It won‘t be their kid over there， getting shot… It’ll be some kid from Southie taking shrapnel in the a*s… And the guy who put the shrapnel in his a*s got his old job， cause he‘ll work for 15 cents a day and no bathroom breaks。 Meanwhile， he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price。 And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck… So what did I think？ I’m holding out for something better。”

這段話不僅鞭辟入裡地道出了美國政治權力與資本權力利用戰爭佈設的龐大利益網，同時更揭示了那些保有人性良知的美國人對本國發動戰爭的萬般無奈。

What he said was an accurate reflection of the giant web of interests woven by American political and capital powers through wars。 It also expressed the frustration keenly felt by decent Americans of conscience over their own country‘s waging of wars。

然而歷史總是驚人的相似，在美國對北美印第安原住民發動的種族滅絕戰爭中，威爾這段有關美國戰爭邏輯的精彩剖析也能恰到好處的為一些不忍對印第安人屠刀相向的美國軍官的命運提供註腳。1864年11月29日，約翰•奇溫頓（John Chivington）上校指揮700名科羅拉多州第三騎兵團士兵，毫無預警地襲擊了一個印第安保留地，製造了駭人聽聞的沙溪大屠殺（Sand Creek Massacre）。

History always repeats itself。 Will’s telling analysis of America‘s war logic also tells the fate of army officers who did not have the heart to draw their sword against innocent people in the genocide of American Indians。 On November 29， 1864， a 700-man force of the Third Colorado Cavalry under the command of Colonel John Chivington raided an Indian encampment， committing the blood-curdling Sand Creek Massacre。

奇溫頓曾是衛理公會牧師，如今卻化身劊子手高呼：“任何同情印第安人的人都該死！我是來殺印第安人的，我相信在上帝的保佑下，使用任何手段殺死印第安人都是正確和光榮的。”在其授意下，百餘名印第安人殞命，其中三分之二為手無寸鐵的婦女和兒童，他們死後不單慘遭尸解，甚至連頭皮和部分身體器官都被美軍士兵當成戰利品。

Chivington， once a Methodist pastor but now a butcher， shouted， “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians！ I have come to kill Indians， and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God’s heaven to kill Indians。” Under his instruction， more than 100 American Indians were killed， two thirds being defenseless women and children。 Some victims were even dismembered， with their scalps and body organs treated as trophies by American soldiers。

即便暴虐至此，軍隊中仍有少數心懷憐憫、不忍濫殺無辜的軍官，塞拉斯•索爾上尉（Captain Silas Soule）便是極具代表性的一位。如今在丹佛圖書館，收藏著他彼時的來往書信，用憂心忡忡的文字記錄了這場慘劇。

In spite of the ruthlessness， there were still a small number of compassionate officers in the army who refused to kill innocent people。 Captain Silas Soule was one of them。 His frustration-laden letters back then， now kept in the Denver Library， detailed the tragedy。

其中一封向愛德華•溫克普（Edward Wynkoop）少校彙報戰況：

“大屠殺持續了6-8小時，所幸還有些印第安人成功脫逃，我跟你講，眼睜睜地看印第安小孩子跪地討饒還被一些自稱是有教養的‘文明人’打的腦漿迸裂真是太心痛了。一位女子已經受傷，有個傢伙用斧頭結束了她的生命，居然砍掉了她的一隻胳膊，並一隻手抓住另一隻胳膊用斧頭砸爛她的頭部。”

One letter written to Major Edward Wynkoop reads：

“The massacre lasted six or eight hours， and a good many Indians escaped。 I tell you Ned it was hard to see little children on their knees have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized。 One squaw was wounded， and a fellow took a hatchet to finish her， and he cut one arm off， and held the other with one hand and dashed the hatchet through her brain。”

另一封給母親：

“親愛的媽媽，你寫這封信那天我在屠殺現場，目睹了三百餘名印第安人被殺。但我絕不讓我的部下開火，只有卑鄙懦弱之人才能對好心的印第安人下手，屠殺開始的時候我們部隊裡還有些人正在他們部落友好地做生意。有些印第安人自知求生無望開始絕地反擊，大概打死了12個我們的人，整個過程中我只射殺了一匹馬…。。由於違抗軍令，（奇溫頓）上司威脅說他會扣掉我全部薪水，開除軍職甚至處以絞刑，不過就攻列印第安部落這件事，我堅信我比他有遠見。我想華盛頓政府方面務必派人介入調查這次暴行。”

In another letter to his mother， he wrote：

“The day you wrote， I was present at a Massacre of three hundred Indians mostly women and children。 It was a horrible scene， and I would not let my Company fire。 They were friendly and some of our soldiers were in their Camp at the time trading… Some of the Indians fought when they saw no chance of escape and killed twelve… of our men。 I had one Horse shot… I hope the authorities at Washington will investigate the killing of those Indians。 I think they will be apt to hoist some of our high officials。 I would not fire on the Indians with my Co。 and the Col。 said he would have me cashiered， but he is out of the service before me and I think I stand better than he does in regard to his great Indian fight。”

索爾及其他幾位德行高尚、拒絕同流合汙的軍官的記錄和描述促使官方不得不出面調查，面對奇溫頓的威逼利誘，索爾上尉毅然決然選擇在科羅拉多軍事委員會出廳佐證，最終也因誠實揭發戰爭罪行而遭人暗算，死於非命。雖然很少有美國人知道索爾的名字，但恰如歷史學家戴維•哈拉斯（David F。 Halaas）所言：“如果沒有他們違抗軍令，可能那些部落都不會有後代活到今天，也就沒人能講述這段塵封已久的血案了。”

The records and narratives of Soule and other righteous officers who refused to participate in the massacre sparked such outrage that the authorities had to initiate an investigation。 Despite Chivington‘s coercion and cajolery， Soule resolutely chose to testify about the war crime before the Colorado military commission。 Because of this， he was eventually assassinated。 The name Silas Soule is not known to many Americans， but as historian David Fridtjof Halaas put it， without people like him who had the courage to disobey orders，“the descendants probably wouldn’t be around today， and there would be no one to tell the stories。”

沙溪大屠殺不過是美國對印第安人長達百年種族滅絕的縮影。包括人口清洗、文化侵蝕和生存環境搗毀在內的強盜式行徑，表面動因來自於美國政府加速西部“開發”的土地政策，為美國的國力擴張和強盛打下了重要基礎。究其本源，則是美國資本主義完成原始積累，並從自由競爭進入壟斷的必由之路。

The Sand Creek Massacre is but one episode of the 100-year U。S。 genocide against native Americans。 Rapacious acts including ethnic cleansing， cultural erosion and environment destruction reinforced America‘s national strength and paved the way for its rise。 The misdeed was seemingly driven by Washington’s land policy to promote the westward expansion， but， in its essence， this was the one and only path for the U。S。 to complete its primitive accumulation of capital and the transition from free competition to monopoly。

美國建國後很長時間內，國會議員中土地投機商、土地經紀人、大資本家以及與之過從甚密者佔比極高。加之當時美國百廢待興，為緩解財政困難，美國一方面利用印第安人對主權、領土、物權、人權等現代概念不甚清晰的狀態，對其採取“屠殺+簽訂欺騙性條約+貸款+強制同化”的清繳策略，野蠻獲得對印第安人故土的控制權。另一方面用戰爭的“勝利果實”——土地換取稀缺的資本，由大資本家和土地投機商把土地以高利貸方式高價賣給普通移民，導致後者破產，變向推動了資本主義農場和租佃制的發展。與此同時，他們把投機土地的收益大量投資利潤高昂的皮毛貿易和交通運輸業。

For a long time after the founding of the U。S。， an extremely large portion of Congress seats were occupied by land opportunists， land brokers， big capitalists and those who had a close connection with them。 In an era where the country had just emerged out of the rubble of war and had to start from scratch， the U。S。 government did two things to ease financial difficulties。

For one， taking advantage of native Americans‘ ignorance of modern concepts such as sovereignty， territory， real right and human rights， it implemented an exploitative policy combining massacre， deceptive treaties， loans and forced assimilation to arbitrarily snatch away control over their ancestral homelands。

For another， it traded the “fruits” of war， namely lands， for scarce capital。 Big capitalists and land opportunists sold lands to ordinary immigrants at a high price in the form of usurious loans to bankrupt the latter。 This indirectly promoted the development of capitalist farms and the land tenancy system。 In the meantime， they invested the profits from land opportunism in high-returning sectors such as the fur trade and the transportation industry。

如果說北美印第安戰爭中，印第安人是最大的犧牲品、普通老百姓次之，那麼商人、銀行家、金融家和工廠主構成的投資者以及社會名流和政界要員便是此輪資本洗牌中的終極贏家。

If， in American Indian Wars， native Americans were the biggest victims， followed by the ordinary public， then investors including businessmen， bankers， financiers and factory owners， together with social elites and senior politicians， were the ultimate winners in the capital reshuffle。

時至今日，人們歌頌華盛頓、傑斐遜等開國元勳和建國英雄的豐功偉績時，卻很少提及被他們視如草芥、如滅螻蟻的印第安生命。人們歌頌西進運動塑造的開拓、進取、革新等美利堅精神時，卻本能地忽略了資本的貪婪慾望背後流淌著印第安人無辜的鮮血。而索爾上尉的書信和命運恰恰透過印第安戰爭折射出了那個資本咆哮的年代，並從一個慘劇親歷者、一個良知尚存者、一位為政府供職的軍人的視角譜寫了一曲本該屬於印第安人的人性輓歌。

Until this day， while the feats of American founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are much celebrated， there has rarely been any mention of the Indian lives that they trod underfoot and slaughtered like lambs。

When people eulogize the pioneering， aspiring and reformative American spirit fostered by the westward movement， they intuitively turn a blind eye to the blood of innocent American Indians flowing underneath capitalist lust and greed。

Captain Silas Soule’s letters and fate unveiled， through the American Indian Wars， an age of roaring capital growth。 As a witness of the tragedy of native Americans， a man of conscience and an army officer serving the government， he wrote a dirge of humanity that is supposed to be dedicated to American Indians。

作者系中國社會科學院美國研究所助理研究員王聰悅

The author， Wang Congyue， is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of American Studies， Chinese Academy of Social Sciences。