Geronimo: Just Say No!

No word yet from the White House on an angry letter sent by the leader of the Ft. Sill Apache Tribe asking the Prez to apologize for using the name "Geronimo" as the code name for Osama Bin Laden during the operation that brought about his assassination.

You might say, "what's the big deal?"  Well, look at not just your American-INDIAN history, but your AMERICAN history and you will see that, while the figure of the Native American Geronimo did not have the cleanest record, he had pure motives and, in the end, he was celebrated as a peace maker.

So, why didn't the government call Bin Laden "slime bucket" or "Mr. Crabs" when using his code name?  We may never know, but we're not going to stop asking.

By the way, want a little light encyclopedic reading?

Here is the entry from education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia:

c.1829—1909, leader of a Chiricahua group of the Apaches, b. Arizona. As a youth he participated in the forays of Cochise, Victorio, and other Apache leaders. When the Chiricahua Reservation was abolished (1876) and the Apaches removed to the arid San Carlos Agency in New Mexico, Geronimo led a group of followers into Mexico. He was soon captured and returned to the new reservation, where he farmed for a while. In 1881 he escaped again with a group (including a son of Cochise) and led raids in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. He surrendered (1883) to forces under Gen. George Crook and was returned to the reservation. In 1885 he again left, and after almost a year of war he agreed to surrender to Crook, but at the last minute Geronimo fled. His escape led to censure of Crook's policy. Late in 1886, Geronimo and the remainder of his forces surrendered to Gen. Nelson Appleton Miles, Crook's successor. They were deported as prisoners of war to Florida; contrary to an agreement, they were not allowed to take their families with them. After a further period in prison in Alabama, Geronimo was placed under military confinement at Fort Sill, Okla., where he settled down, adopted Christianity, and became a prosperous farmer. He became a national celebrity when he appeared at the St. Louis World's Fair and in Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural procession. He dictated his autobiography to S. M. Barrett (1906, repr. 1970).