The presence of martial metaphors and war-making discourse embedded within the national psyche are well documented (e.g., Sherry, 1995). America's preoccupation with militarization eclipses many facets of institutional life and human social behavior. Some noteworthy examples include the social construction of: (1) women, gender, and sexuality (Higgonet et al., 1987); (2) lesbian and gay identities (Berube, 1990, Murphy and Poirier, 1993); (3) race and ethnic history (Takaki. 1998; Natty, 1986); (4) economics, science, and technology (Markusen et al., 1991; Lotchin, 1992; Mendelsohn et al., 1988); and (5) political culture (Gillis, 1989; Gibson, 1994; Hunter, 1991). Interestingly, we know little about the presence of martial metaphors in the construction of medicine (cf. Sontag, 1989 on AIDS and attitudes toward the state). Moreover, we know even less about the impact of these metaphors for medical justice. This deficiency in the literature is significant. As Ericson (1994:153) warns, "the military model is as pervasive as the medical model in efforts to colonize the control of crime and other forms of deviance." If his cautionary observation is remotely correct, what does it portend for our understanding of medicine and medical justice, particularly when these social realities are anchored by martial images and saturated in war-making discourse? Arguably, the implications for the control of crime/deviance are considerably recast as the overlapping and interdependent effects of the medical and military models fashion alienating, marginalizing, and oppressive meanings for citizens who are "combating forms of disease." This essay is an attempt to shed light on this underexamined question, One access point for an assessment of martial metaphors, medicine, and justice is found in the postmodern, deconstructive methodology of Jacques Derrida (1976, 1978, 1981, 1992, 1997). Derrida's contributions to this enterprise are significant on two fronts. First, as Young (1990: 98-99) explains, deconstructive analysis allows us to unveil the structures, embedded in discourse, that deny and repress difference.3 This is what Derrida (1976) calls the "metaphysics of presence." Second, deconstruction directs us to the "free play of the text" (Milovanovic. 1994: 102). In other words, once a narrative (such as the discourse of medicine) is constructed, the story "insists" and is forever incomplete (Derrida, 1973). This insistence is a recognition that the narrative always signifies more than what is intended. Teasing out several of the implicit meanings and unstated assumptions within the text on military rhetoric and medicine will help advance our investigation of the effects these meanings and assumptions have for the construction of law, and the control of crime and deviance. In part one of this essay, selected insights from Derrida's deconstructive philosophy are outlined. In part two, Table 1 is presented. The Table lists several everyday martial metaphors and then demonstrates how these images have found their way into the discursive text of medicine. Several observational comments concerning the manifest meanings for these warmaking metaphors in medicine are offered. In other words, the surface level intent is identified so that a coherent narrative can be constructed (Jackson, 1991). In part three, a Derridean critique of war text is presented, based on the previously delineated deconstructive principles and mindful of the underlying, unstated messages and/or values embedded in the text. Table 2 facilitates this investigation. In part four, the implications this deeper textual analysis holds for the nature of law and the control of crime/deviance are provisionally described. In order to situate the overall study, however, some general comments on the genealogy of martial rhetoric and medical justice are warranted. (Bruce Arrigo)