In a survey of U.S. troops in combat in Iraq, less than half of Marines and a little more than half of Army soldiers said they would report a member of their unit for killing or wounding an innocent civilian.Do you think this attitude has anything to do with the reasons why we're losing? Do you think this attitude has anything to do with the growth of the jihadists?
More than 40 percent support the idea of torture in some cases, and 10 percent reported personally abusing Iraqi civilians, the Pentagon said Friday in what it called its first ethics study of troops at the war front. Units exposed to the most combat were chosen for the study, officials said.
There was a comic book villain -- I can't recall the name -- who absorbed energy, and who thus grew stronger every time he got punched. The insurgency in Iraq is like that. Do you think the attitudes expressed above might have helped to create such an enemy?
I do not blame these soldiers. I blame their leaders. I blame Bush for forcing overstressed American warriors into an unwinnable conflict.
4 comments:
I think that maybe you're thinking of Sebastian Shaw of the Hellfire Club in Marvel Comics - various issues of the X-Men and other comics. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Shaw_%28comics%29
Why indeed.
sofla said...
Little remembered or mentioned these days, an historical account I saw described a mass hanging of American GIs in Europe (close to 50 at once) near VE Day, tried and convicted of the crime of rape.
Should that situation be blamed on leadership, or the mind-shattering, morals-on-vacation setting of war combat?
OTOH, a man I know who served in this current war described a sergeant who was widely thought by all to be repeatedly raping a young Iraqi woman over weeks of time, a lieutenant 'who'd lost his damn mind' after seeing his close friend have his head explode right next to him, who walked up to innocent Iraqis and just shot them dead (that went on without anyone saying anything for more than a week of this behavior), and widespread 'liberation' (theft) of currency from Iraqi civilians, whether it was Iraqi currency, or thousands of US dollars found cached.
To be complete, the lieutenant was reported, brought up on charges, and is now in Leavenworth federal prison.
Yes, and they're eventually coming back here if they don't die first. At what point will they be held responsible for the violent crimes some will inevitably commit against American citizens?
I simply can't understand painting them all with a broad brush. Some soldiers joined the military for this war because they like violence and get off on seeing others suffer. Iraq is the perfect setting for them.
These sociopaths shame the real soldiers there who serve this country with honor. Sorry, but IED's are too good - and too quick for them.
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