Hi folks,
I try REALLY hard to be apolitical, and pretty much everything else except for two things...
simply an Earthling and a nice, decent person to all. Here's the problem with that. It would seem that if you are stupid enough to be smart enough to have a real opinion about something, anything, you will be hunted down by the "Label police" and given one. I don't ever make sweeping comments about politics or war or anything, really, just comments about specific events. Do I think war is stupid, barbaric and a total waste of lives, time, money, etc.? Yes, of course. Is anything ever going to change in this system of things, not likely...so. I don't rally, march or otherwise get involved in large ways. I will make my private contributions where and when I can to anything I believe in, but I have this one tiny problem that seems to be a big one for some people. I have a problem with blind loyalty. Now, if you are my friend, my job, even my country (again, not a Nationalist, but I DO love living where I am, and am generally proud to be here),I'm pretty much your gal, okay? BUT if any of these entities do something heinous, I'm afraid that I will have to say something to them about it, which usually means that I lose a friend, job or people I know that ARE Nationalists and believe in the "My country right or wrong" PERIOD theory. If you feel that way about your country, then how about if your boss or friend did something horrible, but they were under pressure and it was, in your mind, excusable? Like say, your friend was under extreme pressure at work, home, everywhere, to do a better job, be a better spouse, neighbor, parent, child, everything, and one day, they snap and bring a gun to work, or even home, and shoot co-workers or their whole family due to the mounting and unbearable stress they are under? Is that okay with you?
I am bringing this up, of course, because of the soldiers that killed, and then peed on, the "enemy", because they were SO stressed about being there, doing what they do for the service, seeing all they've seen, etc, making what they did AFTER the enemy is dead okay.
I've known many veterans of more than one war, and they've seen terrible things done by some. The thing is this. SOME people join the service for the express purpose of behaving badly, to put it mildly. They are looking for a license to do whatever comes to mind because they will have the excuse of "extreme pressure" to fall back on. Is having to go to these places, risking your life, worrying about getting captured and who knows what done to you scary and unbelievable pressure? Of course. Did anyone put a gun to their heads and MAKE them do unspeakable things WAY beyond what this country expects? NO. We are supposed to be an honorable place where we don't commit atrocities AND take the time and pleasure to video them!! If these boys were SO scared and worried about their lives, why, and how did they find the time to tape their act, and obviously have fun doing it? When you are scared for your life, you do what needs doing and you get the hell out of there, period. You don't have an impromptu "pee party". I realize that this was "mob mentality" at work here, and individually, these young men would probably have never done this thing, but as a group, they were tested, stressed, pushed to the limits before being sent over there, and either this type of behavior didn't come out, or was ignored as part of being the type of person needed for this type of mission. I know that the military overlooks a LOT of bad behavior to get the types to do "wet work" for them, but what is next? Do they get to cut out and eat the hearts of the enemy? Just how barbaric do they get to be, in the name of democracy? Even in barbaric times, very often, the enemy had respect for the dead on the other side.
I know, realistically, that war will always be with us in this system of things, and as long as there are wars, there will be dogs fighting IN them, but this country is already a joke to so many other countries, do we really need to be working SO hard to alienate EVERYONE?
I will say this, I don't think that court-martial is an appropriate punishment, I think that jail time for atrocities, psychological help and re-assignments are more in order for these individuals. We certainly expect other countries to punish their own for war crimes, don't we? We have helped hunt down, for instance, Nazis for what they did, right? Playing favorites is not right, I'm sorry. Bad behavior (and that is the nicest way I can put it) is bad behavior, no matter WHO is doing it, right? This was a sickening form of bullying, not that any type is acceptable, of course, but desecrating dead bodies, AND making a video while doing it, like it's a party or something, sorry, no. But for this view, I am a pinko, Liberal flake who doesn't understand the pressures of war. Well, I sure know the pressure of private "war". Does having been raped count as being put under tremendous pressure? I think it does. Surviving not only the rape, but having to hear the rapist laugh and ask if I enjoyed it was indescribable. Does that give me the okay to hunt this bastard down and not only kill him but maybe cut off his penis? I doubt it. I would, at the least, spend time in a psych ward somewhere... and this is why. HIS bad behavior doesn't excuse mine. Would a TON of people support my actions? Probably. Would I feel good about what I'd done? Probably that small, savage part of me, yeah, for a bit. But in the long run, I could not look back later and consider myself a victim of a crime anymore, because I fought fire with more fire, After the fact, after I had time to take a breath. After that, I'm just being a criminal too, aren't I? Taking revenge and getting justice...when did they become the same thing?
I'm just sayin'
Later, Dragonfly out
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