« Will They Call This Abuse too? | Main | So, Where Were You During the Great Holocaust? »
June 02, 2006
Training! Of Course!
Sure, "ethics training" is the answer
I just have one question. When was the last time a killer said, "oh, I wasn't supposed to kill shivering, crouched children crying in the corner? Sorry, didn't know."
All this "training" brouhaha is an obvious cover-up, a flight from the reality of the brutal nature of our military machine. However, "make sure to blame the higher-ups too" mantra coming from many the anti-war commentators is also a refusal to face the facts. I'm all for blaming the higher-ups. However, these men pulled the trigger in cold-blood. They shot and ... killed ... crying ... children.
This isn't just about higher-ups. This is about the reality of what it means to be a killer/soldier in an imperial war.
Posted by zeynep at June 2, 2006 10:22 PM
Comments
As some wag over at Fark.com pointed out, the ethics training will consist of one very simple rule: leave no witnesses next time. Sorta like Rumsfeld's response to Abu Ghraib: threaten to take away cameras from all soldiers.
Posted by: Lloydyboy at June 4, 2006 03:23 PM
'This isn't just about higher-ups. This is about the reality of what it means to be a killer/soldier in an imperial war'
exactly...and given that the war was sold on a pack of lies, all deaths incurred in this war haven been in cold-blood and such be regarded as such..Haditha and Ishaqi serve as microcosms for the larger picture.
Posted by: jon at June 5, 2006 03:39 AM