There is NO way you can have soldiers at war in a foreign country for this long and not see these things happen.
Murder, rape...atrocities. The human being was never meant for war. It is 100% against the psyche of every normal human being. There is nothing that prepares you from seeing your friend blown in half by an IED. Nothing.Getting a light spattering of warm brains against your cheek in the morning is not something that any normal human being can assimilate, shrug off and move on,whether the brains belong to an enemy combatant or an ally. it is NOT normal. The longer your engagement continues, the harder it is for the men on the ground. Iraq has gone on for far too long. Russia vs Chechnya went on for far too long. Vietnam went on for far too long. The results of all these engagements are the same. A gradual de-humanising of the enemy, and of civilians (if that wasn't present already as in Russia vs Chechnya). And while we who sit and discuss and philosophise may wish differently...it would probably happen to all of us as well if we were in the trenches. But it does not change the fact that it was WRONG. And if the US is in for a long term Civilian Policing commitment (which in my view is what Iraq has become), then it needs to have more psychiatrists,more and deeper evaluation and reinforcing of values and rules, it needs to do things differently. The boys on the front lines are simply HUMAN. And that's the thing...these REALITIES of war are hidden from Western audiences, but they are NOT hidden from the Middle East. They are NOT hidden from the Iraqis, the Iranians, the Syrians, the Saudi Arabians. Incidents such as these do untold damage way beyond the 12 dead men and their families. Covering up these incidents helps no one in the long term. The truth always surfaces eventually. Blackwater did, Abu Gharib did...and more will come out. Wikileaks has other videos that show 97 civilians killed in Afghanistan. You cannot keep everything quiet anymore. And one has to think , that for every video Wikileak shows, how many more we will never see? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:315161 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
