Complain? No. This is how I see it... If you're going into a combat situation, of course you're going to want the guy who can shoot a person in cold blood, dump his body and then hack off his ear for a keepsake. Why wouldn't you? He is able to separate his emotions from any sense of right and wrong... hell, he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. And he makes the perfect soldier. The killing machine who will not hesitate to shoot and kill. Not them 'mamby pamby liberal scared prats who know that murdering someone is wrong'... Hell no.. You want the guy who can and will shoot another in cold blood... You want the guy who tells his fellow soldiers that 'it's ok, if anyone asks, I'll tell them I was attacked'... You want the guy who shrugs off killing another person (an innocent one at that) and then hacking off his ear for a souvenir without a care because he makes the perfect, "courageous soldier and a successful combat leader". You see iceaura, I'm not complaining. I am saddened that the human race has gotten to the point where we attempt to justify the actions of a murderer and then actually excuse his and those who witnessed it and said nothing until it suited them. Because from where I'm sitting, we've already lost because we are so quick to put aside our morality and sense of right and wrong when it suits our needs.
That's the problem, you're judging them from where you're sitting. I partly empathize with you but these men don't exist, didn't do what they did, in a vacuum. This sort of behavior has been around a long long time and provided the right situation, it can be brought out in almost anyone. I like to think I would do better, but I certainly can't guarantee it.
We the merry few, we band of brothers... It's this mateship that sort of makes you want to protect and rationalise your teammate's decision, I wouldn't keep silent, because the Army's a big place, and I can always get a damn transfer. Besides, why would I trust this guy with my back ?. But their hesitation is understandable. Given the sort of shit they have to go through.
i know you're just being you but polpot was a genuinely horrific human being and there is no way anyone can justify his actions
I can understand that. Afghanistan's eastern provinces, up in the mountains near the border with Pakistan, are very dangerous and isolated places. The mountains are lightly sprinkled with forward operating bases (FOBs) manned by a company strength at best. That is no more than around 150 personnel. When you have a few companies of Taliban within several kilometers in different directions, you sometimes run into a spot where you need all the firepower you can get, and in short order. The terrain prevents timely movements of large units. Generally, a quick reaction force (QRF) will consist of close air support from one of the big air bases like Bagram and maybe a couple platoons from another nearby FOB, which is not much. These are tiny outposts deep in Indian Country, and there is every chance that they can be in danger of being overrun seemingly overnight depending on how fast a Taliban element can make its ingress across the Pakistani border. The guys in this story are Green Berets. They are some of the most highly trained soldiers in the world. They are, to a man, career soldiers.. Their average age is mid-30s. More than 80% of their enlisted members have 4+ years of college education. They all speak at least one language other than English (e.g. Pashto and Dari). Their mission in Afghanistan is to train Afghan Military Forces (AMF) and tribal militia, and they are qualified to instruct in virtually every aspect of warfighting. If they say they needed Newell's rifle for the short term, I'm fine with accepting their professional opinion. If they hadn't intended to report the incident at a later date, I think there would be reason for alarm, but not like this.
think about the green berets are guys that are there to go and deliver a severe and overkilled victory in any case. to be honest if you saw a guy you were fighting in a war with get killed and someone cut off his ear for a keepsake i ask you this how brave are you gonna be me? i would dropped my gun shook his hand and layed down on the ground then theres the legality of the issue, i dont understand why we dont have more insane and sadistic people in the front lines on these wars nut thats just personal opinion, my guess is there is a political view behind the whole lets not make this vietnam shpeel then again were not at war with the country specificly, just the underground militia of guys who want our nation deadalong with all non believers
No one has attempted to justify the murder - not here, not anywhere. And they did not wait until "it suited them" - at least from the account, they turned him in as soon as was reasonably possible. Apparently the rest of the soldiers there did not think he made the perfect soldier - once past the immediate crisis, they turned him in.
ok thats enough all of you, now i have to clean up the shit all of you have left on my carpet. thread closed for cleaning
Ok, thread cleaned One note, Spock, wishing torcher on a member of the site is unaceptable. Do it again and i WILL ban you. This is an offical warning
So it depends on the perspective?? Also look at it from this perspective, what if this is only the tip of an iceberg and there are hundreds and thousands of similar incidents gone unreported just because of that stupid loyalty you are talking about. Also talking about the perspective, please tell us how does 9/11 look from the perspective of a member of AlQeda who feels oppressed for life and distressed to do something about it??
