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And the intent is just to bring on some discussion. I am not trying to create a mud slinging fest - only to try and maybe understand something.
I just finished reading the news about the 5 soldiers from Fort Campbell who have been charged with rape and murder. Two will face the death penalty and the others may receive somewhat lesser sentences. There is not real need to dig into the story details beyond that - I think - at this point.
So the questions that have run through my mind when I read this story and there have been a few others similar to it in recent times and of course all through the history of warfare, are this:
What were these guys thinking when they cooked up the original idea? Did they really think they were going to get away with it?
As I pointed out, throughout the history of warfare we can read accounts of similiar and even worse events. This however does not make doing the same things in modern times "ok" though.
Being a soldier myself, I understand (hopefully) a little better the mind of a soldier and the stresses that he operates under - especially when the fecal matter hits the rotating air movement device. BUT that stress does not give an open door to your primal urges. Even in the deepness of combat, a certain amount of moral discipline must be maintained, otherwise your and or your fighting force are nothing more than glorified bully boys, with funky toys to play with.
With regards to the present circumstance of events, I am of absolultely no doubt in my mind that everyone from Mom 'n Dad right on up to and including their Boot Camp Drill Sergeants are going to say that "these boys were clean cut, moral individuals...." bla bla bla. I heard and read similar stories during the Canadian Airborne Somalia incident of 1990/91. I had friends who were there, and they still don't talk about those events. I feel sorry for those folks, because they are trying to deal - mostly privately - with a very nasty series of events, and they can't talk about it.
So the real point of my thoughts and the (hopeful) thrust of the disussion is what were these guys thinking? How did they really honestly think they could do something like this and expect to "get away" with it?
For the purposes of discussion, particular towards our International members, this is not intended to be Open Season Bashing on US troops. Every armed force on the planet has similar stories in their history. I know these guys 'n gals are over there, doing the best they can, and usually under conditions that even a rat would not choose to live in, so please keep it civil.
I just finished reading the news about the 5 soldiers from Fort Campbell who have been charged with rape and murder. Two will face the death penalty and the others may receive somewhat lesser sentences. There is not real need to dig into the story details beyond that - I think - at this point.
So the questions that have run through my mind when I read this story and there have been a few others similar to it in recent times and of course all through the history of warfare, are this:
What were these guys thinking when they cooked up the original idea? Did they really think they were going to get away with it?
As I pointed out, throughout the history of warfare we can read accounts of similiar and even worse events. This however does not make doing the same things in modern times "ok" though.
Being a soldier myself, I understand (hopefully) a little better the mind of a soldier and the stresses that he operates under - especially when the fecal matter hits the rotating air movement device. BUT that stress does not give an open door to your primal urges. Even in the deepness of combat, a certain amount of moral discipline must be maintained, otherwise your and or your fighting force are nothing more than glorified bully boys, with funky toys to play with.
With regards to the present circumstance of events, I am of absolultely no doubt in my mind that everyone from Mom 'n Dad right on up to and including their Boot Camp Drill Sergeants are going to say that "these boys were clean cut, moral individuals...." bla bla bla. I heard and read similar stories during the Canadian Airborne Somalia incident of 1990/91. I had friends who were there, and they still don't talk about those events. I feel sorry for those folks, because they are trying to deal - mostly privately - with a very nasty series of events, and they can't talk about it.
So the real point of my thoughts and the (hopeful) thrust of the disussion is what were these guys thinking? How did they really honestly think they could do something like this and expect to "get away" with it?
For the purposes of discussion, particular towards our International members, this is not intended to be Open Season Bashing on US troops. Every armed force on the planet has similar stories in their history. I know these guys 'n gals are over there, doing the best they can, and usually under conditions that even a rat would not choose to live in, so please keep it civil.
(Me)
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