I'm stupid
Wednesday, 8 June 2005 08:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eI suspect that I am a bit stupid. I've in the past said some intolerant things about the military. Yesterday I read the anguish felt by a sibling of someone sent to fight in Iraq. I felt through her writing what it must feel like and it was awful.
I had realised, intellectually, before that these people sent to fight there had to follow orders. They had no real choice in the matter. It is well-nigh impossible to buck the system; that is how it is set up. But somehow I rationalised that once sent to an unjust war that we washed our hands of them; that they somehow deserved to reap what they sowed. But that's plain stupid! They're caught up in a system that works hard to remove responsibility for their actions. How can anyone justify thinking that they suddenly do bear the responsibility for decisions taken by others far away from their realm of influence?
I know there is some proportion of soldiers who really get a hard-on at the prospect of shooting up a bunch of "towel-heads" or "pinkos" or "wogs" or "slants" or whoever are the hate target of the day, but even their families don't deserve the fear and anguish. And we should be protecting bullet heads from themselves instead of inflicting them upon a hapless population. A sane military should have nothing to do with such mentality. Even these, frankly repellent, people don't deserve to be killed or maimed. They are broken and need to be fixed, not broken more.
We all know where the responsibility lies. It is in the so-called "leaders". The political and military "leaders". Our current crop is the most irresponsible I've seen.
I had realised, intellectually, before that these people sent to fight there had to follow orders. They had no real choice in the matter. It is well-nigh impossible to buck the system; that is how it is set up. But somehow I rationalised that once sent to an unjust war that we washed our hands of them; that they somehow deserved to reap what they sowed. But that's plain stupid! They're caught up in a system that works hard to remove responsibility for their actions. How can anyone justify thinking that they suddenly do bear the responsibility for decisions taken by others far away from their realm of influence?
I know there is some proportion of soldiers who really get a hard-on at the prospect of shooting up a bunch of "towel-heads" or "pinkos" or "wogs" or "slants" or whoever are the hate target of the day, but even their families don't deserve the fear and anguish. And we should be protecting bullet heads from themselves instead of inflicting them upon a hapless population. A sane military should have nothing to do with such mentality. Even these, frankly repellent, people don't deserve to be killed or maimed. They are broken and need to be fixed, not broken more.
We all know where the responsibility lies. It is in the so-called "leaders". The political and military "leaders". Our current crop is the most irresponsible I've seen.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-07 10:59 pm (UTC)My little brother was in the Army during Operation Desert Fuck, er, I mean Operation Desert STORRMMMMM!!!111oneoneone!!! I was back home being a peace activist, while he was trying to get out as a conscientious objector--his point of view was that he'd joined the Army to defend his country, not extend US hegemony over sovereign nation, and his religious views (at the time) also forbade fighting in wars. He didn't manage to get out as a C.O., but he came up with another way to get out (and not earn a dishonorable discharge, in spite of himself). I had other friends in the Army Reserve who got activated for O.D.S., too, and I knew a lot of guys who didn't believe the propaganda the govermnent was shoveling out about that war, either.
The ultimate responsibility does lie with the leaders. They are the ones who tell the soldiers to go out there and kill, bomb, etc. Some soldiers will stand up and say "no," in spite of the HUGE risks (including possible life in prison), but most will feel they can't disobey, even if they believe what they're being ordered to do is wrong. I can't imagine the kind of horror and brokenness that inflicts on the men and women in that trap. They come home wounded in ways that you never see--until they start drinking, doing drugs, hurting themselves or their family....and so on.