CJ
06-02-07, 01:05 AM
Can someone please explain to me where the idea that the whole situation in Iraq and Afghanistan came about because of the soldiers? Seriously, I'd love to know what logic this pertains to, as I can't seem to grasp at it myself.
Those soldiers, the supposed problem according to some who seem to have lost touch with reality, are out there every day in the squalid conditions that the average civilian would call completely inhospitable, trying to quell the insanity of a region that has been unstable for all of recorded history. Can you blame them for following orders, just like you do at your job? Just remember, unlike your simple and generally meaningless pencil-pusher jobs, these people are doing all they can to make a difference to the lives of the poor bastards who have been stuck living under dictatorships their whole lives. Apparently some people just can't grasp the difference between catching a cold from the water cooler at the office, and catching the brunt of an RPG ambush while on a routine security sweep.
One of the biggest excuses I hear from the delusional folks who blame the troops is that our soldiers are completely and inexcusably responsible for the deaths of so many innocent civilians. Maybe these people should be put into active duty in the streets of Baghdad to see what weighs on the mind of one of their mortal enemies that they've never even met before. Maybe they should find out what it's like to walk the streets, unsure if the next smiling local walking by will jump at you, screaming prayers to Allah of holy Jihad, and set off a bomb vest killing you, your squad, and many civilians in the area as well, while wounding countless others in the process. For all you know, the next person you walk by might even ask if you would like something to eat as a sign of thanks for all you've done for their people. You never know what to expect, the constant sense of paranoia eating you alive, ever ready to draw and fire at the next person who is acting suspiciously.
Just think of what's going through that soldier's mind at any given moment. He knows that every person in the area could put him into an us or them situation without warning. His actions determine how the lives of hundreds of people will proceed from that moment onward. Do you take the shot at the person who saw you and started to run? Do you let that person live? Do you take chase and hope that he's not leading you into an ambush situation? Is that person an innocent civilian, who knows that an attack will be happening on your squad in the area? Maybe he is the attacker, trying to draw you into an area with more people before detonating himself? Maybe he's just some dumb schmuck who's late for work, and trying to make up for lost time so he can scrounge together a wage to feed his four kids, or maybe he's preparing to meet with Mohammed and the 72 virgins?
If you let the guy go, and seconds later you hear an explosion and the screams of locals in the marketplace, what is that going to do to your psyche? You could've taken the shot, risked it being an innocent civilian who got nervous seeing you marching through the streets, but now dozens of people are dead, the bodies strewn across the streets, their friends and family laying wounded, grieving the loss of another relative. If you take the shot, and the guy ends up being an innocent civilian, you have to live with that guilt, but you know that you performed your duty as you were trained to do, you were just following orders.
Just think, if it came down to chancing the life of one person against the lives of dozens if not hundreds of civilians and your fellow troops who have stuck it out through everything with you, what choice would you make? Would you ever be able to live with the consequences of your actions? Would you be able to make the split-second decision required that could make a huge difference to so many?
I don't blame that soldier in Iraq, he's just doing his job, like the rest of us.
Those soldiers, the supposed problem according to some who seem to have lost touch with reality, are out there every day in the squalid conditions that the average civilian would call completely inhospitable, trying to quell the insanity of a region that has been unstable for all of recorded history. Can you blame them for following orders, just like you do at your job? Just remember, unlike your simple and generally meaningless pencil-pusher jobs, these people are doing all they can to make a difference to the lives of the poor bastards who have been stuck living under dictatorships their whole lives. Apparently some people just can't grasp the difference between catching a cold from the water cooler at the office, and catching the brunt of an RPG ambush while on a routine security sweep.
One of the biggest excuses I hear from the delusional folks who blame the troops is that our soldiers are completely and inexcusably responsible for the deaths of so many innocent civilians. Maybe these people should be put into active duty in the streets of Baghdad to see what weighs on the mind of one of their mortal enemies that they've never even met before. Maybe they should find out what it's like to walk the streets, unsure if the next smiling local walking by will jump at you, screaming prayers to Allah of holy Jihad, and set off a bomb vest killing you, your squad, and many civilians in the area as well, while wounding countless others in the process. For all you know, the next person you walk by might even ask if you would like something to eat as a sign of thanks for all you've done for their people. You never know what to expect, the constant sense of paranoia eating you alive, ever ready to draw and fire at the next person who is acting suspiciously.
Just think of what's going through that soldier's mind at any given moment. He knows that every person in the area could put him into an us or them situation without warning. His actions determine how the lives of hundreds of people will proceed from that moment onward. Do you take the shot at the person who saw you and started to run? Do you let that person live? Do you take chase and hope that he's not leading you into an ambush situation? Is that person an innocent civilian, who knows that an attack will be happening on your squad in the area? Maybe he is the attacker, trying to draw you into an area with more people before detonating himself? Maybe he's just some dumb schmuck who's late for work, and trying to make up for lost time so he can scrounge together a wage to feed his four kids, or maybe he's preparing to meet with Mohammed and the 72 virgins?
If you let the guy go, and seconds later you hear an explosion and the screams of locals in the marketplace, what is that going to do to your psyche? You could've taken the shot, risked it being an innocent civilian who got nervous seeing you marching through the streets, but now dozens of people are dead, the bodies strewn across the streets, their friends and family laying wounded, grieving the loss of another relative. If you take the shot, and the guy ends up being an innocent civilian, you have to live with that guilt, but you know that you performed your duty as you were trained to do, you were just following orders.
Just think, if it came down to chancing the life of one person against the lives of dozens if not hundreds of civilians and your fellow troops who have stuck it out through everything with you, what choice would you make? Would you ever be able to live with the consequences of your actions? Would you be able to make the split-second decision required that could make a huge difference to so many?
I don't blame that soldier in Iraq, he's just doing his job, like the rest of us.