General Mattis et al gets slammed in Stars and Stripes letters

[lebkuchen]

Mattis comments no surprise

Well, Lt. Gen. James Mattis certainly caused a stir recently in patriotic circles. As an experienced Marine commander who led troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, his comments about the joys and fun of killing human beings were rather vulgar and gruesome. His assertion that is fun to shoot guys that “ain’t got no manhood” makes one wonder if there are other military geniuses in high or low position of like disposition.

Of course, we do have the evidence of similar thinking and behavior from the perpetrators of the Abu Ghraib incidents of prison abuse. Maybe the lust for killing and abusing combatants and innocents alike that manifested itself with people like Lt. William Calley at My Lai in Vietnam is still much in evidence in our military.

Of course, do not mention this idea to the Texas Swift boaters who denied such a possibility in the recent presidential campaign. Perhaps Sen. John Kerry was right about American military behavior in Vietnam.

All pro-lifers who focus on the single issue of abortion might rightly examine pro-life issues in regard to American military behavior past and present. (By the way, that challenge is for George Bush and all church leaders who have remained silent on the moral issues concerning the pre-emptive war in Iraq based on false assumptions.)

That would be a real values discussion for people who relish dropping smart bombs from the safety of 30,000 feet or picking off people with automatic weapons as if they were at a carnival turkey shoot.

Terrence Lauerman
De Pere, Wis.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=27068

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. We saw the same "it's fun to shoot them" in some F 9/11 scenes

The ones where the young people in tanks during the Iraq invasion were playing the violent music tapes - "Burn MotherFuckers Burn" was a favorite. They said that it got them fired up. Later, of course, there were scenes where military personnel were much more troubled, but these young people were sent off with the idea that shooting everything suspicious was exciting. I suppose if you want people to shoot other people who are not doing anything to them, you have to rev up the thrill factor. Make it like familiar video games, with violent, aggressive music playing, and you can overcome the reluctance to kill. Complete the job by lying to them, telling them that the "enemy" has WMDs and intends to invade their country. Tell them they are heroes defending the free world.

Make it "fun," like the general says. These soldiers are often very young, after all.

And what will they feel later on in their life, when they realize what they did? The general doesn't care. He's getting what he wants from them.

[SnowGoose]

3. I remember a young woman

who lived in the same house as me for a while. She fell on hard times later and started dancing in a strip club. When she told me about it, she said "it's not bad, you've just got to have fun with it."

I'm not trying to say that there's anything wrong with stripping - I just don't believe that she was really having as much fun as she said. I wonder if this is a common response to having to do things that are uncomfortable or troubling - telling yourself that it's fun.

As always, I could just be full of crap.

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Oh, I think you're hit something important

The young soldiers who are expected to go in and kill people are put in an environment of mutual boosting of the aggression. The soldiers can bounce this off each other and the people who are encouraging them to do it. It's made into a TEAM SPORT. "Fun," right? They don't want people to start questioning what they are being ordered to do -- it's all loyalty, team, protect our country, get the evil ragheads. They stoke them up til they're psyched anad then let them at it, like the home team after a half-time pep talk.

[zbdent]

2. Wasn't the general a little bit old to be

influenced by violent video games?

Oh, wait. The Army distributed one. Never mind.

;)