The US orders the execution of civilians and systematic genocide?
you ******** people for george w. bush. if you have to tell yourself that you did it for your country to ***** at night, then so be it.
So what you're saying is that the American military, regardless of its Rules of Engagement (RoE) are guilt of ******, merely because they followed orders, based on an elected, civilian government? Keep that in mind for a latter comment ...
just remember that the people on the other side say the same thing- they ****** your friends for saddam or whatever warlord is currently in charge.
In other words, you hold no regard and make no distinction for soldiers who adhere to Rules of Engagement (RoE) that not only require them to avoid civilian casualties but protect civilians versus those who would not only use civilians as shields, but use the RoE against the soldiers?
bullshit. as a human being it is your responisbility to check whether what you are doing (not in the name of your country, but merely in teh name of a government) is right or wrong.
So what you're saying is that the US military should set policy if it does not agree with the actions of its elected, civilian leadership? That's not just the President, but the Legislative that empowers him, has the full authority to revoke that power to go to war and even Impeach him if needbe? Remember, unlike many Democratic-Republics, the US actually has Executive leaders that need not be from the same political party as the Legislative.
Understand what you're saying would be a military coup. Unlike the overwhelming and great majority of nations in the world, even nations much, much less in age than the US, the US has
never been run by its military. It's military has
never set policy, including
never disobeying the orders of its elected, civilian leaders. Otherwise the US would be just another military dictatorship every few decades, like select, other nations.
France is a personal favorite example of mine, if you haven't noticed -- from coups to atrocities in their former (and, many times, reclaimed) colonies. The only reason it stopped is because they could no longer afford the military to do such. Ironically it was a military coup that finally realized this.
the "merely doing our job" excuse has been used by pretty much every soldier that has ever been accused of a crime; and well, they are all right. they merely are doing their job... but those who **** to the sound of trumpets are still *********, not heroes.
and the SS and wehrmacht were merly doing their jobs as well... bullshit.
Wait? Are you saying the elected, civilian leadership of the US orders the execution of civilians as part of its miltiary RoE, systematic genocide and -- for all intents and purposes -- crimes against humanity? I'd really like to see that explained to me.
Especially compared to how the SS executed even PoWs in combat, much less massacred civilians in Belgium, and other places. And that's even totally ignoring their systematic execution in concentration camps. Ordered at both the highest levels and also at the local unit level of the SS.
As a good, Vietnamese colleague of mine said once, "The atrocities didn't start with the arrival of the Americans and they didn't end when the Americans left." He'd also say (this is more paraphrased, "They were only exposed when the Americans were there and it was rarely the Americans themselves. American soldiers had more of a conscience when it came to anyone's death than most of our fellow countrymen and women did."
Again, I'll take American atrocities in the 20th century -- even just the latter half (and especially by the mid '70s when the CIA finally stopped instigating all sorts of ****, and Executive/Legislative Orders forbade any such actions, but even then that was hardly the military in this context) -- versus countless, western European nations, let alone their former colonies where hating some of their own countrymen and women were instilled long ago by those imperialists, well before the arrival of the US. That's why I praise and respect American (and NATO) soldiers, because they go on the battlefield and realize
every life counts, especially those that are not fighting.
soldiers are enemies of humanity, period. they deserve contempt, not respect.
So if the US disbanded its armies and had no soldiers the world would be at peace, no? The US lies about deterrence then?
