Is this really anything more than PR?
I have been reading over the last few weeks about the massacre at Haditha and the associated cover up. In a way it is not surprising. Everybody understands the emotions that must have coursed through these guys at the death of their pal and how things can escalate out of control.This new process they are rolling out then can be little more than a PR exercise. They are going to give these guys ethics training. Read more here. If they don't have that ingrained into them now then a couple of training sessions isn't going to do it. Plus, I would suspect that all these guys already have ethics. The problem is now they are put in a situation which they can't handle. They see the same group of people attacking them that they are trying to protect. They can't tell the difference between who they are protecting and those they are attacking and that works both ways. They see who they should be protecting as the enemy.
This is a major failing in the Wests armies. They are designed to fight other armies but since Vietnam the enemy recognises that guerilla warfare is the only way to go. The West still has not adapted.
Until the entire army trains and prepares for this sort of warfare an Ethics course is not even a sticking plaster. It can only be a PR exercise.
posted by Bag @ 7:49 pm
2 Comments:
Armies do train for this sort of warfare. For some years now armies have been trained to fulfill multiple roles- warfighting, peacekeeping, providing aid, etc, etc, all within short periods of time.
If a massacre did indeed take place at Haditha, it was not because those Marines weren't given sufficient training; it's the work of men who don't deserve to be called Marines, men who don't stand for the ideals instilled in them during their training. If they did shoot innocent women and children they will be punished- but don't be fooled into believing that their crimes could have been committed by the average Marine or soldier.
I know Armies train but our forces are very reliant on air support and intelligence. Something we are short of in Iraq. Especially when they don't have the required black hats on.
You are right about the average soldier and it being a few bad apples but you don't take into consideration our herd instinct. Once ome starts the rest of the group follow. So a few bad apples turn the rest. Therefore taking into consideration the conditions over there most of us would lose out humanity. And I include myself in that. I'm leaning towards extermination myself and I'm safe over here.
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