brand X wrote
Quote:Steve, it seems to me that you believe the soldiers are sent expected to be killed, but I posit that our military tries to supply the troops with training and tools they need to stay alive. And what about the concequences of the troops choices, it is a volunteer military, no one made them join a potentially deadly endeavor.
This is surely a bit naive BrandX. I agree commanders dont send troops into battle expecting them to be killed (unless they work for al Qaida). And of course they equip them as best they can, but the reality is that some
will be killed, and commanders and the troops themselves know this when they send them. [Otherwise why do they set up field hospitals?]. Sure its a volunteer force these days, but then people join up for different reasons. I was talking with an old soldier friend of mine recently who believed it was his mission as a soldier to bring relief to the distressed, and he served most of his time with the British Army in Northern Ireland.
The point I was trying to make about the Prime Minister or President meeting families of the bereaved was that this must be excruciatingly difficult even if you have a perfectly clear conscience about why you gave those orders. It must be nearly impossible if you have feelings of remorse or guilt or even doubt. And I suggest that politicians who use military force not as a last resort, but as a mere extension of foreign policy, ought to feel guilty.
