shooting people hell of a hoot - general

It's still crazy talk, something not to be encouraged. We claim to be the civilized ones.

Edgar I've never claimed to be civilized, actually I'm prone to idiotic outbursts, stamping my feet and drooling. I'm a liberal don't ya know!

Yeh, I tend to forget. Liberal means immoral, abrogation of responsibility.

Look, guys - the problem I have with either liberal or conservative ideology is zealotry. Hacks from the right bug me, but hacks from the left are just as ridiculous to me. Why can't this thing be looked at as what it is - an otherwise apparentlygood man, saying something that was stupid? Why has his mistake in opening his mouth (even if does bespeak some abberant feelings about killing - who among us hasn't spoken aloud things better left unsaid?) got to be made into some kind of national uproar, or grounds for dismissal? If the guy was under my command, I'd take him aside and let him know how incredibly asinine what he said was, especially considering how high a profile he has. But you guys can't seriously believe that every military leader who lapses in judgements with his tongue should be stripped of authority - there'd be very few left. And I'm sure that's not what you want - is it?

I agree with Snood.

I'm off to buy a lottery ticket.

Hell maybe it is a hoot. I thankfully have never been in a position to try it. But I have known times when I would like to have pegged a few shots at someone. Only kidding. Frankly IMO it is much ado over nothing.

This just in: insurgent says blowing up humvees "makes me feel all warm and tingly inside".

This just in:

Elsewhere, Marine Corps General James Mattis attempted to clarify his controversial remarks of last week, telling reporters today, "What I meant to say was, it's fun to shoot people, but not nearly as much fun as putting hoods over their heads and making them stand on a box."

Honest, I found it on the web (scroll to bottom of page!

Source: http://www.borowitzreport.com/default.asp

Some of us hacks don't want to see us become them if them is the ones indiscriminately killing.

I believe he was advocating discriminate killing. That's what we pay soldiers to do.

Before everyone got so hyper-sensitive, their once lived a not so Quiet American who had been:





I wonder if he was accused of being a psychopathic, crazed animal with no place in a civil society, too.

Why stop at Audie Murphy? I'll be some of Attila the Hun's foot soldiers kicked more butt then Murphy ever did...

And I'll bet they thought it was a a hell of a hoot.

There were some (mostly blond fellows from Yale) in Southeast Indo-China in the 60's with similiar attitudes, they didn't last very long. In one way or another they died with a puzzled look on their faces.

It is a hoot and I am glad to see most people on the thread at least sympathize or empathize if they have actually done it. Yes it is a hoot!

I purposely watched to see what, if any, serious ramifications would take place: Nada, none. Even the opposition did not waste time attempting to build a fire where there was no fuel like they often do.

On a more concentrated, refined note: yes shooting the enemy is a hoot, that is the basic reason for being in the military. When you remove the veneer of glamor, airplanes, tanks, ships, parades, funerals, medals etc. the most important thing is the 19 year old grunt, on the ground. Shooting people, having a hoot.

That is what being a soldier is all about.

If you want to be loved? Join a fire department.

Interesting - I have never heard a person who has actually killed someone say they enjoyed doing it - soldier or ordinary murderer - EXCEPT psychopaths. Not saying there aren't any - jusy commenting from experience. Some of the Vietnam vets were awful gung-ho, they said, UNTIL they actually experienced it - though, of course, for some the emotional impact did not strike until after the heat of battle - long after, in some cases - especially those who had knowingly killed civilians.

Most of the veterans I have known - (and I have known a lot, from WW II and Vietnam) have described the experience as awful. Although, I have noticed, that the farther removed one is from the killing, the less emotional impact it may have - a bit like, if you recall, that horrible video game like footage that was so carefully stage managed from Iraq I, of smart and, also, apparently, bloodless bombs. I wonder if some modern warfare allows people to think they are in a sort of video game? I have certainly seen one young American soldier in Iraq who clearly was reacting as though he was in one - whether through dissociation, dumbness, or careful training (I noted his tank was fitted with the ability to play music - and the kids inside had been playing stirring, violent, music as they shot at people - said kid was describing hits exactly as he would hits in a video game).

My uncle, for instance, who flew bombers in WW II, seemed to have coped emotionally with bombing German cities - but was forever haunted, after D Day, by knowing that the fluidity of the front, and poor communications, meant he was sometimes, unknowingly, bombing Allied troops instead of Germans. You are a long way up in a bomber.

Ironically, military psychologists - at least here - attempt to weed out those who really enjoy the idea of killing. I gather that, generally speaking, such folk are a great deal of bother.

This hit me wrong on a couple of levels. The first was that it just sounds... cold and animalistic. I know there are this type in the military, but I would prefer a few more Gen. Powells who appears more thoughtful when it comes to taking a life.

The second thing that struck me wrong was the distinction of who is fun to shoot. Let's look again at what he said:



Considering that the abuse of women pretty much describes 98% of the men in the Middle East, not to mention a larger number in the United States than many would admit, there'd sure be a lotta shootin' goin' on.

Then there's the whole "Wild West" implication tied in with the saving of the damsels in distress... I don't know. That just seemed like a buncha bravado. I don't really get the feelin' he cares one wit about women in general, let alone middle eastern women, and so it just comes across as being a macho jerk. (The type that ends up abusing his own wife, perhaps, but that's different cause she deserved it.)

I certainly agree he never should have said it there. The General was feeling relaxed and buoyant and probably happy. And of course when we consider the source it should be understood that many people simply would not understand it because they would not have the larger picture of things.

It tickles me a little however that someone like dlowan is more than willing to accept sea stories from the many Vets he knows including his uncle as final words.

There is no standard "feel" about things where being in a war is concerned. The stereo types leave a great deal of uncovered areas. This is very disappointing to some people. Having been among them I know for certain the number of people that "carry things with them" after combat are a very small percentage compared to those who do not. Bad, interesting, exciting things always receive the most attention though.
I am no hero and I served in the infantry. I did enjoy shooting people. Don't know anyone there that didn't. No point in being in the infantry if you don't like to kill people. This is an "all volunteer" military. So who is kidding who?
Unlike the General we are not wined and dined by a Chamber of Commerce nor would we say it was a hoot if we were. That stuff is for us to laugh and joke about off the record among ourselves.

Jack Webb,

Your opinions on what is supposedly normal thinking for a soldier is just your opinion - you have no definitive way of speaking for infantry soldiers. For you to take your anecdotal knowledge and extrapolate from that that most infantry soldiers enjoy killing, and that that's the main reason to be in the military, is just plain dimwitted.

Just confine your comments to speaking strictly for yourself and don't assume to know the mind of anyone else - even those you "talked to" while active; you'll find you engender less conflict and confusion, and maybe you'll be taken seriously here.

By the way, welcome to A2K.