'I didn't think of Iraqis as humans'

[bricolage]

'I didn't think of Iraqis as humans,' says U.S. soldier who raped 14-year-old girl before killing her and her family.



An Iraq War veteran serving five life terms for raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her parents and sister says he didn't think of Iraqi civilians as humans after being exposed to extreme warzone violence.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340207/I-didnt-think-Iraqis-humans-says-U-S-soldier-raped-14-year-old-girl-killing-her-family.html



This does not excuse his actions but it seems an interesting insight into the psychology of war. Thoughts?

[Spirit of Spartacus]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340207/I-didnt-think-Iraqis-humans-says-U-S-soldier-raped-14-year-old-girl-killing-her-family.html



This does not excuse his actions but it seems an interesting insight into the psychology of war. Thoughts?



Well its typical, isn't it?

The dehumanization of native people in a colonial war of aggression, and the resulting atrocities by occupying troops.

[Jalapeno Enema]

From an early age, most people are taught that hurting and killing other people is wrong.

The military combats this aversion to killing in five ways I see it.

1. They convince soldiers that it is in defense. They suggest that in such cases as war that killing is "justified", not murder. The military often cites defense of the nation.

He said signing up was easy, born of a sense of duty to defend his country and the opportunities that offered.

2. They convince soldiers that the enemy is "sub-human". Racism is rampant in the military; whatever people are on the target end of military engagement are referred to by racial slurs rather then as other people.

I didn't think of Iraqis as humans,' says U.S. soldier who raped 14-year-old girl before killing her and her family.
The military placed Green with the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne. Upon arriving in Iraq, Green said, his training to kill, the rampant violence and derogatory comments by other soldiers against Iraqis served to dehumanise that country's civilian population.
The deaths intensified Green's feelings toward all Iraqis, whom soldiers often called by a derogatory term. 'There's not a word that would describe how much I hated these people,' Green said. 'I wasn't thinking these people were humans.'

3. They make killing impersonal. If soldiers press buttons that send missiles, for example, they can be disillusioned into thinking that they just sent a missile, and that missile blew buildings up. They don't see the maiming and killing of others, so it doesn't feel as if it happened.

4. They recruit soldiers who really aren't mentally stable. If you kill a dozen people domestically, you're a psychopath. If you kill a dozen "enemy", you're a hero. Military action can produce or emphasize mental instability.
The shots killed Staff Sgt. Travis L. Nelson, 41, instantly. Sgt. Kenith Casica, 32, was hit in the throat. Casica died as soldiers raced him aboard a Humvee to a field hospital.
Green said those deaths 'messed me up real bad.'
In the interview, Green described alcohol and drugs being prevalent at the checkpoint. Green said soldiers there frequently felt abandoned by the Army and were given little support after the deaths of Casica and Nelson.
Green, then a private,saidhe had 'an altered state of mind' at the time. 'I wasn't thinking about more than 10 minutes into the future at any given time,' Green said. 'I didn't care.'

5. They encourage fear. They play up scenarios where it's "us or them". "Kill or be killed."

As pointed out, these do not excuse the individuals involved, but these types of behavior are encouraged (or at the least ignored) in the military. When training troops to fight, a level of aggression is ingrained into the psyche of recruits.

[Chairman Wow]

Has anyone seen the film Redacted? It concerns this case. Recieved a VERY limited release in the United States as a result of controversy of it being 'anti-war propaganda' (kind of the anti-Hurt Locker).

[Hexen]

This is what demonization leads to. Who are the real monsters now?

[Jazzhands]

Everything in Jalapeno's post is absolutely right. The military is a society where inhuman behavior is encouraged by training soldiers explicitly to kill the enemy, whoever the enemy may be at the time. So it makes actually killing nothing more than an exercise, where enough repetitions makes you a war hero.

A real life example: My brother was approached by a recruiter for the US Marines. One of the first questions the interviewer asked was why he would want to join the Marines. The next question was "You wanna go and kill some sand n**gers?" This is actually a real interview question, not just some crazy shit he meant as a joke.

But the military seeks to dehumanize not only "enemies," but the soldiers themselves. From the first second you arrive in boot camp, the officers in command do their best to eliminate all traces of individuality. That way soldiers look more intimidating on the battlefield, take orders better (especially immoral or inhumane orders), and transform them into what they are needed to be: instruments of destruction who feel no qualms or uncertainty about anything the commanders require them to do. If you want examples, watch the first half of Full Metal Jacket. Maybe it's a bit silly to cite a movie as evidence of anything, but the man who played the drill sergeant was an actual drill sergeant. And you can tell that he knows that everything that happens on screen is real, just from his performance.

Militaries, by their very nature, dehumanize everyone involved, including the people doing the killing, and make these kind of incidents not only possible but inevitable.

[The Douche]

That recruiter could loose his job for using that kind of language.

[Jalapeno Enema]

Recruiters are bastards.

When I was 17 one called me.
I told him "not interested" and hung up.
He called back and started *****ing at me for hanging up on him.
For 40 minutes straight the phone kept ringing. When my grandma got home and I told her what was up she picked up the still-ringing phone and ripped him a new asshole.

[Antifa94]

Lol it sounds just like vietnam and My Lai... they said they didn't think of the vietnamese as humans.
great job military propaganda machine!
In truth, this is absolutely sickening.