Do you think that as a rational person you would beg for the chance to shoot someone, if he was incapacitated and on the ground? I will never deny that soldiers make tough choices, i just think that these guys who are in positions like the chopper gunner, seem to be oblivious of the fact that they are taking an actual human life based on the various videos i have seen. I understand that they are trained in such a way, as to not freak out like a civilian such as myself would if told i got to take a persons life, i dont expect that, but to sit there begging to shoot someone down who is unarmed (at that point) and incapacitated, is unjustifiable in my opinion. You had said they were approaching friendly armies on the ground, so this may have been the situation and i am out of line, i just cant fathom the way war is waged these days in which these guys almost seem like they are playing a frigging video game. I am not arguing about the grunts, in fact what i was saying is that they are forced to see the death and destruction of war first hand, and thus are much more likely to make the proper decision when taking a persons life. What i was saying is that it is scary listening to someone who wants to/begged to mow down an unarmed person from miles away who was dying on the ground and didnt pose a threat to them. I also am against the war in iraq, and i feel bad for having questioned soldiers out there as i will never know what they have been through or are forced to face, and what the decision to take a persons life feels like. That said i would not be begging my commander for a chance to mow down someone on the ground who posed no threat to me. The initial decision seems to be the right call as when he looks around the corner it looks like he has an RPG, i am complaining about what war has become more than complaining about these soldiers decisions, we are not very far removed from a scenario like the movies in which entire wars are based on robotic equipment, and basically what i was getting at is that the further we are removed from the process of taking a persons life the easier it becomes to make this decision.
Dont know whether or not you are calling me a "beck/limbaugh educated goof," Or talking about someone else but i will look into it, i did a search on youtube of "Noam chomsky Z magazine" which did not have anything, do you have any direct reference/link?
A Republican with a soul. My sister in laws kid came back from Iraq with a cd wth pics of troops holding up limbs and posing with corpses. It was pornographic and they're Born Agains to boot..!
I always thought the rules of engagement was not to fire unless you are fired upon. The guy peaking around the corner was a little suspicious, but thats no justification for shooting everyone in sight,not to mention shooting a man when he was down and barely moving and the other guy is telling him to shoot "again, again" And I also thought that in war you are not supposed to attack medivacs that take the wounded out of harms way? I wonder what would happen if a police man walked into a really bad neighborhood in the US and started shooting every guy that peaked his head around a corner. I wonder if THAT would be ok. These murderers...I mean soldiers...know what they are doing is wrong. Why do you think so many of them have post traumatic stress when they get back? They know they murdered innocent people for fun and they pay the price with their guilt when they get back. Someone said that terrorist make videos to help recruit others. Well looks like they dont need to make videos. There will be many recruits from this video. To the guy that said "its kill or be killed" No..its not. They had another choice. They could've flown away and no danger anymore. They chose to fly around waiting anxiously for permission to murder.
Sorry my friend, upon reading what this chomsky fellow presents, i realise I am vehemently opposed to his ideas, unless you provide me with something which pertains to the war i can not agree with any idea which he has presented. Provide me with some substance based on what i have said, and i may agree, otherwise i will stick to my own ideals.
I am both surprised, and genuinely appreciative of your ideals as they pertain to war. We are both right wingers, but i oppose most of what you say religiously, that said alot of republicans are totally in favour of the war, even though it completely opposes their religious ideals. It is nice to see someone who doesnt tow the company line. Nice to hear a true and valid statement.
The grunts down the road were taking fire from this location. The transcript stated that an RPG round was under one of the bodies. So, the chopper unit should have "flown away" and let the grunts come up the road dismounted ? War is a messy, terrible waste of humanity, but the real "choice" rests with the CinC and Congress as to whether to engage in armed conflict or not.
You said you were against the war in Iraq. On what grounds? That you couldn't bring yourself to shoot someone that you don't believe to be an innocent? You don't get to hide behind this particular situation for your personal pacifist convictions. If you don't think we should be in Iraq then Chomsky must touch on some element in why that is. If you think we should be in Iraq then you can't leave the killing to someone else.
Think about it this way. When an apache gunner actually engages insurgents and then a van appears and actually stops, what do you think are the odds that the van has more terrorists in it? If I am that gunner I would say the odds are extremely high. If I am that gunner I would want nothing more than to take out that van as soon as possible before they take me out. That excitement in his voice isn't the love of killing, it is the excitement of victory and survival. An injured person picking up an RPG is just as threatening to an apache helicopter as an injured enemy reaching for a pistol who is ten feet away from you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9R3fhl4cE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4T-QBJzdF0 Trust me, if you saw a few of these headed your way, you would pull the trigger ravenously on command.