Quote:
|
Originally Posted by host
US troops today who do not question and resist immoral or illegal orders, are part of an "all volunteer" force, and should reasonably be held to a higher standard of humane, legal, and moral conduct.
|
US troops are held to a high standard of conduct. It is called the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The penalties it affords for crimes commited by uniformed servicemen are generally more stringent than that of the civilian criminal justice system.
Disobey a lawful order in combat, and your superior has the legal right (and perhaps obligation) to shoot you in the head. You don't get to pick and choose. You might volunteer for service, but once you have you must obey lawful orders. Unlawful orders are extremely rare. I never encountered one in my years of service, nor ever met anyone else who did.
Support our troops, hell yes. Support the war, hell no. Two different things, in my opinion.
But I will say this, some folks seem to think that putting on a uniform somehow magically transforms you into some sort of superhuman being who can do no wrong, endure any hardship, and always acts with the utmost morality. Sorry to burst the bubbles, but we're just like everybody else. We have drunks, and theives, and bad people, in pretty much the same proportion as society. Sometimes bad people don't get the opportunity to live out thier evil little tendencies until they get into a place where they think they can escape notice or punishment. When they act, they are caught and punished. Until there's some way to identify them, this will still happen.
Some folks are drawn to the uniform like pedophiles are drawn to the preisthood: it provides the best opportunity.
The VAST majority are just like you and me, moral, upstanding, good people.
But good people who VOLUNTEERED to put societies interests ahead of their own.