Not my sentiments, but the words of a Marine commander serving in Iraq
He’s been officially rebuked, but is this the standard we should expect from the USMC?
Sounds more like the standard of an asshole.
The Doom generation at war.
The guy’s a lieutenant general. I’d be surprised if he was playing Doom a decade ago.
I dunno, but this is certainly the standard the Corps expects from itself. I heard a fairly senior Marine officer quoted awhile back to this effect:
“The general public has no idea what we really do, and I think that’s good, because it would scare the hell out of them.”
Think about that. It poses some interesting questions as to what our defenders think about the people they’re defending.
He’s a soldier. His words aren’t suprising. Patton was one of our greatest Generals, but in the movie biopic about his life he has this to say about war: “I love it. God help me, I do love it so. I love it more than my life”. The quote may be apocryphal, but I think it illustrates the mind of a career soldier very well.
At the very heart of it, a soldier’s job is to make war. That means killing people. It ain’t pretty, but that is what a soldier does. That is what we, as taxpayers, pay them to do. I can understand Lt. Col. Mattis’ coments. The guy simply likes his job.
Now, his comments may seem callous to civilians, but I’d still rather have a guy like that commanding me in the field than someone who agonizes every death incurred by military action.
My signature may be oddly apt here:
I’m currently reading Swofford’s Jarhead, and as a result neither this comment nor the sentiment expressed by the Lt. Gen. in the OP strike me as being particularly surprising.
Depressing, sure. Surprising, no.
Good point, I didn’t even notice his rank. Given that, I’d be surprised if he’s even shot anyone recently, either.
I’ve played first person shooters and other violent games. I’m also emotionally stable, have an active social life, and am not a violent person.
James Mattis’ comments nearly made me physically sick.
Fuck off.
Well, obviously you can’t handle the truth!
Heh. The comments inspire a bit of “yikes, was the filter in your head malfunctioning that day, General?” in me, but not sickness or shock. Actually, if you want really offensive, an instructor of mine once told us of a short but pointed speech made by a retiring senior NCO:
“When I joined the army, sucking cocks was forbidden. Now it’s allowed. I’m leaving before it’s mandatory.”
My instructor thought this was hilarious, but apparantly was one of the few who’d admit it.
AMwaG: *He’s a soldier. His words aren’t suprising. […]
At the very heart of it, a soldier’s job is to make war. That means killing people. […] The guy simply likes his job.
Now, his comments may seem callous to civilians […] *
I can stand the callousness of his personal sentiments, and I agree that there’s nothing particularly surprising about them.
What does surprise me is that a USMC LIEUTENANT GENERAL leading a division in IRAQ would be so fucking stupid as to make a remark like that in a public panel discussion.
Cheeses Rice, like the terrorists don’t already have enough propaganda to use against us: “High-ranking American officer says Iraqis ‘have no manhood’ and ‘it’s fun to shoot them’”. Actual quotes.
I don’t expect soldiers to be superhumans or saints, but I do expect them to have enough intelligence and elementary discipline not to say things in public that make the military look bad. And it is clear from the USMC’s statement, that the officer in question had been “counselled” on his remarks and had agreed that he should have “chosen his words more carefully”, that they know damn well such comments do make the military look bad. Especially when they’ve got tens of thousands of soldiers in an occupied country, some of whom are having to shoot at people nearly every day. Og Magog, what a clueless maroon.
We ask them to kill people; do we want them to be sad and depressed because of it? Do we want them to cry and beg for prozac every time they pull the trigger?
Killing people is one of the things armies are for. If becoming desensitized lets them sleep at night, then so be it…
Maybe a little shock. If the guy’s so out of control that he’s talking like this at civilian functions, what was he saying to his guys during the first attack on Fallujah? Did he clearly tell them that torture and mayhem were not acceptable, or did he give his troops wholesale permission to play bad apples?
I could not agree with you more. A Lt. Gen. Speaking that way…
Yes, and yes.
Yer goddamn right it is!
“I’ve smoked heavily for decades and haven’t died of cancer, which proves that smoking isn’t bad for you”
Don’t tell him that.
Preaching to the choir, man, preacing to the choir. What he feels is understasndable, but you just can’t say that shit.
It’s kind of sad in a way. You can’t say that because the public doesn’t really want to know what happens in war. It ain’t no video game.
I understand that killing the bad guys is their job. Having fun while doing so is not part of the job. Being professional is. YMMV, apparently.
You probably should pick up a medipack for that.