NEWS: It's Fun to Shoot People?

POLITICS: It's Fun to Shoot People?

Those are the words spoken by a American soldier, a general no less, during a panel discussion in San Diego, California. Lt. Gen. James Mattis has commanded marine teams during operations in Afghanistan.

I understand that soldiers are under a lot of stress during combat and sometimes shit happens but it is appalling when America's migthy defenders of freedom start talking like that. I would hope that every soldier, especially a general, knows the value of life and the reality of what they're doing.

so you're saying its ok for them to slap women around because they aren't wearing a veil......

Its just ignorance of different cultures.

I'm not saying that its right to slap a woman for not wearing a veil, but an afgan man wouldnt think its right for women to enter into pornography......

1) Abusing women, while morally reprehensible (at least, in our culture), is still not grounds for murder, even in the US.

2) You know for a fact that no one is defending spousal abuse.

3)If you're trying to be funny, at least put in a , , or to clarify.

no wonder some veterans have a hard time adjusting after a war.

to answer the question, for some people the answer is apparently yes.

Whaaaa???
Since when is it supposed to be 'a helluva lot of fun' to kill people?
So, lets see..if its American soldiers who get shot, its a tragedy and a loss (regardless of whether they are abusive at home or not), but if its Iraqi soldiers who get shot(regardless of whether they are abusive or not), its 'fun'.

The hypocrisy is almost unbearable.

'its a helluva lot of fun'..
I think I'm going to be sick.

just playing devil's advocate

what it is is what it is

shut the fuck up.you know jack shit.

Hard to argue with that...

so all that talk about sacrifice, "war is hell" and all that, is just bullshit?

it's actually fun?

is it still fun when the enemy kills your friends instead of you killing the enemy?

Okay. Clarification, please?

Sure is.
Anyone who hasn't shot an Iragi doesn't have the right to talk, because they don't know how fun it is.

I have this weird feeling that the people getting so up in arms about this haven't even been around or known anyone military, or a least lack the most basic understanding of the culture.

He's a marine. He was addressing other military people. He made a joke. Yeah, it wasn't in particularly good taste to civilians, but then again neither is what these soldiers do, which is kill people and break things for the US government, ostensibly in defense of its people.

All this outrage feels so goddamn disingenuous. It's disappointing.

i don't feel that way, i'm sure there's such a thing as inside humour for soldiers but those remarks were crossing the line so far that i feel soldiers should have been as disgusted and outraged as the rest of us.

personally i question if that man has any humanity left and as such is still fit to lead armed forces that are supposedly meant to keep peace through superior firepower or whatever fancy name you want to give it.

this is a marine general here people, marines don't do PC, marines break shit and kill people. its part of their job description and they are all highly motivated people who are very good at their job. but i will also grant that this isn't a very good thing to say in front of civilians.

edited cause i'm an idiot who forgot to check for errors before posting.


[Edited on Feb 04, 2005 by darwinsjoke]

What's the difference between this general and the any number of grunts and lower ranking guys who are profiled by reporters and journalists? In the past three years I've read dozens of articles about these guys (Rolling Stone had a great series of articles awhile back) and they do and say and think things dramatically worse. What he said didn't shock me in the least and I'm surprised it's not a more common occurance.

Oh please...what a lame thing to get worked up over. A marine likes to kill...big fucking surprise, big fucking deal.

Come on, guy's only got 3 stars, go easy on him.