Far too many soldiers - in my experience - are in that career exactly because they get trained to do this sort of stuff. The lucky ones get to do it to humans.

I love marines. I really do. I think that they are THE most respectful people in the country. I've known so many marines...there's just something in them that cares.

So following motorfirebox's example, the Nazis who took pleasure in forcing Jewish women in concentration camps to have sex with midgets and then tortured and killed both the woman and midget for engaging in "immoral acts" should be given a bit of understanding because hey, some of them had to fight in the hellish battles on the Eastern Front.''

And the perpetrators of the My Lai massacre should get the same treatment. Now, is this escapade with the dog as big as either of those examples? Of course not. But your logic to support their actions is no different.

I've noticed the same thing. More in the army than in any other branch, I think it's because the army has very lax standard as to who they'll take, as opposed to the Marine Corps (HS diploma required - 16 weeks (?) intensive training to weed out the ones that just want to kill), the Navy (HS Diploma Req, interpersonal skills needed), and the Air Force (HS Diploma req, generally techy-type jobs)....the army will take High school dropouts that can *mostly* read, as long as they can shoot reasonably well.

what if it'd been a cake? what if it'd been a Ford Bronco? what if it'd been a giraffe, but the giraffe was dying already because there aren't enough acacia leaves in Iraq? what if it had been a cat, but the cat was in a box with a vial of poison which may or may not have been completely imaginary and in no way germane to the converastion?

as i've said, i don't believe that they blew the dog up on purpose. it looked to me like the dog wandered over to something that was about to get blown up.

moreover, i don't assume that these soldiers were the type of person who would laugh at an expoding dog when they signed up. my assumption--tenuous, but still just as legitimate as your assumption that they were assholes from the get-go--is that living and fighting as they've done has made indelible marks on their minds. i don't think these soldiers should be derided; i think they should be pitied, and given help.

i'm familiar with the type of person you're talking about. they're not uncommon, but they're hardly representative of the majority of the troops.

my question is, which would you rather have doing that sort of work: someone who is wired in such a way that they don't mind it, and even find it satisfying? or someone who is going to come home and break because they were wired to find it abhorrent? with one, your main concern is simply keeping a leash on the soldier--something that's becoming easier and easier to do as communications tools become smaller and better-integrated. with the other, you've got a ruined person on your hands when the job is done. if the job requires doing, then ruining a person is the price you sometimes have to pay to get it done. but, given the choice, i'd rather use the right tool for the job.

heh, well, about that 'reasonably well' thing... you'd be shocked at how many recruits get swept through BCT because their drill sgts fudged the shooting scores. that's less likely in units training combat arms soldiers (i assume... or at least i hope), but it's pretty common in non-combat MOS training units.

motorfirebox, I understand that soldiers aren't in polite society. That has nothing to do, though, with blowing up a dog and laughing at it. The kind of people who would do that are the kind of people who would do that in polite society if they thought they could get away with it.

As far as entertainment: last I checked, soldiers patrol in shifts. I know they have to be alert at all times, but they do keep themselves occupied with activities that don't involve shooting people or blowing stuff up, such as sports, cards, reading, even surfing the net.

Even if you swept aside these two points, I would like to reiterate that they were fucking about while doing their jobs. At the very least, they are endangering the lives of their fellow soldiers and numerous civilians by screwing off while working. For me, that's no laughing matter.

Way to lose the point of my baby analogy and edit it from your quote. I was drawing a parallel to something that would be equally as disgusting in polite society as it is in...well, anyplace. And you totally missed the point, because you're busy giggling at a dog getting blown up. Normal people, even normal people under stress, don't blow up harmless and innocent creatures for laughs.

I pity them for being disgusting examples of the human race. War makes people do crazy shit like have flashbacks when they hear a dumpster lid drop, and get DUIs when they get home from trying to deal with the things they have seen and done. War doesn't make people laugh at dogs that get blown up. Besides the fact that they used my fucking tax money to kill some helpless dog for jollies.

No, I don't have a support our troops ribbon on my car. Never did, never will.

I don't give a shit if they intentionally blew up the dog or it just stepped on a mine or something. The reaction of the soldiers was thoroughly disgusting, I don't give a shit what their situation was. If my mindset was ever to the point where something as fucking sick as that would seem funny to me, I would hope someone would put a bullet in my head, because I no longer deserve to share oxygen with the rest of the life on the planet.

The rest of the life that you no longer respect and therefore serve no purpose to?

I think you're moving the goalposts.

You said :

I'm suggesting that it's not the occupation, but (some of) the people who choose it.

?

I think you're assuming "he" meant human life.

Not real you... the hypothetical you in your anecdote that became a worthless lump of matter from laughing at dogs blowing up.

I think I get you. Basically, if I somehow got to the point that I thought exploding animals was in any way funny, then, yeah, I would be a pretty worthless (and very probably dangerous) person.

Lost me there, too- never mind- found again