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  • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 4 2005 2:00 PM

It's Fun to Shoot People?

Submitted by Snottlebocket

Edited by legionnaire

"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."


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.

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howdidigethere

howdidigethere

Oroville, CA
June 2004

FEB 05, 2005 09:05 PM

whos life do you value more... yours? or the guy whos shooting at you trying to take yours?

bean

bean

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

FEB 05, 2005 09:49 PM

irishinch said:

bean said:

irishinch said:

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



just playing devil's advocate



But you're so not doing a very good job at it. See the comments above regarding the fact that nobody is defending slapping women around for not wearing veils, and that, while a morally reprehensible act, it's not grounds for death.

Besides, regardless of whether or not someone has committed morally reprehensible acts, a three-star general is supposed to have a bit more decorum than that.




boo fuckin hoo, this is why i don't comment on the current event boards/news stories, i am going to revert to not doing it and in the process make all your people happy who don't like my facetious remarks. thank you, and good night smile



Um. Okay. I don't think anyone is losing any sleep over the question of whether or not you're posting on the CE boards. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Hussein

Hussein

I'm lost
March 2004

FEB 05, 2005 10:36 PM

kekaha said:

but putting aside any specific cases for the moment, i hope you would you agree that it's always best--for everyone concerned--if the feeling you describe occurs within the context of a just war.


No shit, Sherlock.

I agree that I should point out that I'm not sure what your fancy words like "morals" mean when someone is actively trying to kill you. In that moment, or even hour or more, there is no right or wrong as most people understand it, there is just "stop it with the shooting at me already". There is no "vindication", only staying alive, watching your buddies' back, and getting the hell back home.

We train and train in target discrimination, so that in the heat of the moment it will be hopefully second nature to only target the actual or perceived threat, and we don't mount up just to go downtown and "kill us some woman-beaters".



i got that--in fact i said that your "exhilaration" post was an eloquent one. i was actually trying to open up a new line of discussion based on your post, not presuming that i had nailed one shut, when i raised the issue of just wars. i must not have done a very good job of expressing the direction in which i was thinking, however, if i got "no shit, sherlock" in response.

Hussein

Hussein

I'm lost
March 2004

FEB 05, 2005 10:46 PM

Patrick_Lasswell said:
Michael's 1000 word rebuttal ended the debate on value of this mission.



i applaud your optimism, and i hope you're right, but your characterization of the iraqi vote as yet another "mission accomplished" may be a bit premature. it's far too early to tell whether the consequences of the shiites' overwhelming dominance in the elections might not be another instance of "catastrophic success."

kekaha

kekaha

Puyallup, WA
November 2004

FEB 06, 2005 01:29 AM

I must have took it the wrong way. You are right, I do agree with the thing you said. There is no joy in killing, only in living

Jeff_Fries

Jeff_Fries

Humptulips, WA
September 2003

FEB 06, 2005 01:38 AM

WWPD?

TheFuckOffKid

TheFuckOffKid

NEWSWIRE

Australia

FEB 06, 2005 01:53 AM

Jeff_Fries said:
WWPD?


WWGPD?

lowenb

lowenb

Princeton, WV
June 2004

FEB 06, 2005 02:15 AM

Jeff_Fries said:
WWPD?







Generals lead soldiers in battle to kill....not give press conferences.

Hussein

Hussein

I'm lost
March 2004

FEB 06, 2005 08:55 AM

kekaha said:
I must have took it the wrong way. You are right, I do agree with the thing you said. There is no joy in killing, only in living



thanks, and no big deal. maybe we can discuss it again sometime.


ChaosMachine

ChaosMachine

Bloomington, IN
May 2003

FEB 06, 2005 02:50 PM

He is a Marine general, soldiers are bred to kill, thats their job, I don't see why anyone is surprised he said that. Psshh ,talk anyone in the military they won't be shocked or appalled.

freshprncebelair

freshprncebelair

Ellicott City, MD
June 2004

FEB 06, 2005 03:09 PM

plasticfangs said:

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



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



It is to me. Even if the law doesn't agree with me. If my mother were to be hit or any women who I am close with were beaten up, I would seriously consider killing the spineless fuck who did it.

tenmile

tenmile

Minneapolis, MN
January 2004

FEB 06, 2005 03:24 PM

troglodyte said:

stockula said:
Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.


So, does this mean you're joining up, stock, or is this more of your "chickenhawk lectures us on the nature of battle" schtick?






VIA Attaturk at RISING HEGEMON


Why won't [Jonah Goldburg, Chickenhawk] hitch up his pants and become an Army of One?



As for why my sorry a** isn't in the kill zone, lots of people think this is a searingly pertinent question. No answer I could give -- I'm 35 years old, my family couldn't afford the lost income, I have a baby daughter, my a** is, er, sorry, are a few -- ever seem to suffice.



Well Jonah, you know there are about 150,000 Americans over in the "kill zone" now and I'd wager more than a third of 'em are married and have a kid. There are literally thousands who are your age and older, who belonged to the national guard, were working their civilian jobs, making their living for their wives (or husbands) and kids and they have been pulled into the war you so nobly cheered on...and for not a few of them...just when they think they were getting out, they've been sent back or kept over there. Meanwhile their boys and girls do not remember what they looked like, their employers have ironically soldiered on without them, and their spouses do the work of two parents.




[Edited on Feb 06, 2005 3:28PM]

tenmile

tenmile

Minneapolis, MN
January 2004

FEB 06, 2005 04:03 PM

How come nobody wants to know what MacArthur would do...



China sent hundreds of thousands of "volunteers" to fight the American and South Korean forces. They were surprised by the large Chinese force thrown at them, and were forced to retreat with severe losses. By the summer of 1953, American and the 16 nations of the UN were holding the line roughly near the 28th parallel. Canada had a small contingent of military and navy personnel serving with the United Nations in Korea.

Although the fighting was to continue for many more months a cease-fire was finally arranged. It went into effect on 27 July 1953. Nothing was to change as a result of the war; each country returned to its previous political organization. The war never officially ended with a peace treaty, and the region remains hot spot for a possible conflict to this day.



How about that, the first war that we lost and are still losing. Back then we had my two favorite uncles fighting over there. One of which took a shitload of shrapnel and was hauled off the singing "Amazing Grace" at the top of his lungs.

What did that mistake in judgment about the repercussions of interfering in a foreign conflict provide my uncle? He got quite a few more good years and then the rest of his life followed a massive stroke from a peice of shrapnel lodged in his brain that left him partially paralyzed and delusional. Even then he played a brave face against what was of course the inevitable result of multiple stokes, blackouts, and brain surgeries—a grim and looming insanity.

The last couple of years he has finally lost the battle, nearly unable to communicate in any meaningful way with the family.

We were spared in Vietnam, seems like everybody hit the age thing just right.

*sigh*

War is not something that we should often decide ourselves into...we should only resort that when it is absolutely necessary. You fucking chickenhawks disgust me.

Military men are made for killing, on that I can agree and know without serving--but this rhetoric you throw around in justifying this war is simply jaw-droppingly pathetic.


[Edited on Feb 06, 2005 by tenmile]

rev24

rev24

San Francisco, CA
July 2004

FEB 06, 2005 05:14 PM

Every person I've ever spoken to, including ex-war veterans have never prided themselves on the actual killing of the enemy. Sure they're usually proud that they served their country, but to say it's fun to kill another person is sick and twisted. When you've hit such a low on valuing human life, I think it's time to start questioning whether your fit to serve.

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