Truthdig - Reports - A Culture of Atrocity

Truthdig - Reports - A Culture of Atrocity: "The rage that soldiers feel after a roadside bomb explodes, killing or maiming their comrades, is one that is easily directed over time to innocent civilians who are seen as supporting the insurgents. It is a short psychological leap, but a massive moral one. It is a leap from killing—the shooting of someone who has the capacity to do you harm—to murder—the deadly assault against someone who cannot harm you. The war in Iraq is now primarily about murder. There is very little killing. American Marines and soldiers have become, after four years of war, acclimated to atrocity. "

Killing becomes second nature when you are brainwashed to do so. The modern military training techniques were instituted after America's civil war, because they would find soldiers dead with several rounds loaded in their muskets. They simply could not kill another human being, so they would load after load into the gun, and, in the confusion, no one noticed that they were not firing. Modern training is designed to slowly break down your morality, thus allowing you to be able to shoot a human. You are turned into a killing machine, a robot, who follows orders. There will always be atrocities on the battlefield because of this training.