"We tried a kinder and gentler boot camp experience by the way which was scrapped."
You have actually bolstered my argument. Of course brainwashing would make men more fit for service, so of course "kinder" training isn't going to work was well. You want almost reflexive obedience- it is rare for men to disobey even an illegal order, because they are so well trained to obey quickly and completely. If you think I think brainwashing is a bad thing, you are incorrect. I have no problem with brainwashing military recruits- and I'm absolute sure they perform better, the better and more fully brainwashed they are.
I've never thought it was a very good idea to try men too harshly, though, when they are "just obeying orders"- if you want them to obey orders in general. That's too much a contradiction for most humans, and especially for low functioning people who have been trained thoroughly to obey (in the "When I say jump, JUMP" school of authoritarian training). I think you need to be very careful of how you use the military, and then just assume there will be illegalities in any use of military might- so the end had better be worth it.
And I don't have a problem with young men being killed because they joined up and were brainwashed to disregard their personal safety more than a civilian would. That was Mr. Sheehan's choice, and he made it, which is why the military probably prefers young men- they are more tractable and trainable, and what Grainne says about their unrealistic assessments of their own mortality is completely true, and is born out by all sorts of accident data- but it just means young men are what we need for an effective military- so be it. So I don't really care if they get brain washed to fight- but I do care what kinds of wars they fight IN. I hate to see resources stupidly deployed. And while I may approve of military training that is effective (and no denying that brainwashing is), that doesn't mean I approve every use of the troops, and I think the war in Iraq is a colossal waste. If my son died there, I would feel it was my duty to say it was a waste, even if he thought (or "felt") he was doing the right thing. That our children die for a cause does not per se make the cause right. Should every suicide bombers' mother refrain from commenting on the waste of her son's life? I assume you wouldn't mind if they went around moaning about the stupidity of that action. I'd like to see Sheehan's mom cut the same sort of slack. |
