could you not feel the sarcasm? I know that there is a logical need for a give a bunch of blindly patriotic, testosteroned punks guns and say "you see that towel head?...kill him!" I know theres a need for these guys and I respect the job they do, but I don't have to agree with how they do it. Give a redneck a gun and eventually he's going to stop protecting american ideals and start committing war atrocities. This has happened in every major conflict america has ever had and happens in secret all the time. do I support someone who honestly goes out in defense of his country and it's ideals. But the troops out there who abuse thier power and get thier rocks starting private tourture camps need to be dealt with too. know I'm not going to spit on any soldier and yell 'baby killer!' but I don't think of it as the most honorable profession that our grandfathers did.

War crimes have happened in every war since the begining of time, before they were known as crimes. It's unfortunate but it's a part of war and has nothing to do with what countries are involved in it, and very little to do with how patriotic the soldiers are. Most soldiers in the field, I've heard, aren't fighting for "Mom back home and American apple pie", because there's almost no one that can mentally take continual fighting for something they can't physically see. Instead, these men in the field fight to keep themselves alive, and very often for one another. When war crimes are committed in mass, it's because large groups of people who feel a bond with one another just go along with whatever's being done. My ex was one of these types, the "military elitist", someone who frequently spouts shit like "You don't know what it's like in the field" as if they're part of some higher understanding because they've fired off a round or two at an enemy. This is a good number of our troops, unfortunately, but it's not like it's America specific. As I said before, this has been the condition of war since before the concept of a "war crime".

Honorable profession of our grandfathers? Our grandfathers committed just as many crimes against our enemies in the past, if not more. But back then no one talked about it, and few people would have cared.

"When this war is over, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell."

Admiral Bill Halsey said this in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Do you think anyone could get away with this type of language against enemies these days? Of course not, because people actually care now adays. But back then in the days of the "honored profession", it inspired a good majority of Americans.

War is bad, war is ugly, always has been and always will be. No one's a more or less of a mindless pawn in it than anyone else, and that includes you. You speak your mind against the actions, but do you bother to do anything about it? I for one would not tolerate war crimes happening around me, I'd rather take a bullet or be court marshaled than let that happen in my presence. But I'm not going to the fear of having those things happen to be because I wont tolerate war crimes keep me from entering into service for my country. I have more spine than that.