Jkalos in responce to LWM/derbig mooser/Settembrin/q8dhimmi/Lisa Michele and probably Proximity Warning also

your questions seem to me to be passing strange. "Will they be as quick to shoot at checkpoints if Obama is elected." Well, I imagine they shoot when they think, mistakenly or otherwise, that their life is in danger. And you ask if they would be so quick to kill civilians if obama was president. Do you think s9ldiers are as it were primed to kill civilians? ...

I went to a move on org demonstrateion the other day with my kids. We stood there and held up a sign that said: support the troops, bring them home. One of the move on people came over and asked: why are you holding up that sign? Don't you know the troops are volunteers who volunteered to kill? When I told her I had been a soldier, what did you think of me, she said: that you were a volunteer murderer too. She then stalked off to the other side of the street to wave her sign.

Will they be less likely to kill civilians if obama is president? I reject the premise of the question (that they are even likely to kill as some sort of sop.)

-- Jkalos

The military men (and a woman) in my family are primed to kill only the "enemy" which by definition is someone from a foreign land that is not properly subservient to America's wishes. I am sure that most soldiers would be reluctant to fire on USA citizens, at least here at home.

How many innocent civilians have been killed by the US military since 1945? With each "war" (congress has not declared one in my lifetime) the percentage of civilian deaths has risen as compared to combatants deaths.

I am left with a very difficult question. Why are the men and women of the US military not guilty of the war crimes committed by the US military? As a soldier who volunteered, do you feel you were part of the killing machine (the greatest the world has seen), or is it enough to say you were just following orders?

I read a report a few years ago on the conditioning that the military uses to make sure that the men will actually shot to kill when in combat. Seems it is more difficult to get soldiers to kill that many had suspected. I'll see if I can locate that one again and pass it on. However, (by memory) it showed that the US military has been very successful in conditioning the men to kill; a higher percentage with each war until it now stands in the high 90s in percentage.

If you take a paycheck from the killing machine; how can you remain innocent?

"(1) In light of the standards governing media campaign coverage, John McCain's ties to religious extremists -- including those with a lengthy list of fringe and reprehensible views -- remains one of the most under-reported stories. ..." (GG)

Yes it does. I think you should do a full post on that item when you find the time.

For Easter:

Pacifism ...

Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war; to opposition to any organization of society through governmental force (anarchist or libertarian pacifism); to rejection of the use of physical violence to obtain political, economic or social goals; to the condemnation of force except in cases where it is absolutely necessary to advance the cause of peace (pacificism); to opposition to violence under any circumstance, including defense of self and others.

Pacifism may be based on moral principles (a deontological view) or pragmatism (a consequentialist view). Principled pacifism holds that at some point along the spectrum from war to interpersonal physical violence, such violence becomes morally wrong. Pragmatic pacifism holds that the costs of war and inter-personal violence are so substantial that better ways of resolving disputes must be found. Pacifists in general reject theories of Just War. ... (wikipedia)

Since it is Easter Sunday when many celebrate the myth of the Prince of Peace, I am happy to declare that non-violence is the only course that can lead to the greatest human happiness on this planet. That non-violence is nonnegotiable and includes the use of government thugs to enforce the will of whatever band of criminals are in office at any given time.

Happy Easter, and Peace to all.