The Fog of War

By all means: judge the soldiers when they commit war crimes. It was wholly appropriate to judge to soldiers at Abu Ghraib. Just as it was entirely appropriate for Abraham Lincoln or FDR to judge the soldiers who fought under them, even though neither man ever saw combat. (Well, Lincoln did visit the lines at Fort Stevens while there was shooting going on. But he had been president for almost four years at the time, and had sat in judgment over the appeals for clemency made by several soldiers.)

(And I'm more then happy to speak the judgment that Lt Calley was in the wrong at My Lai, that Bedford Forrest's men were in the wrong at Fort Pillow, and that Tilly's troops at Magdeburg were worthy of condemnation, just to pick out three fairly well know historical war crimes, even though I was not present in either Vietnam, the Civil War, or the Thirty Years' War. :-) )

But to the broader point: the politicians are largely the ones who should be held responsible. Starting a war is one of the most morally fraught decisions that any leader can make. And the ones who make such decisions lightly deserve our full condemnation. To my mind, starting an unjust war and genocide are equally the worst crimes that anyone can commit.

Comments (9)

- SilentJay74
HELL YEAH!!!
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- PaulaB
Very profound.... and I wholly agree
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- Joe
So to pick a couple of examples, neither Abraham Lincoln nor FDR should have been able to judge the actions of their soldiers? (Or GW Bush, for that matter.)
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- cGt2099
Don't judge the troopers
Judge the power hungry motherfuckers that send our kids into the grips of war
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- Hotfuzz
@cGt2099
I say let the politicians talk their politics but don't criticize the men risking their lives to do their job.
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- Honest_Ape
We should never criticize the men and women on the front lines, but criticizing the warmongers who put them in harm's way should never be confused for doing so. Far too often, people lump criticizing the war with criticizing "the troops." It makes me sick. If I criticize Microsoft, is it the same as criticizing the people who work there? Of course not. But insult the war and George Bush, and thousands of people are on your jock, accusing you of being "against the troops." If you ask me, the ones who do that are the ones taking advantage of the troops, using them to further their pro-war stance.
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- Honest_Ape
One more thing. I have never, once, heard a person criticizing the people on the front lines. You'd think everyone was doing it, from the way folks carry on.
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- Joe
By all means: judge the soldiers when they commit war crimes. It was wholly appropriate to judge to soldiers at Abu Ghraib. Just as it was entirely appropriate for Abraham Lincoln or FDR to judge the soldiers who fought under them, even though neither man ever saw combat. (Well, Lincoln did visit the lines at Fort Stevens while there was shooting going on. But he had been president for almost four years at the time, and had sat in judgment over the appeals for clemency made by several soldiers.)

(And I'm more then happy to speak the judgment that Lt Calley was in the wrong at My Lai, that Bedford Forrest's men were in the wrong at Fort Pillow, and that Tilly's troops at Magdeburg were worthy of condemnation, just to pick out three fairly well know historical war crimes, even though I was not present in either Vietnam, the Civil War, or the Thirty Years' War. :-) )

But to the broader point: the politicians are largely the ones who should be held responsible. Starting a war is one of the most morally fraught decisions that any leader can make. And the ones who make such decisions lightly deserve our full condemnation. To my mind, starting an unjust war and genocide are equally the worst crimes that anyone can commit.
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- Hotfuzz
Since when has it become unacceptable for a warrior to act like a warrior? I agree that when a crime is committed that punishment is due but I think that the warriors should judge the warriors, not us. We have no idea what it is like to be in the heat of battle.
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