“Looking another human being in the eye, making an independent decision to kill him, and watching as he dies due to your action combine to form one of the most basic, important, primal, and potentially traumatic occurrences of war.”
It’s an unpopular take, but I recommend everyone read the book “On Killing” by Dave Grossman. It’s obvious that what Israel is doing is very much a genocide, but I stand firm in my opinion that their boots-on-the-ground infantryman are also victims of the Israeli political machine.
“The guy running over living people while he bulldozes their homes is also a victim” is, to put it kindly, a terrible take.
The worst thing that would have happened to that guy had he refused to grind up living people under a bulldozer is he would have went to prison. I have zero sympathy for anyone who chooses genocide over going to prison. Even accounting for conscription, propaganda, economic reasons to be in the military, etc., there are a million offramps he could have taken before that point.
People who do monstrous things will almost always try to excuse it or say their hand was forced. It’s OK to call bullshit on that.
“Looking another human being in the eye, making an independent decision to kill him, and watching as he dies due to your action combine to form one of the most basic, important, primal, and potentially traumatic occurrences of war.”
It’s an unpopular take, but I recommend everyone read the book “On Killing” by Dave Grossman. It’s obvious that what Israel is doing is very much a genocide, but I stand firm in my opinion that their boots-on-the-ground infantryman are also victims of the Israeli political machine.
“The guy running over living people while he bulldozes their homes is also a victim” is, to put it kindly, a terrible take.
The worst thing that would have happened to that guy had he refused to grind up living people under a bulldozer is he would have went to prison. I have zero sympathy for anyone who chooses genocide over going to prison. Even accounting for conscription, propaganda, economic reasons to be in the military, etc., there are a million offramps he could have taken before that point.
People who do monstrous things will almost always try to excuse it or say their hand was forced. It’s OK to call bullshit on that.