A Culture of Atrocity: U.S. Troops Feel the Effect of Prolonged Combat

[babylonsister]

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/54515/

A Culture of Atrocity: U.S. Troops Feel the Effect of Prolonged Combat

By Chris Hedges, Truthdig. Posted June 19, 2007.

After four years of war, our troops in Iraq have become acclimated to atrocity. The rage that soldiers feel after a roadside bomb explodes is one that is easily directed over time to innocent civilians -- a short psychological leap, but a massive moral one.

All troops, when they occupy and battle insurgent forces, as in Iraq, or Gaza or Vietnam, are swiftly placed in what the psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton terms "atrocity-producing situations." In this environment, surrounded by a hostile population, simple acts such as going to a store to buy a can of Coke or driving down a street means you can be killed.

This constant fear and stress leads troops to view everyone around them as the enemy. The hostility is compounded when the enemy, as in Iraq, is elusive, shadowy and hard to find. The rage that soldiers feel after a roadside bomb explodes, killing or maiming their comrades, is one that is easily directed over time to innocent civilians who are seen as supporting the insurgents. It is a short psychological leap, but a massive moral one. It is a leap from killing—the shooting of someone who has the capacity to do you harm—to murder—the deadly assault against someone who cannot harm you. The war in Iraq is now primarily about murder. There is very little killing. American Marines and soldiers have become, after four years of war, acclimated to atrocity.

The American killing project is not described in these terms to the distant public. The politicians still speak in the abstract of glory, honor and heroism, of the necessity of improving the world, in lofty phrases of political and spiritual renewal. The press, as in most wars, is slavishly compliant. The reality of the war—the fact that the occupation forces have become, along with the rampaging militias, a source of terror to most Iraqis—is not transmitted to the American public. The press chronicles the physical and emotional wounds visited on those who kill in our name. The Iraqis, those we kill, are largely nameless, faceless dead. Those who kill large numbers of people always claim it as a regrettable but necessary virtue.

The reality and the mythic narrative of war collide when embittered combat veterans return home. They find themselves estranged from the world around them, a world that still believes in the myth of war and the virtues of the nation.

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[Dhalgren]

1. K&R! Gripping...

[killermedic]

2. Wow!

This is seriously messed up! No wonder we look like we're not inline with supporting the troops. This piece of putrid drivel kinda makes me sick. I never looked to innocent civilians to vent my anger on...and I had my good friend die while I was treating him for gunshot wounds to the abdomen. In fact that did more to dispel the "myth of war" than did coming home to be "estranged". My estrangement was not like the author describes it at all. Many of my neighbors and civilian co-workers showed up to see me walk down the tarmac and find the arms of my wife and children. I have seen war and all its horrors but will never accuse a soldier of being on the wrong side.... it is the politicians we need to hold accountable for the atrocities from the terrorists, insurgents, and the bad-egg soldiers who make war on the civilian populace in Iraq. Both sides, Republican and Democrat, both voted to send troops to the "Oasis." We need to welcome home our warrior class and remind them that regardless the outcome they who don't fit the bad-egg mold have served with honor. It was corrupt politicians who used their honor to invade and put them in harms way. Many of us are like-minded in that we know the changes that need to happen in D.C.

[babylonsister]

9. Well, bully for you that you returned so well adjusted; sadly, it seems

the majority of soldiers do not. You seem to think this is a hit piece on soldiers; I beg to differ. Being aware of what might be happening, the ramifications of PTSD, isn't a bad thing. That might be the first step in getting some help for those who need it, since the VA has been woefully inadequate in that respect.

And thank you for your service.

[Briar]

3. An excellent piece

Isn't it time our "civilisation" stopped promoting the mythology of "honorable and noble" war and told the truth?

[killermedic]

4. yeah excellent piece of crap!!!!

I wouldn't wipe my arse with this "piece for fear of catching some unheard of disease. We as progressives can't have it both ways! Either the soldiers., like me are noble all the time or never and if that is the case then regardless of whose watch we deploy on we can expect the same. Talk to a real soldier or marine before you discount our chosen sacrifices.

[Stuckinthebush]

5. What?

Please explain your post a little more clearly.

Are you saying that soldiers in Iraq are not experiencing atrocity fatigue? Or are you saying that by saying this the author is somehow slamming US forces?

I think it is very clear that with a vague and pointless mission soldiers will begin to revert to protection of their own which then can easily escalate to killing innocent civilians. This was shown in Vietnam and Korea as well as many other conflicts. I don't think the author is slamming soldiers but expressing what happens when we put our forces into a stupid situation like Iraq. They will commit atrocities because they are focusing on protecting their own and also because they are surround by uncertainty, thereby making them suspect all civilians.

Are you saying that we shouldn't critically analyze this idiotic war with a foolish and pointless rationale or are you saying that by analyzing what soldiers do (regardless of their nationality), we are somehow not supporting the troops?

[killermedic]

6. NOPE!!!

I am simply stating that you can't lump every single soldier, sailor, marine and airman into the caste of murdering asshole. Did you read both my posts? I took offense to it because I happen to be a soldier and have done my time over in the hell created by Washington D.C.! Not a single time did I or those around me think that we needed to start killing civilians because they "all look alike." I am not saying we shouldn't critically analyze the war but in doing so we need to analyze the stupidity at the highest levels of the two branches of our government that sent me and my comrades over instead of using "blanket diagnoses" on those who continue to be in harms way. Every soldier took a black eye for the idiocy at Abu Ghraib, however that does not mean that we are all guilty of atrocities. Furthermore you can't compare this war to those of the past as that cultures, climates and overall military doctrine towards those we fight have changed! So to answer your question...yes, I think the author is slamming the troops just as racists use blanket determinations to bend the logic to their own liking. The author gave no facts just a single opinion of one psychiatrist. I this isn't a blaket diagnosis then I don't know what is. Unfortunatly, it will be taken as 100% fact here on DU without going under the same scrutiny that we place our soldiers under......you tell me how fair we are being to our troops!

[classysassy]

8. Killer

return to Ft Sam and get some mercy.

[classysassy]

7. Yes

someone said,"there is no good war,or bad peace."Peace be with you brother.