ClumsyMonkey.net

Okay, but I think Kathy's point was that she thinks this is a LOT more deplorable than the typical reaction to the horrors of war.

In any case, no matter what the cause (and I know we see eye to eye on this), it's fucking despicable and - more than just inhumane - inhuman.

ooh I went away to have dinner and missed out on this conversation since my post earlier.

I was planning to stay out of the discussion until I read "its easy to see how a soldier would take their anger out on them". I think to me, this oversimplifies a very complex problem, which is why I posted.

Soldiers experience awful things and they deal with it in different ways. I often wonder what it is, in some people, that leads to a reaction such as the commentator in this video.

Hate.

I agree. They are surrounded by hate, they see others die, no matter if its the "enemy" or not, when someone dies at your hands, it is haunting. They see their own men die, and are daily confronted by the idea that it was their own motherland that sent them to this hell.

Its enough to drive a strong person around the bend.

ok I agree with that. But if (for example) 10,000 soldiers experience the same awful things, and have deep anger, frustration, hate, etc... why do we not see 10,000 soldiers doing things like this video? Are the majority coping better? Are they stronger somehow? Do people have certain attributes that make them more or less likely to do things like this?

I'm not really asking this to anyone specific... more just thinking aloud.

If you want to look at human experience in these types of situations from a completely psychological viewpoint:The Stanford Prision Experiment, the Milgram Experiment.

Oh, and it's not like only soldiers seem to enjoy inflicting pain on others. Violence occurs all the time, and there are people everywhere that honestly seem to enjoy someone else's pain. Soldiers are just given more power.