These are exactly the lessons of Vietnam. When top management routinely lies (ie the US President), then lying is routine all down into the ranks.
Quote:
from the NY Times of 22 May 2005
Army Faltered in Investigating Detainee Abuse
Despite autopsy findings of homicide and statements by soldiers that two prisoners died after being struck by guards at an American military detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, Army investigators initially recommended closing the case without bringing any criminal charges, documents and interviews show.
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But these are the good guys. Therefore we have the right to not investigate murders.
As Gen Janise Karpenski of Abu Ghraid fame noted, her troops did not come to Iraq carrying dog collars and leashes. Those things appeared when Gen Miller arrived from Guantanamo to Gitmoize Abu Ghraid. But we don't want to embarrass the US. So we blame the little people. Clearly those Afghan prisoners must have been guilty of something. Otherwise god would not have let them die.
Sarcastic? We also had to burn the village to save it. But then that was thirty years ago. We don't need no lessons from history. We have a bible to use as toilet paper. Remember, even the definition of toilet has now changed. Maybe those prisoners did not die? Maybe they were just recycled. Good Morning Richard Nixon, Vietnam, and six dead in Ohio - when a president lies.
Too many in The Cellar, I fear, were not at least 16 when Richard Nixon was doing the same things. This is Vietnam all over again - complete with some Americans who refuse to admit such *evil* has happened only because Americans would not do such things. Nonsense. That is the lesson of history. The president even authorized torture. Even those who committed My Lai could not be prosecuted because, well, the president back then was a crook. Lets face it. There is no difference between a gook and a dirty Arab. Clearly it is not right to soil the reputation of some Americans over a few dead (and probably innocent) Arabs.
FISHing. Fighting In Someone's House. Throw in the grenade. Then go in to find out if it is an insurgent or a family that was killed. Full Metal Jacket or Platoon - movies based upon reality. Doesn't matter. When everyone over there is the enemy, then these are legitimate tactics. They are only gooks in Arab robes. Don't fool yourself. That is our nation's attitude when we go to war without waiting for the smoking gun.