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If the Commandant...

phrogpilot73 said:
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I hate to admit, but those of us who have never faced ground combat probably don't understand what was going through their mind. This is the closest we'll ever come to explaining it.​
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Yeah, I don't buy it. Why would you video tape it? You video and Youtube stuff you're proud of, stuff you want other people to see. I've never seen anyone video themselves breaking down and sobbing or going into a confessional. I think they knew damn well what they were doing, and they did it specifically to be an insult to the enemy.

Where they effed up was in thinking they could get away with breaking taboos in an zero-defect, ultra-PC environment.
 
Brett327 said:
I would guess that most people in their chain of command would be understanding if they saw this incident go down, but as soon as it enters the public domain, then everyone has to appear outraged, etc, etc.
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Captain Honors anyone? Consider it a painful lesson in the digital age that what you do is not always kept secret.
 
PropAddict said:
Yeah, I don't buy it. Why would you video tape it? You video and Youtube stuff you're proud of, stuff you want other people to see. I've never seen anyone video themselves breaking down and sobbing or going into a confessional. I think they knew damn well what they were doing, and they did it specifically to be an insult to the enemy.

Where they effed up was in thinking they could get away with breaking taboos in an zero-defect, ultra-PC environment.
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I disagree... You're looking at it with the viewpoint of an officer, who didn't just finish what might have been a culmination of a very stressful firefight with someone who's incredibly intent on killing you and your friends. While I've never fired a weapon in combat, I have engaged in a discussion on the LOAC and morality with many young Marines in the battalion. In direct response to the statement "Fuck 'em. Kill 'em all I say, women and children included. They're all fucking barbarians." This was coming from a Marine in the battalion that I had a lot of respect for. Very mature, and very intelligent young sergeant - yet I had to squash that line of thinking in his brain. Killing a human being changes you. That's the single most important thing I learned during my FAC tour.

Who knows why they video taped it. Who knows why it ended up on YouTube (twenty bucks says that the urinators weren't the ones that posted it). But I can understand the stress and challenges that they face, that could lead them to this. Do I think it's right? No. But I can understand their mindset at that point.

And for everyone who bitches and moans about LOAC/ROE briefs, rolls their eyes at different small unit leadership discussions and why they're required... Remember this - they're not geared towards you.
 
phrogpilot73 said:
"Fuck 'em. Kill 'em all I say, women and children included. They're all fucking barbarians." This was coming from a Marine in the battalion that I had a lot of respect for. Very mature, and very intelligent young sergeant - yet I had to squash that line of thinking in his brain. Killing a human being changes you. That's the single most important thing I learned during my FAC tour.
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I had this attitude after my first few months in Afghanistan and I'm still conflicted on how I feel about the Afghan people. Helmand is filled with hardline Taliban supporters. As we all know, the surrounding towns of North Helmand/Kandahar are where the Taliban originated. With such a hostile civilian population and an enemy who is clothed like a civilian and hides within the civilian (and ANA and ANP) population, it's hard not to develop a callousness at best and a murderous hatred at worst towards the Afghanies as a whole. Hollywood likes to dramatize the effects of killing someone in combat but what really cuts deep is losing friends. When compared to losing a close friend, shooting an ass hat who is trying to kill your buddies isn't that big of a deal. For most, there's a numbness to it all. It's not satisfying like the movies but it's not a hard decision either.

I think those guys were riding a combat high and I also think they made a stupid and immature decision. Look at how NFL stars act after making a touchdown and then multiply that state of mental euphoria and physical exhaustion by ten. That being said, it's unfortunate that they video taped the event. This should have been handled at the platoon level. A good smoking and an ass chewing is all that ever should have come of it and that's where their NCOs failed them. The NCOs should have caught it and nipped it in the bud. That includes getting rid of any recording and setting those involved straight.
 
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