wow.....
do officers really believe that?
no wonder you people get no respect when you're young....
I would recommend to you On Killing as a start-point for this discussion. Grunts need to be able to convince themselves of a couple of key points: 1. the people they are killing aren't really people and 2. they are far superior to them in aggression, strength, ability, aggression, deadliness, aggression, etc. Our problem was the li'l bastards kept grabbing their wounded and dead before we could get to them - the first time we overwhelmed their position fast enough that we got to keep the bodies, our gunny strapped them to the front of one of the gun truck like deer and rode around the fob straddling them and whooping warcries. The ingrained moral is obvious, looking back - killing the enemy is a good thing and worthy of celebration.
(everyone getting hyperventilating moral fits about that last bit is free to hit the yellow footprints on an infantry contract.)
now - agreed this is an IO loss, and potentially a strategic level hit. that's why you never video or photo this kind of stuff. stupid. and so obviously these guys have to go down. but let's not wrap ourselves up in sanctimony here.
I'll meet you half way, filming it was a ridiculously stupid decision. And I hope they weren't so stupid as to post it themselves to Youtube. And I agree a victory is a worthy event to celebrate, although how you do it is critical.
Now yes as an officer I'm often shielded from the perspective of that man on the absolute front line, sending lead, receiving lead, taking the fight to the enemy and engaging him in close combat. I do try as I can to get myself out there as much as I can, I'm obviously not in Afghanistan and there's no lead being slung in Korea so I can't claim combat experience. However I do try to involve myself in the daily lives of the Soldiers within my Platoon, not because I'm a micro-manger but because I want to know what's going on. Out here in Korea I personally lead missions, again its not the same as combat at all, but I do have an understanding of the frustrations my Soldiers go through while on mission. I'm part of a truck company so our missions always involve driving, out here on Korean roads I'm sure you remember is completely insane and trying to maneuver a massive truck makes it all the worse. But since I'm out there they can talk to me about their frustrations with their equipment, the missions, whatever else, and I can understand and talk in the same language because I see it.
Now I brought all that up not because I'm saying I know what the stresses of combat are like because I lead convoys in Korea, I brought it up to acknowledge your point that officers are often detached and truly don't understand their Soldiers and let you know I do what I can about it.
However, just because I understand their frustrations doesn't mean I have to accept their wrongful actions that may come from them. If I saw a group of my Soldiers pissing on some Taliban, and it was only me, I'd immediately put a stop to it. Not only for all the reasons I mentioned about what happens if it gets out, but because something is wrong and it needs to be corrected. I would see it as a sign that the stresses and horrors of this place have seriously gotten to these Soldiers and they need help and its my job to make sure they get it. Chaplain, psychological help, something has to be done because its not normal behavior to do something like this.
I know the military, given personnel and mission needs, have sometimes turned a blind eye towards Soldier stress or trauma. I could see myself telling my CO, these guys need to be taken off for a few days(although not saying exactly what they did) and having it shot down because we really need the people. And if that was the case they'd have my special attention along with their NCO, who would know about it and I'd expect an extra cautious eye on them too.
And why do I do it? Not only for the mission, I've made that clear. I also would do it for the Soldiers themselves they deserve to have someone watching their back when it comes to issues like this, and its important to brief your Soldiers or help them understand better what stress looks like in another way so they can watch their buddies. NCO involvement is obviously critical too. That is leadership responsibility, those men deserve someone to look after their mental well being just as much as their physical. Their buddies deserve to not work in an AO where something like that just happened, and now are facing even more pissed off Taliban. The Soldiers deserve to not have their lives ruined because of a single stupid incident. The Soldiers who sacrificed, whether their health, marriage, mental well being, or their lives deserve that mission to be accomplished so it was not in vain.
All those reasons are why I have my opinion, and wouldn't tolerate this in the slightest. And if it did get out of my control and a video was posted to Youtube, what can I do besides follow the rules and regulations? At that point, its out of the PL's hand's there's nothing more I can do besides speak for their behalf, and if the investigators have the same opinion as I do about the role of leadership its probably my ass in deep **** too.