Sardaukar,
u have a point, but in wartime, its not hard to de-humanise the
enemy and to dis-regard all the considerations u brought up.
out in the field, there's really no room for an overly-developed
sense of morality... u watched band of brothers recently? the
second episode i think... when the american soldier bayonets his
platoon mate cos he thought it was the enemy...
thats exactly the kind of pressure soldiers face in the field. u're
tired, cold, wet and miserable. very scared. anything that moves
makes u jump and u'ld rather shoot first and ask questions later. a
joke during the gulf war was that the most dangerous fire was
friendly fire cos its so much more accurate... and why's that so if
soldiers are indeed, thinking clearly out field? cos they aren't...
things are simply moveing too damn fast.
besides, you would've also been instructed that everything in front
of you is the enemy... and its a perfectly logical reasoning if
u're advancing into hostile territory. if u don't react first, u'll
be killed. the other guy would certainly not give a second thought
to pumping u full of copper or lead.
so in the field, u're not killing the enemy to protect your
country, your're not killing somebody else's son, husband or
father. u're neutralising a threat to u and your fellow
soldiers.
and because things moves so FAST out field, u have no time for a
morality debate. in that context, it is a much greater sin if u let
your men, or your comrades down by not taking out the enemy
first.
once the first shot rings out, your training and your instincts
takes over... and thats not an exaggeration... nothing else
matters. its just u, your weapon, and everything else that lays
before u is a target.
if anyone wants to be pure and not kill, they should do it in their
own time in the confines of a monastry. out in the field, u have no
business thinking that way because lives are at stake. not just
yours, but many others as well.
