If you had the legal authority to kill anyone you wanted at any time would you do it?

sub_thug said:
Depends on the story. Some stuff, I won't talk about at all. Some stuff, I will.

Here's a fun one that helps highlight some of our cultural differences a bit. It's a pretty good laugh. So we were going to meet this Afghan General (one of several for us that we would rotate through for meetings) for a monthly meeting. This was my first trip to Afghanistan, second deployment overall. This was also my first meeting with this General, so we wanted to really establish a good relationship. Myself and two other guys walk into the General's office to start this thing, and no shit, the General is leaning back on his desk, getting a blowie from this Afghan soldier. The soldier didn't look a day over 18, and needless to say, we were trying to keep it together. The obvious reaction that we wanted to vocalize was, "Dude, WTF!" As we walked in, both the General and the Soldier turned towards us. The Soldier, in embarrassment, leaps up and bolts out of the room. The General pulls up his pants like it's not big deal (nothing gay about getting your dick sucked, right?), comes over to greet us, and with the help of the translator, we start the meeting. As is customary, within 5 minutes of getting the meeting started, the Chai Boy brings in the tea for all of us. And guess who it is? It's the same Soldier who had the General's dick in his mouth. If you're the low man on the social pecking order, you end up sucking a lot of dick and taking a lot of dicks in the butt over there. You will really know if people don't like you, haha. Needless to say, on the ride back to our compound, this was the story being told amongst every truck. It was absolutely hysterical, and it's something that I still tell to people (obviously). In their culture, women are for babies, while men and boys are for pleasure. Seeing that firsthand like that was wild.
Click to expand...
No "milk" in my tea, thanks
 
AmbivalenceKing said:
Did being forced to make such a decision compel you to contemplate concepts such as necessity, determinism and free will? I sure as hell know it would have such an effect on me.
Click to expand...
I sure as hell thought about necessity and determinism. It was a big moment, and I knew that I would only have bad options in front of me. The enemy had staged it pretty well, which isn't surprising because they do this for a living too. And they don't rotate back to train and get down time like we do. Some of the people I fought have been doing this nonstop for over 15 years in Afghanistan. And that's just from fighting Americans, much less Russians and one another.

Ultimately, in this situation in Iraq, I had to make a decision and start thinking ahead. Getting information out there ahead of the bad guys is key because in their culture, whatever story they hear first is the one that they're likely to believe. If you tell them that you weren't impacted at all by their attack and that it missed, that's the truth. If you tell them that you only shot armed combatants, that's the truth. The lines between politics and warfighting became blurred, so we had to engage on those fronts as well. It was my job to think through these effects, control them, and exploit them towards our own ends. That's the job. Fortunately, we were armed with the truth a lot more times than we weren't.
 
sub_thug said:
Depends on the story. Some stuff, I won't talk about at all. Some stuff, I will.

Here's a fun one that helps highlight some of our cultural differences a bit. It's a pretty good laugh. So we were going to meet this Afghan General (one of several for us that we would rotate through for meetings) for a monthly meeting. This was my first trip to Afghanistan, second deployment overall. This was also my first meeting with this General, so we wanted to really establish a good relationship. Myself and two other guys walk into the General's office to start this thing, and no shit, the General is leaning back on his desk, getting a blowie from this Afghan soldier. The soldier didn't look a day over 18, and needless to say, we were trying to keep it together. The obvious reaction that we wanted to vocalize was, "Dude, WTF!" As we walked in, both the General and the Soldier turned towards us. The Soldier, in embarrassment, leaps up and bolts out of the room. The General pulls up his pants like it's not big deal (nothing gay about getting your dick sucked, right?), comes over to greet us, and with the help of the translator, we start the meeting. As is customary, within 5 minutes of getting the meeting started, the Chai Boy brings in the tea for all of us. And guess who it is? It's the same Soldier who had the General's dick in his mouth. If you're the low man on the social pecking order, you end up sucking a lot of dick and taking a lot of dicks in the butt over there. You will really know if people don't like you, haha. Needless to say, on the ride back to our compound, this was the story being told amongst every truck. It was absolutely hysterical, and it's something that I still tell to people (obviously). In their culture, women are for babies, while men and boys are for pleasure. Seeing that firsthand like that was wild.
Click to expand...
Just be glad New Guinea doesn't have oil.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etoro_people
 
DevilsLettuce said:
Aren't most of the jobs in the military non-combat "support" positions? Are they paid differently?

I often think about the civilian/military divide in this country and how we can build a more cohesive society.
Click to expand...
Most are support, but they aren't paid differently for the most part. Pilots, doctors, nurses, and lawyers get a little extra. I collect a few additional things like jump pay, language pay, and the sort, but I don't get paid much different than a logistics officer with the same rank and years of service.
 
Soda Popinsky said:
Just be glad New Guinea doesn't have oil.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etoro_people
Click to expand...
Ugh, don't get me started on the oil thing... I wish it were that simple. Going into Iraq was a strategic blunder, and we don't even have oil to show for it.

But yeah, those people sound wild. I wonder if they'd try and blow American GI's in hopes of stealing our life force? You know someone out there would try it...
 
This thread is indeed turning into Sub_Thug's experiences/knowledge of war...

family-guy-good-good-evil-cockroach.gif
 
Horse Style said:
Did you have to shake the General's hand?

Also, I know it would be rude to turn down the tea the General offered but I know you were wondering if that Chai Boy washed his hands before preparing.
Click to expand...
I did have to shake it.

Haha, I really didn't want to drink it. My guys didn't want to either. I gave them both death stares because you could tell they didn't want to drink it at all, but we couldn't offend our host like that. We would have lost rapport, and that would have been game over for us. Needless to say, the three of us probably used a whole big bottle of Listerine that was supposed to last the whole tour on that night. Actually, thinking about it just sent a chill up my spine. Time to go brush my teeth again. This happened a few years ago, and my mouth still doesn't feel clean...
 
I'd like to Red Rover my way through a crowd of protestors that block streets.

does that count?
 
sub_thug said:
I sure as hell thought about necessity and determinism. It was a big moment, and I knew that I would only have bad options in front of me. The enemy had staged it pretty well, which isn't surprising because they do this for a living too. And they don't rotate back to train and get down time like we do. Some of the people I fought have been doing this nonstop for over 15 years in Afghanistan. And that's just from fighting Americans, much less Russians and one another.

Ultimately, in this situation in Iraq, I had to make a decision and start thinking ahead. Getting information out there ahead of the bad guys is key because in their culture, whatever story they hear first is the one that they're likely to believe. If you tell them that you weren't impacted at all by their attack and that it missed, that's the truth. If you tell them that you only shot armed combatants, that's the truth. The lines between politics and warfighting became blurred, so we had to engage on those fronts as well. It was my job to think through these effects, control them, and exploit them towards our own ends. That's the job. Fortunately, we were armed with the truth a lot more times than we weren't.
Click to expand...

Reading your story moved me. It has given me a lot to ponder. Thanks a bunch.
 
plus yall are imagining like gunfire, shit you see the results of

what if you were allowed to drop mortars on fools? Pink Mist, problem solved.
 
Oddly enough I just realized I dont really hate anyone, yay me.
 
I escorted my 1SG to a meeting w/ an ANA Sgt Maj and sure as shit, we walked in on him getting domed up by the Chai Boy as well, just as SubThug described
That's how common that shit is there. Man Love Thursdays don't play
 
sub_thug said:
Ugh, don't get me started on the oil thing... I wish it were that simple. Going into Iraq was a strategic blunder, and we don't even have oil to show for it.

But yeah, those people sound wild. I wonder if they'd try and blow American GI's in hopes of stealing our life force? You know someone out there would try it...
Click to expand...
Well, everyone knows it's more complicated than just oil. But that certainly is why we are so interested in the region in general.

Yeah, they don't seem like the warring type. But blowing the enemy is a strategy that might work.
 
AmbivalenceKing said:
Reading your story moved me. It has given me a lot to ponder. Thanks a bunch.
Click to expand...
Happy to do it! Like I said, I hope that people can take something away from this to get beyond the normal narratives about heroes, government pawns, or baby-killers. At the end of the day, we are all people trying to do a job and do it well. Sometimes, we have to make hard choices. That's just part of the human experience, and I want people to understand that.
 
Will consult top lawyers so I can exploit said policy from 1 person to 5+

Maybe can do stuff like gimp = 1/2 a person, so I can cripple 2 people and it still qualifies as 1 kill. Or label a guy as a tard' so it doesn't count at all
 
Soda Popinsky said:
Well, everyone knows it's more complicated than just oil. But that certainly is why we are so interested in the region in general.

Yeah, they don't seem like the warring type. But blowing the enemy is a strategy that might work.
Click to expand...
The ME is strategically important for oil, shipping ports/seas, and it's ability to "export" its "culture." But yeah, oil is a big part. I just don't think it's why we invaded Iraq in 2003. When you look at the evidence, there wasn't a good reason to do it. I think we did it just because the President wanted to.

Haha, if everyone is getting laid, then why stop that so that you can get into a fight?
 
sub_thug said:
Without getting all weird and macabre, people always think that it's going to be hard before you actually do it. When actually presented with the situation, you'd be shocked on how easy it is to turn on. After ending a human life, you think that you're going to experience this watershed moment full of emotions like horror, doubt, satisfaction from being victorious in your conflict, etc. However, none of those things are actually there, which is what it so difficult to process. You think that you should be feeling all those things, and when you aren't, you start to think that something is wrong with you. You start to wonder if you're unhinged or broken, but when you start talking to others who have been there before, you realize that all those emotions are just a bunch of Hollywood beliefs. The truth is that it's really easy, and if you were doing the right thing (shooting someone who was shooting at you, for example), you won't have any moral questions about what you did. You start seeing violence as a practical solution for certain problems. Today, I would have no problems with shooting a terrorist, drug lord, or serial killer right in the face in front of his wife and kids, and then going to bed and sleep like a baby. For scum like that, they just need to die. Their existence is harmful to society, and they need to be removed for the betterment of the human species.
Click to expand...

I was with you up until this part. You probably should have somewhat of a problem with exposing children to the killing of their parent, regardless of whether or not said parent is criminal scum of the highest order.

If there is literally no other way of dispatching said criminal, I suppose I could understand that sentiment. Otherwise, it seems unnecessarily cruel and detached. You'd be doing more harm than necessary - and to innocents, no less.

AmbivalenceKing said:
No, I would behave exactly the same as now. A coward is he who, freed from the consequences of his actions, acts differently than when he's forced to suffer them. Real men act in accordance with ideal that levitates high above them. They don't bother to calculate whether the result of their actions are favorable or not, they leave such indignities to lesser men.

The only people whom I would kill without a second thought are those who endanger me or my family and I don't need immunity from persecution for that. I would do it even if it would warrant my crucifixion.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I fully understand your POV/argument here.

We, as a society, already allow our courts to sentence certain criminals to death. If you're in accordance with that, why would doing it yourself, if given the authority, be cowardly?
 
sub_thug said:
Without getting all weird and macabre, people always think that it's going to be hard before you actually do it. When actually presented with the situation, you'd be shocked on how easy it is to turn on. After ending a human life, you think that you're going to experience this watershed moment full of emotions like horror, doubt, satisfaction from being victorious in your conflict, etc. However, none of those things are actually there, which is what it so difficult to process. You think that you should be feeling all those things, and when you aren't, you start to think that something is wrong with you. You start to wonder if you're unhinged or broken, but when you start talking to others who have been there before, you realize that all those emotions are just a bunch of Hollywood beliefs. The truth is that it's really easy, and if you were doing the right thing (shooting someone who was shooting at you, for example), you won't have any moral questions about what you did. You start seeing violence as a practical solution for certain problems. Today, I would have no problems with shooting a terrorist, drug lord, or serial killer right in the face in front of his wife and kids, and then going to bed and sleep like a baby. For scum like that, they just need to die. Their existence is harmful to society, and they need to be removed for the betterment of the human species.
Click to expand...

Yeah, let me know when you actually killed something.

Half the people that say they will kill someone probably can't even kill animals for meat themselves. Willingly taking a life isn't as easily as most people believe is.

I'm the type that will full out support a vigilante that does that. But I can't be sure I will be one myself. It's easy to say you can do it. It's usually the people that believe they can do it that can't when faced with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,983
Messages
55,459,325
Members
174,787
Latest member
Freddie556

Share this page

Back
Top