The Army pounds it into your head until it is instinct: Kill everybody, kill everybody

In an article coming out of FT Carson, CO, returning war vets tell of murder, rape, drugs, you name it.

It sounds like it was a free for all over there. No wonder they wanted us out of there.

Think soldiers wouldn't turn on American citizens under orders? I tend to disagree.

"If I was just a guy off the street, I might have hesitated to shoot," Marquez told The Gazette in the Bent County Correctional Facility, where he is serving a 30-year prison term. "But after Iraq, it was just natural."

The Army trains soldiers to be that way, said Kenneth Eastridge, an infantry specialist serving 10 years for accessory to murder.

"The Army pounds it into your head until it is instinct: Kill everybody, kill everybody," he said. "And you do. Then they just think you can just come home and turn it off."

news.yahoo.com...

Stop being a fear monger, your title was unnecessary , will the soldiers turn there back on america ? very small percent will , a lot of them NO

how would i know this , some of my friends are in British royal army and they would never kill there own people.


Geeze if your tying to get attention with your title , go somewhere else

"Just miles from your doorstep, hundreds of men are given weapons and trained to kill. The government calls it the Army, but a more alarmist name would be... The Killbot Factory." -- Kent Brockman

Sorry, can't take this seriously. I work for the Army. I just don't see it. We go back and forth to Afganistan and Iraq all the time.

reply to post by dino1989


B.S ....yeah in the military its, hit hard, hit fast go go go , kill kill kill. Thats training, everything you do in the military is training for combat. Swift, Silent, Deadly...(any of you in the USMC will know that phrase).Youre a fool if you think otherwise, HOWEVER.

That doesnt mean the military is conditioning our troops where they cant tell right from wrong. You will have a certain amount of people that come out of war with problems they cant fix, its war, its hell.....thats going to happen.

That doesnt mean however that everyone in the military is like that or will turn on the American people in hard times. Ill tell you when push comes to shove the American people will have the backing of the military, sure im sure youll have some that go the other direction, but thats a small number compared to the majority.

Stop with the slandering of the military, after all when SHTF, youll be the one looking for us to have your back

reply to post by dino1989


Yeah a lot of them won't because they will be suffering from trauma and brain damage.

I've said it many times and I'll say it again, NO ONE has the right to kill another human being. If you kill another person, you DESERVE EVERYTHING that happens to you.

If you sign up for the military, then you might as well sign up for brain damage and trauma on a silver platter, and hey guess what? You DESERVE IT!

I don't know that I want to shoot the messenger on this one either....

although there was a little bit of embellishment and speculation on the part of the OP, the military is very good at what it does. It excels at giving the other idiots an opportunity to die for their country.

I don't think our armed forces have an exemplary record of taking care of our vets when they return home from conflict. It isn't a far stretch to understand how desensitizing one over the course of several years could result in the 'safety' being off, so to say.

I DO find it a bit sensational that the sources of these statements are vets who have been convicted of violent crimes. It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of some of the thousands of vets active duty military that are actually living within acceptable societal norms.

So how about it, vets and active duty personnel? Do you think your constant exposure to violence has shortened your fuse with the rest of us civilians?

Title, yeah, it sucked. Source, yeah, questionable. Question? Valid in my opinion, if looked at through an objective lens. Are vets returning from conflict more prone to violence against their fellow man, or woman than other civilians?




[edit on 26-7-2009 by KSPigpen]

I disagree with the linked story to an extent -- the military trains people to be efficient killers and stresses target aquisition. Yes, deaths by friendly fire happen and they will always happen, however the impetus is not to shoot anything that moves. It IS to shoot anyone shooting at you or yours, and to be aware of where your allies are.

You know that with you're post that the Army trains to kill kill kill and that people in the Army just cant shut that mode off, makes as much sense as professional football players training and then they cant stop playing football. They play football in a restaurant, at home with wife and kids, on a 747.
What an idiotic train of thought.

However, the exception would be everyone is potty trained and we hope they continue that till they die.

Those two men in jail for murder, they are criminals and criminals always look for someone else to blame for their actions. Eventually they will blame mommy for not sitting them on the potty correctly.

[edit on 26-7-2009 by fmcanarney]

reply to post by bobbylove321


mmmm more brilliant schooled insight from bobbylove....hey bobby love, just who is it do you think thats going to protect you from big baddies when they come for you?

Who is it do you think that keeps the wolves at bay? People all around the world say countries hate America, well if thats true, who is it you think that stops them from doing their worst.....no guesses?

American military might my friend......all those men and women in uniform that you say "deserve to be brain damaged"

You could learn a thing or two from our vets......especially of the WWI and WWII variety, and the hardcore brave ones that came out of Vietnam alive.

reply to post by bobbylove321


To reiterate an old saw -- if a person isn't willing to stand behind their troops, perhaps they should stand in front of them.

MY truth is, Bobby, that war is horrific. Horrific and often necessary.

Put another way, I can't fault the butcher for being a killer of chickens if I eat said chickens.

Note that the quote is by a dirtbags who is currently in the Graybar Hotel. Of course he is blaming 'The Army' for his crimes. What percentage of convicts try to pass the buck for their own crimes? 'Uh, I ate too many Twinkies and I didn't know what I was doing.' 'Daddy didn't take time with me.' 'I grew up poor.' And so on and so on. It is a rare one that says 'I did it, and it was my fault.'

There are issues, but the spin on this post, trained and uncontrollable killers is simply Bravo Sierra.

reply to post by KSPigpen


I served with the 1st Recon Bn in Iraq. Lots of stuff happened, people got shot, things exploded, it was hot, ugly , and boring.

Sure there were firefights, but we did what we do and come home.

Kind of weird tho, im back and a perfectly productive member of society, with a good job, and except for the occasional high blood pressure coming on to sites and seeing the military bashing, im doing great!


Edit-Sorry Dino i hit reply to the wrong box, my comments above were supposed to be for bobby love and the OP lol

[edit on 26-7-2009 by ManBehindTheMask]

reply to post by bobbylove321


Gee thanks

I guesss your "private" military protects you!

Having been trained for war, I'd have to say that it is more accurate to say that soldiers are trained to be prepared to kill everyone, especially in an asymmetrical war where anyone might be an enemy combatant.

However, the record is clear in all wars prosecuted by the US. When our service members commit murder against anyone, they are prosecuted and punished for such acts.

The allegations in the OP are preposterous.

This is representative of someone who has never been exposed to the military in any way. And while I do not doubt that some of these things happen in war zones, it is not unheard of that the institution's regulations may contribute to it.

They're not told to kill everybody. They are taught to kill. But the rules of engagement puts the sense of survival of a soldier at odds with legal and moral ambiguities. It is not fair to characterize the Army in such light when the vast majority have not been inclined to this kind of criminal activity. And that's what it is, CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. Has it not occurred to you that these criminals serving decade long sentences are just looking to pass off responsibility to the Army as opposed to dealing with it themselves? A bit too convenient don't you suppose?

These are criminals talking, that just happen to be army vets. Of course they are making excuses, pinning the blame on something else makes them seem more like victims than criminals (in their own heads.) Its very sad that we're actually giving them an outlet to make excuses for their crimes. Talk to ANY convicted felon about why theyre in prison, and I'm sure you'll get an excuse almost everytime, blaming everything they can except themselves. It's that personality trait that gets them back in prison over and over, their inability to take responsibility of their lives.

reply to post by bobbylove321


You bemoan doing things that are made easy for you to swallow because you haven't been sent with the "Blessing" of the people to do the things you can't even talk about.

There are those who do gladly because they believe in something. And it doesn't have to be the flag, the country, or the People. But family, experience and a way of life. And when the SHTF, these are the Men and Women you'll want watching your back as you take you and yours to the rear. They will be a voluntary human shield doing the very things you condemn to keep you alive.

Don't be a coward, and don't be a hypocrite. If you're interested in peace, work for it, but don't blame the military for war, blame the politicians.

reply to post by projectvxn



Someone quoted someone else, can't remember who. . .

But they said, "If you can't be behind the troops, try standing in frontof them!"

I guess that says it all.

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Thanks for your insight, MBTM.

You seem to forming cogent sentences anyway.

You know, MSM played up for a few months there how this vet and that vet were beating their wives, or killing them or whatever...I don't buy into it, but am curious if the numbers represent a typical swathe of citizenry, or if vets are more prone, statistically, to violence, once removed from theater.

I guess I could go look that up, but I'd rather hear it from real people than MSM.

One of the problems is that there are dozens of these articles....here is one I found that talked about some of the core issues...

Some Iraq war veterans who have landed in jail have already been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Others may have mental health issues that predated their deployment. Despite stepped-up outreach efforts, clinicians acknowledge that thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans struggle in isolation and are reluctant to seek treatment, often "self-medicating" with alcohol and drugs. Advocates for veterans say the criminal cases are evidence that returning soldiers are not receiving the mental health care they need. "This new generation of veterans has experienced combat very recently, and it's very raw," said Dick Talbott, who oversees 31 community-based vet centers in California, Oregon, Hawaii and Guam. "They are going to need more intensive and frequent counseling from us, a greater level of care and more staff."

The source is on a blog, but was quoted from an MSM source...the original article seems to have dissappeared..
More about this...







[edit on 26-7-2009 by KSPigpen]

retarded thread title to say the least. Yes these guys went into combat, but you neglect the real issue. A contributing factor was that their unit was constantly in the bloodiest battles in some of the most hostile neighborhoods. While the emotional impact can be a heavy burden for some to bear, the majority of their unit has not gone off in a killing spree. There can be a million reasons for what they did, but the military isn't the sole contributor. Thats like blaming Anheiser-Busch for every DUI in the states.

Yeah a lot of them won't because they will be suffering from trauma and brain damage.

ummm, i'm pretty okay, many of my friends, weird as they may be at times are normal too. If you want to see brain damage go hang out in a party town where most of the kids live off of their parents wealth.

I've said it many times and I'll say it again, NO ONE has the right to kill another human being. If you kill another person, you DESERVE EVERYTHING that happens to you.

a nice quote from an article dated back to 99, a pretty good read.

Ignorance is the plague of the Western world, but is the source of death in Afghanistan.

Article Here

If you sign up for the military, then you might as well sign up for brain damage and trauma on a silver platter, and hey guess what? You DESERVE IT!

STFU and GTFO, you wouldn't even have the nerves to put up with what goes on outside of your protected little bubble. You enjoy hating the military so much as if we the members of the military are dead set on killing people. Before you stick any more of your foot into your mouth, read up on what life is like in an oppressed nation, the kind that wont let you call it one.