The Kill Team

[Jive Turkey]

I'm surprised I havent seen anything in here about this yet (maybe I'm just not looking hard enough?). I guess there's really not much to be said about it, as I'm sure everyone will agree it's completely inhuman, but it definitely begs questions about the US Military's recruitment screening process. I can get my head around one person committing these acts, but it blows my mind that several people can decide amongst themselves to do these things. Apart from the families of those directly affected, I feel bad for the law abiding troops that are there to do their jobs properly who now have to deal with the fallout

Just a warning, the images and videos are extremely graphic

The Kill Team | Rolling Stone Politics

 

[the iron horse]

sad

 

[Basstrap]

sickening stuff. Makes me impotent with rage.

Shouldn't there be a quality psychiatric assessment of individuals wishing to become soldiers? I think there probably is already something like that in place in the US, but picking out the Jared Loughners is one thing - probably a walk in the park for any psychiatrist. A competent assessment, however, should be capable of rooting out these more "normal" sociopaths as well. (I say normal for lack of a better word!)

I think the US has a very very strong interest in doing this, because these people - as sad as it is to say - represent the US abroad.
Because the actions of this "kill team" and others like it very likely sow the seeds of terrorism.

 

[yolland]

But war is a totally abnormal social situation; I doubt the most experienced military psychologist could confidently say who has the potential to become a Calvin Gibbs in such a situation and who doesn't. What Jeremy Morlock was doing there with a criminal record like his is more of a mystery, although, as the article alludes to, recruitment needs have meant a rise in criminal waivers in recent years (a point which has come up repeatedly in reports on sexual violence within the military, as well).

My younger brother, who served in the Air Force in Afghanistan at the beginning of the war, said that in his opinion the single most important influence on soldiers' behavior is the example set by the officers; that that becomes the tonic chord in the 'culture' of the men under them. I don't know if that's how it went down here or not.

In some ways the most disturbing thing to me about this story is not that a handful of soldiers became appallingly corrupted and intentionally did sickeningly unjustified things, but that higher-ups were apparently more than once dropped strong hints about what was happening and shrugged it off. I would like to hear them explain why.

 

[kramwest1]

From what I've read, this type of thing was far more common while there was a draft (especially Vietnam era).

The fact that the U.S. fields an all voluntary force weeds out some undesirables from the start. It's not a bad idea to have some extra screening, but like Yolland posted, it is nearly impossible to predict how people will respond under the extreme pressures of combat, not to mention it might be inhumane to try and push them to see as a preemptive measure ('50s psychological testing).