Location: Obama made me join the NRA for 5 years !
Posts: 2,181
how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
My brother in law is in Iraq. When he went into the Army, his ideals on being a sniper were to go into places and shoot the bad guys. Reality is, from all we're hearing from him, that those people strap bombs to the children and send them into US pathway. His job is to kill that threat, and its weighing very heavily on his mind.
Are there any books on the reality of war and how to get through it that I could send him ? I am not military, I have no idea what its like to kill and especially to kill like he's been doing.
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
I don't have any really current references. Kiddie bombs/grenades have long been a problem. My best suggestion is to call a Veteran's Treatment Center for the latest. At the same time, he has to do what he has to do. A grunt should never have to regret what he has to do to keep himself and his unit alive. This war has been as bad as any. Up close in the face and in the gut, room to room and snipers have an especially lethal job. It just has to happen.
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RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
He's going to have to rationalize it somehow. Perhaps there are self-help books out there, but I think a lot of books might just might it worse. If he's religious, tell him to pray. He's going to have to alleviate his guilt or find something else to focus on.
Location: Obama made me join the NRA for 5 years !
Posts: 2,181
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
thing is, after 6 months there I believe he's questioning just what the hell he's doing and how in the world killing a kid in Iraq has any impact on fighting terrorism. we're talking about a 20 year old young man, who thought sniping would be "cool" and the Army took that, added a "yee haw lets fight forDemocracy" and sent him pumped up into a country that is nothing like he expected and killing in a way he didn't expect.
if we didn't have computers, and IM etc, we'd not even know he's having the troubles he's having.
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
Talk to a pilot that drops bombs then reads about the effects. The only thing that may help is the fact that these kids a brain washed to die fighting infidels ,some now, some flying planes into buildings.
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
War has not changed. Sniping has always been one of the farthest things from cool. But not everyone cracks up from it. This guy has to find an outlet until the job is done.
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
Big D... I can't imagine being in your brother's situation, but, maybe he needs to look at it this way. Those kids were dead anyway. And, he's not the one who killed them. Their parents killed them when they strapped them up with C4 and sent them off to kill your brother and 100 other GI's.
Location: Obama made me join the NRA for 5 years !
Posts: 2,181
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
he says the kinds in the scope are crying tears, they are not wanting to walk into the line of fire strapped with explosives, and he's pulling the trigger and ending innocent lives. if he could peg them as terrorists, are radical Islamics, I think he would and self justify the killing, but he's not finding any way to justify doing what he's doing
that weighs on a person
Quote:
War has not changed
really ? WWI we fought to win. WWII we didn't do police states. Korea and Vietnam you couldn't logon to IM and chat with your family at night and send streaming video. yeah, war hasn't changed .....
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
Quote:
ORIGINAL: Big Duane
he says the kinds in the scope are crying tears, they are not wanting to walk into the line of fire strapped with explosives, and he's pulling the trigger and ending innocent lives. if he could peg them as terrorists, are radical Islamics, I think he would and self justify the killing, but he's not finding any way to justify doing what he's doing
that weighs on a person
No doubt. I'm sure it weighs heavily. But, what is the alternative? Let the kid walk, and your brother and a bunch of other GI's and other innocent civilians end up dead.
Regardless of whether the kid "WANTS to be sent into the line of fire strapped with explosives", the fact is that he IS in the line of fire strapped with explosives, and he DOES intend blow your brother and others to kingdom come. The kid may not necessarily WANT to be a tool of the terrorists, but, he IS a tool of the terrorists and by acting, your brother might be taking one "innocent" life, but, he's saving dozens, perhaps hundreds of others who are even more innocent. And again, the kid died when his parents strapped him up with C4. The kid is dead regardless of what your brother does. By pulling the trigger, your brother isn't causing the kid's death, he's saving other lives.
RE: how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
Quote:
really ? WWI we fought to win. WWII we didn't do police states. Korea and Vietnam you couldn't logon to IM and chat with your family at night and send streaming video. yeah, war hasn't changed .....
Communications and international relations have changed, but war has not. You don't think our snipers picked off 15 year old German kids in WWI?
International politics doesn't mean jack to your brother-in-law in the face of this. Focus on the help, not the politics.
how to kill little kids and feel okay about it
