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Emotionally Intelligent Soldier
I feel bad calling David (not his real name) a soldier - or even an American...since to me he is just a human, but it helps get things started. We met in a backpackers hostel today. I am starting to feel very sad now. He was a nice enough guy, smart enough. We had a good talk. He didn't seem like the "soldier" type. It is painful to write about it... But I want to write something.. Or just make some notes... it is about 3 AM btw. I have been up since 1:30.... Anyhow... - He had never heard the saying "Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity" - but he laughed and agreed. - He didn't know what I was talking about when I said "non-lethal and non-destructive weapons", but he understood as I explained to him that when you kill someone's brother, father, loved one, there are emotional consequences - ie you make people hate you and feel vengeful. - He listened when I said that assassainating bin Laden was not living up to the standards of justice and due process - ie making the USA look like huge hypocrites. - He realized that killing people has emotional consequences, and he came close to admitting that the USA is responsible for causing people to hate them. - He told me sometimes guys in the army, especially young ones just out of high school, sometimes piss in bottles and then hand them to little kids who are looking for drinks and candy from the US soldiers as they drive by in their tanks and trucks. - He has been to Iraq and Afghanistan - He said in his unit there is one authority figure who doesn't like the soldiers to wear a certain kind of t-shirt, even though it is part of the official uniform. Another officer told the guys to just ignore him, then the first one went nuts, putting signs up everywhere saying you can't wear so and so t-shirts on base. David agreed the guy was just on a power trip. He told me the above story when we started talking about stupid rules. He laughed and said, "Oh yeah, there are a lot of stupid rules in the army..." I told him about the rule saying you can't hold hands in uniform. He hadn't even heard of that one and found it hard to believe... -- I have to say that even though in other places I say things like there can be no such thing as an emotionally intelligent soldier, I would have to say that David is one. But more than that he is a human. He is also a product of the dysfunctional US culture. S. Hein |
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