5 ms·
> If parent had talked about military or police, would you have posed the same question? If he had talked about the military, yes I would have posed the same q
by allendoerfer 10y ago
> If parent had talked about military or police, would you have posed the same question?
If he had talked about the military, yes I would have posed the same question. That people in the US seem to be okay with paramilitaristic private companies is beyond my understanding, but I was not criticizing this here. I am honestly interested in his motivation, because I cannot think of anything I would do with these consequences attached. Maybe when not doing it would make it even worse, but I do not think this applies here. There is another thread where a doctor describes the same horrors, but his motivation is clearly that sometimes his actions can actually avoid this. Yes a soldier could save his friends in a battle, too, but to me the most effective way would be to convince his friends to not go to the battle in the first place, maybe even by leading by example.
> Well, you do seem judgemental.
As seen above, I am a bit, at least I might have a different view on things. Still you can talk to each other and my question is not political but emotional: Just how can you keep going?
If he had talked about the police with this number of losses, I would also ask how you can keep going and not become either depressed or politically active. While there are police deaths, that many OP is describing here are not normal if you look at international statistics, since OP does not seem to be some sort of national police chief, who has to visit every relative of a dead officer and I guess would already be a kind of politician trying to solve the issue.
- wlievens 10y agoIn a follow-up post, he explained that his missions concerned tracking suspected war criminals and delivering them to war crimes courts. Does that change your view in any way?
- allendoerfer 10y agoIt does not change my view on private military. I do not think mercenaries should exist at all. I am a fan of a strict monopoly on the use of force by the state, which in foreign states should be backed by the UN. For me it is a question about moral. Similar to the death penalty, there might be cases where you think someone deserves to be dead. I just think that especially when dealing with bad criminals law must never be opportunistic and must at all times have the moral upper hand. I think when ultima ratio has to be taken, it should be taken by individuals who later have to account for their actions. Law should never allow it. His post perfectly answers my question. I can see why this is a huge motivation.
- mirimir 10y agoWell, the distinction between military and paramilitary is indeed a subtle one. But I don't see a problem dealing with deaths of ones colleagues. They swore the vow, or took the money, and they knew the risks. It would be very hard for me to handle responsibility for those we had killed, however. And that's why I'd never kill except in self defense.