I don't like the idea of anyone being cruel to animals.

But the armed services don't hire their soldiers based on their ability to be kind to animals. Soliders are recruited and trained based on their ability to be turned into killers who can follow orders.

How many children have been killed in Iraq? How many innocent people have been killed? How many mothers (both Iraqi and American) have buried their sons?

Given the real toll of the war, I find people sitting behind their computer screen whining about some soliders killing a puppy to be pathetic. Your ok with the other horrors of war, but heaven forbid some soliders kill a puppy!

Edit: Took some of the bombast out.

What about the part of the tape where the one guy says the other guy's name?!?

well other than us, are there 'animals' that kill for fun / sport,
or in pursuit of the wellbeing of their group?
Rika

And you're still wrong.

Point well taken. We've killed at least half a million Iraqis. One in 5 Iraqi households have sustained a casualty.

my cat kills anything smaller then a poodle stone dead, and it sure looks like he has fun doing so :D

but back to your question , i believe Chimps to a certain extent kill in a similar fashion, they will at times hunt a fellow chimp, one of their own group, and will snuff the poor bugger.. it's set apart from what other species do , in terms of territorial, or hierarchical struggles, in that Chimps pretty much single out the mark... the condemned chip so to speak, and their single goal is death, it's not punishment, it's not chasing away, not teaching a lesson, but cold blooded murder, and the whole pack will commit to the hunt...

not sure if it's for fun or sport, probably because of some violation that triggers the event
but it does set them apart in the animal kingdom for doing so

also has to be mentioned, that Chimps are thought to display altruistic behaviour, eg , doing something for another chimp, for no reason other then helping the other chimp, with no direct roi...

surprisingly to see similar traits as in humans, if one excludes the evolution theory
"what was the creator thinking when he designed both with similar traits, yet one more develloped then the other, obviously outclassing the other, and as such rendering those traits largely useless for the other one...

I understand your point.I'm not comfortable with the death of innocent civilians, it's a sad and digusting side effect of war. I'm sure it also weighs heavily on many soldiers.

However, I'm not sure that context is important at all. It's not about being a soldier, it's not about the war in iraq, it's not about innocent civilians being killed in a war.

It's about a guy who throws a puppy for kicks. I don't care if he's a soldier, a taliban fighter, a congressman or a football player.

He had a big smile on his face and then he threw a puppy, laughing.

One thing is for sure: he will have nutcases making him miserable for a long, long time. That gives me some solace.

I am not ok with the horrors of war.

And no, our soldiers are not programmed to be killing machines.

The purpose of engagement is not wholesale annihilation of the opposing force.

It is to inflict the casualties required to stop the opposing force while simultaneously limiting the number of casualties inflicted upon your side.

Once advantage has been gained and mutually recognized by both sides then hostilities should end.

At its most basic a soldier kills in defense of his country, to preserve his own life, and the lives of his comrades.

Maybe we missed the earlier part of the video that I'm sure clearly shows the puppy firing an RPG at this guys squad.

The act displayed in that video is simply cruel and sadistic. That it took place in a theatre of war is irrelevant.

Not a class act...

That kinda sums it up now don't it.

My dad was in the Navy, I support the govt and military. Just because this guy deserves to have his nuts roasted doesn't mean that the military is bad or they are all like this.

I'd say that the atrocities of war can make folks do stuff that they'd not otherwise do. In mod situations, people do things that they wouldn't otherwise do. Under the right (wrong) circumstances, people might do just about anything. Not everyone. I don't see myself ever doing anything cruel to an animal. I don't even like the rodeo.

I hope the dog was dead.

I hope this guy learns a lesson that dead or alive, this wasn't funny.

I was watching C-Span the other day, a NYT reporter who has been to Afghanistan seven or eight times said that many of our troops on who are on their 2nd, 3rd and 4th tours are on Prozac. She said that she felt safe with them and had no problem with it as it was better than in the past (Vietnam) when self medication (heroin and the like) took a heavy toll on troop performance.

The soldier could die tomorrow, he might be chronically depressed even tough he laughs at his little atrocity.

War is a bad thing, I still don't know why so many were and or are cheering on for more.

Another thing.................I've posted pictures of this war (Iraq) which were removed by the Mods - some people complained, seems they can cheer it on but don't want to see the f_cking results.

this vid. has nothing to with 'war' it's about an animal mistreating &killing a puppy.
As for laughing in the face of possible death, gallows humor is what most folks call it.
I mean , what you gonna do..cry.
Rika

So we have a guy that might be named "Motari", or something like that. Hardly a definite identification.

You said "I've replayed it several times, and I can't find any details that identify either of the soldiers."

One soldier saying the other soldier's name in the video is at least some detail that could be used for identification, no?

Well Motaris mother chimed in.

I would assume she saw the video and recognizes her son.

Otherwise I assume her response would have been "that's not him".

CNN reports that USMC is aware of and looking into this video. I suspect we will find out it is fake - seems faked to me.

BUT, that isn't good enough. Both these guys can expect some JAG action. And they better hope they are not officers. Their CO better hope he didn't know about this - fake or not.

re: the wider question - our military is supposed to reflect American values; also they serve as an example to the forces of other countries, particularly newly emerging countries. Both principles are reflected in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Stay tuned.

Whether it's real or not, here is proof that the attrocity is Bush's fault... :rolleyes:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/eo/watch/228606/


Randy

This Internet phenomena is always amazing to me. Some people will believe ANYTHING they see and ANYTHING they read.

How could it possibly be wrong? I SAW/READ it on-line!

Laughable.

What are we gonna do when we don't have Bush to blame things on?

Turn our attention towards the kittens? :D

http://www.memoryhole.net/~kyle/humo...s_A_Kitten.jpg

Randy