One of the recent news stories that has a lot of people understandably aghast concerns photos of US soldiers posing with Afghani corpses. In at least one of the photos, a soldier is sporting a shit-eating grin. The soldiers featured in these photos have been charged with murdering unarmed Afghan civilians.
While I certainly deplore the allegations of murder and the disrespectful manner in which they treated someone's deceased son, husband or brother, I actually can easily understand the mentality that would foster these acts.
Soldiers constantly are told by their superiors that the enemy is an inhuman and faceless creature. These "creatures" are armed and trying to kill you. Some soldiers may have lost comrades in battle. Consequently, when you can kill some of who you perceive to be the enemy -- whether they be combatants or not -- it produces a certain amount of bravado and satisfaction.
It means one fewer of those who you believe are trying to kill you or aiding the folks trying to kill you.
Another factor is that people who routinely face traumatic, dangerous and/or excessively stressful situations are forced to develop coping mechanisms, lest the stress eat you up inside. Many people find that gallows humor is a way to let off the tremendous build-up of internal strife, pain and tension.
Have you ever hung around with medics, EMTs or emergency room doctors? Some of the things they find hysterical would curl your toes! Police officers and firemen also tend to have a dark sense of humor.
Back in the 80s, I worked as a child abuse investigator for state agencies in Arkansas and Missouri. I can tell you that my colleagues and I exhibited the same kind of sick humor. It was the kind of stuff you would never share with your mother or in polite company. My wife often was astounded at the macabre subject matter that would send me and my cohorts into uncontrollable fits of laughter.
I am not embarrassed to admit it. We engaged in a high stress profession, one that involved investigating horrid allegations of abuse, incest, rape, neglect and various examples of human brutality against self and others. Laughter was a great diversion; it kept us from breaking down into uncontrollable sobs. Weird as it may sound, our brand of gallows humor is what kept us sane and able to go out day after day doing a job that most people couldn't bear.
While I certainly deplore the allegations of murder and the disrespectful manner in which they treated someone's deceased son, husband or brother, I actually can easily understand the mentality that would foster these acts.
Soldiers constantly are told by their superiors that the enemy is an inhuman and faceless creature. These "creatures" are armed and trying to kill you. Some soldiers may have lost comrades in battle. Consequently, when you can kill some of who you perceive to be the enemy -- whether they be combatants or not -- it produces a certain amount of bravado and satisfaction.
It means one fewer of those who you believe are trying to kill you or aiding the folks trying to kill you.
Another factor is that people who routinely face traumatic, dangerous and/or excessively stressful situations are forced to develop coping mechanisms, lest the stress eat you up inside. Many people find that gallows humor is a way to let off the tremendous build-up of internal strife, pain and tension.
Have you ever hung around with medics, EMTs or emergency room doctors? Some of the things they find hysterical would curl your toes! Police officers and firemen also tend to have a dark sense of humor.
Back in the 80s, I worked as a child abuse investigator for state agencies in Arkansas and Missouri. I can tell you that my colleagues and I exhibited the same kind of sick humor. It was the kind of stuff you would never share with your mother or in polite company. My wife often was astounded at the macabre subject matter that would send me and my cohorts into uncontrollable fits of laughter.
I am not embarrassed to admit it. We engaged in a high stress profession, one that involved investigating horrid allegations of abuse, incest, rape, neglect and various examples of human brutality against self and others. Laughter was a great diversion; it kept us from breaking down into uncontrollable sobs. Weird as it may sound, our brand of gallows humor is what kept us sane and able to go out day after day doing a job that most people couldn't bear.
This mentality shift occurred (iirc) between WWI and WWII. It was found that most soldiers were actually aiming over the heads of the "enemy," primarily because, most people were moral -- or at least moral enough -- to not want to commit murder. Psychologists and (again iirc) an advertising executive, developed the concept of an inhuman enemy and methods of indoctrination that are still being used today.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It's no surprise.
Personally I see no issue with this. We take our children and if done right turn them into deadly killers. This is their job. I agree with you that this is a way to cope. Let me be clear I am not in anyway okay with the current war we are in and the one that seems to bed developing. Having armed forces is needed in this day and age, and I would feel better knowing we have heartless trained killers protecting us.
ReplyDelete