My experience tells me that some of the cruelest people on Earth can be....

[kentuck]

...the US Military.

I had the unfortunate circumstance of being in Vietnam in '67, '68, and '69. I saw how people were de-humanized.

I was in country when the massacre at My Lai happened. It was immediately after the Tet offensive and revenge emotions were still high. When Lt Calley led his men thru that village, he had no control over them. They killed everyone in sight - men, women, and children. They burned their homes.

I heard the talk of how they would take 2 or 3 suspected VC up in a chopper and try to get information from them. If they refused to talk, they would throw one out, until someone talked. They would cut off their ears to prove they got a kill.

This is why I fear so much putting our military on our streets or in any capacity other than war. Although many, perhaps most, of our troops are humane and compassionate, many more can be very, very cruel.

My two cents to America.

[Irish_Dem]

1. I don't know if they are the cruelest on earth, but yes they can be crazed killers.

I think it is a combination of PTSD and the social psychology findings that humans
when given power and authority over others can readily descend into brutal torture and murder.
This is especially true when they are masked and anonymous.

We see this as well with the US civilian police force.

My mother was a US military registered nurse during the Korean War.
She served stateside at a military MASH receiving hospital.
The wounded men from the Korean combat zone were sent there
for additional treatment and recovery. She was taking care of men
who had fought not only in Korea but WWII as well.

Some of the stories she heard from the men along the same lines you are discussing were
very chilling.

[kentuck]

2. The Koreans were very cruel...

I had a teacher in 7th grade who was captured during the Korean War. They stuck a hot poker thru his elbow joint.

[Irish_Dem]

3. The stories she heard were about US cruelty.

I won't repeat them.

[Ping Tung]

4. Atrocities are committed under the cover "Just following orders".

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

Albert Einstein

[BoRaGard]

6. "Thou shalt not kill." - The Ten Commandments

republicons seem to think there are invisible sub-clauses and exceptions that allow them to kiss off this Commandment, as thoughtlessly as they kiss off another boldface warning: Thou shalt not bear false witness. Adultery is in that list, too. But the sanctimonious gop hypocrites just piss all over the teachings of Christianity.

[sop]

5. Unfortunately, many ex-military take jobs in law enforcement, bringing their warrior mentality home.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. It's the reason that a veteran protesting the military involvement in domestic affairs spoke up against

the breach in Posse Comitatus. Soldiers are not trained in Civil Rights violations. They aren't there to worry about someone's due process. It's a completely different mindset.

[Texin]

8. I don't disagree with your observation(s). However, many of these men were very young. Many just out of high school

and many of them barely eighteen years old. The brains of young people are still developing at that age, and many if not most had not yet had enough life experience to be able to encounter experiences that mature them. Also remember that these fellows, many or most of them didn't volunteer to be there either.

[kentuck]

9. I don't dispute any of your facts.

I'm just saying what I saw, heard, and experienced.

The ICE crowd is dangerous and cruel.

[Texin]

12. I wasn't trying to dispute you observations, and it's a fact that people (not just males) who voluntarily join

organizations such as ICE are out for their pound of flesh, so to speak. I do believe that mature (and I use that word only to attribute to age) individuals who join such professions (and that includes law enforcement) actually do hope to encounter situations that would give them "cover" in altercations that could have otherwise been violence-free.

[lark]

10. Those who say the military will protect us aren't living in the world of the krasnov's hand picked military leaders.

He hired them and fired the other guys for this exact reason. We will be killed by the majority of the military while the few Dems will desert and maybe will help us - maybe??

[flamingdem]

11. Ouch!

I wonder what is going on with the Marines in Los Angeles. So far I haven't heard negative stories about them, just ICE.