Oh god, you have no idea do you?
While it is true that by international law western forces operate in a more ethical way than can be said for most armed forces, once shit hits the fan and the blood starts to boil it's back to basics for everyone.
Seriously, war is damn dirty business, it's just a fact; no matter the footage you get on your TV and all the journalists down there the real battle will always be fought teeth and claw. Put people under pressure and they'll act in desperate ways. Those "incidents" are part of war and FAR more common than anyone wants to admit.
Most of them go unrecorded, and when someone does dig them out and the ones involved gets punished the government blows it all out of proportion to make it seem like a one-time incident.
It's not for nothing the US went apeshit about Wikileaks for example. And those were just the documents, what was written down. If people want to forget something, or make sure noone finds out about something they usually make sure that happens. If I did something really bad, or my friend did it I'd sure as hell not be the one to tell anyone about it.
I hope you understand where I'm going with this, even though it's badly written.
I didn't say "kill, rape and pillage" for nothing. War is about submission, and that is how you do it. Our commanders know that, but they are in a certain way, as said earlier, held back by needing to look good in front of the world press. So how do we solve this issue then? Well firstly we pour in a gargantuan amount of resources into this very ineffective war, to establish superiority. But you also hear politicians boasting wildly about how after a while the soldiers are working together with the government/local forces and how we all are friends...
Wait... "Local forces...?" Oh you mean those guys who kill, rape and pillage with impunity; free from the constraints of red tape and away from the eyes of the world press? Smart move guys, smart move... It's true, a lot of resources are pumped into local powers, and this is then branded and marketed as a sign of friendship between us and the country and the effectiveness of it is praised by all.
Well of course it's effective, you're supporting the guys who can wage war for real! In the process you also avoid the blame and don't have to waste such huge amounts of money into "fake war". And in comparison on with what we used to spend on the war, we're all of a sudden goddamn saints!
The most important point here though is that people still suffer. A lot. Poverty breeds instability and violence. Once people have food for the day guaranteed and a place to stay do they begin worrying about things such as freedom, ethics, and democracy. If we'd really want to help them we'd take all the hundreds of billions of dollars we spend on war each year and just give it to them, but now that's not really the case is it?
Fuck the US, fuck all of us really. And fuck war.
Everything about it is just so goddamn disgusting.
