I met an old school friend recently, who in his passing dialogue mentioned to me what the other students in my school went on to make for themselves. To my dismay he told me that some of the students had since joined the army. What concerned me was that they weren’t any normal students; but were characterised as the most violent, truant, abusive and deviant-type students. From that point I tried to console myself thinking that maybe, just maybe they were transformed into the brave-but-upstanding warriors so often stereotyped by history books and the MoD. But the reported incident just confirms that no such benevolent transformation takes place, in fact, they come out more violent and abusive than before they joined. [deleted]
It may be argued that due to the nature of their work, soldiers are just trained animals. This certainly explains the actions of British and US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, where even the most unlikeliest of people have turned to the Resistance due to the brutality inflicted upon them and their families. This also holds true in peacekeeping operations where the locals in places like Bosnia and South Korea hate the presence of US troops ““ who are more commonly noted for rape and kidnappings (which they get away with). But, if you truly want be a liberating force, if you truly want to convince people that you are genuinely concerned for their welfare, you must always go above-and-beyond the call of duty. The behaviour of the armies reflect the intentions of the State, so it is the soldiers who even under the most strenuous and traumatic of situations must be able stick to their valued principles and morals. For those who fail, despair and bullets will continue to greet them.
November 28th, 2005 at 11:30 am
I did want to add something else. But I didn’t have the references at hand, and would appreciate if anybody could help.
My positive example would have shown the behaviour of Muslim armies in the past. There are good books by classical scholars on the famous Ghazwa’s, especially Ibn Hisham. They detail the behaviour and attitudes of Muslims soldiers during battles and towards POW’s. Khalid b. Waleed (rh) and the Roman commander comes to mind, but I can’t recall the story fully.
Any takings?
November 28th, 2005 at 12:54 pm
I can sum up the effect of this kind of brutality in military training in three words:
IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY
November 28th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
Yeah, damn. One of those parts of history of which I know so little. What they did to the Chinese and Koreans beggers belief. ‘Comfort Women’, germ warfare and genocide into millions.
Is there a good book on this issue you would recommend?
If I remember clearly, wasn’t it the US that orginally set up the Jap army, then the Germans or French?
November 28th, 2005 at 4:16 pm
Meiji Japan originally set up its army along German lines, and its navy along British lines.
As for a book, you may want “Soldiers of the Sun : The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army” by Meirion Harries.
November 28th, 2005 at 6:16 pm
Imperial Japanese Army?
November 28th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
Thanks for the book title. Now on my reading list.
Zay: Imagine a more sadistic version of Hitlers army.
November 28th, 2005 at 7:53 pm
Yeah, but the IJA weren’t always like that! They were pretty civilized in the First Sino-Japanese War (1895), the Russo-Japanese War, and World War I.
The other causes of Japanese brutality after 1930 were:
1) In the 1920’s, the Japanese government believed Russia would be the next enemy, so the Army was trained to fight in sparsely populated Siberia, not densely populated China.
2) Most of the officers in World War I and earlier were of samurai origin, steeped in restraint (Bushido is the Japanese version of the code of chivalry). As the army expanded, more officers were of peasant origin. They went through hell to get their positions - seen as the only escape from life on the farm - and formed secret societies to force a warlike policy on the Japanese state, for the sake of preserving their own jobs.
The wars in Manchuria and China were not started by the government in Tokyo. The army started these wars independently, then assassinated any Tokyo politicians who tried to rein them in.
The atrocities of the post-1930 IJA have a parallel in Japanese history with the medieval “ashigaru” armies, which were also of peasant origin, and were notorious among Japanese historians for their raping and pillaging.
November 28th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
Definitely, thanks again for your input, greatly appreciated.
I try to take pride in being a politically aware Muslim. Yet I feel quite shamed in having so little knowledge on such an important issue. In fact most my knowledge on the areas history comes from watching anime and ‘The Last Samurai’. How sad.
November 29th, 2005 at 11:30 am
I agree with this:
“This certainly explains the actions of British and US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, where even the most unlikeliest of people have turned to the Resistance due to the brutality inflicted upon them and their families”
The brutality of military forces disgusts me.
However:
“If anything new was added to their character development, it’s probably that they now also come out as gays”
Was a very ignorant thing to say.
I’m not gay, before you ask, and don’t know any gay people either. And yes, it did look a bit homoerotic to me, definitely not my cup of tea.
But are you not a person who would argue against prejudice? Against racism or Islamophobia?
But you think it’s alright to express prejudiced attitudes against homosexuals?
If you do, you are being hypocritical.
And also, do you honestly believe that Muslims are so much better than the rest of us? That they are not capable of brutality like the rest of humanity is?
That idea is, to put it nicely, a bit naieve…
For what it’s worth, I am picking out the bits I didn’t agree with, but the majority of what you said I thought was spot on.
November 29th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
Fair point. Something for me to reflect upon. The comment has been deleted from the original post.
Trophy Video
Re: Your last point. Take a look at the link above. US contractors just taking free pot-shots at Iraqi civilians. It’ll make your blood boil. I do truly believe that someone who is sincerly God-conscious would be less pre-disposed towards performing such terrible actions.
November 29th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
Yeah that’s really sickening. I agree a true Muslim would of course set an infinitely more honourable example than the occupying forces in Iraq. It’s just that, you know, I’d say the same about a true Christian, and look at what Christian armies have been guilty of.
as for the brutality in Iraq, I recently read an interview with a young guy who has served there. He said he had done some horrible things, although predictably wouldn’t divulge any more.
He recalled seeing a US soldier shoot an Iraqi boy in the face, for no reason of course.
Now the guy is studying in England and just wants to ‘get on’ with his life.
How could you ‘just get on’ with your life after that?
It makes me so angry.
November 29th, 2005 at 8:00 pm
More sadistic version of Hitlers army? Damn.
Theres so much history yet we hardly know it (i dropped History at AS-level). However, ive just learnt (if only in a small nutshell) about the Imperial Japanese Army through inputs.
Interesting stuff.