The morality of war

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I'm having a hard time imagining a US soldier in Afghanistan, out on patrol, with the imminent threat of being killed/maimed coming from every direction including below, pondering the Geneva Convention rules or the morality/wisdom of the "Big Picture".

Granted I've never been in that situation, but I do know shit happen fast, a be quick or be dead moment. So it seems logical to be pondering survival, not only for self preservation, but because dead/wounded don't achieve objectives.

That's what training is for. Do the pondering in advance (well, not pondering, going over hypothetical situations and what should be done in them). Then when it happens for real, it's "just" a matter of deciding which scenario this is, and acting accordingly.

I know, I made that sound easy, and it isn't. How a soldier is supposed to tell a friendly village kid trying to mooch some candy, from a hostile village kid pretending to mooch candy so he can scout your position and inform the enemy, is beyond me.