British soldier quits army, accuses US troops of illegal tactics in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/March/focusoniraq_March35.xml§ion=focusoniraq

LONDON - An elite British soldier revealed on Sunday that he quit the army after refusing to fight in Iraq anymore on moral grounds because of the “illegal” tactics used by US troops on the ground.

Ben Griffin, a member of the Special Air Service (SAS) described in an interview with the The Sunday Telegraph the experiences that led him to end his impressive army career after just three months in Baghdad.

The 28-year-old, who was discharged last June, is believed to be the first SAS soldier to refuse to go into combat and to quit the army on moral grounds.

“I saw a lot of things in Baghdad that were illegal or just wrong,” Griffin told the weekly newspaper in his first interview since leaving the SAS. snip

Griffin said he believed US soldiers had no respect for Iraqis, whom they regarded as “sub-human”.

[WePurrsevere]

1. For further DU discussion about this ...

Started last night: http://tinyurl.com/k9me7 B-)

[MrSlayer]

2. Dehumanizing your enemy is one of the first things taught.

It's easier to shoot the kids when they aren't considered human. It's equated to stepping on a roach. It's a way of removing the guilt factor that is natural in most people when they kill another person. This is not surprising at all.

[xchrom]

3. it's also a way of making your troops crazy

when they are no longer in conflict.

the mind knows it's rubbing out a fellow human -- and it can't help but recognize ''the same'' in ''the other''.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. The Empire of Fear

http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/(1vlzgk554i20kq3s00jiez3f)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,6,11;journal,8,16;linkingpublicationresults,1:300359,1

The Empire of fear: the American political psyche and the culture of paranoia

Simon Clarke and Paul Hoggett

Centre for Psycho-Social Studies Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Science Frenchay Campus, University of the West of England Coldharbour Lane Frenchay Bristol BS16 1QY UK

Abstract:

Paradoxically, the more powerful the USA has become the more that paranoia seems to mark its relation to itself and to others. In this article we argue that there is a connection between its denial of its own destructiveness, self-idealization expressed in the belief that America represents the end point of the civilizing process towards which all other societies are drawn, and the paranoid conviction that an enemy Other (communism, Islam) aims to corrupt or destroy 'God's chosen people'. First Vietnam and now September 11th inflicted grievous injuries upon this narcissism and we suggest that the invasion of Iraq can be considered as an indication that the USA has failed to 'work through' this trauma, instead it has sought to reassert an imaginary omniscience. Just as the destruction of the Twin Towers was the breaking through of the Real upon the Imaginary, so the 'Real' war in Iraq has begun after the 'Imaginary' war was declared 'over' by Bush.

Keywords:

N. America, Anxiety, Paranoia, Idealization, Injured Narcissism

The references of this article are secured to subscribers.

[NNN0LHI]

5. I admit I ain't no expert on this shit but that sure sounds a whole lot...

...like the lead up to Nazi Germany. I know its not exact. But there are some definite parallels. Germany's lost war was WW I. Ours was Vietnam. Vietnam continues to bug a lot of Americans to this day. I still hear idiots saying the USA should have used nukes.

Don

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. Yes..... them U.K. professors have aligned themselves with the

terrahists.... must clamp down on them now, can't let people start thinking, who knows what impeachment/warcrimes trials might pop up.

[izzie]

7. I do think Bush has been saying they were evil. guess someone heard

I can not help but wonder why any one in this country would not hate Arabs after all Bush and Co. do not open their lips but to say how bad they are. In the Cold War we did not like Russians as we were told daily that they may drop a bomb on us. Heck 30 years after WW2 my mother hated the Japanese and Germans, as one brother was badly hurt and one killed fighting them and 4 years of telling us how evil they were. This stuff works on a lot of people you know. Not hard to read just what the Bush and Co. will put up with in DC. Look what they have let slide by already. It filters down to the men for sure.