how human are soldiers?

Sukanya sent me this nice article that took the focus totally off the war ahead and concentrated on the minute worries that the soldiers try to think about so that the impending war doesn't psyche them. Regiment rivalries, camaraderie, a sense of family and belonging in the armed forces, competing with allied forces, and so on.

These make the soldiers almost look like they are having fun on the beach, playing volleyball in the sand. Makes people forget the grim reality of war and look at other things that the army brings. It's an opiate, really. In stark contrast, Japanese Samurai meditated on the thought of death in battle everyday, accepting it as an eventuality, so that when it came, they would be prepared for it.

Now, I know it sounds stupid, but I think the Japanese had a point there. Saddam is fighting with children as young as 10 years old on his side, reminiscent of the Hitlerjugend, when 14 year old children manned anti-air guns in Berlin. The allies at that time did not know that they were shooting at children. Today, pictures of tots with Kalashnikovs are splashed over the papers in Singapore.

Will the GIs kill children? i don't know. They will have to, because the poor little kid has had his childhood fantasy come terrifyingly true. He has the chance to be a hero, though unsung. People, the war has begun. Scenes of unprecedented human suffering are bound to appear on media, after all, that's how these people make their living. Watch Discovery instead. Advaita advices taking matters of great importance that you have no control over as lightly as possible.

Thanks, Suku. It made me reflect on a while on our own jawans in the valley. Now I imagine them enjoying a joke, teasing a newly married comrade about his wife, telling stories from their villages. Maybe it isn't all that bad for them. [sigh...who am i kidding?]