[thechat] Brutality, Cruelity and Lies

[Joe Crawford]

Syed Zeeshan Haider wrote:
> Hi Madhu,
> How can one torture somebody who is already dead?
> In Kargil, those six Indian soldiers were killed when they tried to attack a
> Pakistani post. For many days they remained in the battle field with out any
> recoverer. Then Pakistani soldiers collected those dead bodies to return to
> India.
> How could Pakistanis do that barbaric act? For a Muslim, a dead man is always
> respectable because he is a man, the best creation of Allah, and secondly, he is
> harmless.

Conflict pushes men to the brink. Even civilized men. I have no doubt
that in every war there is brutality and quasi-war crimes. When the men
are put in the position of kill-or-be-killed, no limits may be imposed.
The power of the human body when it is in rage and is crying for
vengeance trumps and overrides all the better angels of our nature, the
teachings of our faiths, the precepts of our philosophies.

Man is an animal, and only through questing forward to be civilized can
he overcome this nature.

War is decidedly uncivilized.

I have no problem accepting atrocities of any side in a war. Because I
have met these men, spoken with these men. Seen how they are haunted by
what they have seen, what they have done.

Syed, I bear you no ill will, but you are naively partisan.

	- Joe <http://artlung.com/>