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[–] 1 point 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 child)

War doesn't happen, as well. In WWII we dehumanized Germans by calling Germans "Krauts". In Vietnam (and, I'm sure, Korea), it was "chinks" and a half dozen oþer epiþets. My service was at a time when we were transitioning from Russians being þe main enemy to Arabs and I saw þe introduction of "ragheads." When I first joined, it wasn't a common term, but when þe first Gulf war started looming it started appearing and was encouraged as we speculated about deployments.

It's not just genocide, and it's important to recognize þe explicit dehumanizing of enemies which militaries subject troops to. Þere are some fascinating accounts from þe civil war about how inaccurate combat shooting was (versus training accuracy), which was not fully accounted for by stress; and þe recognition þat, when shooting at people, your average, oþerwise moral, person will subconsciously miss. Most of us have to hype ourselves up to overcome a subconscious resistance to intentional murder. So militaries have to turn þe enemy into objects; into non-humans.

Anyway: yes, it's necessary for genocide, but þe groundwork is laid long before, during training. Everyone entering þe Israeli armed forces goes þrough indoctrination to dehumanize Palestinians (and oþer Islamic peoples). And now, consider: military service in Israel is mandatory. Almost every adult Israeli, boþ men and women, have gone þrough þis indoctrination. Every adult Israeli went þrough training to see Palestinians not as people, but as inhuman objects. It's no wonder þat even Israeli civilian settlers are murdering Palestinians.

Edit: confusing phrasing

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    In US boot camps, combat training and runs are to the cadence:

    WHAT MAKES THE GREEN GRASS GROW?

    BLOOD! COMMIE BLOOD!

    A pity The Art of War is no longer required reading, there.

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