Awaiting the rebellion
Fredoneverything
by Fred Reed
10/01/06
When men die pointlessly in a war they know cannot be won and that means nothing to them, when they realize that they are dying for the egos of draft-dodging politicians safe in Washington -- they will revolt. It happened before. It will happen again. But when? Next year, I'd guess. It is important to understand that officers and enlisted men are very different animals. For example, enlisted men do things (drive the tank, repair the helicopter) whereas officers are chiefly administrators. But the important difference is psychological. Enlisted men are blue-collar guys or technicians. They carry little ideological overburden. They want to fix the tank or finish the field exercise and then go drink beer and get laid. Above all, they are realists. If the new radio doesn't work, or Baghdad turns out to be a tactically irresolvable nightmare, the enlisted guys feel very little urge to pretend otherwise...
http://www.fredoneverything.net/Mutiny.shtml
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Fred Reed
10/01/06
When men die pointlessly in a war they know cannot be won and that means nothing to them, when they realize that they are dying for the egos of draft-dodging politicians safe in Washington -- they will revolt. It happened before. It will happen again. But when? Next year, I'd guess. It is important to understand that officers and enlisted men are very different animals. For example, enlisted men do things (drive the tank, repair the helicopter) whereas officers are chiefly administrators. But the important difference is psychological. Enlisted men are blue-collar guys or technicians. They carry little ideological overburden. They want to fix the tank or finish the field exercise and then go drink beer and get laid. Above all, they are realists. If the new radio doesn't work, or Baghdad turns out to be a tactically irresolvable nightmare, the enlisted guys feel very little urge to pretend otherwise...
http://www.fredoneverything.net/Mutiny.shtml
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
rudkla - 3. Okt, 13:31
