Unbelievable:
“Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling. You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.” -Lt. Gen James Mattis, who commanded Marine expeditions in Afghanistan and Iraq. (CNN, Feb. 3, 2005)
They talk of Mattis’ bravery and experience and how he speaks with incredible candor and is only being honest about the realities of war. Okay, sure, but “it’s fun to shoot people”? I played with G.I. Joe’s as a kid and I like playing war games (pyeu-pyeu!), but there’s a giant mental leap you need to make when you’re shooting real people. I’m sure that’s not easy with all the stress of the military, but it just plain frightens me to see military personnel this giddy about killing people.
Well, he’s speaking to soldiers, trying to psyche them up to do their job. He’s not going to tell them it’s sick as hell and he hates it.
Not sure why this is a huge surprise for you Kevin. There are a lot of people that like to fight: it’s a fairly regular thing for many people. And some people just love war. I’m not one of them, but there are those that really do. People like Patton just found it amazing, even though they were very aware of the human cost.
And if you have to do it from time to time, you’ll want those people. I understand where you’re coming from, I do, just realize that your view isn’t necessarily the norm on the subject.
Please, please, please don’t think that ALL military personnel feel this way. THEY DON’T. It makes me sick that this guy is getting the kind of press he is, for saying those kinds of things…
It IS a tremendous leap from ‘war games’–G.I. Joe, and video games–to REAL people. It changes people. Most of those fighting right now are NOT so desensitized that they could use the word ‘fun’ when talking about what they do. Most of them truly suffer with the realizations that come to them.
My husband is in the Navy… He doesn’t want to hurt anybody. These comments would make him as sick as they make you. “War is Hell” is STILL the general consensus. From what I know of military members (from all branches) coming home, most suffer a tremendous psychological strain. One guy I know told his wife that though he is proud to serve his country, he can’t re-enlist because he can’t stand the thought of being away from her and their new baby and having to kill human beings anymore.
Our services have to make our men and women serving WARRIORS. They do. But that does not mean that they are heartless, and unable or unwilling to consider the real people involved on the other side of the conflict, and the impact made when one of them falls.
Thanks for the comments Val, I completely agree. War is incredibly psychologically intense–I don’t want to minimize it in anyway with my lame comparison to the closest thing I’ve ever done (G.I. Joe and video games–on a side note, I suppose paint ball is a little bit closer [we’re still miles from the real thing], and psychologically I never found joy in popping people, it was always a frantic, crazy, mad dash to keep yourself from getting popped).
And Josh, the article doesn’t tell us a lot about who the general was speaking to. It says a panel discussion which was also televised–it never says he was speaking to soldiers only (though some ‘military personnel’ were in the audience). This isn’t a battle field, psyche-up-the-soldiers moment (even then I’d question making such statements).
Neal, I think there’s a vast difference between saying it’s fun to kill people and being a good soldier. Frankly, one is borderline psychotic.
War is hell, and trying to flippantly make it easier with a remark like this is just sick (nevermind the questionable truth of his justification). I don’t think the vast majority of our military personnel think like this, but the few that do cast a blot on the rest of them. It’s thinking like this that can lead to abuses like Abu Ghraib.
Kevin… yeah. I don’t like war, I don’t like killing people, it’s obviously a very ugly thing. War is a strange thing of opposites, however. Many soldiers talk about bonds they make with their fellow soldiers, and how they are far stronger than those of regular friendships or even spouses. And fighting for your life, and yes, killing others, often has the weird inverse of making you feel more alive.
I’m just repeating what I’ve read in a bunch of my history books… and I’d agree that it isn’t true of everyone. Certainly this guy’s comments aren’t true of many people in the Armed Forces, which is a good thing.
Just realize that if you’re going to be in the Armed Forces, you do have to make some kind of accomodation with killing: it’s part of the job, ugly as it may be. Yeah, I’m rambling a bit, so I’ll stop now.
Obviously Mattis has been playing too much Halo and Grand Theft Auto.
What we have here is a huge disconnect between the experience of a Marine and that of an average civilian.
Pretty much the exact speech that was given by Mattis that created such a stir was given to my self and a bunch of other LTs. When we heard the phrase “shooting people is fun” we all hooted and hollered. I don’t expect you to understand this. I spent the last week crawling through mud learning to survive and lead on the battlefield? What did you do?
I don’t mean to be terse, but this hit a nerve with me. We are trained to do a mission. It’s not a pretty mission. I don’t know one other Marine that wants to kill someone’s son or daughter. But that’s what we have to do. We also believe in our mission. We’re willing do die for it.
I think you need to give a little more respect to one of America’s greatest generals. He’s fought and led in 3 different wars for this country. He’s universally respected in the Marine Corps. Granted, he