Christopher Shea’s story is the best reportage I’ve seen so far on this topic. In war, combatants may become inured to atrocities, commit them routinely, and so win commendation and promotion. At the same time, a fearful yet disengaged public can be led to downplay, ignore, condone, and even root for both the atrocities and those who commit them. Perhaps only crushing military defeat like that suffered by Germany and Japan in World War II can cause the conscience of the public to shift radically and stay shifted for a generation or more. But the U.S. public’s mantra is automatically to thank for its service any military uniform around. So it will be up to the few to question and denounce. But their views will not prevail until our drones are crushed along with our armed forces. Such an outcome is over the horizon, not unthinkable but unforeseeable.
In Response to: Warfare under the radar