We're Training Psychopaths?
Well, we must be, it says so, right in today's newspaper. Soldiers in Canada's special forces unit, JTF2, have been trained in what is euphemistically termed "anti-social" behaviours. Anti-social? As in avoiding civil social contact with others? Not quite. It appears that these specially selected soldiers are trained in various ways how to kill other people. Presumably "bad people", so that makes it all right? Well, is it all right for a government to set aside a group of soldiers to indoctrinate them in the dark art of murder? Oh, I forgot: if soldiers kill other combatants it isn't murder, of course not. It's self defence, it's defence of country, it's defence of our higher morals and ethical standards, our way of life. Well, I can see that, although I do shudder at the very thought of it, while still recalling the mass murderers who've wrought havoc on civilization throughout history to the present day, and often with complete impunity while the world looked the other way.Still. Still, if a country can deliberately remove itself from the spectre of state-sanctioned murder in the practise of capital punishment, how can it possibly, albeit secretly, take steps to purposely and purposfully train select members of the armed forces for the purpose of tracking down other human beings for the sole purpose of killing them? It boggles the mind. If this isn't hypocrisy on the darkest scale I don't know what anyone could name it so it could be acceptable.
Here we have an ex-general sounding the alarm about having a military base dedicated to the training and upkeep of this special forces unit, JTF2 in a setting where they could be exposed in daily life to ordinary civilians. Because, he claims, they are so anti-social, so dedicated to their chosen task of hunt-and-kill that they pose a direct threat to those around them. They should, this secret unit, this ex-general claims, be isolated in a military base where they can be continually monitored under "iron-tight discipline".
So, we have created a monster to serve us at the country's behest. A monster which we cannot really trust, cannot control at all times, but still expect that monster to live peacefully with us until we haul it out to do its dirty tasks. Where would recruits who would willingly have themselves transformed from ordinary peace-loving individuals to life-destroying monsters possibly come from? Think about it: those most likely to be recruited are those among us who already harbour dark feelings about mankind, and who feel naturally attracted to the military, to the discipline, to the physical expectations, the mental shortcomings. A very special breed indeed. And the military takes this rough clay and moulds it into a shape that reflects the military's dire expectations, resulting in a human being with 'natural' inclinations toward misanthropy, but magnified exponentially, into a creature with no misgivings whatever about its dedication to the job at hand: hunt-and-kill.
Why is this ex-general coming forward at this time? Why, if he is so concerned about the presumed well being of the population at large when such a unit is plunked down into its midst without adequate oversight, is he now pointing out the shortcomings of the secret brigade? Why, it would appear that this ex-general has located himself in his retirement in the direct proximity of the current location of the JKTF2 base. Presumably he has fears based on knowledge and experience having been long in the military; long enough to have reached a post of responsibility.
Is it responsible for such a man to voice his opinion at this time when it appears the peace of his own existence might at some time be shattered by the collective anti-social aspects of this group? Is it responsible for those ensconced in high places within the Canadian military to have knowledge of this highly secret "combat" group and accept and approve of their mission? How about our Minister of Defence, our various such ministers who have come and gone? How about our government which is so wedded to the humane treatment of the criminal element in our prisons?
How can we excuse, let alone accept the creation of such a military body whose sole purpose is to train personnel to the extent that there will be no compunction, no normal human shrinking-back at the combat-necessity-of-the-time-taking-of-a-life. Talk to any veteran and he will always remark, thinking back on his military career during a time of war when circumstances found him no other option than to kill an opposing soldier and you will hear regret in that voice.
Has human nature come so far in the wrong direction that there are so many psychopaths among us, among various population groups and countries that they unhesitatingly react with murder to solve an immediate crisis? One wonders. We have undergone a worldwide alert in the last several decades of terrorist attacks. Terrorists: people who believe so fanatically in 'their' way of life, 'their' religion, that they find no difficulty in annihilating tens, hundreds, thousands of others who have done them no harm, in the name of their vision of how the world should unfold. And we, claiming ourselves to be decent, law-abiding, humane, trusting of others, become so fearful that we accept our governments' training of our very own (ah, now they're protective of us, these, our special psychopaths) terrorists.
What has the world come to? At a guess, not much. We are as we always have been. We just know more now than we ever have. The human condition is a sad and sorry one, to be sure.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, December 22, 2005
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