blankAfter the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, psychiatrist William Gault studied the actions of Charlie Company which resulted in the murder of perhaps 500 unarmed Vietnamese citizens.
He discovered six factors that contributed to the massacre.
- the enemy is everywhere.
- the enemy is not human.
- no personal responsibility.
- the pressure to act.
- the natural dominance of the psychopath.
- firepower.
Hmmm, no chance of that happeneing again now is there... Surely by the time they get around to invading Iraq they'll have got over all the machissimo of superior firepower. Hang on, isn't this the same US which has been arguing for immunity for its troops from War Crime prosecutions?
And the man in charge at My Lai? Served 3 years in prison.
Might make you think, you never know...
