And this on the heels of the Pentagon's absurd and insulting propaganda about extended tours of duty leading to lower stress levels among U.S. troops:
Overall, 20 percent of the soldiers surveyed and 15 percent of the Marines appeared to suffer from depression, anxiety or stress, the Army reported. That was in keeping with findings of past surveys, as was the conclusion that more than 40 percent of soldiers reported low morale in their units.
Sullivan is all over this finding:
More than one-third of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army said they believe torture should be allowed if it helps gather important information about insurgents, the Pentagon disclosed yesterday. Four in 10 said they approve of such illegal abuse if it would save the life of a fellow soldier.
In addition, about two-thirds of Marines and half the Army troops surveyed said they would not report a team member for mistreating a civilian or for destroying civilian property unnecessarily. "Less than half of Soldiers and Marines believed that non-combatants should be treated with dignity and respect," the Army report stated. About 10 percent of the 1,767 troops in the official survey – conducted in Iraq last fall – reported that they had mistreated civilians in Iraq, such as kicking them or needlessly damaging their possessions.
I have no doubt the cynosure of chaos and death that has become modern Iraq contributes to the soldiers' willingness to condone torture. However, I'd be curious to see what these same statistics look like in peacetime. I can't imagine terribly many would Army personnel own to even hypothetically ratting out their comrades for insubordination. Still, there's no question that a Hobbesian state has yielded such Hobbesian rules for waging combat in it.
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