Am I the only one who loves it when you leave your hair down in front of your eyes.

[duaiwe]

From Daily Kos:

[The troops] didn't ask to be shipped off to an unwinnable war under false pretenses. They're just doing their job.

When has "just doing their job" or "just following orders ever been a valid excuse for a soldier who has done something wrong? Do we really want to go that route? Do we want to say that that gets the soldier off the

Comments

[karaksindru]

What about soldiers that will be court martialed for disobeying a direct order? Or labeled a traitor and executed?

What if a solider is told to launch his bunker-buster at a building, and they've told him it's a military target with no one inside, but it turns out it was actually a school with dozens of children? Is it the soldier's fault for being given misinformation? Should he have verified that the target was not a school before he fired?

[duaiwe]

What about soldiers that will be court martialed for disobeying a direct order? Or labeled a traitor and executed?

If the order is blatantly immoral, such as invading and occupying a sovereign nation, then damn the consequences.

What if a solider is told to launch his bunker-buster at a building, and they've told him it's a military target with no one inside, but it turns out it was actually a school with dozens of children?

Entirely different situation. I'm talking about soldiers willingly following blatantly and obviously illegal and immoral deployment orders, not making split-second decisions.

[karaksindru]

"under no circumstances should "orders" ever exonerate a person from wrongdoing."
"I'm talking about soldiers willingly following blatantly and obviously illegal and immoral deployment orders, not making split-second decisions."

So there are circumstances where "I was following orders" exonerates the soldier...

Mostly I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I agree that one should refuse orders they don't agree with. I'd be interested to hear what my friend alain612 would add to this discussion though..

[duaiwe]

So there are circumstances where "I was following orders" exonerates the soldier...

I didn't say it would exonerate him. Certainly there should be some sort of disciplinary action, but there's obvious mitigating circumstances that should be taken into account. In the middle of a firefight is not the time to debate the morality of orders. Before a mission even begins, however, is fine.