Killing in Wartime


In a recent blog, I argued about how sometimes wars are necessary. That’s what they call the Big Picture. But what about the soldier who fights that war? I am not talking about the guy who died during the war; I am talking about the guy who killed during the war and returns home.

I read this article by an ex-US marine, Timothy Kudo, titled “I killed people in Afghanistan. Was I right or wrong?” and it raised some interesting questions.

How do soldiers get themselves to kill people during war? Isn’t it the exact opposite of what all our ethics and sense of morality tells us? That one seemed easy to answer, at least for a Hindu: Didn’t the Gita call it the dharma of a soldier?

But even that Krishna-Arjuna conversation brought up the point about the war being justified (or what they called a dharma yudh). But doesn’t every country call its wars justified? In any case, armies today are professional units where a soldier could get court-martialed if he says he will pick which wars he will fight, wouldn’t he?

So we can agree that most soldiers kill without really evaluating (or being allowed to evaluate) whether a war is justified. Which is why I think having killed people can start to gnaw at some soldiers later on.

I think the topic gets even more messy for Western soldiers who invariably end up killing civilians, some of whom are innocent, in the wars they fight today where the enemy will mix with civilians and won’t wear a uniform.

As Kudo says, “On good days, I believe they (his actions) were necessary”. All of us understand and can make our peace with the idea of necessary evil, but when that necessary evil equals killing someone, sometimes civilians even if it is unintentional, I guess a soldier might begin to wonder if he crossed a moral line.

I am curious to know how soldiers deal with that feeling once the war is over. Does it keep bothering them the way Kudo says or do most of them just move on and stop letting it haunt them?

Comments

  1. KumarFebruary 11, 2013 at 9:03 PM

    Good line of thought.

    I am sure it is stuff for weaving out literature. My gut feeling is that many litterateurs have indeed woven great stories elaborating on your point. I myself don't recall instantly of having read some but I suppose there will be plenty available.

    I have seen some great movies in which what many civilians went through during terrible wars were portrayed exceptionally well. There was one in which the survival story of a great Jewish musician (piano) during World War II was presented very well. A German military commander would actually help him covertly, who would eventually get killed. This was taken from real life happening of the musician. It was touching. Don't remember the movie name now.

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