[vulturesrow]

I think I am going to have to side with the lefties on this one, with one caveat. First off, I dont doubt that there are soldiers that do enjoy the killing. I would even go so far as to say that you need a certain amount of those types if you will. That being said, it is easy to underestimate the satisfaction of engaging in armed combat and coming away the victor, it appeals to our most base instincts. With all that, here are teh reasons this comment really bothers me. One, a top General needs to understand the repercussions of saying something like that. That is strictly the political, pragmatic issue. More importantly, as a leader in the Marine Corps, he needs to be at the forefront of not allowing his Marines to get themselves in the position of beginning to think like this, because this is the sort of mindset that leads to atrocities. By necessity, you must become somewhat desensitized to the violence of the job but at the same time not get consumed by it. Its easier for we aviator types, as it is a lot less impersonal. But really this General had no business saying what he said.