Is there no good news in the world? There's precious little in this thread.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

It is not their fault that they were ordered into another country to fight a war on false intelligence. Heck, even if the intelligence was true it still isn't their fault.

Of course it isn't their fault that they were ordered into another country to fight a war. It is their fault that they are in another country to fight a war. Joining the military does not infantilization you and absolve you of all responsibility for your decisions.

If this is an unjust war, then all right-thinking soldiers should have gone to jail before they'd unjustly commit murder. Now, it doesn't matter whether they think the war is unjust. The vast majority of them do not. What matters is that you think the war unjust and should therefore hold them responsible for their actions. Is there something about American soldiers that makes them immune from personal responsibility? We don't really ever afford that privilege to enemy soldiers who commit acts we think unjust.

Since we're at war with Al Qaeda, do we absolve a failed suicide bomber because he was "just following orders?"