So I was at Walmart yesterday and as I was shopping I overheard part of a conversation between two employees. One was a white women and the other an Afgani woman. The Afgani women was telling her coworker about a recent incident in Afganistan in which some American soldiers were walking through a residential area. A small boy came to the door of his house and begged them for some food. A soldier then pushed him and slammed the door on him - breaking the boy's hand as he did so. The women then said that stuff like that happens all the time over there, but that Americans have no clue about what's going on. She then said that things were better under the Taliban.
I moved on at that point, but that snatch of conversation made me think and ask a lot of questions. I knew that American arrogence exists - it has to for us to just go in and impose our will on other countries. But this personal "I am above the law and morality" attitude of soldiers is just sad. Does being in the army give a person a power trip where they feel like they can do stuff like that? Or are the people who join the army the type people who like violence and would abuse children anyway? What standards are they held to or does anyone even care? just some random questions...

Labels: Politics, Reflections