Marine General's Blunt Comments Draw Fire

[docwebster]

SAN DIEGO -- At a panel discussion in San Diego Tuesday, a top Marine general tells an audience that, among other things, it is "fun to shoot some people."

The comment, made by Lt. Gen. James Mattis, came in reference to fighting insurgents in Iraq. He went on to say, "Actually, its a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. I like brawling."

"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for 5 years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis continued. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

--

What really depresses is this neanderthal actually got a smattering of laughter and applause.

Comments

[moropus.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Bet he retires real soon.

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

At least he was honest.

[beernotbombs.livejournal.com]

It doesn't surprise me. You pretty much have to have that mentality to be a Marine, anyway. It's different with ex-Navy, Air Force and Army guys, but I've never met a jarhead who didn't think like that.

Cheers!
-g-

[odanu.livejournal.com]

I have, but he's a truly extraordinary person. Blind and "two years past his deadline" from a terminal cancer that unexpectedly went into remission, this former Marine, and currently volunteers 16 hours a week to help blind veterans. He fought in Vietnam...started as a grunt and got out as an officer. Ended up as an attache to a General. Fixed some serious problems that were getting our soldiers killed by military stupidity...and had to be medically discharged when he developed diabetes as a direct result of Agent Orange exposure.

He is thoughtful, compassionate, a deeply spiritual Christian (as opposed to right-wing Christian nutjob) who I have never heard spout one ugly word of hate talk toward any population. I have worked closely with him for several hours a week since August on a project that benefits blind veterans.

I know only one other former Marine on an ongoing, and though stiff and formal, there is no hate in this man either. Please don't make negative generalizations about the quality of people who defend our country from the bad apples that are always in every barrel.

[beernotbombs.livejournal.com]

Please don't make negative generalizations about the quality of people who defend our country from the bad apples that are always in every barrel.

I don't believe it's a generalization if 100% of Marines and former Marines that I've met have had similar attitudes to the one docwebster posted about. My wife's father was a Marine and she claims that he apparently became kind of hippie-fied after he got out of the service. Since he died 12 years before I met my wife, however, I can't vouch for his change in philosophy.

My original point was that it takes a certain breed to be a Marine in the first place, as opposed to someone who chooses to enlist in the Air Force, Navy or, to a lesser extent, the Army. So, the stupid comments that the general made aren't at all surprising.

Cheers!
-g-

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Since you haven't met 100% of the Marines out there, it's still a generalization. You said "You pretty much have to have that mentality to be a Marine".

For your dataset, a friend of mine is also a Marine with a (less serious) medical discharge. He's a nice guy, a little undersocialized and rough around the edges, but overall very well balanced.

The only fighting he likes to do these days is with a saber or épeé...

[griffen.livejournal.com]

Calling him a neanderthal's kind of an insult to Neanderthals, wouldn't you say?

It's almost enough to make one hope that he'll someday be surrounded by a bunch of Afghanis with guns, laughing as they have fun shooting him....

Sadly, I know I'll be declared a knuckle dragger

[disgruntledgrrl.livejournal.com]

But I'm with him on that. After all he did say "Some People" and if you encounter someone you know to be a wife beating ass hole who thinks nothing of chaining his daughter up and throwing her into the pool because she lifted her veil to look before acrossing the street* - then you're just full of crap if you say you didn't enjoy eliminating the guy even a little.
Roll it around a bit - WIFE BEATER. Man who beats the crap out of his wife until she can't make anymore sounds.
Yeah - he's a jar head, but he's just being honest.

I don't condone - but I'm not condemning either.

*True story. Written in Playboy (I think) by a woman who fled the middle east. I think the word "Princess" was in the title.

Re: Sadly, I know I'll be declared a knuckle dragger

[docwebster.livejournal.com]

Point taken.

Myself, I'd prefer something far lengthier in duration and intense in pain for the wife beater than merely shooting them. That's over entirely too quickly, in most cases.

Well I'm sure the Marines do chase them around whooping

[disgruntledgrrl.livejournal.com]

But the dualing banjo music is just lost on most Afghanistinians.


Boy did I mangle the spelling on that. But I refuse to call them Afghans. My mother made afghans. :p

Re: Sadly, I know I'll be declared a knuckle dragger

[griffen.livejournal.com]

You've paraphrased and conflated a couple of those stories. The "Princess" series was written by a woman named Jean Sasson, for a Saudi princess using the pseudonym "Sultana," who told Ms. Sasson her story. There's three books, so far, about the abuses of women in fundamentalist-Muslim societies.

The man who drowned his daughter in the family swimming pool (sickening, but true) did so because she had exposed her naked body to men while retaining her veil and hiding her face - a severe violation of fundamentalist Muslim religious laws. One of her friends, who had participated in her activities, was married away to a nomadic man as his (I think) third wife. It was quite sickening to read about.

The first of the books is here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0967673747/qid=1107368764/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl14/104-2258660-9764716?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I hit the wrong reply button and left a better reply.

[disgruntledgrrl.livejournal.com]

But instead of flooding Doc's area with redundancies - I'll just ask, was that in Playboy? I can't remember.

Re: I hit the wrong reply button and left a better reply.

[griffen.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it was in Playboy, but the story is from the books I cited.

That's right - I read it when it came out which was a while ago.

[disgruntledgrrl.livejournal.com]

The Princess aka the Writer - was trying to lift her own veil to look across the street and her friends did the equivolent of the skirt flip to freak her out (and some passing guys).
Thanks for tracking that down. I never got the read the rest of the story. I just remember the part where she was lying in bed knowing for certain her friend was currently drowning in the pool.


Also when she tried to hide her period so she would't be forced to wear black.

Re: That's right - I read it when it came out which was a while ago.

[griffen.livejournal.com]

No, the person who was drowned actually did a lot more than a "skirt flip."