I found the Doe story and the video (which is mostly Prince Johnson talking, being fanned by a gal and drinking Budweiser regular).
That story and the Bosnian story revived some thoughts I've been harboring for a little while - since our "police action" in Korea.
The thoughts are not fully formed, and scarcely dogmatic. Here's the hypothesis: "humanitarian interventions" - whether UN or otherwise - tend to be morality plays. Those plays are scripted by politicians (UN, regional, domestic), where soldiers easily become props - "cardboard soldiers". Since they are not really soldiers, can one expect them to act like soldiers ?
The "ideal" (as opposed to realities in Bosnia and Liberia) certainly existed in the mind of another JM (John Milius) and the Marines in Milius' "
The Wind and the Lion", where the Wiki sums up the situation:
Now, this is historical fiction (made up stuff); but it precisely frames the issue of moral courage presented in both the Bosnian and Liberian situations.
The rifle company captain in "The Wind" passed the test; but then he was far from a "cardboard soldier" and had considerable "freedom of action".
If you can do so, without boiling blood and blowing a fuse, comment ?
Regards
Mike
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