Volgens Barack Obama is die militêr van die VSA die mees gerespekteerde institusie in die land.
Tydens die oorlog in Afganistan was daar gedurig rapporte gewees van Amerikaanse soldate wat onskuldige siviele vermoor het soos ook in die geval van Irak. ’n Twintigjarige jong soldaat wat awol gegaan het in Kanada beskryf die proses van dehumanisering wat hy ondergaan het as voorbereiding vir sy rol as professionele oorlogsmoordenaar:
I swear that I could not a second view these people as anything but human. The best way to fashion a young hard dick like myself - "dick" being an acronym for "dedicated infantry combat killer" - is simple and the effect of racist indoctrination. Take an empty shell off the streets of L.A. or Brooklyn, or maybe from some Podunk town in Tennessee and these days America isn´t in short supply. I was one of those no-child-left-behind products. Anyway, you take this empty vessal and you scare the living shit out of him, break him down to nothing, cultivate a brotherhood and camaradie with those he suffers with, and fill his head with racist nonsense like all Arabs, Iraqis, Afghans are Hajj. Hajj hates you. Hajj wants to hurt your family. Hajj children are the worst because they beg all the time. Just some of the most hurtful and ridiculous propaganda, but you´d be amazed at how effective it´s been in fostering my generation of soldiers.
One group of deranged young men formed a twelve-person "kill team" that murdered innocent Afghans and then staged evidence to make it look as if they acted in self-defence. One of the accused confessed to the murders. U.S. authorities were not pleased when photos of the soldiers posing with the corpses appeared in "Der Spiegel".
Tydens die Reagan-bevind het die Amerikaanse CIA die Guatamala weerwag ondersteun in hulle genocide van die Maya-Indiane. Om hierdie soldate te verhard tot op die punt waar hulle in staat sou wees om tussen 1981 en 1983, 100,000 Mayans, te vermoor, is weermagrekrute geslaan en gebrutaliseer, gedegradeer deur doop in rioolafval, en forseer om vir verlengde periodes rond te gaan bedek met faeces. Hierdie soldate het hulle slagoffers verkrag, kastreer, gemutileer, onthoof, edm.
Werklik ’n institusie om oor trots te wees.
Pieter Redelinghuys