Funferal

Cogadh agus Daonnacht

Bhí mé ag léamh píosa san Irish Times agus bhí abairt suimúil ann: “ghoid an foréigean cuid dá dhaonnacht de.” Tá an túdar ag caint faoi scéal Ghearmáinais, is pearsa shamhailteach atá í gceist, ach creidím go bhfuil cuid den fhírinne ann. Sa Ghuardian inniú tá iarshaighdiúir ag scríobh faoi Fallujah. Deireann sé:

It is likely that the non-military public will immediately label this incident a “war crime”, but these shocking images, however real, are only one element of the story…. I really don’t believe anyone is ever prepared for the reality of warfare, but all your training is about breaking down soldiering into little pieces, the drills that you do again and again…. You learn to concentrate on the little things so that you don’t think about what might happen if you get shot. You learn just to do your job without worrying about the big stuff.

Tá an t-iarshaighdiúir ag rá nach bhfúil cáilíochtaí againn – agamse, ar aon nós – caint faoin gcogadh, mar ní raibh muid in ár saighdiúirí riamh. Ní aontaím leis. Tá muid go léir inár daonnach, agus is cearta daonna atá i gceist i bhFallujah, ach bhféidir gur chaill na saughdiúirí rud éigin. Léigh mé píosa eile cúpla lá ó shin, faoin Stanford Prison Experiment.

Zimbardo draws the concept of the ‘good guard’ the man who doesn’t hurt anyone but simply does his job and doesn’t interfere with the hurting. The good guards, Zimbardo notes, are key to the whole thing because if they showed signs of resistance the bad guards would likely begin to resist too.

Creidim fhéin gurb iad na saighdiúirí a bhfúil mí-cáilíochtaí.