Veteran's essay on killing November 21, 2010
The following is the essay that Iraq war veteran Charles Whittington wrote for his English class at the Community College of Baltimore County. It was published in the campus newspaper Oct. 26:
War is a drug. When soldiers enter the military from day one, they begin to train and are brain washed to fight and to handle situations in battle. We train and train for combat, and then when we actually go to war, it is reality and worse than what we have trained for. We suffer through different kinds of situations. The Army never taught how to deal with our stress and addictions.
War is a drug because when soldiers are in the Infantry, like me, they get used to everything, and fast. I got used to killing and after a while it became something I really had to do. Killing becomes a drug, and it is really addictive. I had a really hard time with this problem when I returned to the United States, because turning this addiction off was impossible. It is not like I have a switch I can just turn off. To this day, I still feel the addictions running through my blood and throughout my body, but now I know how to keep myself composed and keep order in myself, my mind. War does things to me that are so hard to explain to someone that does not go through everything that I went through. That's part of the reason why I want to go back to war so badly, because of this addiction.
Over in Iraq and Afghanistan killing becomes a habit, a way of life, a drug to me and to other soldiers like me who need to feel like we can survive off of it. It is something that I do not just want, but something I really need so I can feel like myself. Killing a man and looking into his eyes, I see his soul draining from his body; I am taking away his life for the harm he has caused me, my family, my country.
Killing is a drug to me and has been ever since the first time I have killed someone. At first, it was weird and felt wrong, but by the time of the third and fourth killing it feels so natural. It feels like I could do this for the rest of my life and it makes me happy.
There are several addictions in war, but this one is mine. This is what I was trained to do and now I cannot get rid of it; it will be with me for the rest of my life and hurts me that I cannot go back to war and kill again, because I would love too. When I stick my blade through his stomach or his ribs or slice his throat it's a feeling that I cannot explain, but feels so good to me, and I become addicted to seeing and acting out this act of hate, and violence against the rag heads that hurt our country. Terrorists will have nowhere to hide because there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers like me who feel like me and want their revenge as well.
Poster Comment:
the guy wrote this essay as part of his english class. He talked to his teacher about it and the teacher encouraged him to do it. then the essay got published in a school newspaper. then the school's authorities barred this guy from attending the college. they say he needs psychological help. Perhaps so.
it is kind of interesting to examine the college's ruling that he not be allowed on campus. Obviously, this decision was driven by the fear of lawsuits if the guy went berserk and started killing people like in the Virginia Tech incident. But by barring him like this they took an action that theoretically could have provoked him into such an incident. I mean they treated him badly and offended him, they harmed him.
the other aspect interesting to look at is how the college's leaders can bar this guy from the college, but can they stand in front of the students and say that the 'rag-heads' did not attack us and that it is wrong for us to kill them. The answer is 'no', they cannot tell the students that the war is wrong and make logical arguments to support that view. They cannot tell the students that september 11'th was an inside job and provide evidence of this. If they were to do that, then they would likely have funding cut from some sources.
If they were really interested in stopping violence, then they'd speak about how wrong it is for our government to engage in these wars. Instead, they're only interested in sheltering themselves from legal costs.