What goes through the head of an IDF sniper?

[Tarfeather]

https://www.thenation.com/article/palestinians-engaged-in-nonviolent-protest-israel-responded-with-a-massacre/

 

Quote

“The bullets leave fist-sized holes. We are seeing exposed bones, lacerations of soft tissue, severe damage to arteries, muscles, and tendons.” —Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, Doctors Without Borders

 

Lately, I wonder. I try to see things, to observe, even when observing may not yield an answer.

 

What goes through the head of a sniper who shoots another human being with a bullet that is specifically designed not even to kill, but to maim, to cause severe injury, pain, and life-long disability?

 

We are told that Israel is to be respected for its Western democratic values. So, what then? These soldiers also hold those same values? Then how do they see their victims? What makes it in their mind acceptable, to cause such harm to another human being? Did they do something bad, something irredeemable? Is maiming them for life just punishment for something they did? Or is it fear? Maybe at some level they realize that these people are oppressed, and that they have a willpower, a moral force, that drives them to throw off their shackles. To destroy the very system that these soldiers see themselves as part of. So regardless of how they go about it, as long as they have that goal, which in their eyes seems like justice, but in the eyes of the soldiers seems like poor evil, regardless of whether they're being violent or peaceful, they must be stopped. And the ends justify the means? If their will to become free is so strong that they would risk their lives for it, they are such a threat, that is so vile, that inflicting harm on them is good and just in order to stop them from implementing their goals?

 

Recently, I discovered an interesting concept, called the "end of history" fallacy. It applies well to Western society. We seem to believe that we've progressed so much past previous generations, past slavery, past women's oppression, past homophobia and racism, in comparison we're now so much better that clearly we must have reached the end. We are now utterly moral and good, and anything we do to less advanced cultures is justified, for we can no longer do any wrong. If ever we inflict violence upon them, it's their savagery that is to blame. Our hand was forced.

 

What a farce. What a complete joke. We are nowhere near the end of history, and these IDF soldiers prove it. They live in a highly advanced, technological society. They were brought up with similar values to all of us in Western countries. They have access to education, information, science. They are free to learn, inform themselves, think critically. And yet they can find it in their conscience to cripple a person for the rest of their life. A person who posed no immediate threat. A person who, at any rate, could have been easily stopped with a conventional bullet, one that's not designed to explode and cause a maximum amount of permanent damage.

 

What goes through the mind of someone who was brought up in the same way as you or I, and who still thinks it's a good idea that, yup, I'll chamber the permanent disability bullet this time, not the regular one.

 

We're no different from them. We have the appearance of civility, and as much as it's necessary to keep the gears of capitalism grinding, we uphold this appearance. But in terms of real moral values that we actually believe in to our core, in terms of who we really are culturally, we haven't gone much past slavery and fascism. Most people are still susceptible to, if their own needs require it, shut up and listen to authority, to inflict harm on another human being if they get the OK from the higher ups.

 

We might need a little propaganda, some justification and rationalization. But given a good propaganda machine and a few years, any of us could become one of those IDF soldiers, seeing another human as less than human, knowingly and willingly causing harm to them, or at least cheering on the violence from the back ranks and voicing our support for continued, sustained violence through our votes.

 

Humans are ironic. It's as if we idolize and foster hypocrisy and hubris. Those with the most competence and moral backbone, are also the ones with the least respect and voice in our society. Meanwhile, the selfish, greedy ones write our history and school books, dictate our beliefs and culture, and even the ones claiming to fight for human rights, equality and justice fall for these self-boasting lies.

[Guest]

Sounds like you should have asked what is going through Palestinian heads? Israeli sniper's bullets. 

[uhtred]

It is very easy to dehumanize your opponents.  I see it even when my liberal friends talk about conservatives - they look at the very worst behaviors of conservatives, then convince themselves that ALL conservatives are like that.    They no longer see people with different political ideas, they see the KKK and Nazis. 

 

I expect that an IDF sniper doesn't see a young Palestinian man or woman.  They see a violent terrorists who murders children. (because of course some palestinians terrorists have done that).  Similarly the Palestinian protesters don't see someone trying to keep the peace, they see a murderer in uniform - because of course some of them are. 

[Epitaph]

I'll answer plainly on that one. Probably training. Once upon a time I trained for a while in archery. I did it for the purpose of survival and knowledge since it's a skill you can put to good use with simple tools. For a very very brief time I hunted wildlife. My thoughts before letting the arrow go where nothing more than calculations. Wind speed, arrow drop over distance, kill shot location. I've been in situations with human beings that either were actively trying to kill me or could have. My thoughts in all of those situations were mostly absent. All I was doing was acting and using whatever skills I needed in the situation. There's no such thing as morality when you're trapped in a moment like some of the one's I've been in. I realize the snipers aren't trapped in a moment, but as I said, training. I think they're rarely actively thinking about the people they're aiming at. They're just going through the motions.

[ThaHoward]

In the moment it is likely more about protecting yourself, others and doing your duty. Doing what you are trained to do and so forth. However there is reflections under training and during preperations. Debriefs and defuse after missions. During missions involving shooting there's lot of adrenaline so drilling kicks in. It's usually prior and after combat situation such things are reflected upon and if someone needs it given care.

 

Other than that the article do not claim these bullets are designed to maim etc. And I don't get the math of the article either. There was twice as many that got wounded from the less lethal shots than people being shot..

[Skycaptain]

Well, the purpose of the article was to put a pro-Palestine anti-Isreal spin onto events. As to the facts I have no idea, but if Israel was systematically using ammunition which contravenes the Geneva Convention I'd have expected much more of a kerfuffle in the media. 

So far as individual snipers go, they are trained to be desensitised to killing, so it becomes like a hyperreal arcade game 

[Yatogami]

History is stained with blood. What you have now is the result of being the best at killing. If you didn't kill, you were killed.

 

Isreal, is in constant threat of terror and genocide. They don't have time to think about frivolus things such as empathy. Both sides, want to murder each other. Weakness to them, means death.