University of Virginia Library

Moral Traps

If one desires to divide the
blame fruitlessly among the officers
in the chain of command, he can
consider the legal and moral traps
of military law as witnessed at
Nuremberg.

If one desires to be ruthlessly
even-handed in his condemnation,
he will consider a very average
American male, joining the army to
fulfill what he has been taught is his
duty; being trained to "waste,"
"neutralize," and "buttstroke,"
before someone does these things
to him. He sees the boots of his
friends with the feet still in them,
remains of buddies "neutralized'
beyond recognition. He is ordered
to "waste" a strategic hamlet, and
remembering what he has seen
happen to others, he obeys the
orders. With this idea in mind, one
can condemn the NFL, North
Vietnam, war, and ideologies.