Mastodawn

HeavenlyPossum Mar 9, 2025

Here’s a list of things the US military has actually done in the course of its history:

- invaded Canada
- killed Americans
- killed unarmed protesting Americans
- prosecuted wars of imperial conquest
- prosecuted wars of crass commercial interest
- fought wars that were blatantly illegal under international law
- killed civilians
- committed war crimes
- fought white people
- fought people who speak English

Here’s a list of things the US military has, to the best of my knowledge, never done:

- refused or been unable to prosecute an operation directed by a lawful authority

A lot of people resting their hopes on the idea that the US military would refuse en masse to carry out Trump’s orders to invade Canada or Greenland or wherever. But this is a fantasy version of the US military.

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HeavenlyPossum Mar 9, 2025

“They wouldn’t do it, they would just throw down their weapons and go home” completely misses that

- these are working class people who need paychecks too, and

- they could individually face imprisonment or even execution if they refuse orders, and

- most people, just like you, are risk averse and apt to keep their heads down and do their jobs rather than resist, and

- military operations are vastly complex phenomena that entail many discrete actions, the vast majority of which are or could plausibly be interpreted as completely innocuous.

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GT The Fae

@HeavenlyPossum It's that Stargate SG1 type of propaganda getting to people. It's that idea, carefully placed in the public consciousness by DoD grants given to movie makers, that the only bad guys are the "top brass," not the "real soldiers." Pisses me off to no end