cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7804222
You can tell this is fake because the USA soldier would shoot the child as well
this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2026
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Salamence did and you're complaining about it.
I made my criticism clear. Having no answer to that criticism, you assumed a motivation that didn't exist and attacked that.
You're here crying that someone criticized ameriKKKan soldiers for being monsters and your justification is that other soldiers do it too.
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" Your fascist empire is destroying the world, yankee. Don't go crying when people take offense to that.
I'm not crying and have no problem with criticisms of US troops or US military actions. This particular criticism is dumb as fuck though.
Except when people make them, then you get angry and say things like...
This particular criticism is mocking the common excuse americans will give for why they have no choice but to sign up to murder innocent people: "I just wanted to pay for college". The point is that it doesn't make a difference to the victims. It's a good point.
Post the same cartoon with a Russian soldier and a Ukrainian kid, or a Chinese soldier and a Tibetin kid and I'd have the same criticism.
Yeah the college thing is unique to America, but you could throw any inducement in there. (like employment assistance for China and discounted burial for Russia)
You can't think of any reason someone would criticize specifically American soldiers today?
No, I can think of great reasons to criticize specifically American soldiers today. What does that have to do with my comment? This particular criticism is dumb. Not all criticisms are dumb. (or undeserved)
Your entire point is that the criticism is "dumb" because it could be applied to other soldiers. Yet you are well aware of why specifically American soldiers are being criticized.
Yes. Those do not conflict.
The criticism is simultaneously both dumb and valid?
How could someone with "math" in their name be this bad at simple logic? Oh, "christian". Got it.
"Dumb" and "valid" cannot be true at the same time lmfao, that's the simple logic I am getting at.
This ain't rocket science. There are valid criticisms to be made. This ain't one of them.
So you don't consider it a valid criticism? Then what "both" things did you think were true?
Edit: am I understanding this chain correctly that you think it's invalid because it could be made about other nations as well??
As I said in the original comment and haven't really touched on since, it's about the campism. This would be a valid criticism of modern "soldiering" in general, but the strong implication that this is a uniquely American problem is completely ridiculous.
If anything, the real world reputation of American soldiers in regards to civilians is among the least terrible. That's not to say they are ethical in an absolute sense, because there have been lots of sickening incidents, for instance abu ghraib, but nothing like the reputation of Russian or even Chinese soldiers.
If there is a glaring failure in this regard that continues to be an issue, it's with drone strikes and other weapons of mass destruction. You still don't have practices like what Russia is doing to Kiev, but the US is still way too quick to brush off "collateral damage". There is also a lot to criticize on how the US justifies it's interventions. The current attack on Iran is entirely unjustified, and it has plenty of support from both parties.
On the ground though, US frontline troops are among the best trained in the world at avoiding civilian casualties and cooperating with local populations. I'm sure that's getting worse under Hegseth, but US armed forces have been taught to question orders in ways that other great powers are reluctant to allow, especially Russia. If anyone is better it's some European forces, but the people who embrace this cartoon would not like that point since it's still "the west".
I really hate campism because the real war is with the global elites. Elites spend lots of money to promote the notion that what really matters is the fight between good and bad governments, always with different ideas of which is which. Meanwhile the elites themselves have no national allegiances. Trump clearly identifies far more as a member of the global elites than as an American. The elites are the enemy the left should be fighting.