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MarchHare · 06-05-2020, 08:57 PM

And to add something of substance to the thread...

The other day I listened to a podcast called "Behind the Bastards". The specific episode was titled "The Man Who Teaches Our Cops to Kill" and was about David Grossman, director of the dubiously-named "Killology Research Group", a pseudoscience-peddling organization which trains police officers to overcome their psychological inhibition of firing on another human being. Grossman's company has provided training to over 100 different police departments in the United States.

Near the end of the podcast, one of the hosts, a US Army veteran, shared an anecdote from his time in Iraq. He was in Mosul on the the very edge of ISIS-controlled territory, working alongside Iraqi soldiers and police. His Iraqi allies were all kids of 18 or 19 years with limited training. Each of the Iraqis, without exception, had recently experienced the deaths of one or more of their comrades at the hands of ISIS suicide bombers.

As word spread among the civilians trapped in ISIS territory that liberating forces were nearby, waves of refugees fled toward their position. The refugees, running for their very lives, were carrying as much of their worldly possessions as they could bring with them. The soldiers were terrified that there were ISIS suicide bombers hidden among the civilians. As the refugees reached the lines, the soldiers did what they felt was logical and stopped them to search their bags for explosives. The civilians often reacted poorly to this. Many were suffering from PTSD after their treatment at the hands of ISIS and instinctively recoiled and yanked back their bags, behaviour that is indistinguishable from the reaction of a suicide bomber about to detonate an IED. The podcast host remarked that at no point did he see any of his Iraqi allies, all poorly-trained teenagers, ever point a weapon or fire on a civilian.

He then wondered if officers from any American police force would have been equally disciplined in that situation. I wondered if Canadian police would fare equally well. I suspect if we swapped those teenage Iraqi recruits with well-trained American/Canadian police officers, you're looking at multiple dead civilians.

It doesn't have to be that way.

06-05-2020, 08:57 PM	#48
MarchHare Franchise Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: YSJ (1979-2002) -> YYC (2002-2022) -> YVR (2022-present) Exp:	And to add something of substance to the thread... The other day I listened to a podcast called "Behind the Bastards". The specific episode was titled "The Man Who Teaches Our Cops to Kill" and was about David Grossman, director of the dubiously-named "Killology Research Group", a pseudoscience-peddling organization which trains police officers to overcome their psychological inhibition of firing on another human being. Grossman's company has provided training to over 100 different police departments in the United States. Near the end of the podcast, one of the hosts, a US Army veteran, shared an anecdote from his time in Iraq. He was in Mosul on the the very edge of ISIS-controlled territory, working alongside Iraqi soldiers and police. His Iraqi allies were all kids of 18 or 19 years with limited training. Each of the Iraqis, without exception, had recently experienced the deaths of one or more of their comrades at the hands of ISIS suicide bombers. As word spread among the civilians trapped in ISIS territory that liberating forces were nearby, waves of refugees fled toward their position. The refugees, running for their very lives, were carrying as much of their worldly possessions as they could bring with them. The soldiers were terrified that there were ISIS suicide bombers hidden among the civilians. As the refugees reached the lines, the soldiers did what they felt was logical and stopped them to search their bags for explosives. The civilians often reacted poorly to this. Many were suffering from PTSD after their treatment at the hands of ISIS and instinctively recoiled and yanked back their bags, behaviour that is indistinguishable from the reaction of a suicide bomber about to detonate an IED. The podcast host remarked that at no point did he see any of his Iraqi allies, all poorly-trained teenagers, ever point a weapon or fire on a civilian. He then wondered if officers from any American police force would have been equally disciplined in that situation. I wondered if Canadian police would fare equally well. I suspect if we swapped those teenage Iraqi recruits with well-trained American/Canadian police officers, you're looking at multiple dead civilians. It doesn't have to be that way.