But there lies the issue if you ask me. How can you hold someone who lost any ability to make his own judgement responsible for his acts?Mortai Gravesend said:It doesn't defeat the purpose of the army unless perhaps you misunderstood me. I am saying that they cannot cede moral responsibility. They do lose much ability to make their own judgements, but I hold they are still fully responsible for what they do morally. Why? Because they agreed to follow orders.generals3 said:But that would entirely defeat the purpose of an army. There is a difference between a soldier and a (wom)man with a gun. A (wom)man with a gun can make moral judgements and therefor take full responsibility for (her)his actions while a soldier cannot. A soldier should only be held accountable for decisions (s)he makes on his own (like going on a murdering spree for fun, disobeying orders, etc.).
It's the same as cops actually. A cop has to uphold the law regardless of how f*cked up the law is. He's also a political tool just like a soldier.
And sure the cop has to uphold the law regardless, that does not mean he isn't responsible for it because he signed up for a job where he had to uphold the law regardless. It's pretty much impossible to give up responsibility because in trying to do so you are responsible for accepting another's orders making you responsible nonetheless.
You could judge him for being a soldier, but i don't think judging the acts he did as a soldier is appropriate.
And you must also keep in mind that times change, making the moral validity of certain actions variable but it also means the purpose of an army can change. An army could hold the moral high ground and than be asked to commit atrocities forcing soldiers who joined a "good" army to commit "evil". You never know what you sign up for except "your country". And i feel that is exactly the only thing you can judge a soldier on. Either you think fighting for your country is right or wrong. The How, when, why, who & what are all things that are decided by the leadership and therefor the responsibility of that falls on them.