Frustrated soldiers vent suppressed combat aggression on unarmed civilians

Evidence

PFC Andrews, a kid with an M16, was so wound up, so stressed out from not yet being able to shoot off his gun, and so pumped up by being this close to his Iraqi enemy that he was yelling and screaming at the elders with massacre in his eyes. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 237

Categorization

• SHARE: For someone interested in the psychology of combat and dehumanization — the ‘not yet being able to shoot off his gun’ detail is the kind of specific observation that lands.