I know I'm getting a lot of help with my essay. Thanks. One more question. Your views on the following please

Question

Is the common soldier ultimately to blame for ALL wars? In the words of the song " Universal soldier"
He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.

He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.

And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.

And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.

He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.

Yes ,frog, But if everone said no then who would force them? The fat politico?

Answer 1

Ahhhh....I think the song gives the message that we are all equal, and each equally to blame

Answer 2

Sometimes being a soldier is more than just being told to go and do the politicians bidding.

The Russian soldiers who fought in the rubble of their own neighbourhoods against the Nazis at Stalingrad for instance were doing so to prevent the murder, rape and pillage of themselves and their people.

The British pilots who fought against overwhelming odds in the skies above Kent in the Battle of Britain so save the UK from becoming the next venue on Hitlers European tour, didnt need their leaders to tell them to scramble.

The Americans who went to Afghanistan to close down the terror training camps which produced the fanatics of September 11th.

When someone holds a gun at your head or that of your family, even the most peaceful person will find the will to resist.

War is a consequence of human nature, greed, corruption and religious fanatacism. Sometimes ordinary people have to defend themselves.

Dont blame the soldier.....blame the human nature of the human race.

Answer 3

Very good. Are you allowed to quote a poem in this? Try Houseman, Epitath On an Army of Mercaneries:

These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when Earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay.


That says a lot about the common soldier, doesn't it?

Answer 4

A very simple answer to your question is - the common soldier is not to blame for any war, politicians declare war, soldiers carry out the act.

Answer 5

The soldier is a common person who is led by the propaganda machine that it is worth fighting. Soldiers follow orders, it is politicians who are responsible for all wars. The question is, are they justified. Glad to be just a driver.

Answer 6

Now for a bit of reality people. The fact is that human beings are basically animals. We are greedy, back stabbing, power hungry SOB's. Lucky for the world Democracy was born and the thought of freedom and equal rights for every man, women and child was created!! It ain't perfect, but it's the best we have for now! Without a strong military we would be slaves to whoever decided to conquer us over and over and over. Look at history and quit smoking POT! The world is never going to be perfect, well until Jesus comes back to us, then maybe, but I doubt it? I aplogize if I offended anyone.

Answer 7

There is the King or president who declare war, who holds ultimate responsibility for the war and its effect on his nation, and of any political and international consequences arising out of his decision to go to war. His burden is heavy and very weighty.

The solder is also responsible for carrying out orders, the action of killing. Politically he is only responsible as far as properly carrying out orders and not committing war crimes. His poliltical burden is light.

Sometimes in the madness of war the soldiers conduct atrocities, such as rape and pillage. For such, the soldiers are personally responsible for the war crimes. If the ruler ordered the war crime, the ruler is also responsible, but because of the magnitude of his office, the gravity of his crime is much greater than than individual soldiers.

The indicents at "Abu Ghraib" comes to mind.

Answer 8

The point of the song is that we are ALL the Universal Soldier and bear the resposibility for ENDING the wars.

Answer 9

He is only the worker like you and i,
paid by the government to do his
job.
If you want to blame,
blame the government
who thinks he is the Superior above god,
only if he knew he is on here for a while,
death will come to him like it will come to us,
his superior will go all in the dust.

Answer 10

I think the song misses the point. The common man is slaughtered to satisfy the greed of the privileged.

It is not the common man who decides to fight, it is the common man who picks up the pieces.