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Old 06-21-2013, 11:30 AM   #8 (permalink)
The Batlord
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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Originally Posted by Circe View Post
Something like this isn't that easy to quantify though. Sure, our soldiers basically sign their lives away when they join up but at the same time they expect the military to provide them with the resources and dedication required to ensure the maximum possiblity of their survival in warzones. If negligence from higher command, insufficient supplies or low quality equipment cause a soldier's death then I'm fully behind his family being able to demand compensation for it.
But mistakes happen in war. That's just reality. If commanders are caught up with worrying about getting the army sued, then they will basically be hamstrung and who knows how many soldiers might die while they're paralyzed by indecision over questions of liability? Within reason of course, but in general, if you signed your life away to the military, making a caveat that this only applies so long as it can't be proved in a court of law that your death was caused by garden variety bungling is unreasonable.

If this doesn't appeal to you, then don't join the military and don't go around saying that, "Someone needs to do something" everytime something terrible happens in the world (i.e. Syria, Lybia, Mali, etc). Not that that applies to you, but it's just a pet peeve of mine.
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