Flailing Around For A Reason To Be There

Body Parts Mean Victory

"BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Body counts are back, reigniting the decades-old debate about whether victory in war can be judged by measuring the stack of enemy dead.
In recent months, the U.S. command in Afghanistan has begun publicizing every single enemy fighter killed in combat, the most detailed body counts the military has released since the practice fell into disrepute during the Vietnam War.
The practice has revealed deep divides in military circles over the value of keeping such a score in a war being waged not over turf, but over the allegiance of the Afghan people. Does it buck up the troops and the home front to let them know the enemy is suffering, too? Or does the focus on killing distract from the goals of generating legitimacy and economic development?
American commanders have detailed nearly 2,000 insurgent deaths in Afghanistan over the past 14 months. U.S. officers say they've embraced body counts to undermine insurgent propaganda, and stiffen the resolve of the American public."

"They would keep a chart on how many kills you had. It was like a hunting trip. The more people you killed, the happier our officers were," said Sgt. Scott Camil, who received 13 medals over the course of two tours with the Marines in Vietnam. The medals were not for bravery, he says in the film, but for acts of indiscriminate killing." Winter Soldier Stories