weflyhigh:
I don't even know where to begin.....
I and my fellow Vets and Enlisted personal went as a big group to see this movie. I actually went to go see the movie with about 2 enlisted Air Force, 3 retired air force (2 were full birds and the other a Chief MSgt), and 2 previous marines. We all enjoyed the movie greatly. Not once did any of us come to inane conclusions you did.
I did point a couple of them to this thread though to make sure others that are currently enlisted agree with me. They, like myself, are APPALLED by what you have said. Absolutely DISGUSTED. You can not even fathom the depths of my disgust for you. Why am I filled with such loathing for your mentality and statements?
You are equating the US Military with these fictional murdering bastard mercenaries. Look here, you need to get a clue Mr. Troll. First off, just because the leader of these mercs was a white haired, blue eyed, English speaking character does NOT equate to the United States of America. We are not the only country in the world with a population that includes people that match that description, let alone the only one that have military commanders that could look like him.
Second of all, there was no mention of America, but only of a Corporation. There was never a mention of ANY nation or group of nations. In fact, the whole thing was about a FICTIONAL future, about a FICTIONAL corporation, using FICTIONAL mercenaries to kill, murder, and steal from other sentient beings. Maybe you didn't get the joke about what they were going after. Did the word "Un-obtain-ium" not clue you in to the fact that this movie had nothing to do with anything at all relating to reality? I was hoping the blue aliens and alien world and hardware that doesn't exist might give you further clues, however you seemed not to made that distinction.
Look, this was NOT a military. These were not soldiers obeying lawful orders. These were fictional mercenaries in a fictional story. The story had these mercenaries out to murder and plunder innocent beings just because someone else had something they wanted. The fact you are equating currently serving and honorable soldiers of the US military to these characters is what appalls me to my very core. You sir are as un-patriotic as any person I have ever met. I am ashamed of you.
As for the record, Article 92 of the UCMJ states a soldier must obey LAWFUL orders or regulations. That they must disobey UNLAWFUL orders or face a court martial or worse.
Cold blooded murdering and plundering is NOT LAWFUL here in America, where I come from. The fact you think it is also makes me ashamed to be in the same country with you. Speaking of reality, did you not follow the fact that many soldiers in Iraq recently broke UCMJ code of Article 92 and 93 with the maltreatment of civilians and "following unlawful orders" recently? You seriously need to at least look up the recent court martials resulting from those cases.
Again, I stand by my conviction that you are a sorry piece of an excuse for an American. Myself and other members of the US military, both current and prior, find you a disgrace.
You're an idiot. You are the kind of person that I am worried about having to be in my platoon in 2 years.
You basically said ONE thing in that entire post?: You are disgusted at me because I decided that an American military was represented.
Look, this was NOT a military.
- No where on any Avatar-sponsored website does it even mention the
"MILITARY UNIT" (as James Cameron describes it... are you saying HE is wrong?) being made up of mercenaries.
-- Military: "A military is an organization
authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons,
in defending its country"
- The members of the group were extremely structured and followed the same chain of command as does the American military.
Name some other Marine organizations that have the ranks of "staff sergeant", "corporal", and "colonel" (mentioned in the movie) - AND are made up of white, English-speaking humans with no accents or even any regional characteristics.
- The characters in the movie
wear American MARINE PATTERN camouflage. I do not know about Marine regulations, but in the Army (under Army Regulation 6701) you are not authorized to wear your uniform, when not active, unless specifically instructed, and especially not outside of the United States.
- The man with the cuts on his head is continuously addressed as colonel. This may vary by region, but where I'm from, people do not normally address retired/non-active military members by his or her rank. I don't go and say, "Hey Master Sergeant Grandpa, what's up?". This would mean he is active - for me at least.
- If like most people are saying, and the soldiers represented were in fact mercenaries,
they are still Marines. U.S. Army personnel are regulated within the Uniform Code of Military Justice for their entire lives, retired or not. You are a Marine for life and if anything, if they are mercenaries, we should be even more mad that they are disgracing the corps like that.
I think one thing that many of you people here are ignoring is this:
-
"mining a rare mineral that is key to solving Earth's energy crisis"
-
Name another country that will probably still be in power in only 145 years, have a marine with identical structure to America's, have characteristics of majority of Americans, and speak identical to majority of current Americans.
That is enough to
deduce that the people represented were in fact Americans.
With our judicial system, if the argument of whether they were American or not was on trial, the verdict would come and say that they are in fact Americans. With that degree of evidence, the death penalty could be issued.
It looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck.
About what else you said:
I already went over what was lawful and not lawful in another post. There are crimes under the UCMJ that do not involve the lawfulness of actions (as I mentioned earlier) - all of which were violated. I already said you can decide not to fight if something is unlawful - but that doesn't give you the right to KILL people you still recognize as officers (if an officer gives an illegal command, he is STILL an officer regardless!)
Now that we established that they were, beyond a reasonable doubt, Americans... doesn't you stomach turn that a few of them turned and betrayed their comrades?
If you don't believe what they were fighting for is right, that's not my problem - you are not authorized to mutiny your country.
We already went over this
From the Manual for Courts Martials:
However, the dictates of a persons
conscience, religion, or personal philosophy
cannot justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise
lawful order.
There is an energy crisis on Earth. An energy crisis leads to the death of American citizens. This "unatainium" will solve that energy crisis. I will ASK FOR THREE MONTHS
alien creatures to MOVE so that I can save American lives. Hate me for that if you want, sorry.