Agree re conditioning
Re the rhyme mentioned in 1st link. If troops are in a strange land (read Iraq) and that rhyme is 'embedded' in brain & a car is driving towards soldier
in the dark & he "lights it up" then later sees it contains burnt corpses of 1 man, 2 women 3 kids & 1 baby. The rhyme eases the reaction & eases the way forward for the next 'lighting up' episode that produces similar results.
Doug M
(I have heard estimates of up to 10,000 civilian casualties (collaterals) in Iraq. Many dies as above). The ultimate liberation.
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"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!".
-- Leonardo Da Vinci