War, at least from the Western side, has become professionalised. An impeccable and efficient job. A job that requires training and technical expertise. Those who carry it out must possess a mastery of their duties and, supposedly, self-regulation and "professional" ethics. The United States Marine Corps is one example. Mythologised by movies, games, television and other media, it is the paradigm of the exemplary soldier, the professional warrior.
"The Armed Forces offer you a profession where the important thing is the individual, teamwork, specialisation and the spirit of self-improvement. Here there is no place for routine: you will learn about comradeship, solidarity and service to the community". (We are Soldiers and Sailors. http://www.reclutamiento.defensa.gob.es)
The work of warfare has changed its historical profile towards business. War and business go hand in hand. Military commanders have become managers and businessmen who move merchandise or perform various services for their governments. One such service was the seizure of Falluja in Iraq. "US forces bombed schools and hospitals, snipers shot civilians, chemical weapons - white phosphorus and napalm - were used. Massacre by marines doing their job - after a prayer. As professionals they know no reason, they execute. When army workers strike, they do it effectively, brutally but simply, without losing morale, without objection, calm under any ethical or moral pressure, just like any multinational executive does. They just take and carry out orders, even if these orders admittedly lead to "breaches of more than 70 articles of the Geneva Convention".
This is a document made from raw footage by the only journalist allowed temporarily on the network as a souvenir for the Marines (approximately six hours, live on camera, over which they had occasionally added a layer of classical music). In it one can see the American soldiers' view of themselves. Perhaps a view known through fiction but which, through the authenticity of these images, from the inside, from their daily lives, becomes a claim.
