Honestly with how late it happened I can totally see this being the case for some people. The military trains you to follow orders without question, and being woken up in the middle of you sleeping only dampens your critical thinking skills.
I think a crucial part of it is also that you, as a simple soldier on the ground, don’t really have a good way of figuring out the big picture.
If your sergeant tells you to “prevent anyone from entering or leaving the parliament building”, you’re very likely to assume that something bad is happening and that the army has been called in to secure the building. You basically have to trust your commanders to see the bigger picture, so that when they tell you that “the guys over there are the baddies”, you can engage them without walking over to check for yourself. If those guys are in police uniforms, that probably means the baddies got a hold of uniforms to try to sneak past you.
I think every western army does that. Or at least did, as you said. But it’s a moot point in this situation. If you’re ordered to guard a building in the middle of the night, you assume that it’s at worst just something inconsequential and stupid. “Oh now they want me to stand here for some reason? Sure, I guess.”
They weren’t gunning down civilians or anything like that. Shooting people floating in the water after their boat was blown up is a much clearer violation.
Honestly with how late it happened I can totally see this being the case for some people. The military trains you to follow orders without question, and being woken up in the middle of you sleeping only dampens your critical thinking skills.
I think a crucial part of it is also that you, as a simple soldier on the ground, don’t really have a good way of figuring out the big picture.
If your sergeant tells you to “prevent anyone from entering or leaving the parliament building”, you’re very likely to assume that something bad is happening and that the army has been called in to secure the building. You basically have to trust your commanders to see the bigger picture, so that when they tell you that “the guys over there are the baddies”, you can engage them without walking over to check for yourself. If those guys are in police uniforms, that probably means the baddies got a hold of uniforms to try to sneak past you.
The US military trains the soldiers to assess whether their orders are illegal and refuse them if they are. Or at least that’s what they did pre-2025
I think every western army does that. Or at least did, as you said. But it’s a moot point in this situation. If you’re ordered to guard a building in the middle of the night, you assume that it’s at worst just something inconsequential and stupid. “Oh now they want me to stand here for some reason? Sure, I guess.”
They weren’t gunning down civilians or anything like that. Shooting people floating in the water after their boat was blown up is a much clearer violation.