Quote Originally Posted by Ozme52 View Post
Let's chalk that up to the Nazis and not the Germans per se.

The Wehrmacht loyaly carried out policy, even those they clearly (from contemporary writings and memoirs) didn't agree with...

Now if you meant the SS (commanders and troops...) they were malignant zealots imo.
Yes, you're absolutely correct. My apologies to the German people. It was the Nazi leadership which imposed the brutal occupations. And in Eastern Europe, at least, it was primarily SS and Gestapo units which enforced them.

But turning this back to the current situation, as a soldier how do you keep from implementing the leadership's policies if you believe they are faulty? We are seeing military leaders either voluntarily or forcefully resigning over the situation in Iraq. How does the common soldier, who certainly knows more about it than some general sitting in Washington, pull himself out of it? The Wehrmacht couldn't do it in WW2. Our soldiers can't do it now.