It's still a choice to leave them unmentioned except for referencing their status as official "bad guys" and describing military deployment there like guarding pillow forts and taking a dog on walks.
Sympathy isn't a on/off switch, plus "sympathetic views" is very vague, I'm pretty sure only outright genocidal fash would lack any sympathy for victims of US imperialism.
Noticing a distinct lack of non-american shoes present in this comment.
Both "tricked" and "conned" definitely should be read with the same quotation marks as "brainwashed" there(and I should have written them with those to begin with) cause all three basically have the same meaning.
I mean, I think we need to make a difference between cons here.
This young man seems to take most issue with the reimbursement for his service, he doesnt get dental, he still needs a second job, VA arent helping. But an unpaid hitman wasnt conned into killing someone, they were just conned into doing it for free.
And if they were instead tricked into doing it for some reason of idealism and the way the war was presented to them, you gotta consider when the bubble burst. If it burst while still deployed, did they stick their head in the sand for the sake of avoiding repercussions or securing their own future? That doesnt seem very valuable to a revolution, for example.
Edit: This essay is mainly about the idea of "brainwashing" or other state influence upon the civilian population, but I think a lot can apply to being "brainwashed" or otherwise influenced into military service, particularly the parts about the implicit understanding of personal gain that drives acceptance of propaganda.
By following BE I can vicariously experience posting with righteous fury, without having to get mobbed by angry reactionaries trying to dig up shit about me.
Very nice.
In conclusion, Japan is a land of contrasts.
Essentially its another way to say "Neither Washington nor Moscow/Beijing", its an accusation that supporters of multipolarism are just supporting another imperialist faction rather than working from a proletarian and revolutionary political analysis.
And that a multipolar world will not be a progressive advancement for the working class or the socialist revolution because the new poles are of the same fundamental character as the old unipolar world, basically.
This isn't Philby specifically but I'm reminded of hearing about an American double agent asking for help when faced with a lie detector test.
Supposedly his handlers just told him to chill out, get hydrated properly and be polite to the guy running the test, and it worked.
Literally pro-Iraq war, pro-Afhganistan war, pro intervening in Syria, name a country full of nonwhite people the US has bombed and this guy will tell you he fucking loved that happening.
Veteran of US wars that simultaneously thinks Ukraine is facing a genocide. Like what does that imply about you?
After the revolution, "lolcow" will be one of the code phrases that doesnt even send your name and location to the secret police, it straight up detonates the chip in your neck instantly.
All those old stories of him making thermite to steal school computers or literally demolishing walls in the ID office so he could see everyone all the time become less "oh quirky guy" and more "oh, small business entrepreneurial freak"