Brutality of Soldiers

After learning about the atrocities of the Rape of Nanking, I can see how widespread the brutality of the Axis Powers was. The soldiers seem to be able to perform the most despicable deeds without being troubled by there consciouses. I also wrote about this in my journal and the one thing that this really makes me wonder is if the civilians of the same country as the military that conducted these activities would have wished their enemies to suffer as badly as they did. Was the cause of this brutality a result of gruesome training given to the Japanese boys by the government, or is that just the mindset people get when they go to war?

I wonder about the causes of the actions of the Japanese as well as the German soldiers, because we are led to believe that they were some of the most evil beings imaginable. However, the propaganda of the Axis Power nations probably was designed to cast the troops of the Allied Powers in a similar light. What kind of atrocities were committed by our side that we have never heard about? I ask this because I have heard a few stories of terrible things that the United States did to civilians in the Vietnam War. This is surely downplayed by the government because it was so recent, and many veterans remain scarred by what happened then. Hearing about events such as the Rape of Nanking makes me wonder if other countries tell similar terrible histories about the United States. I know there are plenty of people in the world who hate the United States, and maybe they have a better reason than our history books want us to know. Of course, maybe it is also through exaggeration.