Murder by Marines in Iraq: A National Moral Crisis is Coming
UPDATE: Senator Warner (R) calls for investigation.
In November in Iraq, US Marines apparently executed 24 unarmed civilians, including women and young children. It was reported intitially as a IED explosion, then as a crossfire. There is evidence of an attempted cover up. Photos may document a systematic execution, and some reports have the U.S. military charging 7 Marines with murder; tonight's reports have several Marines in the brig at Camp Pendleton.
The U.S. military investigation is being concluded next month, and it's contents will be politically explosive. Time reported in March a nine-year old witness to the execution of her family.
Independent.
Guardian
Former Marine Congressman Muthra is saying that the killings were "in cold blood." With the prospect of America executing our own soliders, what is looking certain is a major test of American military justice, what remains of our nation's moral credibility, and truly shattering politics over the conduct of the war.
My Lai here.
posted by JAB at 8:28 PM
3 Comments:
I'm against the death penalty, but I actually feel this situation calls for summary exections.
If true, the stain on America and the Marines is profound. I've had a horrible feeling for a while that the repeated effect of being an occupier on U.S. soldiers, some back for a third tour, is pushing some into indiscriminate brutality, and that will eradicate our ability to build a democracy, if the ability exists at all.
One of the worst aspects of the US Armed Services in this war is its inability to punish upper command failures (particularly civilian ones). If the individual marines are guilty of murder, then their commanders should be guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. But responsibility is studiously avoided.
The way the war is being conducted, this situation is likely to become more common. There are hints that it has.
The quote of the British soldiers in the Guardian sticks in my mind:
"British soldiers currently in Iraq said they were anxious to distance themselves from the Americans but that Iraqis did seem able to make a distinction. One private, who did not wish to be named, said: 'We are given an education: the Americans get shown how to use a gun. The Iraqis know the difference.'
Oddly enough, I feel a great deal of sympathy for the soldiers who (allegedly) perpetrated this act.
Their frustration at being trained as warriors and then forced to act as occupiers. A poorly run war, interminable patrols, a civilian population that deeply resents them.
Not a recipe to keep the rage level down.
But, having said all that, I also feel they need to be punished as severely as possible. As the FSL said, the stain on America & the Marines is profound, and needs to be dealt with. Especially if we hope to build any sort of democracy.
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