When America Goes After Its Warriors
by Big Dog on Dec 22, 2006 at 14:45 Military, Political
The outcome can never be good when the United States goes after its warriors on charges that they murdered innocent civilians especially when there is no indication that the warriors deliberately intended to kill said civilians. Unfortunately, America is a little less safe today than it was yesterday because the military has filed charges against eight Marines in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians after a Marine was killed by a roadside bomb.
It is not unheard of for the military to investigate and, if necessary, charge its members with crimes and as a society we expect that. When military members line up civilians and kill them we expect them to be held accountable. The stress of battle does not give any one the right to line people up and gun them down (though in WWII that is what our troops did to Nazis running concentration camps). However, we must take great care to distinguish between wanton criminal acts and acts that occur during the heat of battle. This is where the case gets particularly murky because the Marines claim that they were fighting and did not deliberately target non-combatants.
The events surrounding the battle in Haditha are unclear to everyone except those who were actually there. We can not know what exactly happened and we can not know why those people were shot but those who were there say that they were fighting the enemy and that they were following the rules of engagement. Our troops were following the law of land warfare that is expected of them and is not practiced by our enemy. It seems our enemy is only covered by the rules when they complain after being captured. In any event, there does not seem to be a concerted effort on the part of these Marines to just go along killing civilians. Yes, civilians died and that is tragic but the fact is it happens sometimes in the heat of battle.
Charging these Marines sets a very dangerous precedent that will come back to haunt us, though the ramifications will likely be welcomed by the cut and run Democrats. You see, we are putting our men and women in danger because they have the additional burden of worrying about whether they will be charged when they defend themselves. That split second could cost many lives and will ultimately lead many in our military to decide against furthering their careers. Who wants to work for an organization that does not defend workers who are legitimately doing their jobs? It will hurt recruiting efforts because many potential recruits will be wary of getting accused of murder for doing their jobs. The left will love this because they will claim that it is a sign people are disenchanted with the war and do not want to serve (except of course for poor people who can not get another job or people who do not get an education).
Our government is obsessed with showing that it is tough on anything the Iraqis do not like. They go out of their way to ensure that all accounts from locals are received and those people are given greater credibility than the words of our warriors and that is just wrong. The Muslim world is a backwards place where people settle disputes by killing each other or making deals (usually involving money) to restore dignity. The people involved in this are likely looking for a payout from our government to restore the dignity of the families who lost loved ones. There is also motive on the parts of some to portray our military in a bad light in order to push them out and increase American resentment toward the war effort. I wonder if these people realize what will happen to them if we leave too soon?
I support the war effort and our troops and I stand behind the Marines charged in this whole fiasco. I call on the leaders in this government to stop witch hunts and allow our warriors to do their jobs unencumbered with worries about legal issues. Those who commit obvious criminal acts should be pursued and prosecuted but these hazy situations should always err on the side of our troops and not on the side of a population of liars and snake oil salesmen. If these men are found guilty I will no longer encourage the young people who ask about the military to join. I can not, in good conscience, put them in these kinds of situations.
Additionally, our government needs to take its head out of its rectal cavity and start worrying about the enemy and the way it breaks the law every chance it gets. We need to do one of two things. We need to go balls to the walls and kill as many as possible and exact our will on them or we need to leave. I am not for cutting and running but if they screw our warriors then I am all for pulling back to the border and letting the tribes there kill each other every day until none of them are left. Then we can go in and annex the country and take its oil.
When America stops defending its warriors there will be no warriors left to defend America. Our country will only be the land of the free so long as it remains the home of the brave and with cowards in government chasing after our warriors our time for freedom will soon be over.
Wake up America.
Source:
Breitbart
Tags: Political