Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to "Marines: Allegations undercut us"

Sherman's dictum.
ER — (archived)

I think both sides in this spirited debate are missing the point here. The deliberate massacre and abuse of innocents by rogue combatants is a feature of all wars, put guns and deadly training in the hands of teenagers and then turn them loose in a horrific, high-stress environment and this will happen. American troops committed atrocities in World War II, too, in both Europe and Asia. It goes without saying, so did the other guys.

As long as these episodes remain aberrations, are promptly and vigorously investigated, and if legit, prosecuted, then it is just the price the innocent always pay in war, all wars, like friendly fire or collateral damage. When these incidents become part of policy, an instrument to intimidate populations, or an effort to terrorize civilians to force political change, then is when we should finally accept that our forces have become corrupt and our mission morally forfeit. I don't think we've reached that point yet. As I've said before, there may be many valid reasons to leave Iraq, but this is not one of them.

Having said that, to cover up these incidents in order to maintain troop morale and keep the home front happy, or to justify them by saying the other side side does it (no matter how true that may be) so we must do it too, is a perversion of everything this country stands for. And to intimate that accurate and fair reporting of these incidents is unpatriotic is as disgusting to me as deliberately exaggerating or making up these reports for political reasons.

Now that we're in the bloodbath, it may be a bit late to debate these fine moral and philosophical issues, but when we stop doing so we're finished as a nation and a moral force on this planet.

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