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INVESTIGATIONS AGAINST U.S. SOLDIERS
(Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters) |
July 3, 2006
Airborne Press Webzine
by Kelly Thomas
Investigations:
-- Three soldiers have been charged with the premeditated murder of three detainees in Salahuddin province in May.
-- Eight service members are charged with the April murder of an Iraq! man in Hamdaniya.
-- Five soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a woman in March, then killing her and three family members in Mahmoudiya.
-- Two National Guard members are charged in the shooting death of an unarmed Iraqi man near Ramadi in February.
-- Four Marines are being investigated for killing 24 Iraqi civilians in November in Haditha.
-- Four soldiers are charged with murder or dereliction of duty in the death of an Iraqi military officer in 2003 at al Qaim detention camp.
SOLDIERS AND POLITICS
(AFP/DOD-HO/PettyOfficerLarson) | We are entering into a period in which the Iraq war will be dominated by politics; and politics will mean that the edge will go to the Iraqis, especially the elected government; and, in the process the soldier will be screwed. To me, it is another example of failures at the highest levels.
Poor troops-- If they are confronted with the unimaginable (and they are) and they react or overreact, or even snap, and kill "innocents"--and who is to say who is and who isn't innocent? -- they are pilloried in the press.
How The War is Reported
(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd/FILE) | The sensationalistic reporting helps the media make the case against being in Iraq (which we probably shouldn't be), but I hate for it to happen at the expense of the troops who are doing the best they can under the worst possible conditions.
We are in a box. Let's look at just one investigation--Haditha. If you read the accounts in Time and Newsweek, it is horrific, small children, dead, etc.; and, in Newsweek, even a young soldier's wife puts the "bad mouth" on the unit, describing its ills, etc., hard to imagine how they got this.
Gone To The Bed With The Devil
(AFP/US Army/HO/SamuelPeterson) | We want news and feedback, but now we find ourselves having gone to bed with the "devil," i.e., the news media and we have to deal with it.
And, what we can never forget is that the media is not interested in the truth but a story. The media's story is told from their perspective, which, more than likely, will not make our efforts in Iraq look good.
The media story must have some element of sensationalism to make it interesting. Much of the media treats the war like a reality show.
A guerrilla war inevitably comes down on the side of the enemy. Violence and killing and war and the big bad Americans losing control makes news, not the building of schools and hospitals. It is the drama, the story, the horror of explosions, killings, kidnappings and the plight of the Iraqis which the news media reports. And, the politics and overall belief of the Iraqi civilian population favors the insurgents. This is a war and war is no day at the beach.
More About The Investigations
(AFP/US Army/HO/SamuelPeterson) | In both Time and Newsweek, the Haditha story began with a young Iraqi journalism student who took pictures, etc. that seem to totally contradict the story of the Marines.
The official investigation of Haditha will be by a retired general from Delta Force. I have little faith in such an investigation.
This retired general will find that the Marines made mistakes but what and how is the issue: his job will be to second guess them now because it is politics.
If the troops get in trouble, they are sacrificed on the altar of expediency. At least, in the military, I don't hear anybody saying, "wait a minute here."
My prediction is that our troops in Iraq will be convicted first because our leadership, both politically and militarily, will begin to pander to the elected government. It's a mess.
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Now Available: Newly revised paperback General Lee:Father of the Airborne.