Thursday, May 26, 2005
Good Ol' American Justice
As if we needed any further proof that any organization is unable to investigate itself, the Marine Corp provides us with this.
60 times? Reloading? No punishment? And we wonder why how our image gets tarnished? It must be that false Newsweek story that turn out to be not false.
Now, before anyone jumps down my throat for having a "blame-the-troops" attitude, let me say that I believe the actions of this one soldier to be outside the norm. This is an example of one soldier behaving poorly and should not reflect on all of our troops. However, those cultures or countries that are in opposition to us will use this to paint our entire country as unjust and bent toward the destruction of the Muslim culture. If we are going to allow this type of behavior to go unpunished, how can we expect to win the hearts and minds of anyone?
The sad truth is this: As long as we allow our own soldiers to commit barbaric acts of desecration and murder, we will never be able to promote democracy and freedom in that part of the world. Part of democracy means equality and justice for all. That can't come to fruition unless we are willing to live by the standard ourselves.
If his story is legitimate, I could have understood the shooting. But not sixty times. Not reloading. Not hanging a sign. This is barbarism and allowing to go unpunished makes the entire Marine Corps complicit in the event. And it damages our country's already tarnished image. We can do better.
- The Marine Corps dropped murder charges Thursday against an officer accused of riddling two Iraqis with bullets and hanging a warning sign on their corpses as a grisly example to other suspected insurgents.
[snip]
Prosecutors said Pantano, 33, intended to make an example of the men by shooting them 60 times and hanging a sign over their bodies - "No better friend, no worse enemy," a Marine slogan. Pantano did not deny hanging the sign or shooting the men repeatedly.
[snip]
The hearing officer recommended Pantano face nonjudicial punishment for allegedly desecrating the bodies by reloading and repeatedly shooting them. But the commanding general decided Pantano should face no punishment for any of his actions.
60 times? Reloading? No punishment? And we wonder why how our image gets tarnished? It must be that false Newsweek story that turn out to be not false.
Now, before anyone jumps down my throat for having a "blame-the-troops" attitude, let me say that I believe the actions of this one soldier to be outside the norm. This is an example of one soldier behaving poorly and should not reflect on all of our troops. However, those cultures or countries that are in opposition to us will use this to paint our entire country as unjust and bent toward the destruction of the Muslim culture. If we are going to allow this type of behavior to go unpunished, how can we expect to win the hearts and minds of anyone?
The sad truth is this: As long as we allow our own soldiers to commit barbaric acts of desecration and murder, we will never be able to promote democracy and freedom in that part of the world. Part of democracy means equality and justice for all. That can't come to fruition unless we are willing to live by the standard ourselves.
If his story is legitimate, I could have understood the shooting. But not sixty times. Not reloading. Not hanging a sign. This is barbarism and allowing to go unpunished makes the entire Marine Corps complicit in the event. And it damages our country's already tarnished image. We can do better.
