“The American soldier is different from all other soldiers of all other countries since the world began. He is the advance guard of liberty and justice, of law and order, and of peace and happiness.”-Elihu Root, Secretary of War 1899
Such noble sentiments. And while it may apply to our troops serving in Iraq, it certainly doesn't apply to all of them. Haditha. Abu Ghraib. Only the tip of the iceberg of Iraqi people's suffering being caused by our troops. And now we have this video, showing occupation forces teasing and humiliating an Iraqi child with a bottle of clean water, something not readily available over there since the illegal US invasion.
Sure, I know what my anonymous troll is thinking, "Damn liberals and their pettyness" (sic), but these people overseas are representatives of the country as a whole, and when they behave in this fashion, it reflects poorly on the rest of us.
Bullying tactics against the populace, especially against children does not make our soldiers look like the advance guard of liberty and justice, law and order, or peace and happiness. It makes the US look like brutish thugs with no regard for the people we are consigned to protect. I'm sure a lot of troops don't like being there, I don't like them being there either, but they must remember while they are there they are representing our country, it's laws and it's ideals. And while I think the American character is slowly sliding under the weight of greed and acquisition of material posession, I don't think we've reached the point where this type of behavior is acceptable, except by apologists for the current administration, who probably find this as funny as a fart joke.
Update: An unnecessary bombing of a mosque video.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I would like to know the names of those soldiers. I tell you, if a child of mine behaved that way, I would snatch their head bald and they would be in sooooo much trouble with me. Bullies!
Good post, Lew. I was unaware of this... this is BAD stuff.
Over at Major Conflict's place,
http://majorconflict.blogspot.com/
there is a hopeful article written by none other than GOP Senator Chuck Hagel. It is worth checking out! I like seeing conservatives who are reality-based speaking up against folks such as McCain and Bush, who do not appear to be part of the reality-based community at all.
We had it out over this one, over @ Rox Pop the other day...
Hell of a way to win a heart or a mind.
Since we have lowered our standards regarding who may join the military, we have also lowered expectations of these people as well. That's what desperate actions do.
Pathetic, but not surprising. I know a few soldiers who have served in Iraq, and to a man, they came back with an enormous amount of contempt for the Iraqi people. I'm sure that attitude isn't universal, but it sure seems to be prevalent among front-line grunts.
I've seen it too, Betty.
I believe it comes from having to go over their and watch you best friends blown up by IEDs day after day, and knowing your sacrifices have been made in a War of Choice that didn't have to fucking happen.
Bring 'em home.
my first thoughts are - this behavior comes from our public school systems...bullies are born and bred there...sigh
Post a Comment