Friday, May 26

MARINES ACCUSED OF ATROCITY IN IRAQ

Get us the hell out. Now.

Evidence indicates that the civilians were killed during a sustained sweep by a small group of marines that lasted three to five hours and included shootings of five men standing near a taxi at a checkpoint, and killings inside at least two homes that included women and children, officials said.

That evidence, described by Congressional, Pentagon and military officials briefed on the inquiry, suggested to one Congressional official that the killings were "methodical in nature."
...
Representative John Kline, a Minnesota Republican who is a retired Marine colonel, said that the allegations indicated that "this was not an accident. This was direct fire by marines at civilians." He added, "This was not an immediate response to an attack. This would be an atrocity."


Back in September of '05 I wrote a post titled "Why We Have to Get Out of Iraq" in which I quoted Juan Cole saying, "The first reason to get the ground troops out now is that they are being fatally brutalized by their own treatment of Iraqi prisoners...The brutalization of the US military and of its prisoners is a brutalization of the entire American public. It is an undermining of the foundational values of the Republic. We cannot remain Americans and continue to behave this way routinely."

I think this most recent incident in Haditha is evidence of just that. We're manufacturing brutal killers in this immoral war, not just soldiers, and it's a direct result of the Bush-Cheney attempt to characterize all those who oppose us as "terrorists," who are, therefore, fair game. It's so reminiscent of what happened in Vietnam that it couldn't help but be anticipated. Unless, of course, you have a faith-based administration that thinks that if you say, "Slam dunk!" enough times, that's what you'll get.

This misbegotten war is detrimental to our national character. We need to get out of Iraq and begin to try to repair our American psyche and our reputation in the world.

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1 Comments:

Blogger mikevotes said...

This is just horrible. This is just horrible all around. Some of these marines were on their third tour in three years.

Mike

10:24 PM  

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