Punish Our Murderous
Soldiers
June 2, 2006
Last fall, twenty-four civilians were killed in response
to the sudden death of a soldier because of an IED. In a fit of rage, a
squad of Marines went berserk and executed innocent people, including women
and children. Incredibly, the incident was not immediately reported to Bush
and it took several months for a public report to appear in the Times
Magazine.
All of this is unacceptable.
There are rules of engagement for war. They specify what
a soldier is expected to do when confronted with a threat and commanders are
to control their soldiers applying those rules. Nowhere in those rules are
there instructions for soldiers to kill unless they there is a credible and
imminent threat. If some of the adults posed a threat, there are tried and
true procedures for dealing with that kind of situation and they do not
include mass murder.
Every soldier involved in the massacre must be punished
severely.
The status of our war command is just as dreadful. The
command failure started with the squad leader and ended with Secretary to
Defense Rumsfeld. The squad leader failed because he and those under his
command murdered people, he was not in control as he should have been. His
commanders failed because they failed to investigate and report the
incident.
Bush should never be ignorant about this type of
incident. Yet, he claims he was until May 11th and until we know
differently, we must believe him. If so, then why did it take so long? Where
was Rumsfeld?
Our response to the Haditha Massacre will reflect on
every U.S. Soldier and citizen. There had better be a severe response. There
is no excuse for murder, even in the height of passion fueled by dangerous
rage.
