Let's start by saying I do not and will never condone the shooting, killing or hurting of innocent civilians in a war zone. Does it happen? Yes it does, all the time. The loss of life to non combatants is just as much part of war as the loss of life amongst the men and women fighting the battles. That still does not make it right.
An Army Staff Sergeant stands accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan. They were women and children. I will not publish is name although it is now on every news agency throughout the world. I will not defend or condemn him here, that is up to the courts and the very fair legal system the US Military has in place.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice system (UCMJ), each member of the US armed forces is entitled to a fair trial, pretrial hearings (Article 32 as they are called), a Staff Judge Advocate (SJA Attorney) at no cost, the right to be defended by a civilian attorney (at no cost to the tax payers). in a capital case (which this is) the service member may chose his/her SJA Attorney, from anywhere in the world. All trials go through automatic appeal and review. They are fast and efficient, but fair. Justice and to maintain the good order of the Armed Forces is the reason for Courts Martial. No politics, revenge or other reasons come into play here. It is a pure legal system. It does not matter who you are, you are all the same when facing a Courts Martial.
Back to Afghanistan. This soldier is now back in the USA. He will be held awaiting trial. What happened? What went wrong? this will all come out in the trial. Right now everyone is speculating. He has an attorney already who has bought out some facts, facts that make him look less like a mass murderer and more like a victim. I am sure that there will be experts paraded up to the witness stand by both sides, the facts that these people were killed by this man may never be denied. The reason(s) will be bought forward.
Let us look at Afghanistan. We invaded there after 9/11 to seek out those who attacked us. We hunted down Bin Laden and his terrorist group along with the Taliban Government of Afghanistan who harbored them. These people fled into the mountains (and into Pakistan) just like every group has done in the history of this country when it is invaded. Unlike other wars the US has fought in this is more like fighting the VC in Vietnam. Not the uniformed army but the hidden in plain sight group. The ones that will walk up to you with grenades hidden under their armpits and blow themselves up with the hopes of taking a few GI's with them. The US issues rules on how to handle situations on every single mission to it's armed forces, they are called "Rules of Engagement" they tell you what and you can do and under what circumstances.
I remember watching 13 Days in October staring Kevin Costner, it was about the Cuban Missile Crisis. At one point Kevin Costner portrays Kenny O'Donnell (a JFK in circle member) who tells a US Military Pilot who is getting ready to fly over Cuba to film the missile bases that he (the pilot) cannot get shot down, shot at under any circumstances, he asked the pilot if he understands. When the pilot returns and the plane has obvious damage from enemy attack on it he tells the ground crew he ran into a flock of quail. His rules of engagement were very clear, he had none. That is Hollywood and no pilot is going to fly without the ability to defend him/herself.
In Afghanistan our service members are faced with conflicting orders, they can shot here, but not here. They can fire if fire upon this day but not this day. The politics of the day out rank the normal operations of US combat missions. This is a war like no other. All the enemy look like the same people being defended. Services Members and their civilians counterparts being slain in secure areas by Afghan civilian employees. Is the guy waving to you saying thanks or distracting you from the other guy about to drop a grenade from a window? I will use the term soldier to describe the folks in uniform from here on out, mostly because that what I was when I was in the service of our country. Soldiers need to know what to do, they need defined Rules of Engagement.
A soldier is trained to fight, and put into a fight they will do just that. They will defend themselves and they buddy to the left and the right, to the death. It's in their blood. Telling a soldier not to shot back when being shot at, is like telling a dog not to eat the steak in the bowl on the floor, it's against their nature, its against their nature at this point. Add in that they have lived through horrors that the average person can not even imagine. This isn't Modern Warfare on the XBox, when you get hit, you do not restart the game. It's not like TV or the movies, yes they show great violence. The scenes from Band of Brothers in Bastogne were very graphic, but they were not the same. The screams of pain were acting, the actors got up and walked away. The noise was not like the real thing, the smells, you cannot imagine the smells unless you work around the dead, the dying or around burn victims. To see your buddy to the left or right get hit, knowing there is little you can do to help them. After all you make it through and get to go home only to be sent back again and again and again.
We have screwed up rules for the soldiers to follow. Soldiers have stresses that the human brain should not have to deal with. Many soldiers going into this have been there before and have suffered lose, have been wounded, are confused on what they can do or are just frustrated that when things go wrong our Government apologizes instead of getting their backs.
Our soldiers are seeing horrors everyday, they have chosen to join the military. Many did not know what they where getting into. In changes people, they will never be the same again. I am not trying to justify the killing of these 16 people, I am saying this person had reason to do so or an excuse. What I am saying is that unless our leaders get a grip on things more of this is going to happen. This just didn't happen overnight. There was a road traveled to get here. That road needs to be looked at closely. Put this man on trial, but the system you will see will also be on trial. A soldier is a trained killer, and pushed to hard it will happen.
Our President needs to stop running to the apology podium and start running to the support center. Yes Mr President, you did say you were against this war, we heard you, but you ran for President and won. Congratulations, along with that you became Commander and Chief of the worlds greatest Armed Forces. Men and Women everyday raise their hands and says they will defend this country with their lives. Now start defending them. Get a real set of "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" for them.
