Army to probe 5 Colo. murders linked to brigade

[RamboLiberal]

Source: USA Today/AP

DENVER (AP) — U.S. soldiers from a single base and who served in Iraq are suspects in at least five slayings in the state of Colorado.

Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Graham announced Friday a task force will examine if the five killings had anything in common. They were all allegedly committed in the past 14 months by soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Carson, Colorado. A sixth soldier faces an attempted murder charge.

"We have many great young Americans in our Army who have volunteered to serve during a time of war, almost all of whom are great citizens," Graham said in a statement. "However, we too are very concerned about these horrible acts."

Fort Carson also plans to re-screen about 1,200 soldiers from the brigade for potential physical or mental health problems.

Earlier Friday, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to investigate the slayings. Officials learned of the latest on Monday, when Spc. Robert Hull Marko, 21, led investigators to the body of 19-year-old Judilianna "Judi" Lawrence, whom he met on the social networking website MySpace, according to an arrest affidavit released Tuesday.




Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-10-18-army-murder-probe_N.htm

[snappyturtle]

1. We may be reaping what we have sowed. I don't think teaching to

first hate and then to justify killing has an on/off switch.

[MetaTrope]

2. Steven Green's spirit lives on!

Along with his body, unfortunately.

[dkofos]

3. The problem with TRAINED KILLERS is that it is harder to turn it off

than the army thinks.

Get a clue Mr. gates, your soldiers need HELP!!

[shadowknows69]

4. almost all of whom are great citizens

Absolutely, but there are also several who were stone cold killers, gang bangers and white supremacists before your President lowered the qualifications for service to breathing. Criminals and psychopaths that cared nothing for honor before they enlisted are no use to our truly valorous troops.

[mr1956]

5. War leaves hidden scars

I'd met one of the accused when he was younger; he was not a gangbanger or an unruly young man. I know his mother and would never have thought he'd be involved in something like this. The fact that there are so many from one unit suggests to me that some atrocious things had to have been condoned (or encouraged) under the guise of war. I don't know what they saw or what they did in Iraq, but something happened to him over there to twist his mind and moral compass.

We have no idea how a person will react to having the power of life and death over others, how they will process the systematic objectification of other human beings. I believe some can handle it and some cannot.

[Tigress DEM]

10. Thanks for reminding us that decent young people can be warped vs bad to begin.

I can see how depending on your unit to protect your life can become a real head trip and can be used to justify many things.

If someone is willing to use that bond as a justification to wreak havoc, and others go along, even someone who had a moral compass before all this began could find themselves doing awful things to hang onto that sense of security within the group.

Still, when it comes to murder, there has to be a way to protect the innocent from the warped.

[Hekate]

14. We also need to question the drugs that many of them have been given by the military

Some worrying stories are leaking out about that.

Hekate

[Hulk]

6. When you are surrounded by death, destruction and the devaluation of life....

...do you really think you can just cross an ocean and be a normal social human being again?

I'm sorry folks. I am a Vietnam Vet. I saw brutal killing and slaughter UP CLOSE. You DO NOT return to normal after you walk that walk. You can contain yourself...possibly...but you are NEVER THE SAME.

We will reap what we sow. We have thousands of American Vets who have lived this hell over and over and over again. We will see the cruelty in our home land for years to come.

Thanks w for making us a more sick nation than you could have ever hoped. Save the unborn...but brutally murder and slaughter your neighbor and their children.

F*cking idiots!!

[Tigress DEM]

7. Seems to me there should be an intensive re-entry project for vets of all wars.

The US knows from experience that war is hell and that returning soldiers need assistance adjusting. I would think if they could re-enter in a positive way with those people they most identify with and have trusted with their lives in the previous months before being sent home, it would use that solidarity to a good purpose instead of having a group think that soldiers "should" have an on/off switch.

My dad was in Korea and as much as he loved us and I think adjusted well, he would not let us wake him up by touching him because years after he still retained the "kill" command to anyone sneaking up on him when he was sleeping.

He also used to go on long walks in the middle of arguments when we girls were teenagers because he was afraid he would throttle us if he didn't. I guess most fathers of teenage girls go through that feeling, but he was worried when he started seeing red that he'd regret his actions, so he took a walk.

I always felt bad for him, but also proud and very loved because he took the responsibility to reign himself in for our sake.

American Indians used to go through long ritual cleansings when they came back from their own territorial wars because they recognized the warrior needed to leave behind those heightened responses if the tribe were to have peace within aftewards.

Is there anything like that for Vets anywhere?

[Tigress DEM]

9. AND Hulk, thanks for your service and boots on the ground here on DU.

We really need to learn from our past or we are doomed to repeat it.

Welcoming our soldiers home is more than just giving them a parade, we need to really help them find home again. Not the address, not just the open door, but the open hearts and minds that make it safe to set the armor aside, both exterior and interior, and live again.

It sounds like you have emerged with an even greater respect for life. I suspect it hasn't been an easy road, but I'm glad that those coming home behind you may benefit from your knowledge. Have you ever found a way to share your story? I know it's usually very painful so most don't.

[LynnTheDem]

8. It`s part and parcel of what`s known as `blow-back`.

And it`s going to get very much worse.

[bagrman]

11. In the 70's our neighbors eldest son got back from Nam and all of

us kids were warned not to surprise him. Now, here in Oregon we had a guy come home from Iraq and was going to be a cop. He was "practicing his quick draw" when he shot his wife. After years of living on pins and needles you just don't turn it off when the uniform is hung up.

latr

[Judi Lynn]

12. Colo. senator wants Army mental care probe

Colo. senator wants Army mental care probe
Published: Oct. 18, 2008 at 1:30 PM

COLORADO SPRINGS, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., says he wants a review of U.S. Army mental healthcare after a string of homicides involving local Iraq war veterans.

Salazar told reporters he's concerned military officials are recruiting mentally troubled people into their ranks in the wake of the fifth Colorado Springs homicide in 14 months involving Iraq veterans from Fort Carson, Colo., The Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette reported Saturday.

Spc. Robert Hull Marko was arrested in Colorado Springs Monday in the rape and slaying of a 19-year-old woman. Other troops from Marko's unit -- the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division -- have been charged in the deaths of two other soldiers last year, as well as in the slayings of two immigrants this year, the newspaper said.

Army officials told the Gazette the brigade returned from Iraq late last year after 15 months of fighting in Baghdad.

"In the Army's effort to meet its target recruiting numbers, the service has been issuing an increasing number of waivers to recruits who may not meet educational or moral standards," Salazar wrote in a letter to U.S. Army Secretary Peter Geren.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/10/18/Colo_senator_wants_Army_mental_care_probe/UPI-24251224351012/

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Military has also reduced the requirements for enlistees

including education and past arrest records, to some degree, or so I have read.

[question everything]

15. Two problems: first, we have lowered the criteria for recruiting

and many do have criminal records.

Second, again, because of the quality of soldiers, they are incapable of differentiating violence against enemy and violence back home.

Sad story.