Haditha: Problem Solved!

[BurtWorm]

Ethan Heitner at TomPaine.com:

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/02/haditha_problem_solved.php


The top U.S. general in Iraq has responded to the public disclosure, after six months of attempted cover-up, that Marines murdered men, women and little children in cold blood in the town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005.

He has ordered 30 days of "moral training" in "core warrior values" for every soldier in Iraq.

Oh good.

I was worried there for a moment. But now, two years, a month, and some change after we invaded Iraq, after we have shot, bombed, beat and tortured unknown thousands, we are going to give the troops moral training.

I guess that means that we can't really hold soldiers responsible for what they've done 'til now, because they didn't have ethics training. Without review of "core warrior values," how could they have known that it is wrong to shoot bullets (real bullets! live ones! little chunks of metal going the speed of sound! from machine guns!) and throw grenades (you know, the ones that explode!) at six-month-old babies and 75-year-old women?

It is understandable that, lacking this training, they may have not realized that when "four ... girls died screaming" it is a Bad Thing. They've been under a lot of stress, you know?...

[FogerRox]

1. Way past time to

BRING THE TROOPS HOME

[Disturbed]

4. Pathetic!

The US Troops have to be educated to refrain from murdering women, children and babies.

[Jigarotta]

5. gee, I wonder who that 'educating' contract will go to? nt

[uppityperson]

2. Slide shows won't do it. He repeats what I keep saying...

"The Marines in Haditha weren't confused about whether their actions were ethical. Soldiers at checkpoints in Baghdad don't think they are acting unethically.

This is what war looks like. This is what occupation looks like. Every war. Every occupation. Even the ones that have the best of intentions."

[spanone]

3. This bullshit will not stand. It's lipstick on a pig.

[MADem]

6. This is standard operating procedure every time there is a fuckup

When the Aberdeen sexual harassment scandal broke, they shut down for a day and made everybody listen to lectures on what constituted harassment. Sexual Harassment Training (fondly called SHiT by some) was a massive waste of time, punishing the innocent for the excesses of the guilty, and then declaring "Problem Solved!" They do safety standdowns when a bunch of hotshots crash aircraft, or a couple of sloppy OODs run a few ships aground.

Of course, this is a fuckup of astronomical proportions. It's a top-down problem, and can't be explained away by suggesting that kids are falling asleep during their Geneva Convention training during boot camp....

[Dunvegan]

7. MADem, what was the highest rank of soldier on the scene in Haditha?

Have you seen anything that tells you what was the immediate chain of command in the on-the-scene situation?

[MADem]

8. I've no idea

Probably 0-3, tops, in immediate vicinity, anyway. But the top brass always lean on the subordinates, who lean on their subordinates...it's always been known to roll downhill.

I don't recognize our military anymore. The Monkey fucking broke it. It was a high-quality outfit in the Clinton era, now it's just a mess. I've never seen such inattention to basic standards, and that includes the Vietnam era, when draftees, many of whom, despite the putdowns about their ability to fit in or not being as smart, were actually among the real thinkers who bitched and questioned and demanded accountability. This is just insane. It's a disgrace.

[Dunvegan]

9. Agreed. Broken by NeoCon Adventurism. The Clinton-era Volunteer Military

...was of high-quality and morale. Which speaks volumes about those willing to serve and defend with their lives what this country stands for.

Do you think Rumsfeld and Cheney intended on "breaking" our military?

[MADem]

10. They had no such intent, at all

Remember, they thought it would be a CAKEWALK. That we'd be greeted with candy and sweets, as LIBERATORS! They convinced themselves, and sold that lie.

Now, they are scrubbing away mightily, trying to polish a turd of their own manufacture. Bastards!

[Dunvegan]

11. So are you basically saying, "Don't ascribe to malice what can more...

...reasonably be attributed to stupidity (or hubris)," as the saying goes?

I always appreciate your commentary, MADem. Thanks.

[MADem]

12. EXACTLY!! Stupidity rules in BushCo!

His CEO Presidency looks a lot like ENRON: Screwing everyone from the young worker to Grandma Millie, full of excess, greed and outright theft, and run by a bunch of criminals!

[BlueStorm]

13. A little too late...

"moral training" isn't going to do jack, what's done is done and there is no turning back.

We really should get these soldiers out of Iraq and back home where they belong.

Blue