"Ex-soldier charged with rape, murder in Iraq" How does this make you feel?

Question

Do you think an occupying force can actually be humane to people in the occupied country? How many such incidents never get discovered or get reported as heroic action? Are such acts by young soldiers a product of hate campaign (All Muslims are terrorists so they deserve to be treated thus) and racism perpetuated by the media and the state increasingly resembling a fascist one?

Would really like to know if any people still believe that a war (prob. as long as others die) can be legitimate and why

It is understandable for an average person to try and defend the actions of ones own country, but to to compare acts of brutality with the ones before Americans came in or with that of the Psycho aberations like Osama is ironical and lame... it is as though the standard for a modern civilized country is a fugitive terrorist! What has the world come to!!! Its like saying that we rape, kill and humiliate at a much lower rate than the terrorists so we are better!

It is understandable for an average person to try and defend the actions of ones own country, but to to compare acts of brutality with the ones before Americans came in or with that of the Psycho aberations like Osama is ironical and lame... it is as though the standard for a modern civilized country is a fugitive terrorist! What has the world come to!!! Its like saying that we rape, kill and humiliate at a much lower rate than the terrorists so we are better!

Answer 1

It makes me feel not the least bit surprised.

How many "isolate incidents" will it take for people to recognize a pattern of tacit approval by the Shrub regime? Or equally likely, direct orders? Remember, these are the same people who said innocent people have no right to protections from the Geneva convention. (If everyone at Guantanamo is guilty why have more than 50 people been released and sent home? Incompetence by the US military, or because they are innocent?)

Claiming the war crimes being committed by US soldiers are each just an isolated incident is like claiming each of Ted Bundy's murders was an isolated incident.

Answer 2

Re; Rape/murder: If these acts did in fact occur, it is every bit as bad as Saddam's death squads and the atrocities that were going on before the Americans went to liberate the Iraqi people. The only "hate campaign" is launched by these fanatics and their "jihad", not by men and women who are risking and losing their lives helping the people of Iraq. It is absolutely possible for civilized people to not want to kill everyone who is different from themselves, because they are socialized to tolerate and celebrate differences in culture and people. This is something normal in modern society, this isn't an extraordinary concept. The concepts you present here are not American in nature, rather they are jihad in nature...not the way Americans think. Americans live in a transparent society, there are no rewards for hate, no tolerance for profiling Muslims even for security checks at the airport, racism is not perpetuated in the media, SAddam was tried in court, while in Iraq, an innocent journalist would have had their head chopped off-just for being a Westerner-who's racist? Muslims need to give up their terrorists and get to the business of being the peace-lovers they claim to be. War is a bad thing. I don't wish anything bad for any person, I don't care what his religious beliefs are.

Answer 3

War should be the last option but always a necessary one if but as a deterant to an aggressor. People are shocked at this war but the nature of war and wars past is so ugly that if everyone knew exactly what was happening then no one would ever be for even a necessary war. What's happening now in many cases is true and in other cases is false and just stories told to turn us against the war and pull our troops out. Far worse has happened in human history and wars past and so much so that it's most likely people don't know. Is it right .. absolutely not but in lands past and wars long long ago it was nothing for an invading army to seize a land and kill all the women and children or at least take them as slaves. War is always horrible and unfortunately necessary at times and only history and time will reveal how necessary each war is and was. It's hard to realize that but think of this .. we've lost some 2500 + lives in Iraq which is horrible and tragic but in the Civil war or earlier wars it was nothing to lose that many in a single battle or day even or even twice that many. Maybe we've improved war but can you really improve war? As far as the things that some soldiers do .. I can't atone for the actions of people but I would suppose if you were fired upon day after day and came so close to losing your life that sometimes your mind might crack and cause you to do some things you wouldn't if sane. They say that the enemy over there actually uses women and children to carry their bombs and will even put bombs under the bodies of the dying and when someone comes along to actually try and help they get killed. Be careful judging the actions of someone that faces death daily for unless we've walked in their shoes it's hard to set in judgment over any act but I do agree if the rape of an innocent woman and killing of her family happened the persons need to be held accountable and punished likewise but don't paint all the troops over there as the same type of people that's just unjust to them.

Answer 4

I will attempt to answer some of this question. There are many parts to it: No. It is impossible for anyone to have to kill a person or people of a country such as we are doing in Iraq, and still treat them humanely. it is impossible to kill a person and at the same time thinking: "that is such a nice person," Soldier or not.
The media has ran a propaganda campaign against the Muslims for quite some time and that makes it a bit easier for the soldier to do his job.
This is my question to you. What do you think will happen on the streets of America when these kill happy young men get back home?

Answer 5

You are talking about ONE soldier. That in NO WAY cancels out all the good that has been done over there. The people there can now vote for their own leaders. The women there can now have more equal rights as men. The citizens can choose their own religion. They don't have to live in fear of a dictatorship. We also don't have to worry about Iraq becoming a playground for terrorists.

We should probably be more concerned about the rape and murder rate in our own country since that obviously is a more pertinent issue.

I don't know why people think that war is supposed to go smoothly. There are going to be people who do wrong things. There are going to be deaths, there will be destruction. Of course none of that is right or preferrable. But if in the end the means are justified and it must be done, that is how it has to be.

Answer 6

If it proves to be true.It makes me sad that this one young man -younger than all my children - could be so misguided that he had no morals in this incident. We have "occupied" other countries & been humane. There are always a few bad apples in every group & the Military is no different. There is no hate campaign just a young man not raised correctly, my son is a Ranger & LT. in the Army & the Army stresses displine & chain of command control. This was a private, 21 yrs old & out already - he did not serve a full term which means the Military got rid of him. Bad apples are removed from service as soon as identified as having a lack of displine.

Yes there are reasons to fight, it is like owning guns, if hoest people can't the criminals will be the only ones with guns.
If the moral nations will not fight, the immoral nations will overtake all nations. Freedom is worth the fight.

Answer 7

There are good men in every part of the world and there are also evil men. The actions of 6 men out of the 400,000 or more that have been there do not prove anything. Abuse of people has been going on for along time and there is no relationship between religion or race to the facts in that case. Perhaps if there were more hookers available it would not have happened. The attack was strictly lust and no other motive was involved. If you think being a peace activist will protect you look at what happened to England and Europe after they tried to appease Hitler in 1938. Being a lamb gong to slaughter does not do anyone any good. Protect Your loved ones or go hide in a closet and only come out to complain about the young men doing your job.

Answer 8

omg they're just some bad apples! man it's just some rapes and torture, like what's the big deal!! we're still america therefore it is justified same with dropping the bombs on japan, massacres in Vietnam, give me whatever you got and I'll find a way to rationalize it! I'll defend anything my government does because I'm a patriot!!!!

Really all the people who answer like that are incredibly not human and will be the downfall of this once great nation, which makes me feel more sad than you could know. The more education we have, better schools, more technology, internet, the lazier and less willing to think for themselves people are. I'm afraid this nation has grown complacent, and not only to I feel embarrassed about the atrocities, I feel thoroughly ashamed for the cavalier dismissal ordinary American "Christians" respond with. In short, I feel disgusted and devasted.

Answer 9

People die in all wars. That is what a war does. War is very terrible. People involved in wars do terrible things (just like some civilians do terrible things, how many civilian rapes happened today?). None of this has anything to do with whether a war is worth it.

That is a very difficult decision. I am glad I don't have to make that call. Many people thought that stopping Hitler was not worth the terrible cost in soldiers and civilian suffering. Many people believe it was worth whatever it took.

I think that any war can be called into question, but pointing out that some soldiers are bad, or that bad things happen in war is pointless. War is hell, everybody knows that, and nobody wants it. But hiding with your head in the sand is unlikely to be a good choice either.

I will continue to ponder. Will you?

Answer 10

The Iraq's had rape rooms that the occupying forces took out. I'm sure the insurgents weren't very happy about this. They build schools and hospitals (not that this would be newsworthy) so you can't say they are inhumane. I'm not sure where you got the hate campaign deal from.

The soldier is innocent until proven guilty and if he is he will go to prison. If this did happen then it would be an isolated incident.